Page 13 of Betrayed (Alternate Ending)

“At one time?” Lance felt a chill run up his back. “Who owns it now?”

“Well, my dad left his estate in trust to us, his children, but he also left instructions to allow one Sullivan Proctor unrestricted use of this cabin and the surrounding twenty acres. He took a liking to the man and he knew none of us wanted the old shack.” He stopped and looked around. “Although, it doesn’t look like much of a shack anymore.”

Lance stood, mouth open in surprise.

“May I ask who you are?” Danny's eyebrows rose in question.

“My name is Lance Matthew. I’m…a friend of Sullivan’s. And you’re right; he has made a lot of improvements to the old place.”

The two stood in silence for a few minutes, gazing at the cabin. Finally, Danny turned and hefted a backpack from where he had set it on a stump. “Well, anyway, you might want to let Sullivan know about his legal right to use the land and cabin. Our lawyers are searching for him and hope to see him soon.” The man passed over a business card, tipped his ball cap in Lance’s direction, winked, and wandered on down the trail.

Lance was stunned. The land was his; well, his to use freely at any rate. The same with the cabin. He could install electric power; he could lay a trail to the road; he could openly live his life here. I can offer Brooklyn a real home.

Moving quickly, before he could change his mind, Lance set out enough food and water to keep the animals fed for a few days, put things away, and locked up the outside sheds. He hurried through a shower, pulled on clean clothes, and loaded his backpack.

Lance made a quick stop at the Haylieville Library, logged onto the web, and pulled up a search engine. He typed in Clark Parrish, Denver, Colorado and waited while information filled the screen. One entry had not only Clark, but also Brook’s name and Lance clicked it. He selected the screen with a map to their address and printed it out. He logged off the computer, grabbed the sheet from the printer, and quickly turned Old Reliable towards the highway.

If I really push it, I can be in Denver by late evening.

Chapter 60

Detective Conroy peered through the small window in the door and looked toward the holding cell against the back wall. "Well, well, well." She turned to the arresting officer with a question in her eyes.

"Shoplifting," he stated.

"That's the least of it. There's a whole lot more." Randi gave him a dark smile. "Her name?"

"Gina Webb. But she also had some credit cards on her belonging to a 'Brooklyn Parrish'."

"Gotcha," Randi whispered as she gave their detainee a victorious look.

Gina stared sullenly through the bars, flipped her long hair over her shoulder, and then turned her head away.

"Bring her into Room Five for questioning." Randi pulled her cell phone out and prepared to make a call.

"Good luck with that. She refuses to talk." He signaled for the door to be opened.

The interview between the detectives and Gina Webb lasted several hours but Gina would give up no information on her boyfriend and his buddies. Even when informed that Brooklyn Parrish had been found and was ready to testify against her, the girl still sat quietly, repeating over and over that she wanted a lawyer.

At last, Gina was returned to her cell and an attorney was called to represent her during the next interview.

Randi seated herself at her desk and Marco sat across from her. “I've got a bad feeling. Something is going to go down soon and I don’t like it.”

Marco nodded his agreement. “Yeah! Notice she never blinked when we said Brook had been found? She knew already.”

He and Randi exchanged knowing looks. But there was nothing they could do with the information they had so far. They could only wait since Brook had refused police protection at her home, stating there was no way her assailants could get past the security of her gated community.

“Maybe we can just drive over to the general location of Brook's home. You know, be available if needed,” Marco offered.

Randi smiled grimly. “Let’s go.”

Chapter 61

Jerry sat in the guardhouse dividing his attention between the crowds of reporters clogging the driveway and street, and the TV where the same group was being reported on. All had hopes of being the first to see Brook Parrish coming or going from the complex. To be the first to get answers as to where the woman had been all these months.

Periodically, Jerry stepped from the security of his shack to clear the drive so a resident could enter or leave. Other than that, everything was relatively quiet. Oh, at first, the reporters had attempted to get Jerry to let them past. One even offered him a thousand big ones, but Jerry had held to his morals and turned them all away.

Bored with the news, he considered tuning to one of his favorite evening programs when a news-breaking story broke into the news. Interesting! On the TV screen, an announcer was whispering quietly that there appeared to be a hostage situation in the downtown area. A sniper was holding a man on the roof of the MCI Plaza and Denver Marriott City Center, the sixth tallest building in the city, threatening to kill passersby at random, until his demands were met.

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