Page 97 of Exposure of Murder

“Cameras show the car heading out of town toward the Rustic Table,” Sean said. “He turned onto a dirt road, and then we lost him.”

Fuck. “Thanks.”

“Keep me posted.” The phone went dead.

Ethan’s stomach lurched. Jane could be anywhere by now.

Rustic Table? Dirt road?

“Ross!” Ethan shouted, leaning out of his office. Ross looked over at him. “Get on the town assessor’s website and pull up Sheila Frankenburg’s place.”

Although he and Adam had searched her cabin before, would Victor have brought Jane there? Had Maggie told him about the place? It was suspicious that she hadn’t mentioned Victor knew about the cabin to Ethan. Ethan’s mind raced as he waited.

Ross came in a few minutes later, holding a printout. “I have the layout of the property. But if you look here”—he pointed to a small structure deep in the woods—“there’s a cabin about a hundred yards from the main house.”

Ethan leaned in to study the map. The dirt road provided the only access to the isolated cabin. It was the perfect place to hide out. Ethan stared at the map. If they drove down and parked far enough away from the cabin, they could approach silently and hopefully have the element of surprise. That is, if Victor and Jane were in it.

The phone rang again. Adam!

He grabbed it. “Ethan, Maggie’s car is gone.”

Damn, this was getting complicated. “I bet she’s headed to her mother’s place. She has to have known about the other cabin.”

He called in all his deputies and told them to meet him at the Rustic Table.

Minutes later, he and Ross were in his truck with lights flashing and sirens screaming until they reached the restaurant. The rain was letting up, but it was getting foggy. Perfect for what they had to do.

Luckily, it was early enough in the day that the restaurant’s parking lot was empty except for a few staff cars.

Ethan killed the siren, and when everyone arrived, he briefed them on the plan. “We’ll go in silent,” he said. “Park along the side of the dirt road, keeping a safe distance from the cabin so we don’t spook him if he’s there.”

They started down the dirt road, narrowly skirting deep potholes, their headlights bouncing through the thick layer of fog that hung low in the trees.

“Damn, I can’t believe they were this close the whole time,” Ethan said to Ross.

The team pulled over and spread out. Ethan’s heart pounded in his chest as he exited the truck. The damp air seeped through his clothes. The fog muffled the surrounding sounds. He heard the distant hoot of an owl, and somewhere in the brush, a small animal was rustling around. The cabin was faintly visible. The light from the window swayed in the mist.

“We need to move fast and quietly. I don’t want anyone to get hurt,” said Ethan. He took cover behind a large tree, its rough bark rubbing his skin, his breath steady, his heart not so much.

As the team moved into position, the tension in the air grew thicker. Approaching the cabin, they saw Victor’s black sedan and, parked beside it, a familiar car. “Damn, that Maggie’s car,” Ethan muttered.

He edged closer to the cabin. Brittle leaves crunched under his feet. When he got close enough to peer in a window, he saw Victor sitting on the sofa with his back to them, talking on the phone. Behind him, Jane was slumped in a chair, her wrists behind her back, her face streaked with dirt and blood.

Victor was a dead man.

They silently crept closer.

Just before they reached the door, Ross stumbled over something in the tall grass and swore quietly. Ethan looked down, his blood running cold. Maggie lay sprawled on the ground, her body twisted at an unnatural angle. Mike knelt beside her, feeling for a pulse. After a moment, he looked up at Ethan and shook his head.

There was no time to waste. He gave a one-, two-, three-finger countdown, then he and Ross kicked in the door. The old wood splintered, shattering the silence of the night.

Jane’s head jerked up. Victor sprang to his feet, his face contorting with shock and rage as he whipped out his gun. Ethan was faster and squeezed the trigger. The gunshot echoed like a crack of thunder in the small room. Victor crumpled to the floor, clutching his bleeding shoulder.

“You bastard,” he screamed.

Ross walked over and kicked Victor’s gun away from his body.

Ethan was at Jane’s side in a second. His hands trembled as he fumbled with the knots, finally untying her wrists and rubbing her arms. His eyes swept over her, scanning for injuries. Her clothes were torn, the cut on her forehead was open and still oozing, and yet she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

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