Angel Fire

Chapter Thirty-Seven

While the forest road was a decent gravel road, the one he directed her down now was bumpy and uneven. She heard him moan in pain as they hit a hole.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

His jaw was clenched and his breathing ragged. “Just a little farther. It’s an old hunting cabin,” he said. “My dad used to come up here with some of his buddies. Hunting was the excuse for coming here, but all they did was drink.”

“Who owns it?”

“Not sure,” he said. “It looks like it hasn’t been used in twenty years or more.”

She slowed her pace even more as the road all but disappeared. The lights cut through the darkness, through pines and scrub oak and the ever-present smattering of rocks.

“Are you sure this is the road?”

“There’s a little opening to the right,” he said. “The cabin is beyond that.”

She slowed to a crawl, finally seeing the opening he was talking of. “Will the car make it?”

He didn’t answer, and she turned down the little path. The trees scratched the car as she squeezed through, then her headlights found the cabin he was talking about. It appeared to be little more than a shanty. She turned to him, but his eyes were shut, his face etched in pain. The gun lay beside him on the seat, and she knew she wasn’t in any danger, if she’d ever been.

“Angel?”

His eyes opened, and he blinked several times. “Help me out, please,” he said.

She nodded, then hurried around to the passenger side to help him. He made no attempt to take the gun. She took his arm and looped it around her shoulder. He slumped heavily against her, and it was only as they walked into the light that she saw how badly he was injured. Blood covered his shirt and jeans, and she stared as it still seeped between his fingers.

“Oh, Angel,” she said quietly. “Why won’t you let me take you to a hospital?”

“No.”

He shuffled on, and she supported his weight as they went to the door. A new padlock held the latch in place.

“Key is in my right pocket,” he said.

She separated enough from him to find the key. It was on a small key ring sporting a bright yellow smiley face.

“Really?”

He tried to laugh. “My attempt at humor, yeah.”

She unlocked the door and pushed it open.

“There’s a flashlight on the shelf, just to the right of the door.”

She felt along the wall, touching the shelf. She found the flashlight and turned it on. She flashed around the cabin, seeing that it was only one large room, nothing more. Against one wall were several duffel bags.

“So yeah, that’s what three million dollars will fit into.”

He moved toward the opposite wall, and she helped him to it, then he slid down until he was sitting. He leaned back, again closing his eyes.

She let the light settle on him, shocked by the amount of blood she saw. His face was pale and he was sweating, one hand still pressed against his stomach. His eye was still discolored from the beating he’d taken, but it wasn’t nearly as swollen as it had been. But still…

“Jesus,” she whispered. “I can still call an ambulance, Angel.”

“No. I won’t go to prison.” He tried to smile. “God knows I deserve it. But it ends here, Sam.”

She shook her head sadly. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t you dare,” he said. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I’m the one who is sorry.” He looked up at her. “Come sit. Talk to me.”

* * *

“Step on it, will you?”

“Goddamn it, Hunter, I’m driving as fast as I can.”

Tori clutched the dashboard as Cameron turned a corner, skidding as the paved road became gravel.

“It’s not fast enough.”

“Why don’t you just watch the console and make sure I don’t take a wrong turn.”

“We don’t even know if the phone is still on Sam,” Tori said. She watched the blinking dot which hadn’t moved in the last ten minutes. “Hell, he could have tossed it. It’s stationary.”

“I realize that,” Cameron said. “Rowan’s already sifting through satellite images, looking for outbuildings.”

Tori pointed to the console as they approached a road to the right. “Turn here.”

Cameron did, and they immediately hit a hole, bouncing them all in the truck.

“Is this even a road?” Andrea asked.

“We’re close,” Cameron murmured.

“I don’t see any other roads. There’s nothing else on the map,” Tori said.

“Then they’re on a trail or something. We’re close.”

* * *

Sam sat down beside Angel, leaning back against the wall much like he was. She put the flashlight on the floor and its beam casts its light on the duffel bags. She took his other hand and held it, feeling his fingers tighten around it.

“Thank you.”

“Are you in a lot of pain?”

“Not too bad. It just feels numb,” he said.

She turned away from him and stared at the money instead. “Why three million dollars?”

“Because…I wanted out of this life. I wanted to start over.”

She looked at him again. “Tell me about your wife.”

His eyes opened and he met hers. “So you know? Is that how you found the rental house?”

She nodded.

“My only love,” he said. “Maria. But I guess you know how that ended.”

“Just the facts. Not what really happened,” she said.

His eyes closed for a moment. “I wanted a normal life. When I got out of the military, I just wanted…normal. I fell in love. First and only time. We had a son. Joseph. We had a good life,” he said. “We lived by the sea and I worked on a boat. I fished. It was a simple life.” He turned his head toward her slightly. “But this man, he wanted me to work for him. He had a list of high-profile enemies he wanted killed. Enemies he couldn’t get close to. I could.”

He paused for a long time, and she didn’t think he would continue. “What happened?”

“I refused to work for him,” he said. “When I got home one day…well, I found them. They had been butchered. My Maria and Joseph. And he called me up, asked if I was ready to work for him now.”

“So you ended up working for him anyway?”

“No. I went to his mansion and I cut his throat and I watched him bleed out.”

“Angel…I’m so sorry.”

She saw tears in his eyes as he struggled to continue. “My world fell apart then. I had nothing. I had no heart. I had no soul. So I did the only thing I was trained to do. Kill. My life was never the same. It was just empty…and so, so lonely,” he said, his voice barely more than a whisper.

She felt a tear run down her cheek, and she wiped it away. “I wish things were different,” she said. “Another life, another time, I think you and I could have been good friends.”

He smiled and nodded. “Yes. I believe so. Other than Maria…you are the closest thing I’ve had to a friend,” he said.

“Is that why you spared me?”

He nodded. “Something about you, Sam, touched me inside. I’m not sure what it was, but I couldn’t harm you. You have an innocence about you. I think you reminded me of Maria from the start.”

She shook her head. “Not so innocent. I’m a cop. I’ve seen far too much to still have innocence.”

“You may think you’re jaded, but you’re not. I see a gentle sweetness…an innocence in you…I couldn’t take that from you.” He coughed several times. “Maria was such a good person. Full of light, never darkness. I see that in you too.”

She felt the strength leave him as his hand loosened around hers. She didn’t know what to say to him, and she couldn’t stop her tears. But his fingers tightened around her hand once more.

“Don’t cry for me, Sam. I don’t deserve your precious tears.”

She wiped them away impatiently. “I’m sorry. I can’t help it.”

“No. I know you can’t. I’ve done such horrible things…yet the goodness in you…well, you’re still trying to find the goodness in me. It’s futile. I’m afraid there isn’t any.”

“I don’t believe that.”

He squeezed her hand again, then let his fingers loosen. “Thank you for being here with me…now.” His voice was barely more than a breath. “I’m not in pain, Sam. Not really.” He struggled to talk, to breathe. “It isn’t a…a bad way to die.”

She stared at him, tears still streaming down her cheeks. She watched as his eyes clouded over and he seemed to drift away. His hand went limp as he took his last breath…then nothing. He was still.

She wiped her tears away, embarrassed for having shed them. She reached out and closed his eyes, then moved away from him.

She pulled her shirt out of her jeans, using the end to wipe her face, her nose. Just like that, it was over with. She took a deep breath.

Angel was dead.

She picked up the flashlight and pulled her cell out of her pocket, intending to call Tori. But before she could, she heard a truck and saw headlights flash outside. Angel had been right. They had found her. She pushed the door open, recognizing Cameron’s truck. But to be sure, she held her hands up as she walked into the light.

“Sam?”

“I’m okay,” she called.

Tori was in the light, but Cameron stopped her before she could come closer.

“Angel?” Cameron asked.

Sam gave a quick shake of her head. “He’s…he’s dead,” she said, motioning inside.

Cameron let her arm fall from Tori, and Tori hurried over, wrapping her in her arms. Sam sank into her embrace, knowing that this nightmare was finally over with.

Tori pulled away, watching her. “Blood? What happened?” she asked as she wiped at Sam’s face.

“No. Not mine,” she said. “I’m fine. He was…he was wounded. Badly.”

She turned to Andrea, who met her gaze. Andrea shook her head slowly.

“I’m sorry, Sam. I should have—”

“No. You did everything right,” Sam said. She walked closer and hugged her tightly. “Thank you, Andi.” Then she smiled at her. “May I call you Andi?”