Page 81 of I'll Be There
“Next?”
Conner pulled out his cell phone, still miraculously tucked into his pocket. “Now, we call him.”
Micah turned out onto the main road, driving west. “We’re—”
“We can track him down...or we can just end this. Now.” He pulled up Blankenship’s number, and with a punch to his gut, realized...Liza had probably texted him, too.
No wonder he knew where to show up, and when.
Conner felt a little sick as he put the phone on speaker.
And, while he hoped it, he didn’t expect the voice over the line to answer on the first ring.
“Everybody okay?”
“I’m going to find you,” Conner said, “and you’re going to find out what it feels like to run for your life.”
Micah glanced at him.
“Oh, Conner, you’re just what I remembered. Impulsive. Angry.”
“And ready. Where are you?”
“Fine. Come alone. I’ll know if you don’t.”
Conner winced.Third man.
Micah was shaking his head, but Conner held up his hand. “Where?”
“There’s a rest area about five miles out of town. I’m waiting for you. I hope you said goodbye to that pretty girl.”
Conner hung up.
“No,” Micah said. “Not going alone.”
Conner drew in a breath. “He’s got backup.”
“So will you.”
“How—”
“It doesn’t have to be hard.” Micah pulled over. Got out. “Get me close, slow down enough.” He closed the door and climbed into the bed.
Conner had gotten out, rounding the back to climb into the driver’s seat. “You don’t have a—where did you get that?”
Micah held up a sniper rifle. “We needed a weapon, and I saw it bagged at the scene.”
“I’ll drop you just outside the lights.”
He got in and set the Glock on the seat beside him, one hand on it as he drove, his heart punching through his chest all five silent miles to the rest area.
Please, God, let this work.He hadn’t realized how dry his mouth was until he tried to speak it aloud, a small prayer. But really, he shouldn’t be praying for the opportunity to tear a man limb from limb, so maybe, “Justice, Lord. We need justice here.”
He slowed down to fifteen, crossed the highway, and slid along the shoulder a full ten seconds, then gunned it after watching Micah vanish off the back. He meshed into the forest as if he belonged there.
Conner rode the wrong shoulder until he came to the rest area, on the lake side of the road. Cut his lights as he rolled in, searching.
Empty lot.
