Page 14 of You'll Never Know
“What’s the plan? Do we wait?” Holston asks.
“No. We go to the quarry. But we make a stop first.”
My eyes hit the clock again: 2:08 p.m. “We don’t have time to make a stop!”
Gunn glances over his shoulder. “You said it yourself. We can’t go up there in a cop car. We need to switch it out. My house is close. Same with the quarry. We’ll make it if we hurry.”
It takes another five minutes to reach Gunn’s house, which isa white one-story ranch tucked away in a neighborhood right off the highway. The place is set a ways back from the road, so I’m thankful when he tells me the GMC Yukon parked on the street is his. It means we won’t need to waste time pulling it out of the garage.
We swap cars, and by the time we’re in the Yukon, it’s 2:16 and my mind is nothing more than a fuse burning toward 2:30. Fourteen minutes left.
“How far away is this place?” I ask as Gunn smokes back onto the highway.
He lays on the horn and tears around a truck blocking our path. “About ten minutes. I know it pretty well. Here’s what’s going to happen. When we get to the quarry, Officer Holston and I are going to get out. The pin they dropped is in the middle of a clearing overlooking the pit. There’s cover nearby, a bunch of trees where we can take position. Grant, we’ll get out, and you’ll keep driving. The clearing is easy to see. You can’t miss it. If they ask you where you got the car, lie to them. Say you stole it. Whatever. I don’t think it will matter to these guys as long as they get their money. As soon as you have your wife, we’ll take them down.”
My eyes burn as he continues to speak, the highway turning to a blurry strip of asphalt through the windshield. I’m running on fumes at this point, barely able to focus. All I can think about, all I keep seeing, is Avery’s expression and the way her lips moved with those final words as she was ripped into the van.I love you.
“Hey, it’s going to be okay,” Gunn says, looking at me in the rearview mirror. “We won’t let them get away with this. I promise.”
I can only nod and pray he’s right.
Chapter 8
GRANT
We arrive with five minutes to spare, the SUV skidding to a stop in front of a fence with a yellow metal sign tacked to it that reads:
WARNING
THIS PROPERTY IS CONDEMNED.
KEEP OUT!
The gate hangs open, a lock dangling uselessly from a chain around the post.
“Looks like they’re already here,” Gunn says, taking note. “This is the only way in or out.” He eases the Yukon forward and then brakes once he’s past the fence. “No word from John yet?”
Holston shakes his head. “Nothing.”
“Shit. Okay. You have your service weapon?”
Holston pulls the gun from his holster in answer.
“Good,” Gunn says. “Let’s go.”
We get out, and I slip into the driver’s seat as Gunn pulls open the hatch and grabs something. When he appears through the open passenger door he’s holding a hunting rifle.
A slug of dread hits me. “What’s that for?” I ask.
“To protect you and your wife if this doesn’t go right.” He points up the road. “The quarry is just over that ridge. Officer Holston will take a position behind those boulders there while I flank west into the trees. Grant, you keep driving and head for the clearing.” He turns his attention to Holston. “Calvin, if this turns ugly, cover Grant. And if you see anyone coming back down that road but him, you stop them, understand?”
Holston nods.
Gunn’s gaze narrows. “We arrest them if we can, but if they don’t comply, you do whatever you need to do. The training wheels are off on this one. These people cannot get away.”
Holston’s face firms. “They won’t. I’m ready for this.”
“You better be. Now move!”
