Kip held out his hand, and Reed took it. With Troy, they headed into the elevator, leaving Eleanor alone with Pete, Mike and the sleeping Birdie. “Ellie, come sit in the living room. Pete can handle Birdie.”
She looked at the man with salt and pepper hair with trepidation. “It’s never going to end, is it?” Her skin turned clammy.
“What isn’t?” Mike asked.
A tremor ran through her. “The Divine End. My father said they’re like weeds. They grow everywhere. And if anyone doesn’t subscribe to their way of life, well, then those people will be annihilated.” To stop her hands from shaking, she slipped them into her armpits.
“Ellie, how will they be annihilated?” Mike maintained a sense of calm.
Anxiety began to consume her, and she started to hyperventilate. The night she gave birth to Birdie swirled around her. “I…I…got out of the…the aluminum shed. It was so cold. I ran. My feet went numb, then my ankles and legs. I collapsed to my knees. Suddenly in the mist, there was a cabin. I thought I was hallucinating until I went inside. There were guns and shells and a metal box. I could feel the blood pouring down my legs. I remember thinking it felt warm. I’d denied it for too long. It was the Divine End. It was my parents, my brothers and Belinda.
“I knew they’d find me. I had to decide. If I stayed there, I’d lose the baby and bleed to death. And if I hid the box, I could make a difference before I died. I crawled out of the shed with the box. It couldn’t have been too far. I dragged it and dropped it carefully into a hole. Then I dragged myself to the shed. I could hear their voices. And then I heard nothing,” she sobbed.
Two arms wrapped around her. “Shh, I’ve got you. No one will hurt you again,” Wes said, sliding into the seat beside her.
Her tears continued. “I don’t know the truth. Starr, the FBI, Hayes, all told me different stories. I don’t even know where I was found.” Despondency wrapped itself around her. She felt sad and empty and hopeless.
“Ellie, I know where the cabin is. We found the truth,” Wes said.
“How long have you known?” she asked.
“We found out while you were unconscious. Wes didn’t deceive you,” Mike said.
“I’ll do anything to stop them. I cannot let one more person be hurt.” She ran her hands through the shaved back of his head, her fingers running over the repaired hole that was drilled to save him.
“I can’t lose you.” She leaned into Wes’s chest. “I won’t lose you.”
* * *
After Wes’s nap, Josh Stone drove with Adina in the passenger seat. Wes sat with Eleanor in the middle seat, and Remy Mirouette and Chad Thorn rode in the third seat. Wes gripped her hand as they drove onto the outside roadway. The Navigator passed the South Gate and pulled onto the pasture.
“It was here?” Eleanor went wide-eyed. “Where I had Birdie?”
Wes squeezed her hand and nodded. “When we interrogated Starr, we found out Belinda had notified him that you were dead. But when he got there, you were still alive. He called an ambulance and disappeared.”
The truck came to a stop. Josh opened the door for Eleanor, and Adina opened the door for Wes. Remy and Chad followed with their weapons drawn. The remaining Tango and Zulu Team members fanned out in a protective circle as they began the walk to the cabin.
Drawing closer, Wes wrapped his arm around Eleanor. Fifteen feet from the cabin, Wes held her from moving forward. Remy and Chad stepped around them and led their team to clear the cabin of any hazards.
“Clear,” Remy called.
Wes turned to face Eleanor and ducked down to meet her gaze. “If this is too much, say the word. We will go and have a playdate with Reed and Birdie.”
“I’m good,” Eleanor said, her eyes darting around the area.
A drooping roof was covered by an assortment of leaves and branches. Weeds and wildflowers climbed against the cabin's rough log wall. Mud and grass chinked between each log, forming seven-foot-tall walls. Wes walked Eleanor up a half-rotten step leading to a warped doorframe and opened the door.
The creak of the door rolled down her spine, causing her to shudder. Wes placed his palm in the small of her back as Josh and Adina shined their flashlights, illuminating the structure. A warped wood plank floor covered with decay filled the six-by-ten-foot space. The windowpanes were broken on and off throughout.
Eleanor walked deeper into the space. “The moon was shining. The light came in over there.” She pointed to a window and followed the beam in the opposite line of direction. Dropping to her knees, she swept away the dirt that developed over time. She pressed against the wall boards, like she did that night. With a little pressure and some digging, they lifted. Eleanor crawled through the hole.
“Ellie, wait,” Wes implored. “Stone, follow her.”
Wes ran out the door and around the cabin, catching up to Eleanor. She was heading in the direction of the edge of the Training Center kennels. “Ellie.”
Eleanor stopped and stood up. “I couldn’t have crawled much farther.”
Out of breath and dripping with sweat, Wes made it to her side. “At that time, these kennels weren’t here.” Wes leaned heavily against her.
