The burner phone vibrated in my pocket again—two short pulses, our code for "mission proceeding." Matt and Juan were inside Sarah's house. The distraction had worked.
I slipped between two delivery trucks and made my way toward the drainage ditch that would lead me to our predetermined rendezvous point.
The true cost of what I'd just done would come later—a new charge added to the growing list of alleged crimes, another nail in the coffin of my reputation. But if it gave Matt and Juan the time they needed to save Tommy, it would be worth it.
As I disappeared into the trees beyond the mall's property line, leaving the wail of sirens and shouts of confusion behind, I allowed myself one moment of grim satisfaction. For the first time since this nightmare began, Sarah Winters wasn't dictating the terms of engagement.
We were.
Chapter 49
I reached our rendezvous point—anabandoned gas station—ten minutes after leaving the mall, my lungs burning. The small building's boarded windows and graffiti-covered walls made it invisible to casual observers, perfect for our needs. Juan had left the rusty back door unlocked as planned. I slipped inside, checking my burner phone every few seconds for updates from Matt and Juan.
The abandoned store smelled of mildew and old gasoline, its shelves long stripped bare by scavengers. I positioned myself by a narrow gap in the plywood covering the windows, watching the road for any sign of pursuit while keeping the phone clutched in my hand. Every minute felt stretched to the breaking point, each passing car making my heart stutter until it proved to be just another commuter on their morning drive.
The burner phone vibrated at last. A text from Matt: "In. But no one here. No Tommy."
Damn it!
The phone vibrated again: "No Sarah either. She must have taken him somewhere. We will gather evidence and take folders with us."
My stomach tightened. The shrine we'd discovered in her basement would be good evidence. “Take everything you can.”
Twelve minutes since they'd entered the house. I checked my watch compulsively, calculating how much longer their window would remain open. The phone remained silent for what felt like an eternity, but was actually only three minutes.
When it finally vibrated, the message chilled me to the bone: "Found something new in her calendar."
Before I could respond, a call came through—Matt breaking protocol, which meant whatever they'd discovered couldn't wait. I answered immediately.
"Eva Rae." His voice was tight with urgency. "Sarah's planning to kill Tommy and herself. "
The world seemed to tilt beneath me. "What?"
"She’s written it all in the calendar. She's taking him to a cabin in the Ocala Forest.”
I pressed my back against the wall, needing its solidity as my mind processed this horror. "When?"
"Today." There was a pause, the sound of pages turning. "She's been preparing the cabin for days. Setting the stage."
A distant siren wailed through the phone connection. Matt's voice dropped lower. "We've got to get out of here. Juan's downloading everything we can from her computer. I'm taking the files, the calendar, and the photos. The maps to the cabin, her detailed plans, everything."
"Where exactly is the cabin?" I asked, already moving toward the back door, calculating routes and travel times.
"Ocala National Forest, eastern edge, near Alexander Springs. There's a service road marked on her map that leads to an isolated cabin. She's labeled it 'Final Scene.'"
I knew the area—remote, heavily wooded, with scattered vacation properties that stood empty most of the year. Perfect for what Sarah had planned. "How long ago did she leave?"
"Who knows? She could have left last night."
The thought of Tommy's confused face as his adoptive motherprepared to make him the final victim in her elaborate performance made my chest constrict with rage and fear.
"I'm sending everything to media contacts now," Matt said, the sound of rapid typing audible in the background. "The calendar pages, photos of her shrine, everything we've found. If we can't stop her, at least the truth will come out."
Another siren wailed, closer this time. "They're coming," Juan's voice came through faintly. "Time's up."
"Go," I urged. "Get out now.”
"What about you?" Matt asked, concern evident despite the urgency of their situation.
