Owen’s phone rang from a number he didn’t know. “Hello,” he answered.
“It’s Charlotte. Two men entered my lab and threatened my friends,” she said, her voice quaking. “I’m in a warehouse on Deadwood St., building fifty-eight. They think they took the files from the reports, but I have them.”
“Stay there,” Owen said, signaling to the men they needed to go.
“Do you have your gun?” Owen asked Leslie.
Nodding her head, she replied, “Yeah.”
“Keep it on you at all times. Elias and Wyatt will stay here. Don’t let the police or anyone inside the house,” he said before rushing out the door.
When they walked outside, Owen turned to Dillon. “It’s Charlotte. Two men came in and threatened her friends. She’s hiding in a warehouse, number fifty-eight. She sounds shaken. We need to get her and find out what she knows.”
Dillon’s face turned murderous as he jumped inside the truck. Mason and Cade slid into the back seats as Gunny, Jake, and Max got into their vehicle.
They drove down the mountain and stopped two blocks from the address Charlotte mentioned.
Recognizing the old industrial buildings from when his father picked up supplies, Owen made a crude map on the back of a fast-food bag from his truck. “They used these buildings for shipping and processing meat. Do you know why Charlotte might hide here?” Owen asked, turning to Dillion. Then, they heard the dogs.
“They’re trying to track her,” Dillon said, his voice turning deadly.
“Then let’s find her first. Gunny, you and Jake take this entrance. Cade find a way to get in through the windows on the top floor and work your way down. Dillon, you and Max, start at the bottom, and Mason and I will take the middle,” Owen said as Max tested out the earpieces.
“Checking,” Max said, glancing around at the men.
Everyone nodded.
“All right, let’s get Charlotte,” Owen ordered as they drew their weapons and made their way to the building unseen.
Owen’s heart raced. They attempted to kill Leslie, and he left her at the house. Knowing Rucker and JoJo knew how to shoot, along with his brothers, he prayed they remained safe until they retrieved Charlotte and her friends. His gut twisted in knots, warning him this wouldn’t end anytime soon.
CHAPTER 29
Leslie glanced out the window,still shaking from the incident.
“I can’t believe he gave you a ticket,” Rucker railed. “What a load of crap.”
“I know. I guess I can fight it,” she said noncommittally.
“What’s brewing inside your head?” Rucker asked her. “It feels like you’re chewing on something.”
Turning around, she glanced at the women as Elias and Wyatt watched the house from the upstairs windows. They brought Mason’s boys into the laundry room and put them in the playpen to keep them corralled. With no windows, they deemed it the safest place. Tucker and Conner sat on the floor in the same room, playing a game.
“The night before we found Jeremiah, he called me around midnight. He asked me about Conner’shomework. I thought he woke and sleep dialed me. He sometimes did it when something weighed heavily on his mind. I’m thinking he warned me. Conner’s class did an assignment about their ancestors and the past. The teacher made a project about preserving the past. Each kid made a time capsule with things about their family, a letter and something meaningful to them.”
JoJo stood beside her. “Did you help Conner put his together?”
“Not exactly,” she replied. “I assisted him with writing the letter. He and Jeremiah got a huge kick out of finding something from the Wolfe family to add to the capsule. Tucker and I went with them when Conner buried it here on the mountain. They planned to add something to it every year until he graduated high school.”
“Do you think Jeremiah added something to Conner’s?” Rucker asked.
“I’m beginning to wonder,” she admitted. “They found Jeremiah on the trail leading up to where we buried it. The men we saw when we stayed in the cave kept searching the trails. When they broke into my house, they searched for something. It only makes sense.”
“You’re right,” Rucker agreed. “You’re involved in Conner’s life. It only makes sense they’d assume you might know if they didn’t find it at Jeremiah’s house and he’s dead.”
“Why target the boys?” she pondered.
“Because maybe Conner saw something or mentioned it in class. Whatever’s in the capsule must hold a clue,” JoJo answered. “We need to get to the capsule.”
