Chapter 16 - The Chase
Mason knocked Pike's pistol away.
Noah tackled Rusk before the sheriff could raise the shotgun.
Caleb grabbed Claire and pulled her behind a stall wall as hay dust filled the air.
"Stay down!"
"Stop telling me to stay down!"
"You're pregnant!"
"I'm aware!"
Scout barked and circled, keeping Pike from reaching his weapon.
Rusk slammed Noah into a post and ran.
He still had the ledger.
Noah chased him into the yard.
Claire followed despite every voice yelling at her not to.
Rusk jumped into a department SUV and accelerated toward the creek road.
Noah climbed into Caleb's truck.
"Get in!"
Mason ran to the passenger side.
Claire opened the rear door.
"Absolutely not," Mason said.
"The signature page may be in my house. If Rusk figures that out first, this never ends."
Mason swore and got in.
The chase tore across the ranch road.
Rusk cut through the south field, heading toward the old pump station.
Noah followed.
"Why there?" Claire shouted.
"Underground service tunnel," Noah said. "Runs under Voss property."
Rusk abandoned his SUV beside a concrete hatch and disappeared below.
They entered after him.
The tunnel smelled of wet earth and chemicals. Rusted pipes ran along the ceiling. Claire's shoes slipped on mud.
Scout led with his nose low.
They heard Rusk ahead, talking to someone.
"I have the ledger," he said. "Bring the car."
Another voice answered through a phone speaker.
Harlan Voss.
"Burn it," Voss said.
Rusk stopped walking.
"You said you'd pay."
"You are the loose end now, Daniel."
Silence.
Then Rusk laughed.
A broken laugh.
"After everything I did for you?"
Voss disconnected.
Rusk turned and saw Claire standing twenty feet away.
He raised the shotgun.
"Nobody," he said, "walks away from this."
The tunnel narrowed between two concrete support columns.
Claire could hear her own breathing.
Noah stood to her left. Mason to her right. Caleb was behind them. Scout was in front.
Rusk aimed at Claire.
"Drop the bag," Mason ordered.
Rusk laughed. "You first."
"It's over. Voss just abandoned you."
"Then I have nothing to lose."
Noah moved half a step.
Rusk swung the barrel toward him.
Scout launched.
The dog hit Rusk's forearm before he could fire accurately. The blast struck the ceiling, showering concrete dust.
Rusk screamed and dropped the shotgun.
Mason tackled him.
Caleb kicked the weapon away.
Claire sank against the wall, both hands around her belly.
"Claire?" Noah was beside her instantly. "Are you hurt?"
"No. The baby kicked. Hard."
"Is that bad?"
Despite everything, she almost laughed. "Noah, babies kick."
Mason cuffed Rusk.
"Where's Pike?" Claire asked.
Everyone went quiet.
They had left him disarmed in the barn.
No one had secured him.
Mason radioed for state police using Rusk's handheld unit.
A dispatcher answered.
Then another voice broke in.
Pike.
"Mason, you forgot something."
A video message arrived on Rusk's phone.
It showed Caleb's truck parked outside the farmhouse.
Then the camera panned toward the kitchen window.
Claire's mother, Helen, stood inside.
She had arrived that morning from Arizona for Claire's baby shower.
Claire went cold.
May you like
Pike's voice continued over the radio.
"Bring me the ledger and Rusk. Or the widow loses somebody for real this time."
