It would have to be enough. The drive to Phoenix took 90 minutes. Eva kept the Bronco steady at 70 mph, watching the desert roll past. Marcus sat silent, staring out the window. Finally, he spoke.
"What if I'm wrong? " "About what? " "About Boone, about trusting him. " Marcus's voice was tight. "What if he's the one who betrayed me? What if we're walking into a trap he helped set? " Eva didn't answer immediately. She'd been thinking the same thing. "You've known him for 30 years," she said finally.
"I've known Clayton for 25, Wade for 15, Silas for a decade. So, they any of them could have turned. " "But you called Boone, not the others. " "Because my gut says he's clean. " "But guts can be wrong. " Eva thought about Garrett, about the times he'd had to trust his fellow soldiers with his life, the terrifying act of faith that military service required. "My husband told me once," she said, "that trust is a gamble. Every time you trust someone, you're betting your life on their character. But the alternative, trusting no one, that's not living.
That's just existing in fear. " Marcus looked at her. "What if the gamble doesn't pay off? " "Then we fight our way out. " Eva's voice was calm, matter-of-fact. "But we don't have a choice. Seven people are depending on us. We can't save them alone. " "You're right. " Marcus rubbed his face.
"I know you're right. I just" His phone rang. Unknown number. He answered, put it on speaker. "Calhoun. " The distorted voice came through.
"Change of plans. " Marcus's hand tightened on the phone. "What changed? " "We have new information about your activities today, about your friends. " Eva's blood went cold. "We know you called in backup, Calhoun. We know you're not coming alone. Very disappointing. " "I don't know what you're talking about. " "Old desert warehouse is no longer the location.
We're moving the meet. New place, old mining camp, 20 miles north of the original site. 6:00 p.m. Still, same rules, but this time" The voice turned icy. "We'll be watching for your friends.
If we see them, everyone dies, starting with Doc. " The line went dead. Marcus stared at the phone. Eva pulled the Bronco onto the shoulder, killed the engine. "They know," Marcus said quietly. "Someone told them about Boone. " "Who knows we called Boone? " "Only the people in this truck. " Marcus met her eyes.
"Unless Boone told someone or unless someone's listening. " Eva thought fast. "Your phone, could it be tapped? " Marcus looked at the device like it might bite him. "I don't know. Maybe. " "Give it to me. " He handed it over. Eva rolled down the window, threw the phone as hard as she could into the desert.
"Hey! " "If it's compromised, they're tracking us right now. " She started the engine again, pulled back onto the highway. "We assume they know everything we've said, everything we've planned. Which means the plan is blown. Which means we need a new plan. " Eva drove in silence for a moment thinking. "Call Boone from my phone.
Tell him about the location change. " Marcus used Eva's phone, dialed from memory. Boone answered on the first ring. "Yeah? " "It's Marcus. They changed the location. Old mining camp instead of the warehouse. " A pause.
"How'd they know about the warehouse? " "That's what I'm trying to figure out. " Marcus's voice was hard. "Where are you? " "30 minutes out from the original site with the boys. " "Turn around. Head to the new location. " "But Boone, be invisible. They're looking for backup. If they spot you, people die.
Understood. " "Marcus, how'd they know? " "I'll find out after we save Doc. " He hung up. Eva and Marcus sat in silence as the miles rolled past. "Someone in your organization is feeding them information," Eva said finally. "Real-time information. Which means it's not just about the ransom.
It's personal. Someone wants me dead or someone is being blackmailed, threatened, forced to cooperate. " Marcus considered this. "It's possible these traffickers, they're not amateurs. They know how to leverage people. Who in your inner circle has vulnerabilities?
Family they'd kill to protect? Secrets that could be exposed? " Marcus thought. "Clayton's wife has Alzheimer's. Care facility costs eight grand a month. He's struggling financially.
Wade's daughter is in rehab third time. Silas is going through an ugly divorce. Garrett Thorn? I don't know much about his personal life. He keeps it private.
Any of them capable of betrayal? Six months ago I'd have said no. Now Marcus's voice was bleak. "I don't know anything anymore. " They drove on. The sun sank lower painting the sky in shades of orange and purple.
Somewhere ahead Doc was waiting. Somewhere ahead six other people were praying. And somewhere ahead someone Marcus trusted was waiting to betray him again. They stopped at a gas station 20 miles from the mining camp. Eva filled the tank while Marcus studied a map of the area.
The mining camp was old, abandoned since the 1960s. A relic of Arizona's copper boom. Now just ruins and dust. Perfect place for an ambush. Eva came back to the truck, found Marcus writing something on a piece of paper.
"What's that letter? " "For Doc. " He kept writing. "In case I don't make it out. " Eva sat beside him. "You'll make it out. " "Maybe. Maybe not. " He finished writing, folded the paper, tucked it in his vest pocket. "But I need him to know that I tried, that I kept my promise. " They sat in silence.
"Tell me about Garrett," Marcus said quietly. "How'd you two meet? " Eva smiled remembering. "Naval Hospital, Norfolk, Virginia, 1972. He came in with a welding burn on his arm. I treated it.
He asked me to dinner. I said no. Hard to get, practical. Dating sailors was a bad idea. They ship out, they don't come back, your heart breaks. " She laughed softly.
"He came back every day for two weeks. Different excuses. Headache, sprained ankle. Once he claimed he'd swallowed a nickel. " "Did he? No, but he was persistent.
Finally I said yes to dinner. We got married six months later. 45 years. 45 years. Some of them hard, some of them beautiful, all of them worth it. " Eva looked at Marcus.
"He taught me that life isn't about how long you live. It's about what you do with the time you have, the people you help, the promises you keep. " Marcus nodded slowly. "Doc taught me the same thing. " "Then let's make them both proud. " At 5:30 p.m. They pulled off the highway onto a dirt road that led to the old mining camp. The sun was nearly gone now, the desert cooling fast.
Shadows stretched long and dark. Eva killed the engine a quarter mile from the camp. "We walk from here," she said. "They're watching the road, too. " They gathered their supplies. Eva took the Remington shotgun, made sure it was loaded.
Five shells. She had 20 more in her pockets. Marcus took the Colt 1911, checked the magazine. Full, eight rounds. Not much against however many men were waiting, but it would have to do.
They walked in silence, Eva supporting Marcus's weight when his injured leg gave out. Ahead the mining camp materialized from the gloom. Old wooden buildings half collapsed, rusted equipment, a deep pit where copper had once been extracted, and lights. Generator-powered floodlights illuminating the central clearing. Three SUVs parked in a semicircle.
Men with rifles standing guard. And in the center tied to chairs seven people. Elderly, terrified, dirty and bruised but alive. Eva's breath caught. One of them was Doc.
She recognized him from Marcus's description. 70 years old, white-haired, thin, but with eyes that still held defiance. The other six, three women, three men, all over 60. All looking like they'd been through hell. A man stepped forward from the shadows.