She continued up the mountain, and up, until she was at the very top, where she turned into the parking lot of the Sky Top Restaurant and Bar. She took a moment to stop and enjoy the view, a scenic overlook of the entire valley lit up below. Colored in deep blues, greens, and purples, it was truly stunning. She couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like awash in the vivid colors of autumn. Or covered in a blanket of sparkling white around the holidays.
That was one of things she missed most about the northeast—the drastic change in seasons. When she looked out her sliding glass doors in her apartment in SoCal, the view was always the same regardless of the time of year.
When darkness fell in earnest, she got back in the rental and drove down the mountain. Once again, she had to fight the urge to turn into Sanctuary and seek out Nick. To tell him that she was sorry she’d doubted him. That she was convinced some Sumneyville locals were determined to paint him and the others in a bad light for some still-unknown reason.
Well, that wasn’t going to happen. Not on her watch. She just needed to dig deeper, and that meant more research.
As Bree was driving through town, she spotted two men in front of O’Malley’s Bar, heading to the adjacent lot. That in itself wasn’t unusual; it seemed like a popular place among the locals, even on weeknights. What did strike her as odd was that the men were dressed all in black—black pants, long-sleeved black shirts, black shoes, black skull caps.
One of them looked her way as she drove by, and that was when she realized why he looked familiar. It was Lenny Petraski.
Bree continued past the bar, then circled the block, and pulled up to the curb, parallel parking about half a block down and across the street from O’Malley’s. Before long, a dark pickup exited the lot with Lenny at the wheel.
Bree ducked down as the truck passed, and then on impulse, she turned the car around and followed the truck as it made its way up the mountain road she’d just come down. She didn’t allow herself to think about what she was doing. She trusted her instincts, and at that moment, they were telling her that tailing Lenny might provide valuable insight into his motivation for lying.
She was careful to stay far enough behind the truck to avoid arousing suspicion. When the truck turned off the main road onto what looked like an access road, Bree kept going, and then she pulled off to the shoulder and considered her options.
She knew what she should do. She should turn around and head to her motel. Alternately, she could wait until they emerged and see where they went.
Bree had never been particularly good at doing what she should do. And this was a chance to prove she had what it took to get the juicy assignments. Who knew when she’d get another opportunity?
So, with her heart in her throat and her stomach filled with butterflies, Bree did what any good journalist would do. She turned off the car, got out, and started making her way down the access road on foot.
Chapter Forty
Cage
Cage had been set to take one of the vehicles and drive down to Oakport the moment Ian told him where she was. Then, Church invited them all to stay for dinner and offered Sean and Nicki a tour. By the time they left, it was growing dark, and Cage was rethinking his plan.
Bree hadn’t bothered to let him know that she was still in town, which meant she probably didn’t want him to know. If he just showed up at the motel, she’d want to know how he’d known where to find her. Exactly how would he explain that?
No, the best thing he could do would be to keep an eye on her without her knowing, just like he had the first day he met her—when he climbed up on the ridge while she waited for a tow. Then, if the opportunity presented itself, their paths could cross accidentally on purpose, and he could take it from there.
He was thinking about how to do that when one of the perimeter alarms went off. He sent off a text to Church.
“What’ve we got?” Church asked a short while later, joining Cage in the war room.
“Someone’s breached the perimeter near the southwest access road,” Cage answered.
He tapped a few keys and adjusted the camera angles, focusing on the big black pickup. Two men, one of them Lenny Petraski, moved to the back of the bed and pulled out two crates from beneath the cover. The other guy wasn’t as easily identifiable. His black hoodie was pulled up, concealing any distinguishing features in shadow.
“Good thing you got those cameras up when you did. Looks like ammo,” Church said, taking a seat beside Cage and peering at the screen.
“Makes sense. Assault weapons aren’t much good without ammo.”
“You’re recording this, right?”
“Every second.”
“Good,” Church said, nodding. “It’s harder to deny something when you’re caught on camera, doing it.”
Another image came to life, the camera inside the entrance activated by Lenny’s and his friend’s movement into the chamber. It showed them stacking the boxes beside the others already there.
“Want to listen in too?” Cage removed the wireless earbud and switched over to speaker mode.
“You sure this place is secure?” the other guy said as Lenny swung the beam of his flashlight around, giving the place a once-over.
Then, Lenny turned the beam right into the face of his companion.
“That’s David Yocum,” Church said.
“The National Guard guy from Sam’s apartment building before she moved up here?”
“One and the same.”
“Guess he’s gone over to the dark side, sir,” Cage quipped.
Church’s lips quirked. From what Doc had told them about the night Sam’s apartment had caught fire, David Yocum had looked at Church like a teenage girl backstage at a boy band concert, snapping to attention and calling
