Flynn (Oath of Honor #8)

Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Icy water filled the boat faster than she could bail. Taylor’s lower limbs went numb first, then she noticed her arms weren’t working properly. The water was almost up to her waist now, and the boat was sinking fast.

They were going to die.

“Swim!” Flynn’s shout managed to penetrate the icy numbness enveloping her. He tugged her along with him as they quickly abandoned the boat. “Swim!”

Desperation spurred her forward. Looking beyond Flynn’s shoulder, she could see the shoreline wasn’t far. Maybe twenty yards? Yet it seemed unattainable.

Forcing her dead limbs to move wasn’t easy. She tried to kick her legs to propel her forward. But she couldn’t feel them moving. Flynn had a tight grip on her jacket and was pulling her along.

“Stand up.” He abruptly surged from the water, taking a few stumbling steps. “The shore is right there! Come on, Taylor, you can do this!”

Understanding the water wasn’t very deep here, she struggled to stand. Her legs didn’t want to support her, but she managed to take two steps before falling back down.

“Hang on to me.” Flynn anchored his arm around her waist and hauled her forward. He must be just as cold as she was, but he had sheer strength of will on his side. He pulled her up and out of the water, collapsing on the shore.

“Wh-where are we?” The area didn’t look familiar.

“The lake house is the next one over.” Flynn pushed himself upright. “We need to move. I don’t know if he’ll come back.”

The idea of the gunman tracking them down and firing more shots sent the fight-or-flight response jolting through her. She was still cold to the bone, but she forced herself to lift up onto her hands and knees. With Flynn’s help, she managed to lever herself upright.

“This way.” Flynn guided her across the lawn at an angle. The house appeared to be empty, or maybe she just assumed that as no one rushed out to help them.

Once they were in the yard of their rental property, the trek became more difficult. Not only were her legs not working well, but they were climbing up the slope to the house. It felt like scaling Everest, her gaze focused on the warmth of the building so close yet so far away.

“You can do it,” Flynn said between grunts. “We’re almost there.”

He was doing more than his part, hauling her along with him. When they reached the house, he punched in the key code and opened the door. The blast of warm air was like a blanket. She wanted to lie down on the floor, but Flynn wouldn’t let her.

“No, Taylor. We need to keep moving.” He urged her forward. “We need to take off our wet clothes and grab some blankets for the road.”

For the road? She blinked. Stared. “We’re leaving?”

“Yes. As quickly as possible.” He dragged her to the closest bedroom and wrenched the quilted blanket off the bed. “Strip off your wet clothes and wrap up in this.”

Strip?

“If you can’t take your things off, I’ll do it for you.” Flynn was already shucking off his wet clothes. She belatedly realized he’d grabbed another blanket from the closet.

“I can do it.” Or so she hoped. The numbness was wearing off, leaving a strange tingling along her nerve endings. She began to shiver uncontrollably as she peeled off her coat and her sweater.

“Here, let me help.” Flynn draped the quilt around her shoulders. The warmth was amazing, giving her the strength she needed to toe off her shoes and begin to peel down her wet jeans.

The only thought in her mind was survival. The gunman had tried to drown them in the icy water. Flynn was right to get them out of there.

“Good job,” he said as she managed to kick the jeans off. He drew the edges of the quilt around her and looked into her eyes. “The worst is over. We’re going to get through this. Time to head out to the car.”

She nodded, ignoring the absurdity of driving away wearing nothing but wet underwear and a blanket. “Okay.”

With a reassuring smile, he drew her down the short hall to the main living area. She belatedly realized that he’d tucked his blanket under his arms so that he could hold his service weapon in one hand, carrying his wallet with the other as they made their way through the house.

He ignored the computers, grabbing the car’s key fob off the counter. He opened the garage door and peeked through, then moved into the garage.

She quickly snagged one of the laptops, yanking the power cord from the wall to follow him. It is better than nothing , she thought, as she wrestled with keeping the quilt around her as she headed to the passenger side of the vehicle.

This time, Flynn opened the garage door, taking another moment to peer outside before sliding in behind the wheel. They probably looked ridiculous, two people practically naked wrapped in blankets sitting in the front seat of the SUV.

All that mattered was that they’d survived.

“Thank you, Lord Jesus,” she whispered.

“Amen.” Flynn looked both ways before taking a left at the end of the driveway. They’d come in from the opposite direction, but she didn’t question his decision.

Flynn had saved her life. If not for his dragging her through the water and half carrying her up the embankment, she wouldn’t be sitting beside him. She’d never felt God’s presence the way she did now.

She knew God had given Flynn the strength he needed to get them out of there.

Amen , she silently added.

Flynn was silent as he drove. They didn’t have anything but the blankets, the computer, and the SUV. Neither one of them was even wearing shoes. Flynn cranked the heat, which felt good on her bare toes. Their new disposable cell phones had been rendered useless after being submerged in the lake water. The only saving grace was that Flynn had his wallet and his gun.

“What should we do?” she asked as they continued their meandering drive. “We can’t call anyone for help.”

“I know.” He glanced at the computer she’d tucked on the floor at her feet. “Smart of you to grab the laptop. Once we’re settled, we’ll use that to reach out to the team.”

“Settled where?” She shivered again, despite the warm air blasting through the vents. Their near miss was still difficult to comprehend. She was having trouble keeping herself from thinking about how close they’d come to dying.

“The American Lodge,” Flynn said. “I planned to avoid it, but we don’t have many options. I know the owner, Gary Campbell. He’s a former firefighter and offers discounts to all police and firefighters. Our team has worked with him often in the past two years. I know he’ll give us connecting rooms without a problem.” Flynn shot her a wry look. “My wallet is soaked, but I’m confident he’ll take cash, even if it’s wet and needs to dry off.”

She’d never heard of the American Lodge but trusted Flynn’s instincts. Especially since it seemed as if he knew this Gary on a first-name basis.

“I’m surprised you didn’t think to head there rather than renting the house on Peabody Lake.”

“I discussed that with Cassidy.” He grimaced. “It’s located in Brookland, so I immediately took it off the list. I also wanted to avoid going anyplace that had ties to the tactical team. But without a phone, that’s the only place that will work. I’m concerned that even with using Gabe Melrose to secure the lake house, the gunman found us.”

She frowned, thinking back on those frightening moments on the lake. “I hadn’t considered the possibility we were followed to the lake. I assumed the perp was in one of the houses and saw us going by. How else did he get a boat to come after us?”

Flynn shot her a quick glance. “That’s a good point. Most people pull their boats out of the water in the winter.” He scowled and shook his head. “I don’t know what to think. Did we really rent a house on the same lake where the mastermind behind the murders lives?”

She swallowed hard. “Maybe. A professional hit man wouldn’t own a house on Peabody Lake, but the person who hired him could have a residence there. That meshes with the photo we found of Lyle and Jake Paulson. And that would explain how he’d happened to see us on the lake and had access to a boat to chase after us.”

“Yeah, that’s the only scenario that makes sense to me,” Flynn said. He raked a hand through his wet hair. “We really need to talk to Rhy, and soon.”

She nodded. Glancing down at the quilt wrapped around her, she was conscious of her wet undergarments. The feeling had returned to her body, but she still felt chilled. She was tempted to ask about how soon they could get replacement clothes and shoes but understood Flynn’s priority was to get them safely to the American Lodge.

Everything else was secondary.

They had survived this round, but what about the next attempt? As Flynn continued taking back roads to get out of the city of Peabody, she couldn’t help but pray that the Brookland PD would find and arrest the gunman.

Very soon.

Waves of guilt washed over Flynn as he took every back road he could find to get far away from Peabody. This mess was his fault.

He’d nearly gotten them killed. His bright idea of heading out onto the lake to see if they could find the location of the homes in the picture of the Paulson brothers had backfired in a big way.

The events had unfolded so quickly he still wasn’t sure how they’d gotten out of the lake. His only clear memory was grabbing and holding on to Taylor. One minute they were taking gunfire, the next they were stumbling onto the lake shore. How he’d managed to keep ahold of both Taylor and his weapon was another mystery.

The only answer was that God had guided and protected them.

And while he was grateful for that, he needed to be smarter moving forward. Swallowing hard against the bitter taste of failure, he forced himself to think logically. They had no clothes and no phones. He had his credit cards, but he didn’t want to use them.

Was it smart to seek refuge at the American Lodge? He honestly didn’t know.

Another temporary location? He didn’t necessarily want to drive to any of his teammate’s homes. For one thing, he wasn’t sure they’d be there. But more importantly, he wasn’t willing to bring danger to their doorsteps.

Rhy lived in Brookland with his pregnant wife and one-year-old daughter. Flynn would never bring danger to the Finnegan homestead, but using the American Lodge even as a temporary staging area would make it more convenient for Rhy or any of the others to come to them.

They needed clothes, shoes, replacement phones, more cash, and time to regroup. Not necessarily in that order.

Tightening his grip on the steering wheel, he held his emotions in check as he backtracked twice to make sure they weren’t being followed. By the time they reached the American Lodge, a white two-story motel with twelve rooms on each level, every one of his nerves was stretched to a breaking point.

Was he making another mistake by coming here? Second-guessing every move he made wasn’t helpful. Flynn couldn’t afford to be paralyzed by overthinking their next steps. Yet he didn’t trust himself not to screw up again either.

“This looks nice,” Taylor said.

He managed a nod, reaching over to place his service weapon in the glove box. “I’d like you to stay here while I get our rooms. It shouldn’t take long.”

“Okay.” Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.

Keenly aware of his state of undress, he slid out from behind the wheel, taking a moment to secure the blanket around his torso. Then he grabbed his wallet. On his way to the lobby, he glanced around, hoping no one would notice. A man wearing nothing but a blanket would be easy to remember. Thankfully, there weren’t too many cars in the parking lot, giving him hope that Gary would be able to accommodate his request.

Gary was sitting behind the desk when he entered the lobby. The older man’s eyebrows hiked up upon seeing Flynn.

“What in the world happened?” Gary asked. “Looks like you’ve been swimming.”

“Yeah, you could say that.” He was relieved Gary had taken his bedraggled appearance in stride. “I need a couple of connecting rooms.”

“Of course, rooms 11 and 12 are open on the first floor.” Gary frowned as he set his water-soaked wallet on the counter. “No need to pay now, I can understand if you need to dry out first.”

“Thanks, but I don’t know how long we’ll be staying.” He unfolded the wallet and drew out several wet bills. “Sorry about them being wet.”

“Money is money,” Gary said with a shrug. He took the wet bills, set them out flat to dry, then slid two key cards toward him. “Is there something else I can do for you?”

It was comforting to know Gary was an ally, a friend when he desperately needed one. “Just keep an eye on the security cameras while I make some calls.”

“Yeah, sure.” Gary nodded solemnly. “Take care of yourself, Flynn.”

“Thanks.” He turned away, paused, then glanced back at Gary. “Did you know Steve and Robin Miller?”

Gary considered that for a moment. “Are you talking about the same Steve Miller who is the president of Brookland Bank?”

“Yeah. Exactly.”

“I didn’t know him personally,” Gary said. “But I have my business account with Brookland Bank. Why? Did something happen?”

He shouldn’t have been surprised that Gary used the local bank for his business. Yet hearing him say the words were still a shock. “Steve and Robin were murdered last night. I’d appreciate it if you would keep our being here under wraps.”

“I always do.” Gary frowned. “Murdered? I must have missed that on the news.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not sure how much information the police are telling the public about the incident.” Flynn held Gary’s gaze. “Please don’t say anything about us being here.”

“Us who?” Gary waved a hand, looking impatient. “You should know me better than that. Your secret is safe with me.”

Flynn nodded his thanks, turned, and pushed through the door. He told himself to stop being paranoid. Gary Campbell had been a friend of the Finnegans, their cousins the Callahans, and the entire tactical team.

Gary would never betray them. Just because he did his banking at the same place where the CEO was killed didn’t mean anything.

He slid in behind the wheel, set the wallet and key cards in the cupholder, then drove around to the far corner of the building. The connecting rooms were familiar as many other members of the team had used them in the past. The pair of rooms were located near the staircase leading to the second floor. Out of habit, he parked the vehicle out of sight from the parking lot.

“Stay behind me,” Flynn advised as he and Taylor got out of the SUV. The ground was cold beneath his bare feet, and he never realized how important shoes were until this moment. If they had to go on the run, they’d be sunk.

He tried to keep a positive attitude as he unlocked the door to room 12, then handed Taylor the key card. “Open your side of the connecting door between the rooms, okay?” She’d brought the laptop computer with her, which made him remember he needed to grab his gun.

Five minutes later, he was using the motel desk phone to call Rhy. Unfortunately, his boss didn’t answer. He left a terse message. “Rhy, we’re at the American Lodge and need clothes, shoes, phones, and cash. Please call ASAP, thanks.”

Taylor sank down onto the edge of the bed, drawing the edge of the quilt up and over her shoulder. “How long before he calls back?”

“I’m sure it will be soon.” He forced a smile as he crossed to the thermostat and cranked the heat. “Try to relax for a few minutes. We’re safe here.”

Even as he said the words, he squelched another flash of guilt. Hadn’t he said that while at the lake house?

For the first time since this nightmare started, he seriously considered handing Taylor’s safety over to another member of the team. Maybe he wasn’t qualified to protect her. He’d done his best to stay focused on the case, but he’d failed miserably.

This was part of the reason he’d broken off from their kiss.

He couldn’t afford to be distracted.

“This isn’t your fault, Flynn.” As if reading his mind, Taylor crossed to his side. “I can see you mentally beating yourself up over what happened. Remember, it was my idea to see if we could find the house in the lake photograph featuring my cousins.”

Had she? He shook his head. “I’m the one who put us in harm’s way.”

“You’re the one who saved my life.” Clutching the ends of the quilt in one hand, she placed the other on his arm. “I wouldn’t have made it out of there without you.”

That didn’t make him feel any better since she’d only been in the lake because of his harebrained plan. But the hotel phone rang, preventing him from saying anything more.

“That’s Rhy.” He brushed past her to grab the phone. “Yeah?”

“What on earth happened?” Rhy asked, concern lacing his tone. “You need me to bring clothes and shoes?”

“Yes.” He dropped to the edge of the bed. “It’s a long story. Bottom line, we’re safe but need help.”

“Of course,” Rhy said without hesitation. “Give me your sizes and I’ll grab new stuff for you both.”

Flynn gestured for Taylor to join him. After giving out the requested information, he said, “Thanks, Rhy. I appreciate your support more than you know.”

“I’ll be there soon. And Flynn? Stop beating yourself up. Every one of us has been in difficult situations, barely managing to escape unscathed. We are humans who do not have the ability to foresee the future. Take comfort in knowing God has been watching over you and is always there for you. I’ll be there in thirty or less.” Without saying anything more, Rhy ended the call.

Rhy’s words were a balm to his soul. If he thought about some of the situations his teammates had been in, they’d made mistakes too. His boss was right about the fact that no one could see the future. Except God.

The only reason to look backward was to learn from his mistakes.

They just needed a better plan moving forward.

“It’s wonderful you have Rhy to depend on,” Taylor said, breaking the silence.

“Yes. I am blessed to work with an amazing team.” He turned to face her. “And we will all do our best to keep you safe.”

“I know.” Her smile seemed a bit sad. “I just wish there was more we could do to find the gunman.”

“We’ll find him.” He spoke with confidence, despite wearing a blanket in lieu of clothes. “He made one mistake today; he’ll make others.”

She looked thoughtful. “Do you have any idea how many people live on Peabody Lake?”

Too many , he thought with a sigh, then he reached for the phone. He’d call Gabe and have him run a list of property owners on the lake. If he remembered correctly, they had run a similar list back when Grayson had a run-in with a gunman on Peabody Lake back in June.

“Hello?” Gabe’s voice was hesitant, likely because he didn’t recognize the number.

“It’s Flynn. We’re at the American Lodge.”

“Wait, what happened at the lake house?” Gabe asked.

Thinking about how the boat sank made him wince. So much for staying under budget. He quickly filled Gabe in on what had transpired. “I’m sorry, but we’ll have to pay for a new boat and new blankets.”

“I’m just glad you’re okay,” Gabe said. “I feel bad that using my name to rent the place didn’t protect you.”

“It’s not your fault; in fact, that’s why I’m calling. I need a list of all Peabody Lake property owners. I know you ran one a while back for Grayson, but I could use an updated listing.”

“That’s easy enough,” Gabe said. “Do you want me to email it to you?”

“Yes. Taylor was smart enough to grab one of the laptops as we ran out of there.” He flashed her a smile. “Rhy’s on his way with clothes and other necessities for us.”

“I’ll send it over as soon as I have it,” Gabe promised. “And really, Flynn, I’m glad you’re okay.”

“We’ve been blessed,” he said lightly. “Oh, and Rhy will be getting another set of phones for us, so keep answering calls from unknown numbers.”

Gabe chuckled. “Considering what’s been happening over the past few years, I always do.”

“I’ll be in touch.” He lowered the handset into the cradle. “We’ll look at the property list together once Gabe has it,” he said to Taylor. “I’ll want to know if you recognize any of the names.”

“Happy to help.” She frowned, then added, “I keep thinking about that picture of Lyle and Jake Paulson. We never did figure out the address of that house.”

“Not yet, but when we get the list from Gabe, we’ll run a search. I’m sure we’ll be able to narrow it down.” The idea of gaining key information after their recent colossal failure was encouraging. That and knowing that he was never alone when it came to Taylor’s safety provided an acute sense of relief. “Don’t worry, we’ll get to the bottom of this.”

“I know.” She reached out to take his hand, but the quilt slid down causing her to quickly grab it. “I never realized how vulnerable it feels to be without clothes.”

“No lie.” He still had trouble realizing they’d escaped the lake house with just blankets for cover. “This is a first for me too.”

A hint of awareness shimmered between them. It had nothing to do with wearing blankets instead of clothes, but that they’d barely survived hypothermia.

Remembering his need to stay focused, he abruptly shot to his feet. Hitching the blanket up, he crossed to the computer. Maybe he could do some searches of his own until Rhy arrived.

Taylor came over to sit beside him. He turned on the computer and was in the process of logging into his email provider when the motel landline phone rang. He almost tripped over the end of the blanket in his haste to answer. “Hello?”

“Flynn, it’s Rhy. I’ll be there in ten minutes or less.”

“Okay, we’re currently sitting in room 11.” He peered through the opening between the curtains covering the window overlooking the parking lot. “We’ll watch for you.”

“Great. I have some news from Detective Klem,” Rhy said, his tone somber.

His gut clenched. Now what? He tried not to show his dismay. “Anything useful about the case?”

“Not exactly. He and Iverson went to the apartment shared by Lyle and Jake Paulson. They didn’t find either man or evidence that they were harmed, but the place was trashed. Like completely searched as if someone was looking for something important.”

Flynn sank back down onto the edge of the bed. “Like what?”

“I don’t know,” Rhy said. “But it adds a new dimension to the case.”

That was putting it mildly. A professional hit man murders three people, Steve and Robin Miller and Taylor’s cousin Roman Paulson. Now suddenly the killer is searching for something in Lyle and Jake’s apartment?

It didn’t make any sense. The new puzzle piece didn’t fit at all. And he feared they’d never learn the truth in time to prevent another attack against Taylor.