Lies Inside (20 page)

After Sam basically kicked Jack out of the meeting with Murphy and Lane, Jack convinced Rylan to go for a walk with him after she reluctantly ate her lunch.

“I thought maybe you could tell me some of your favorite memories of you and Lucy.” They swung their arms as their fingers tangled together. “I know there’s about a million that I know nothing about.”

The corners of her mouth turned up slightly as her mind went through the catalog of memories. “Well...”

“Come on.” Jack was dying to know what was causing her wheels to turn in that pretty little head of hers.

“She was the first person I told about us.”

“Really? What did she say?”

“It was inevitable. She said she knew I loved you since we were kids. I guess it was kind of how I knew she was always supposed to be with Finn. Then, when I told her we made love, she wanted to know all the details.”

“I see. That seems a little strange.”

“It’s not like I didn’t ask about her and my brother.” Rylan rolled her eyes.

“Go on.”

“She wanted to know how it felt, you know like...did it hurt and was it really worth it. I told her it got better after a while, but being with you was the most amazing experience of my life.”

Jack pulled her into his arms. “You’ve never told me that before.”

“I thought you knew.”

“‘Because you make that little squeaking noise when you’re about to...”

“Yes.” She patted his chest. “I only squeak for you.”

“It’s been awhile.” He started kissing her neck.

“Here? Now?”

“Why not? We’re far enough from the house. It’ll be like when we snuck into the teacher’s lounge during Prom.”

“You are such a bad boy, Jack Butler.”

He pressed his lips to hers. “That’s why you love me.”

He spun her around and backed her up to a nearby tree. They hit the tree so hard, a branch broke and came crashing down next to them. Jack went to examine the damage.

“What is it?”

Jack picked up the small box and dusted it off. “It’s some sort of camera.” He lifted his head to see from where the branch had fallen. He examined it a little further and discovered it was solar powered and appeared to be on a wireless system. Whatever pictures were being taken were being relayed somewhere, to someone.

He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and dialed his father. He told him to bring Sam to the house.

Within a few hours, FBI agents were combing the grounds, looking for more cameras. They found four more hidden in trees and on telephone poles. They went to work trying to find where the images were transmitted.

“Can you tell us what kind of pictures they pulled from the memory?” Jack asked Lane.

Everyone gathered in the living room, waiting to hear back from Sam. Rylan paced, her new nervous habit.

“I’m not sure. We’ll just need to wait and see. What we really need to tell you is why Sam came to see me in the first place.”

Everyone in the room held their breath as Lane continued, “They found a basement room that had been hidden in Viktor’s house. There were two sets of clothes in the room. They’re going to perform some DNA testing, but we identified them as what the kids were wearing when they left the lake that night.”

“At least now we are sure Viktor took them. Who knows what he’s done with them. Camille and the girls must be terrified.” Aiden sat down and opened up his laptop.

Somehow knowing Viktor actually took them didn’t make any of them feel better. They all clung to the hope that those cameras would lead them to Finn and Lucy.

Lane’s phone rang, and he grabbed it frantically. They all sat on the edge of insanity as he spoke with Sam.

Jack came up behind Rylan and wrapped his arms around her. He had to do something to stop her pacing. She held onto his forearms in a vice grip as though she would pass out if she let him go.

“They’ve traced the signal. It was actually feeding video to the source. They’re sending some agents out, but they don’t want us to get our hopes up.”

“Where? Where was it going to?” Rylan dug her nails into Jack’s skin, turning her hold into a death grip as Jack felt the pain travel up his arms.

“Montana.”

Finn had the idea, but it didn’t all come together until Olivia brought a bottle out of her parents’ room. She thought it was powder and was trying to dump it in her diaper when he caught her. He took the bottle and hid it, keeping it out of sight until he needed it.

Over the next few weeks, Finn and Lucy used the girls to help them get things they needed or to hide them. Chloe got into Camille’s dresser and found a stash of cash. She thought it was play money. Finn agreed to play grocery store with her if she would hide it for him with a couple of other things.

At four years old, Chloe was smart enough to do what he told her without asking too many questions. When she asked why Finn had her put clothes in a trash bag and taking diapers and wipes from Olivia’s room, he told her they were going on a surprise vacation. They would tell her mommy and daddy, but not until right before they were going to leave. The answer seemed plausible to her.

The day came when everything was ready. The bags. The cash. Now they just needed a distraction.

“What’s on the menu tonight?” Viktor came up behind Lucy as she was looking through a few recipe cards. She shuddered as his fingertips stroked her forearm.

“Manicotti with some garlic cheese bread and salad. I think the girls want some mac and cheese though.”

“Perfect as always.” He brushed her cheek before leaving to go get Camille.

They quickly put their plan into action. Finn grabbed the bottle of powdered fiber Olivia had discovered and mixed it with part of the cheese filling for the manicotti. Lucy filled about half the pasta tubes with the fiber-cheese filling before Camille and Viktor even returned to the room. Finn filled the remaining tubes with regular filling. Viktor watched as Finn and Lucy finished the sauce and poured it in the baking dish.

“It won’t take too long. I’ll just make the mac and cheese for the girls while it’s baking.” Lucy was confident as she slipped the dish into the oven. She just hoped the next time she cooked dinner, it would be for her real family.

Soon they had settled at the table. The girls were enjoying Lucy’s homemade macaroni and cheese, while Camille and Viktor couldn’t get enough of the special manicotti.

After dinner, the girls wanted to watch a video. They all piled into the living room and sat down to watch Chloe’s favorite movie. It was a long movie, and about halfway through, Finn took Olivia to bed. He made sure the girls’ shoes and socks were right by the door. When he made the decision to go, he wanted to get out as quickly as possible.

When Finn returned to the living room, Chloe was perched on Lucy’s lap and Camille was missing in action.

“Where’s Camille?” Finn tried to ask innocently enough.

“She wasn’t feeling good. She went ahead and went to bed. Actually, I’m not doing too well myself.”

“Me either. I’m guessing my stomach had enough cheese for one night.” Finn patted his stomach as he took his seat beside Lucy.

“You think you guys would be okay to get Chloe to bed if I go up?” Viktor asked.

Lucy’s eyes went wide as she realized what was about to happen. Turning to Chloe, she said, “Sure. You’ll let us tuck you in, won’t you?”

“After the movie is over.” Chloe was very intense as her favorite scene was coming up.

“Go ahead. We’ll get her up.” Finn nodded for Viktor to go upstairs.

By the time the movie finished, Chloe was fast asleep. Finn left her with Lucy while he went up to check on Camille and Viktor.

Viktor was moaning in their bathroom as Camille was curled up on their bed. It appeared as though the powdered fiber had worked. With any luck, these two would be sick all night. It took everything in Finn, but he put the next step of their plan into action.

He walked carefully to Olivia’s room and retrieved the bags from the closet where he’d hidden them. He grabbed the cash out and stuffed it in his pocket. After he put Olivia’s shoes on her, he picked her up and took her downstairs.

“You get the keys?”

Lucy pulled a key ring from her pocket along with the infamous cell phone. Finn’s eyes widened in amazement.

“How?”

“Let’s just say it didn’t take much to distract him while I lifted it out of his pocket.”

Finn kissed her hard on the lips. “I love you.”

“I love you, too. Let’s go home.”

They got the bags and the girls into the van and strapped them in their car seats. Finn opened the driver’s side door as Lucy opened the front passenger door. He put the car in neutral and they pushed it as far as they could down the drive before jumping in.

Finn started it up and drove down the road. He had remembered the nearest town was about fifteen miles away. He sped toward the only lights in the sky. After about ten minutes, they made it to a truck stop. They gathered the girls and went inside.

“Frank? What are you guys doing out this late at night?”

Finn thought at that moment, George must have been sent by God.

“It’s a long story, but I need some help.”

“Anything, man. What do you need?”

“A cell phone and, if you can drudge one up, a bolt cutter.”

“A bolt cutter?”

Finn raised the hem of his pants to reveal the ankle monitor still attached. He turned to Lucy as she showed him hers.

George pulled out his phone immediately and handed it to Finn. “I know the manager on tonight. I’m sure I can find something.”

He ran off to find his friend as Finn and Lucy took the sleeping girls over to a booth and sat down.

Finn could hardly concentrate as he punched in all the numbers.

One ring.

Two rings.

Three rings.

“Hello?”

Finn felt the tears well up in his eyes as he heard a voice he thought he might never hear again.

“Dad...Is that you?”

“Finn! Thank God. Where are you?” His father’s voice was full of relief and loud and the most wonderful thing he’d ever heard. A lump filled his throat.

“Uh...I’m not exactly sure. Some truck stop in Montana, I think.” Wiping away the tears in his eyes, Finn looked around for any signs of where they were. He held Chloe tight against his chest while Lucy cried tears of relief into Olivia’s hair.

“Are you…okay? Is Lucy alright?”

Finn could tell his father was getting choked up which made him lose what little control he had left. He let his head fall back while he closed his eyes, tears streaming down his cheeks. “Uh.” His voice cracked a little. He cleared his throat. “She’s with me and the girls. We’re fine. We just want to go home.”

George came over with the bolt cutters. “Hold on a second, Dad.”

Finn put the phone down, and George slipped the cutters carefully between Finn’s ankle and the monitor. As he cut, Finn felt a small shock as it fell to the floor. George then cut Lucy’s off, sending a small jolt up her leg. Finn placed the monitors on the table before turning to him.

“I knew that Mr. Allen was a little off, but this?” George picked up one of the monitors, looking at it in shock.