the night before. She’d have a good view of the yard. If Virgil or any of his men tried to pull a gun, she’d be ready.
When she’d parked the patrol car out of sight, Abbot had pulled Vanessa’s scarred Sequoia from the garage and left it sitting in the open, a sign to the traffickers that they’d come to the right place.
Perez hid in the garage.
Vanessa was in the house, alone, except for Abbott upstairs.
Eric hunkered down to wait, praying the traffickers would take their time, maybe even arrive a few minutes late...just not so late that the FBI arrived at the same moment. If that happened, the bad guys would surely flee before they even arrived, and the FBI might never get close enough to chase them down.
Crouched low on the tree stand, Eric made himself as small as possible to avoid detection and kept his eyes trained on the cabin. He couldn’t help wishing he could be there beside Vanessa as she waited. He knew she had to be terrified. The deputies had warned her there was still a chance, in spite of her body armor and their protective weapons backing her up, that Virgil and his men could still take her out while she was out in the open. The criminals would be most likely to aim for her torso, head shots being notoriously difficult to make. But even with the bulletproof vest protecting the part of her body they were most likely to hit, she was still vulnerable. Not as vulnerable as she’d be every day of her life, for the rest of her life, if these guys weren’t caught...but still vulnerable.
And if Arthur didn’t show, none of her sacrifice would even be worth it. They might catch Virgil and his men, but those guys were just one arm of the monster. They had to cut off the head.
Knowing they needed God’s help more than anything, Eric prayed Arthur would show and that the bad guys would be caught, every last one of them. And most of all, that Vanessa would be safe.
A small brown bird landed on the tree-stand railing, not a foot away from his face. Eric studied the little animal, reassured that it must not have seen him, to land so close.
It was a sparrow. Recognizing it, Eric was reminded of words from the Bible:
“Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
Was the bird God’s way of reassuring him that everything was going to be okay? Eric tried to recall the context of the verse. Wasn’t it something about not fearing those who could kill you? Eric was nearly certain that was how the passage went, having heard it in church mere weeks before, but the verses were so eerily fitting. Was God telling him everything would be okay?
The tiny bird hopped half a turn and faced him; its twinkling eyes blinked and it cocked its head to one side, as if challenging his doubt.
“You are worth more than many sparrows.”
Adrenaline and caffeine pulsing through him, Eric was now more awake than he’d been all night. That much was good. His thoughts felt clear for the first time, too, as he prayed for God to wrap His protecting arms around Vanessa.
It was that thought—that image of God holding Vanessa safe in His arms, along with the reassurance of the Bible verse—that got to Eric in a new way. All night, he’d been reacting to the situation as it came to him, first recognizing Vanessa, then realizing she wasn’t the murderer Virgil claimed her to be, then helping her, trusting her, endangering himself for her safety.
But now, in the clarity of the morning light, in the midst of prayer, his thoughts weren’t reactionary anymore. He cared about Vanessa. He’d always cared about her. It had torn him apart when she’d gone missing. But it was more than that, wasn’t it? Her disappearance had cut him so deeply because he’d never had a chance to tell her how he felt about her.
And now, he realized, he still hadn’t told her.
For an instant, Eric debated jumping down from the tree stand, running up to the cabin and telling Vanessa how he felt. But a glint of light caught his
When she’d parked the patrol car out of sight, Abbot had pulled Vanessa’s scarred Sequoia from the garage and left it sitting in the open, a sign to the traffickers that they’d come to the right place.
Perez hid in the garage.
Vanessa was in the house, alone, except for Abbott upstairs.
Eric hunkered down to wait, praying the traffickers would take their time, maybe even arrive a few minutes late...just not so late that the FBI arrived at the same moment. If that happened, the bad guys would surely flee before they even arrived, and the FBI might never get close enough to chase them down.
Crouched low on the tree stand, Eric made himself as small as possible to avoid detection and kept his eyes trained on the cabin. He couldn’t help wishing he could be there beside Vanessa as she waited. He knew she had to be terrified. The deputies had warned her there was still a chance, in spite of her body armor and their protective weapons backing her up, that Virgil and his men could still take her out while she was out in the open. The criminals would be most likely to aim for her torso, head shots being notoriously difficult to make. But even with the bulletproof vest protecting the part of her body they were most likely to hit, she was still vulnerable. Not as vulnerable as she’d be every day of her life, for the rest of her life, if these guys weren’t caught...but still vulnerable.
And if Arthur didn’t show, none of her sacrifice would even be worth it. They might catch Virgil and his men, but those guys were just one arm of the monster. They had to cut off the head.
Knowing they needed God’s help more than anything, Eric prayed Arthur would show and that the bad guys would be caught, every last one of them. And most of all, that Vanessa would be safe.
A small brown bird landed on the tree-stand railing, not a foot away from his face. Eric studied the little animal, reassured that it must not have seen him, to land so close.
It was a sparrow. Recognizing it, Eric was reminded of words from the Bible:
“Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
Was the bird God’s way of reassuring him that everything was going to be okay? Eric tried to recall the context of the verse. Wasn’t it something about not fearing those who could kill you? Eric was nearly certain that was how the passage went, having heard it in church mere weeks before, but the verses were so eerily fitting. Was God telling him everything would be okay?
The tiny bird hopped half a turn and faced him; its twinkling eyes blinked and it cocked its head to one side, as if challenging his doubt.
“You are worth more than many sparrows.”
Adrenaline and caffeine pulsing through him, Eric was now more awake than he’d been all night. That much was good. His thoughts felt clear for the first time, too, as he prayed for God to wrap His protecting arms around Vanessa.
It was that thought—that image of God holding Vanessa safe in His arms, along with the reassurance of the Bible verse—that got to Eric in a new way. All night, he’d been reacting to the situation as it came to him, first recognizing Vanessa, then realizing she wasn’t the murderer Virgil claimed her to be, then helping her, trusting her, endangering himself for her safety.
But now, in the clarity of the morning light, in the midst of prayer, his thoughts weren’t reactionary anymore. He cared about Vanessa. He’d always cared about her. It had torn him apart when she’d gone missing. But it was more than that, wasn’t it? Her disappearance had cut him so deeply because he’d never had a chance to tell her how he felt about her.
And now, he realized, he still hadn’t told her.
For an instant, Eric debated jumping down from the tree stand, running up to the cabin and telling Vanessa how he felt. But a glint of light caught his
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