Risky Extraction

Chapter 24

Allyson got a call to come to the conference room in Keith’s office complex. The building contained his offices for NES and his construction company. They wanted her to go over some of the autopsy reports with Keith’s dad to make sure they didn’t miss anything. Ian was not able to help because he was working at the clinic.

Surprised not to see Crash in the room, she frantically glanced around the room for him. She hadn’t seen him heading to the bunkhouse, but he’d been to the gym that morning on the other side of the building.

“He’s gone to Jack’s place with Axel, Rex, Bullet, and Rock,” Keith told her, using everyone’s nicknames.

“Is that safe?”

Allyson probably shouldn’t be questioning them, but she had a knot in her stomach since she woke up that morning, and he wasn’t beside her. He’d texted to let her know where he was, but there was something in the back of her mind that she felt she should remember.

“We don’t believe this man would be stupid enough to try anything during the day,” Keith said, but something in his voice told her he wasn’t entirely sure.

Her attention turned to the other side of the table where Sean sat, his reading glasses on the end of his nose and a mountain of papers in front of him. She sat next to him and dug into the documents before him.

“I’ve got a spreadsheet here to compare each of the victims, including the two friends Crash lost recently,” Sean pointed to the laptop.

“Are we looking for a pattern?” She shivered when she thought about how much pain the poor people must have endured before their lives ended.

“This guy uses the same pattern with each victim. I’m assuming he probably does it all in the same order.” Sean clicked a few keys on the computer, and the spreadsheet popped up on the large screen at the room’s far end.

“He’s a sick bastard,” Keith said.

“You’ll get no arguments from me on that one,” Sean replied.

Crash and Axel had been gone for a while, but she wasn’t worried since Keith didn’t get any call about an issue. After all, they were in a public place. She hoped the sick feeling she was having didn’t mean anything, but the last time she’d had it, someone had taken her son.

James reviewed all the research Titus had dug up and confirmed they hadn’t missed anything. Nobody seemed to be getting anywhere, but everyone was doing something. James only glanced up when his phone vibrated on the table. He tapped the screen and the speaker on the phone.

“Danny, I’m kind of in the middle of something right now. Can this wait?” James asked.

“Dad, me and Mason are parked in the lot next to the diner. Mason wanted to see his girlfriend before we went to work.” James’ son whispered.

“Okay, buddy, make sure you get to work on time.” James shook his head.

“Dad, there are two black SUVs parked right in front of the steps with no plates. Dad, two guys went inside with gas masks on,” Danny went on.

“Get the hell out of there, Danny.” James jumped to his feet.

“We can’t. There’s another guy at the bottom of the steps, and if we go, he’ll know we’re here.” Danny didn’t sound the least bit frightened

“Jesus, Fuck.” James picked up the phone.

“Dad, we saw someone climb down off the roof of the diner a few minutes ago, but Aunt Alice has guys come check the ventilation system regularly. I don’t think this guy is a repair guy. He’s wearing a mask, too.” Mason’s voice sounded shaky.

“Wait,” Danny didn’t say anything for a few minutes. “Dad, they just dragged someone out of the door and threw him in one of the cars.”

“We’re on the way.” James started to leave the room.

“Danny, what else do you see?” Keith asked.

“Shit, I think that’s Crash.” Mason gasped. “It is. They’re throwing him in the other truck.”

“They went back inside again,” Danny interjected.

Allyson’s heart almost stopped as she listened to the two boys give a play-by-play of what was happening. James had grabbed another phone and sent some cruisers to the diner.

“Hey, Mason, you still got that air tag on your backpack?” Danny asked.

“Yeah,” Mason replied, and then there was some rustling.

“I’ll be back,” Danny said.

There was the click of a car door opening, and Mason said to be careful. Allyson held her breath while she waited to hear one of James’ sons say something.

“Mason? Danny?” James shouted.

There was nothing, not even the sound of the boys breathing. Time seemed to stop before the sound of car doors again could be heard through the phone.

“Mason? Danny?” James shouted.

“He’s getting in the car now,” Mason said.

“Where the hell did he go?” James asked.

“Remember the air tags you gave us for our book bags because we kept forgetting where we left them?” Mason asked.

“Yes,” James groaned.

“Danny stuck one on the back of one of those trucks,” Mason told them. “Shit, they’re coming out again.”

“Where’s your brother?” James yelled.

They heard the sound of the car door and Danny breathing hard.

“That was close,” Danny panted.

“Didn’t I fucking tell you to stay in that car?” James shouted.

“Dad, they got Crash,” Danny responded. “We’re going to follow them…”

“Do not follow them cars.” James’ words were lost because the call ended.

“They wouldn’t follow them, would they?” Allyson asked.

“They’re O’Connor males. Of course, they will,” Sandy interjected.

“Shut it,” Keith snapped.

“If they don’t get killed by those men, I’m going to kill them myself.” James was out the door with everyone behind him.

“We better go. There’s no way someone got Crash and Axel out of there without hurting someone. I better call Kurt, too.”

Kurt O’Connor was Alice’s husband; if anyone did anything to hurt her, he would make them wish they were never born. Allyson followed Sean out of the room, leaving Titus with Sandy and Colt.

“Let me know what’s going on,” Sandy shouted as Allyson left the conference room.

“I will,” Allyson ran to catch up with Sean.

Fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances surrounded the diner. First responders continued to carry people out of the building and bring them to where they’d set up a triage area. Allyson scanned the area as she tried to keep her emotions under control. From the looks of things, they needed all the help they could get.

She was checking one of the servers when she overheard an officer say a container was found near the ventilation system. It pumped gas into the building and knocked everyone unconscious.

Allyson kept herself busy examining people as they arrived. So far, nobody was seriously hurt, but some of the older people were taken to the hospital for safety. Alice, Nanny Betty, and Tom were three of them. They’d been in the back of the diner helping the cook prepare for the supper rush.

“If anything happens to Aunt Alice, Nan, or Tom…” Keith pressed his lips together.

“Their vitals were stable when they left. Your dad’s gone with them; they’ll get the best care. They were all awake when they left.” Allyson assured him.

“This was set up. I think that girl was part of it.” James walked next to them.

“Did you get hold of Danny and Mason?” Keith asked.

“They’re not answering. Marina is going…” James’ words stopped when his wife came running across the parking lot.

“Where are they?” Marina shouted.

“They won’t answer.”

James’ phone rang as he pulled his wife into his arms. When he looked at the screen, he blew a breath as he tapped it.

“Where the hell are you two?” James bellowed.

“Dad, they pulled into that old warehouse off the highway. Remember that place Poppy Tom said would be a perfect place to set up a training center for service dogs,” Danny whispered.

“Yeah, out by Indian Meal Line,” James waved to a couple of officers.

“Yes, they drove right in there. Hang on,” Mason said quietly.

“Dad, I sent a picture. Another car just drove up, and a guy got out. He pulled another man out of the back of the car. He looks pissed,” Danny said.

“You two need to get the hell out of there,” Marina ordered.

“Mom, they won’t see us. Trust me. We both have an air pod so we can hear you guys and keep our voices down. Nobody will see where we parked the car.” Mason assured his mother.

“You got out of the car?” Marina gasped.

James pulled up the picture, and Allyson leaned over to see the screen. James used his fingers to zoom in closer, and Allyson gasped.

“I think that’s Witt Davenport,” Allyson said.

“Who’s he?” Marina asked.

“He’s a plastic surgeon. I worked with him at the Health Science.” Allyson shivered.

Was he involved in this? Was this why he’d been at her house that day? Maybe there wasn’t anyone at her home, and he was there to do something.

“That’s the guy who helped with the intruder at your house, right?” James asked.

Allyson nodded.

“Boys, I need you both to get out of there,” Marina begged.

“Mom, we can stay here to make sure they don’t leave,” Mason said.

“I don’t want you two in danger,” Marina sobbed.

“We’re both going to be police officers. Isn’t that what we’re going to be doing every day?” Danny responded.

“Yes, but you’re not trained right now. Get your asses out of there,” James ordered.

“We wanted to help.” Mason sounded defeated.

“I know, and we appreciate it, but those guys are dangerous. We have people on the way,” James assured his sons.

Allyson knew these people had Crash and Axel. The question was, what were they doing to them?

“Ahh, Dad?” Danny whispered.

“What?”

“We aren’t going anywhere?” Mason sounded nervous.

“What the hell do you mean?” James snapped at his sons.

“I think we may have tripped a booby trap because someone is coming through the trees.

“Get out of there.” James and Marina said together.

There was the sound of rustling and the boys breathing heavily. They seemed to be moving but weren’t speaking. They could probably hear their parents, but they were smart enough not to talk if someone was close by.

“False alarm.” Mason chuckled.

“What?” James looked as if he wanted to strangle his sons.

“It was a moose,” Danny laughed.

A loud pop echoed through the phone, and Allyson gasped.

“Did you hear that?” Mason whispered.

“That was a gunshot,” Danny replied.

“Get out of there now,” James ordered.

“We’re getting in the car now but you guys better hurry. Someone is yelling inside like they’re in pain,” Danny told them.

With that, James took off in a sprint toward where his car was. Allyson watched as several cars sped out of the lot.

“God, please let him come home,” Allyson prayed to herself.