Chapter 10
T aryn exited the car and walked around, trying to ease the stress in her stomach, which was knotting up at the thought of which would come first—a move by the FBI being made tonight, or Jeff taking off before anybody got here, or the unemployed and worthless father to those kids reappearing to do no good, once again. She had no physical basis for that panic, other than her gut. She was panicked, and that was enough for her. Probably not enough alarm for anybody else but definitely enough for her. She, Alex, and Riff had taken up spots in the woods, crouched in the brush growing below a copse of trees, where they could watch the house without their wheels. That meant, if Jeff did try to make a run for it—or Jeff and his brother switched up positions—somebody would have to run back to one of their cars and give chase.
When she heard a birdcall behind her, she turned to see Alex and Riff talking. She smiled as she made her way toward the men.
Riff nodded at her. “We got the bug into the truck,” he shared. “So, if Jeff does try to run, that should help with tracking him and the kids.”
“I hope so,” she murmured. “Especially since the powers that be are apparently making a move tonight.”
He nodded. “I agree with you. I think Jeff’s too paranoid, and even now the need to run is probably eating at him.”
She winced. “Do you think he’ll run before the Feds have a chance to get here?”
“Yeah, I sure do,” Riff stated. “On the other hand, that’s good for us, so we can capture Jeff.”
“If it was all about capturing him, why haven’t we just gone up to the damn house and picked him up already?” Taryn wailed.
“Good point, but the Feds want the buyer too. That’s the holdup,” Riff noted, giving her a cheerful grin.
She groaned. “You do know how irritating you are, don’t you?”
“Yep,” he agreed, with a nod. “It’s something I’ve really been perfecting.”
She stared at him, shaking her head, as he turned away to make a phone call. Taryn then glanced over at Alex to find him grinning broadly. “I’ll never really understand Riff, will I?”
“If you want to get along at Terkel’s place, I’m pretty sure you’ll need to figure it out.”
“ Right . As if I could do that. I’m not doing anything here to help either, and that’s driving me crazy too.”
“So, we’re back to that frustration level and how you just have to deal with it on these jobs,” he repeated. “Remember that.”
“I know. I know,” she muttered, with a groan.
When Riff returned moments later, he shared, “Levi’s just getting the sound set up from our tracker, and, from what I have been told, it seems Jeff is already in the truck.”
“What?” she gasped.
“He’s got somebody who’s interested in the two little boys.”
“No,” she cried out. “I said I would buy all three children.”
He looked at her and nodded. “And yet these black-market guys?… If they get a better offer and have somebody willing to pay way over the asking price, it won’t matter what your deal was. Jeff will go for the highest dollar.”
“So, I should have just offered more?” she asked numbly. “God, this is a sick world.”
“Yep, it is,” Riff confirmed, “which is why some of us spend a lot of time in the sewers, trying to clean it up.”
“So, what do we do now?” she asked.
“When the vehicle leaves, we’ll follow it,” Alex stated. “However, if Jeff’s only taking the two little boys, I want you to stay behind.”
She stared at him. “Can I go get Cassie then?”
“I highly suspect she’ll leave on her own,” Alex added. “Whether she knows where she’s going or not, I would bet that her instincts are telling her to get the hell out of there, and this would be the perfect time. So, my guess is that she’ll try to leave, but I don’t want her out in these woods all alone.”
“Predators are everywhere,” Riff noted. “I’m okay with the four-legged ones, but this is about the two-legged variety. They’re always on the lookout for little girls, always searching for opportunities. So somebody needs to stay and keep an eye on Cassie.”
“I’ll stay,” Taryn declared. “You guys follow Jeff and the twins, and I’ll be here for Cassie.”
“You’re sure about that?” Riff asked cautiously.
“I am. I absolutely am,” she stated, with a smile. “Look at that.” She pointed out the truck coming down the driveway. “Here he comes.”
Alex nodded, then asked, “Now the question is, does he have the little girl as well, or is it just the two boys?” As the truck drove by, they couldn’t see any child at all. Alex turned to Taryn. “Would he have left them all behind?”
“I wouldn’t think so. And the two little boys are already injured or maybe asleep or worse,” she shared in a confused tone. “Maybe the uncle’s got them hiding in the truck.” She looked at Jeff’s vehicle. “There is an energy trail behind his vehicle.”
“When you say, energy trail ,” Riff asked, turning to her, “what does that mean to you?”
“It means, somebody is in there,” Taryn explained, “but I don’t know who, and I don’t know how many.”
“Good enough.” At that, Riff took off in the direction of his vehicle.
Taryn walked slowly toward the house, watching as Alex bolted to his rental and headed down the road after Jeff too. Only as they took off did Taryn return her attention to the house.
And there in the distance, moving slowly, almost as if she were injured, came Cassie. She hesitated for a moment. Then her energy seemed to accept that her uncle Jeff was gone and was then committed to whatever she had decided, as Cassie now raced down the road.
“He’s gone,” Taryn called out, so Cassie would know that Taryn was nearby. Apparently encouraged, the child ran faster as she worked her way to Taryn, who caught her midjump, right as the little girl leaped into her arms and burst into tears. Hanging on tight, Taryn tried to soothe her and to calm her down, even as she carried her into the bushes. Taryn had to keep the little girl safe and out of sight. Taryn mentally sent out a message, hopefully received by anybody who was listening, knowing that she would need a few minutes with Cassie, before Taryn could grab her phone. She hoped her telepathic SOS got Terk or one of the good guys.
Terkel, his voice strong and clear in her head, stated, Just keep Cassie quiet, Taryn, and keep her with you .
What should we do?
Walk down to the creek, and get her away from the house. Somebody will come pick you up soon , Terk murmured.
And, with that, Terkel disappeared from her head. She smiled at Cassie, still in her arms. “Don’t worry, little one. You’ll be safe now.”
The little girl looked up at her and frowned. “I know you.”
“We talked while you were out shopping. Are you upset because your uncle left you at home?”
Immediately she shook her head. “No, he just left with Jack and John,” she whispered. “I wanted him to take my brothers to the hospital”—then she sobbed—“but I don’t think that’s where they’re going. I think he’s getting rid of them because they are hurt so bad.”
“We have somebody going after them right now,” Taryn replied, as she hugged the little girl close. “We’ll stay here in the shadows and wait until somebody comes to pick us up.”
“Then what?”
“We’ll keep you safe, and we’ll find your brothers, then confirm they get the help that they need. I’m afraid your uncle will be in a lot of trouble.”
Cassie started to cry again. “He hurt Jack and John so bad,” she wailed. “He kept saying he would do the same thing to me if I wasn’t good.”
“Yeah, angry people can be like that,” Taryn whispered, hugging the little girl tightly. “However, that doesn’t mean they get to stay that way, and they’re not allowed to hurt children.”
Cassie brushed away her hair and stared up at her. “You can let me down. I can stand up now.”
“Maybe, but it also makes me feel better to know that I have you in my arms, and you’re safe,” she whispered to the little girl. “It’s been a long time coming since I realized what trouble you were in.”
In the darkness, the little girl stared up at her. “You’re the one I was talking to, aren’t you?”
“Yes. When you called out looking for help, looking for somebody”—Taryn nodded—“I’m the one who answered.”
Cassie patted Taryn’s cheeks gently. “I was afraid it was another bad guy,” she whispered.
“Have you met lots of bad guys?”
“My uncle has been taking pictures of me and showing people,” she replied, her voice breaking. “Pictures like… naughty pictures.”
Hearing that, Taryn’s heart hardened against Jeff, and any bit of forgiveness she might have mustered due to the difficult time he’d recently experienced went right out the window. “Well, he won’t be taking pictures like that anymore,” she snapped. “Don’t you worry, sweetie. Your uncle will be punished for not being a nice man.”
“He used to be nice, and then Mommy died, and my daddy left,” she whispered. “I really don’t want to stay with my uncle anymore.”
“I understand. Now I really need to make a few phone calls,” she said, “so we’ll find a place to hide, until somebody can come get us, okay?” Taryn looked around, but she didn’t see a whole lot except for the darkness of the night, and that wouldn’t be enough, not if Cassie’s uncle came back.
Cassie pointed up at a tree. “Can you climb a tree?” she asked. “I can.”
“Sure,” Taryn replied. “Why not?”
And, with that decision made, yet recognizing a completely different atmosphere took over at nighttime, the two of them scooted up the same tree and settled in for the wait.
*
By now, Alex and Riff had been following Jeff’s truck for a good forty-five minutes, and Alex was worried about leaving Taryn alone for so long. When his phone vibrated, it was Riff.
“She’s got the little girl. Cassie apparently came out of the house and raced right to her.”
“Good God, really?”
“Yeah, so why don’t you head back and get them,” Riff suggested. “I’ll stay on this guy’s tail. Also, the message that came through is that the little boys are in the truck, but they are injured. The twins need medical care, but Cassie was worried Uncle Jeff might be taking the boys someplace to dispose of them permanently.”
“Well, when they left, we knew it wasn’t good news,” Alex replied. “Yet, if Jeff injured those boys to the point that he can’t sell them,” even biting at the term himself, he added harshly, “he’ll probably just dump them.”
“That would be my thought too,” Riff agreed. “We can’t take that chance.”
“No, absolutely we can’t. Yet we don’t want to leave Taryn and Cassie alone out there in the dark for too long.”
“Sounds as if they’re in a tree off the creek.”
Alex pulled off to the roadside and asked Riff again, “Are you sure you’ve got this?”
“I’m on it,” Riff declared. “You get back there and get them before anything else goes wrong.”
With that, Alex quickly turned the car around and headed back. He wondered about Cassie leaving the house and heading straight for Taryn. He picked up his phone and quickly called Taryn while he drove. He put the call on Speaker.
“We’re here, and we’re fine,” she murmured. “We’re hiding up in a tree.”
“That’s a good choice,” he replied. “Just remember that predators come in all kinds and sizes.”
She snorted. “Yeah, you’re not kidding, and just enough assholes are in this world that we don’t always recognize who the predators are.”
“That’s true too,” he agreed. “How is Cassie?”
“She’s curled up in my arms, asleep right now,” Taryn said softly. “She’s a whole lot stronger and in better shape than I would have thought.”
“That’s good. I’m surprised she ran out of the house on her own.” He hesitated, then asked Taryn point-blank, “You didn’t go in after her, did you?”
“No,” she clarified, with a laugh. “I did not. I would have, and I planned to reach out, but the minute her uncle left, Cassie grabbed her little bag that she was always to have ready and bolted out the door, knowing that her uncle wouldn’t come back anytime soon. She didn’t want to be here when he returned.” Then she went quiet. “Jeff’s been taking pictures of her,… then posting them probably.”
“Well, we know what he wanted them for,” Alex noted in a wry tone. “Remember that this was all in progress and that Jeff apparently has buyers all lined up.”
“Yeah, sure,” she replied, “but that sting operation’s set for tonight. It may well still be on, but nobody will be here.”
He laughed. “That happens sometimes. We do the best we can, and still, they get away from us. However, Riff is on Jeff’s tail, and Riff’s job at this point in time is to save those little boys,” he stated, taking a pause. “So, if Jeff should get away, that’s not the priority.”
She sucked in her breath. “As long as they don’t give Cassie back to him,” she declared.
“Yeah, that would be for the best. Can you get her to tell you anything and maybe record it on your phone?”
“I’ll work on that,” she replied softly. “She’s asleep right now, but it’s not an easy sleep. She’s restless and keeps waking up and crying.”
“Crying for?”
“Her brothers. She’s devastated about her brothers.”
“She’s already lost her mother, and her father took off,” he murmured. “So losing her brothers at this point would be almost impossible for her to imagine or to even deal with.”
“Yeah, you’re not kidding,” she murmured. “I don’t even know what to say to that.”
“How about nothing,” he suggested. “Just remember that I’m on the way.” And, with that, he rang off and hit the gas pedal even harder.