Chapter Twenty-Four #3
“About 30 miles. We’re closing the gap.”
Not fast enough. Grant’s hands clenched into fists. If he could push this SUV faster, he’d do it.
“Grant.”
He glanced at Seth. “Sir?”
“Your job is to come up with a rescue plan. Can you handle it?”
“Yes, sir.” He would do anything to free Rayne and get her out of danger.
Grant grabbed his phone, manned up, and opened the tracking program. The pulsing light showed the kidnapper’s path of escape.
He frowned. Whether the kidnapper was Donovan or one of Gino’s group, he seemed to know right where to go. No hesitation in taking different roads. No slowing down along the way as though looking for shelter. He had a place already lined up.
Grant blew out a breath. What he wouldn’t give to have Riley here with her souped up computer. She could run a search for real estate holdings by the five men.
She wasn’t here, but Z was a phone call away, waiting to help. “I’m calling Zane.”
Teagan glanced over her shoulder. “Why?”
“I have an idea. Might not pan out but Zane can run a search for real estate holdings by the five men.”
“Nice.” Seth gave a nod. “Make the call.”
Zane answered on the first ring. “Murphy.”
“It’s Grant.”
“What do you need?”
“A search for real estate holdings.” He rattled off the name of the five men. “I need anything, Z. You can see on your screen that we’re heading into a farming area. The driver isn’t hesitating anywhere along the route. He knows exactly where he’s going.”
“Got it. Hold.”
Grant heard the sounds that meant Zane’s fingers were flying over the keyboard of his computer. He shook his head in amazement. At that speed, Grant was surprised the keyboard didn’t catch on fire.
“Nothing for Gino Savage.”
One down. Four to go. Grant kept his gaze glued to the pulsing light of the tracker still moving at a steady pace. Where was he going? He’d passed by a couple of small towns already and was heading further into an agricultural area.
“Nothing for Rex Lawson.”
Two down. Three to go. He glanced out the window. Couldn’t see much of the scenery at this speed. Grant didn’t know how fast Seth was driving but it was fast enough that he couldn’t see anything except blurry trees and fields as the SUV zipped past them.
“Barry Fritz has a cabin in the woods but it’s in Gatlinburg.”
“Not what we’re looking for.”
A minute later, he said, “Chase Ferguson has a small beach house in Florida. Nothing else aside from the house he lives in.”
Another bust. Perhaps he was on the wrong track. “What about Ellis Lindsey?”
“Hold.” Soon, Zane’s voice came through the speaker. “Lindsey has a farm that he inherited from his grandparents.” He rattled off the address. “I just sent that address to you by text. Based on what I’m seeing on the screen, that’s where the kidnapper is headed.”
Grant’s gut knotted. Lindsey had taken Rayne? He’d been concerned about Donovan Vance being the culprit. The sniper was a stone-cold killer. But Lindsey had shown too much interest in Rayne, almost as though he was obsessed with her.
He shuffled the puzzle pieces again in his mind.
After he contemplated the possibilities for a beat, another probability surfaced.
Donovan and Ellis might be working together, and that led him to another option.
Perhaps the reason the five men left the fishing camp together is they were in on the murders together.
No. Something didn’t fit with that explanation. He still didn’t have enough information to make a judgment call on this. No doubt in his mind that the five men were up to no good, and they were working together, but he couldn’t figure out a reason for them to kill the survivors of Red Dawn.
Eileen had admitted to killing her husband. So, where did that leave the rest of the murders? Eileen wouldn’t have killed all those innocent men unless Grant was missing a gigantic piece of the puzzle, one that justified the murders by someone in that group.
Aside from Beau’s death, Eileen hadn’t admitted to murdering the other soldiers. So who had killed them?
On his phone screen, the blinking light stopped moving. Grant waited for it to continue onto another location. It didn’t. “Andre.”
“I see it.”
“What?” Seth demanded.
“Rayne stopped moving.”
“Wish we knew if that was good or bad,” he muttered.
No kidding. Grant’s hand gripped his phone tighter. Either the kidnapper had reached his intended destination or he’d shoved Rayne from the vehicle. The second possibility gave Grant cold chills. He had to find her. She could be hurt or…. He couldn’t finish that sentence. Just couldn’t.
Seth pushed the accelerator to the floor, and the Fortress SUV leaped forward, the vehicle smoothly gliding down the asphalt ribbon. “How far out are we?”
“Thirty minutes.” Andre made a call. “Z, can you send us a satellite image of Rayne’s location?
” Seconds later, he ended the call and tapped his screen.
He remained silent while he studied the image.
“It’s an old farmhouse sitting in the middle of hundreds of acres of farmland.
Someone’s been keeping the pastures trimmed because we won’t have much cover on approach. ”
Grant stared at the image. His teammate was right. They’d have almost no cover going in. His jaw hardened. Didn’t matter. Nothing would stop him from going after his woman. He wouldn’t leave her in Ellis Lindsey’s hands.
He took his time studying the area around the farmhouse, then focused on the house itself. The structure had good bones but overall was in poor shape. He memorized the exterior of the building and developed plans for infiltrating the farmhouse.
Grant frowned. If that’s where they were holding Rayne.
Farms usually had outbuildings. What if Lindsey or Vance had taken her to one of the other buildings?
Grant’s team wouldn’t have much time to find Rayne and get her out of there before the kidnapper decided she was too much trouble to keep alive.
Was it possible the kidnapper took Rayne to use as bait?
If so, it worked because with this one move, three members of Echo unit were hunting for Rayne.
The fourth member of their unit, Elias, wouldn’t be hard to find since he was waiting for the cops at the fishing camp.
If the enemy was smart, they’d split up and wipe out four of the five members of Echo tonight.
His lip curled. It might work. However, there were a few problems with that scenario. First, Echo unit was hard to kill. They’d lived through multiple deployments, incurred several injuries and still come out the victors. They wouldn’t go down without a fight.
Second, Echo had more training now than when they were in the military.
Surviving the training at Personal Security International ought to net them gold medals.
The Delta team in charge of preparing recruits hadn’t spared them.
If anything, Josh Cahill and his teammates had expected more from Echo unit because they’d trained and served together for years.
Third, Grant was highly motivated to rescue his woman. He loved Rayne and wanted a life with her. To save her, he’d go around, over, or through any obstacle.
“Turn right at the stop sign.” Andre peered at his screen. “Rayne hasn’t moved. She’s still at the Lindsey farm.”
This was good because at least they knew where to find her.
This was also bad because he didn’t know what condition they’d find her in.
If Lindsey and his cronies were involved in Rayne’s kidnapping and had killed her, Grant would take them all out.
Then he’d have to figure out how to live without the woman who owned his heart.
“Five miles to go,” Andre murmured.
“Grant, do you have a plan ready?” Seth asked.
“Several. Which one we choose will depend on the circumstances we find ourselves in.”
“Because we have little cover, do you have a suggestion which direction we should choose to infiltrate the property?”
“A back road runs behind the Lindsey property. That’s our best bet for slipping onto the farm without raising an alarm. We’ll have cover until the last quarter of a mile.”
“Suggestions for how to cover that last bit so we can get your woman out of Dodge?”
“You won’t like it.”
“Let’s hear it, anyway.”
“Take the flare gun with us and set off a flare deep in one field devoid of structures.”
Silence, then, “You want to start a fire?”
“It’s an excellent distraction.”
“And also illegal.”
“We’re not cops anymore, Seth. Do you really think Lindsey will file a complaint with law enforcement?”
His team leader blew out a breath. “If he did, plenty of folks in the police department would be happy to proceed with charges. Even though we were cleared of any wrongdoing, most cops still think we’re guilty.”
Accurate statement. The undercover assignment where they’d met Artemis had changed the course of their lives. None of them could have expected the career change, but it had been the best decision they’d ever made.
“Grant, can you handle another short run?” Seth glanced into the rearview mirror. “We can’t drive up to the front door and demand they release Rayne. They’ll kill her just to torture you.”
“They’ve already done a great job of that.” His gut twisted into a knot thinking of the things his woman could be enduring. “I can’t lose her, Seth. I can’t survive without her.”
“We won’t let anything happen to Rayne or you.”
“I’m fine. Focus on Rayne.”
“Don’t lie to me, Bowen. You won’t do us any favors if you do.”
“Yes, sir.”
“How bad is the pain?”
“Bad enough that I need to return to the hospital when this is finished.”
“Internal bleeding?” Teagan asked, voice sharp.
“Maybe. I just know my side hurts worse than any other injury I’ve had.”
Seth and Teagan exchanged grim glances. “Then let’s get this done and take you to the hospital to be checked out,” Seth said.
Sounded great to him, and he never thought he’d say that in any lifetime. He loathed hospitals. For him to want to go meant he was in trouble. Grant just had to hold on for a few more minutes. He had to transport Rayne to safety first. Nothing else mattered.
Seth turned off the headlights and backed into a treeline. When he turned off the engine, the four operatives exited the vehicle. “Gear up. This will not be easy. They won’t give up without a fight.”
Andre blew out a breath. “Great. So we’ll have to kill men who used to be classified as our friends?”
“Not if we can help it.”
“But the odds aren’t in our favor.”
“No, they aren’t.”
“I don’t like this,” Andre snapped. “I shouldn’t have to kill a soldier on American soil.”
“Would you balk at taking down an American enemy if Riley’s life was at stake?” Teagan asked.
“No.” No hesitation in Andre’s response.
“There you go. Rayne is one of ours. We protect our own. More important, she belongs with Grant, not held hostage by men who have an unknown agenda.”
They finished gearing up, then slipped the Fortress earpieces into their ears. They tapped their devices to turn them on, then Grant called Zane. When his friend picked up, he said, “We’re ready for you to join our loop.”
“Copy that. Looping in now.” His voice came through the earpieces now. “Where are you?”
“A quarter of a mile from the Lindsey farmhouse.”
“Better get moving. The men bought airline tickets to Saint Kitts. They didn’t purchase a ticket for Rayne.”
“Let’s go,” Seth said. “The sooner we rescue Rayne from those thugs, the better I’ll feel.”
“Same.” Grant adjusted his pack so it didn’t rub against his gunshot wound, then set out at a fast clip, following Seth, Teagan, and Andre.
Just a few more minutes, he reminded himself.
Rayne would be back in his arms soon. After all this, he planned to marry that woman as fast as possible.
He had to convince her he was healthy enough to get married, though. No way was he waiting until he healed.
Seth held up a fist as they neared the top of a hill and sprawled on the ground to ease his way to the top. Teagan, Andre, and Grant followed suit.
They peered over the top, careful not to raise their heads too far, and scanned the farmhouse some distance away. Unlike the other houses in the area which were dark and quiet, the farmhouse was lit up like a beacon in a lighthouse.
“Z, is the satellite in position to find the farmhouse’s occupants?” Teagan asked.
“Sorry, T. It won’t be in position for another 30 minutes.”
“Too long.” Grant shook his head. “We don’t know what’s happening to Rayne in there. She could be dead in 30 minutes.” He didn’t state the obvious, that his woman could be dead now.
He shuddered. No. He wouldn’t accept that. She was too strong and skilled for that to happen.
Teagan blew out a breath. “There’s almost nothing to use for cover out here.”
“No, there isn’t.” Seth scanned the area again, then shook his head. “Unless someone else has a better idea than Grant’s, we may have to use his plan.”
“I say we work our way as close as we can to the farmhouse and fire the flare gun if we run into trouble,” Andre said.
“If we’re lucky, we won’t have to resort to arson.
I’d rather not spend the next few years in the Gray Bar Motel if it’s all the same to you.
I have plans that involve a beautiful woman. ”
“We’ll go with Grant’s plan,” Seth said. “Z, we’re going in.”
“Hold.” Seconds later, he returned. “I borrowed another company’s satellite. There are seven people inside that house. Six standing, one lying down. No movement aside from your infiltration team in the perimeter.”
Grant blinked. “Seven?”
“Donovan must have joined them.” Seth looked at Teagan, Andre, and Grant. “Ready?”
“Let’s do this.” Grant checked his weapon one last time.
“Move out.”
As they made their way toward the back of the farmhouse, Grant prayed they weren’t too late.