Chapter 3
Cassie was grateful they’d found Drake alive, and she wished like hell she could stick close and make sure he got to a hospital. But that wasn’t the job. She had to delegate and commit all her energy to finding Josie.
She wasn’t sure how to correlate Drake’s beating with Josie’s disappearance. Would the kidnappers be violent with the girl as well? She hoped they had more common sense than to abuse a kid. Terrorizing her with this kind of stunt was bad enough, but actually laying hands on a kid… That was unforgivable.
“We have to find the trail,” she muttered. “They didn’t just fly out of here.” Although she looked up into the dark sky, considering a helicopter escape.
“Anyone mention helicopters?”
“No.” Drake hadn’t been able to provide much direction, due to the beating. She stopped short and pulled out her phone.
“What is it?”
“Mandy took a picture. The nanny,” she added, anticipating Lane’s question. “She was searching the resort for Josie and heard about three people—adults—who supposedly got separated from the tour.” She brought up the image on her phone and enlarged it. “There.” She held out her phone to Lane. “Do those hands look scraped up to you?”
Lane squinted at the image. “Hard to say for sure. It’s possible.”
She grabbed the phone back and fired off a text to Claudia. “My tech support says the guy with potentially banged up hands is with Welker Specialists.”
Lane didn’t react. She backed up a step, suddenly worried she’d miscalculated. Again. What was it about this assignment that she kept making mistakes? She hesitated as he started forward, debating the best way to create some distance from this stranger and make her escape.
“You haven’t heard of them?”
“Doesn’t ring a bell.” His tone was casual, but his gaze was intent. On her, not the path.
She inched backward. The soft ground slid out from under her heel and she started to tumble backward, only to be caught in a vise-like grip. The jerk on her shoulder stole her breath, and the sudden slam into the ground didn’t help.
She was stunned, too weak to fight Lane’s strong arms as he rolled her away from whatever slope she’d been about to go down. His body surrounded her. His muscles were hard, his breath heaving.
Hard not to be jealous of that while she could barely drag in enough oxygen to stay conscious. Stars danced across her vision. “Let me go,” she gasped.
“Sure.” He held tightly. “Give me a second.” He still didn’t move.
“Can’t. Breathe.” Her heart pounded in her ears.
“Try,” he snapped. “You just stripped a decade off my life.”
He sounded so annoyed she might’ve laughed. If she could breathe. And if he hadn’t just become a suspect. She felt every ripple as his muscles bunched and shifted beneath her. The heat of his body radiated into hers, chasing away the chill, and sending a warm sizzle through her bloodstream. Dumb move to get all hot and bothered over a man who could very well be her enemy.
She let him ease her upright until they were facing each other, his thigh hot against hers. He found his flashlight and held it so it cast a circle of light over the two of them. He was glaring at her. “What the hell was that? I want that decade, damn you. I have plans for it now that I’m done with the Navy.”
His mini-rant left her with more questions and several regrets. “Sorry?”
“Do better.” He took a drink from the water bottle and handed it to her.
She drank in small sips until she started to feel better. “I apologize.”
“You asked about search and rescue skills,” he said, glowering at her. “I know plenty. Starting with suspending a search when the risks are too great.”
“We can’t stop.” The sudden protest sent her into a coughing fit. “Josie needs us,” she insisted through her wheezing.
Lane scrubbed at his face, swearing under his breath. “I know you must feel responsible?—”
“I am responsible.”
“Not Drake?”
“Well, he was on the scene, sure, but I’m the lead for the family.”
“Buck stops with you.”
“That’s right,” she confirmed, though it hadn’t been a question.
“Cassie, we do not have a trail.” He closed his eyes as if searching for patience. “Stumbling around in the dark, getting ourselves killed won’t help the girl.” He shook his head when she started to argue and cast the beam of his flashlight toward the place where she’d slipped. “You were that close to compounding the tragedy out here.”
He sounded as if he really cared. About her. She shook off the ridiculous thought. They’d just met—at least as professionals. “You’d find someone else to flirt with,” she muttered. “Why don’t you know what Welker is?” she asked, pushing to her feet.
“Why don’t you know when it’s time to suspend a search?” he shot back. “I’m here to help you.”
Her fear of him suddenly seemed more absurd than the notion that he cared. He was right and she knew it, even if she couldn’t give up.
“Okay. Okay.” She blew her hair away from her face. Hauling herself back up to the safer terrain of the path, she sat down. On her phone, she found the link to the tour and studied the map. “Help me talk this through. They attacked back there, leaving Drake for dead.”
“Agreed.” Lane plopped down beside her, leaning in close so he could see the map too.
His scent wound around her, distracting her. This was so not the time and definitely not the man to get mushy over. She preferred the stoic type. Men who exuded an equal measure of character to match any ego and swagger. She wasn’t against flirting, she just didn’t trust fluffy compliments over real substance.
And that’s worked out so well.
She told the pesky voice in her head to pipe down. They weren’t out here to solve her love life, they were here to find Josie.
“I don’t know how they got her away from the tour, but there has to be some way out.”
“Away from the trails?” Lane shook his head. “We didn’t see any signs of that. Your partner is a more likely suspect than I am.”
She gaped at him, shocked that he’d read her so well. “What?”
“Don’t play dumb.” He bumped her shoulder gently with his. “Just get over it. Fast. I’m on your side.” He pointed to the map. “With helmets and harnesses and the group spread out enough, the kidnappers could’ve taken Drake and Josie and inserted two other people while they escaped with her.”
He painted a plausible picture. “Still doesn’t give us a direction.”
“Look at the map.” He pointed at her phone. “We missed this service road.”
Cassie shivered at the darkness pressing in on them from all sides. “Do we go back?”
He motioned for her to hand him the phone. After a few minutes of scowling, he perked up. “I don’t think we need to backtrack. Based on where we found Drake, my money is on them heading this way.” He pointed at the map. “This would be the easiest way out of the valley and back to civilization.”
That was no comfort at all to Cassie. “And from there, they could take her anywhere.”
“One problem at a time.” Lane gracefully rolled to his feet and extended his hand. “Once we find the road, we’re more likely to see evidence that will guide us to Josie.”
Cassie stared up at Lane, far more impressed with him than she wanted to be right now. He led the way as they jogged down the cleared tourist path. At the next zipline platform, he found the access route immediately. The path wasn’t as carefully maintained, but they had room to move single file without fighting the thick vegetation.
When they reached the service road, he carefully examined the area, even taking a few pictures of tire treads.
“If you send those to me, I’ll have the research team get to work.” When the photos came through by text, she forwarded them to Claudia, along with a brief status update.
When she looked up Lane was moving away, his flashlight sweeping back and forth.
She caught up with him and didn’t bother asking about a trail. It was clear he was following something.
“Fresh tire tracks,” he explained, picking up the pace. “You taught Josie self-defense skills?”
“Yes. Some.” She should’ve been more consistent about it.
“How much do you think she’d remember in a crisis?”
Lane was only asking what Cassie had been wondering since Josie disappeared. “All of it,” she stated, utterly confident. “I’m just not sure she’d remember in time to apply the tactics.” The admission cost her. Maybe if she’d been more proactive and diligent about the self-defense practice Josie would be with her family right now.
Suddenly her phone vibrated with an incoming message. “It’s a text.” She paused. “Not Claudia. I don’t know this number.”
Lane was at her side in an instant. “Ransom?”
Please, no. And yet, if it was a ransom, they would presumably have more information. Braced for the worst, she tapped the screen to see the message. A picture popped up. It was Drake on the ground, much like they’d found him, but the sunlight indicated the photo was taken hours ago. On his chest was a poorly printed photo of Cassie with a red circle and slash over her face.
“That’s from this afternoon,” Lane said. “Both you and your partner.”
She agreed about Drake. “How can you be sure about me?”
“The bikini,” he said. “Yesterday’s was blue. Today you wore pink.”
“Huh.” Was it flattering that he had such an excellent recall of her swimwear? “I wasn’t on the beach for long,” she mused. “If this was taken today, they worked fast.”
“Looks like you’re the real target,” Lane said.
She snorted. “No way. They didn’t grab me, they grabbed Josie.”
He shrugged a shoulder. “You’re out here, separated from your partner, focused on a search instead of your original assignment.” He glanced around. “Would you have come out here alone?”
“Yes,” she admitted.
“Giving them ample opportunity to take you out.”
A shiver rattled down her spine. “I don’t care for your theory.” Josie’s phone had pinged once back at the hotel lobby. By accident or design? What if he was right and Cassie had been deliberately lured away? She swore.
“Because I’m right or…?”
“No one has attacked me yet. Not directly.” But this could be another attempt to make her look bad. “Someone—my money is on Welker Specialists—has been messing with us for months.”
“How so?”
She explained the incidents she and Drake had overcome while they continued down the road. It didn’t take long and going through the list, she wondered if she was just making excuses. Lane frowned as he listened. She wouldn’t blame him if he chalked it all up to coincidence. “Forget it. Forget I said anything.”
“Not a chance.” He looked up at the sky, currently blocked by the trees, then turned his gaze southward. “Who gains if you’re out of the way?”
“Me personally? No idea,” she replied. “It’s irrelevant. We’re jumping at any available conclusion when we need to find Josie.”
“Hang on.” Lane’s palm on her arm brought her to an immediate stop. “I’m serious. Could Drake be gunning for your job? Some men don’t like taking orders from women.”
She shook her head. “No way. That’s not how Drake is. Besides, you saw how they left him. He might’ve died out here if we hadn’t found him.”
That single shoulder hitched up and down once more. “I’ve seen people endure worse to avoid suspicion.”
She wanted to simply be angry over the implication and couldn’t deny there was some logic in what he said. Still, it was an unpleasant thought. Not just the idea of willingly taking a beating, but that Lane had seen worse. Clearly, he’d survived those dark times and he didn’t need her pity.
“Not Drake,” she repeated. “We both work for the best personal protection agency around.”
Lane’s eyebrows flexed. “You work for the Brotherhood Protectors?”
She rolled her eyes. “No. I’m with the Guardian Agency. Let’s call it a tie between your group and mine.”
“Fine. Does your agency have enemies?”
“Of course.” She was sure of it. It was a common enough occurrence in security or any other industry. Whoever sat at the top of the heap had to deal with competitors plotting to knock them out of the way. “Let’s table this until Josie is back with her family.”
“What if she’s bait? I’m serious, Cassie. This could be an elaborate trap to get you out of the way.”
Her stomach cramped at the possibility of her charge being used against her. When she trusted her voice, she replied, “Then let’s pick up the pace.”
Lane caught her once more. “I’ll lead.”
“Why? Because of your stellar scouting skills?”
“Doesn’t hurt,” he said, grinning.
A flutter rippled through her, almost as unsettling as the volcano-induced tremors that continued to roll under her feet periodically.
Damn it all, why couldn’t she ignore that sexy tilt of his mouth? Or the way he loped ahead with an admirable, confident grace despite the conditions?
“Here we go,” Lane said, slowing down as they came to a tight bend in the road. “A vehicle took a hard skid. Surprised it didn’t roll,” he mused as he examined the area. “Oh. They did. Had to work to get it upright again.”
She watched him assess the scene, staying out of his way and listening for anyone or anything that shouldn’t be out here. For her, Hawaii wasn’t a peaceful refuge. Not because of the work, she loved her job. But the environment was a steady symphony of noise, some soothing, others less so. The ocean crashing into sand and rock, the breezes and rainshowers on the beach, pushing through the trees. And now the volcano on the other end of the island was a source of consistent ambient noise. Since they’d been out here, sirens had drifted their way, along with the acrid scent of sulfur from the ash cloud.
“Over here, Cassie!”
She rushed forward, swallowing hard. “Zip ties.”
“Broken zip ties,” he clarified. “Did you teach her that?”
Cassie nodded. “Both kids thought they were so cool when they learned how to get free.”
His mouth kicked up in a half smile. “She got away,” Lane said. “Impressive stuff.”
“Wait until you meet her.” Cassie had to think positively. She would see Josie again and she’d see the Knowles family reunited. Cassie walked the curve of the road, back and forth, then stared out into the layers of dark wilderness beyond the road. “Her phone made it back to the resort with the crew that took her. Those bastards.”
“What?” Lane focused on her again. “You mean that photo the nanny took?”
“The same,” Cassie confirmed. “Those three have to be involved.” She thought about the intel and the warning Claudia had provided. “They took her phone or she left it behind. Either way, Claudia said it pinged at the resort once before it was turned off. It must’ve been in the vehicle. It’s the only scenario that fits.”
Lane grunted. In agreement or doubt, she wasn’t sure. Didn’t care. She was right about this. “Seems strange that a kid could escape three able-bodied adults who needed her for leverage,” he said.
Yeah, that bothered her too. In the photo, the three people Mandy had seen didn’t appear upset about being left behind. “It explains the lack of demands.”
“Does it?” He planted his hands on his hips. “Kidnapping and blackmail are usually about money. Three people beat up your partner and take the girl, only to not give a damn when they lose her?” He shook his head. “This isn’t adding up. That photo was a threat against you, not the girl.”
Cassie chewed on her lip. If she’d received that picture out of the blue, she would’ve believed Drake was dead. “We have to find Josie.”
“Agreed. And then we’ll make arrangements for your safety.”
She wasn’t sure she agreed with him about the last part, but it didn’t matter. Once they found Josie and got back to the resort, she wouldn’t need Lane to stick around any longer.
Why did that fill her belly with a weird fear of missing out?