Chapter Twenty-Five
SEDONA STARED AT Cam, horrified by this latest setback.
How could Eddie be gone? What did that mean?
Had more kidnappers working with Simpson slipped onto the Rocking M’s grounds and taken Eddie by force?
But how could that be? The Montgomery brothers had the latest high-tech security for their home and sprawling property.
With their jobs in law enforcement and as black ops soldiers, they couldn’t afford to take chances with their safety.
Their wives and children would pay the price if they did.
Owen scowled. “That kid just walked off the property, and no one noticed?”
“If that’s the case, we need to fire every one of our security people,” Elliot said.
“It’s not our security detail’s fault,” David said.
“Are you serious?”
“Would I kid about something like this?”
“One of our own cops did this?”
“That’s right.”
“Who?” Owen snapped. “We left four cops on duty on the inner perimeter along with twenty cowhands. Who broke our trust, David?”
“Joe Wilkens.”
“Are you sure?” Cam asked.
“Oh, yeah. The head of our security team sent me a copy of the security footage. Eddie sneaked out of a bathroom window an hour ago and worked his way off the Rocking M. Joe Wilkens saw him and turned away without saying a word.”
Cam dragged a hand down his face. “Unbelievable. I trusted him with Julio’s safety at the hospital. No wonder the boy was kidnapped. It’s my fault he’s gone.”
“No,” Owen snapped. “You have no power to hire or fire, Cam. Don’t take that on yourself. If anything, it’s our fault for not running Wilkens through the Fortress Security database and keeping closer tabs on him. This isn’t on you.”
Based on Cam’s expression, he wasn’t convinced.
“Who is on duty at the ranch besides Wilkens?” Elliot asked.
“Ross, Stanton, and Jacobs.”
“Have Jacobs arrest Wilkens and ask one cowhand to go with them for backup. Keep Ross and Stanton close to the house.”
“Agreed. I’ll contact Jacobs. We need to have Wilkens back at the station as soon as possible. If we don’t find Julio soon, we may lose both boys. Got a feeling Eddie is heading straight for Julio and Simpson.”
“We have to stop him,” Cam said, expression grim. “Simpson will kill him and his brother. He doesn’t leave witnesses behind.”
“We’ll have to find Eddie before we can stop him,” Owen said.
“ETA?” David asked.
“Ten minutes.”
“Copy that.”
Cam threaded his fingers through Sedona’s. “Let’s move. We need to get to Eddie before he makes a huge mistake.”
The group moved at a faster pace through the woods. Sedona did her best to keep up with them, but these men were in great shape. They did not spend their days chasing after five-year-olds the way she did.
“Are you doing okay?” Cam asked.
“A little winded.” Ha! That was an understatement.
She was still moving by sheer will alone.
All she wanted to do was curl up on her couch and take a nap.
“You know, when I was a teenager, I thought staying up all night was fun.” Sedona shook her head.
“What was wrong with me? All I want to do now is take a nap.”
Cam chuckled and took a little more of her weight. “Same, especially when I work C detail.”
Sedona frowned. “C detail?”
“The overnight shift.”
Minutes later, they joined David, Caleb, and Levi in the tree line on the outskirts of Dunvale Quarry.
In the distance, the machinery continued to run as men worked the night shift.
Workers paced along the machinery as if they were patrolling.
Someone banged a metal bar against something, making her jump.
Two men talked near a control panel, watching the belt in case it did something wrong.
One worker swept a flashlight beam across the machinery as though searching for something.
Sedona stared at the activity at the other end of the compound. Was Julio somewhere close? Cam and the other deputies were following a hunch. What if they were wrong?
She shuddered. What if they were right? How would they find Julio in this compound?
Sedona didn’t know if the men who worked in the quarry were friends of Simpson or Simpson’s boss, but Cam and the others could blend in if necessary, something she couldn’t pull off.
A woman running around the compound would be noticed.
“What do you see?” David asked Cam.
“A quarry running at full tilt at three a.m.”
“What else?”
Cam scanned the compound again, this time stopping at the far end. “On the east end, there’s only one building with lights on and guards around it.”
Elliot’s eyes narrowed. “That’s weird. Having lights on in a building or two makes sense when you have a crew running at night, but putting guards around a building is odd.”
“Think you can get a bird’s-eye view inside that building?”
Elliot studied the scene a moment, then said, “I’ll let you know when I’m set.”
“Something is up with that building,” Cam said. “Elliot’s right. I understand having guards if you’re concerned about worker safety. What makes no sense is having a building all the way across the compound staffed for a night crew who won’t walk that far to have a question answered.”
David snorted. “No chance the decision-makers are working the graveyard shift. How do you want to do this?”
“Front’s too well lit.”
“Agreed. Let’s check the back and see if the coverage is thinner.”
“What if it’s not?” Sedona asked. She didn’t see how this small group could take on the guards surrounding the building.
He grinned. “Then we’ll thin out the ranks.”
The rest of the men nodded.
Insane. They treated this like a game. Unless those guns hooked to the guards’ belts were water pistols, they were loaded with real bullets.
Cam and his friends, however, acted as though this situation was business as usual, and perhaps it was for them.
Special Forces work wasn’t for the faint of heart.
“Let’s move. We’ll work our way around to the back of the building while Elliot scopes out the situation inside.” Cam wrapped his hand around Sedona’s and set off, careful to keep either a line of trees between them and the building or to walk in deep shadows.
When Sedona tried to hurry, Cam shook his head slightly and murmured, “Fast movement draws the eye.”
“Tell my racing heart that.”
He flashed her a grin.
Minutes later, they stopped just short of the tree line at the back of the building. The group spread out.
David tapped his comm device. “Elliot, got anything?”
“Plenty outside. Nothing inside except one compact figure huddled on the floor.”
Sedona gasped. “That has to be Julio.”
“Maybe,” Cam said, voice just above a whisper.
“Who else could it be?”
“Not who, Tiger. What. This could be a trap.”
She scowled. “How does Elliot know about the figure? If he can see through a window, he should be able to tell if Julio’s in that place or not.”
“The lady has a point,” Owen said. “What about it, bro?”
“The room where the person is located has only a dim light on, and he or she isn’t moving.”
Sedona’s heart sank. Julio was always in motion when he was awake, and in one of their quick conversations, Maria had laughed about Julio being a restless sleeper. “If that’s Julio, something is wrong.”
Spencer crouched on the other side of Sedona. “How do you know?”
“He’s never still, and according to his mother, that includes when he sleeps.”
The medic glanced at Cam, his expression grim. “We need to get in there. I doubt any of these guys have medical training or know the correct dose of Ketamine to knock out a kid.”
Sedona gripped Cam’s forearm. “Please help him.” She saw the reluctance in his eyes. “Cam.” She’d beg if necessary. Sedona knew down to her bones that her student needed help, and if this team didn’t get to him soon, they would lose him.
Cam turned to the team. “Here’s what we’re going to do.” For the next couple of minutes, he explained the maneuver. “Does anyone see a weakness in the plan?”
“One,” Owen said. He inclined his head toward Sedona. “I’m sorry, Sedona, but under these circumstances, you are our team’s greatest weakness, especially for Cam.”
His words cut deep into Sedona’s heart. Was it so wrong to want to help? “Well, ouch. Don’t hold back how you really feel, Owen.”
“Watch yourself,” Cam warned.
“I’m watching out for you since you don’t seem capable of doing it yourself.”
David held up one hand. “Owen’s right. Take care of it, Cam, or I will.”
“Mission clock,” Elliot said and went silent again.
Sedona frowned. What did that mean? From the resignation in his eyes, she probably wouldn’t like it.
Cam gave a slight nod. “Everyone into position.”
The rest of the men scattered. Only Caleb remained behind. “Good luck,” he whispered as he walked a few feet away.
Sedona inched closer to Cam. “What’s wrong?”
“Do you remember when I asked for your promise to follow orders without question until after the danger was past?”
“Of course.”
“I need you to stay hidden here.”
She longed to demand an explanation, but she’d given her word and wouldn’t go back on it. Sedona nodded.
Relief flooded Cam’s eyes. He leaned over and captured her lips in a brief and possessive kiss. Cam pointed to a fallen log and nudged her in that direction.
Great. A dead tree. She hoped whatever critters were now making that log home didn’t transfer their attention to her. Sedona shivered as she walked several feet away from Cam.
Although she dreaded lying that close to the fallen tree, she sucked it up and did it without complaint. Every second Cam was delayed taking care of her was another second Julio was in the clutches of The Collector.
Sedona prayed it wouldn’t take Cam and the others long to get to Julio because she was pretty sure a spider had just walked across her forehead. It took everything she had not to jump up and scream like a girl while frantically swatting at her face and hair to get the eight-legged creature off her.
She could handle this. Cam and the others were counting on her to handle a spider situation herself. The last thing she wanted was to hinder the men in their quest to save Julio. She taught kindergartners. Sedona could handle anything.
Minutes later, the men quietly took care of the guards at the back of the building without alerting the others stationed at the sides and front.
Nearby, she heard a faint scuffle, then nothing.
The silence around her, however, was unnatural, as though the woods were waiting with bated breath for either side to come up with the next move.
Through her earpiece, Cam said, “Caleb, report.”
Silence.
“Caleb,” David said, his whisper somehow crystal clear.
Nothing.
“Elliot.”
“He’s not in an open space. No luck in the woods, either.”
Here was a chance for her to help. All she had to do was sit up just enough to see if she could locate him. Perhaps his comm device had quit working. “I’ve got it,” she whispered.
“Stay put,” Cam said. “Consider that an order.”
“It will only take a second.” She ignored all the clamor on the comm system and raised up just enough to look around the small clearing.
That’s when she saw Caleb sprawled on the ground. Sedona gasped. “He’s down. Caleb is down.”
She scrambled to her feet and raced to the fallen officer’s side.
“Get out of there, Sedona,” Cam snapped. “It could be a trap. Run, Tiger.”
David chimed in with more orders to flee.
Sedona ignored them both as she dropped to her knees, scanning for injuries. “Caleb! Can you hear me?” Her gaze stopped on a rapidly growing bloodstain on Caleb’s inner thigh. Oh, no. His thigh looked as though he had a knife wound to his femoral artery.
He groaned.
“Hey, right here, Caleb. Open your eyes and look at me.” When he slowly raised his eyelids, Caleb’s eyes widened.
“Run,” he said, voice hoarse.
“Can’t. I need your belt.” Sedona unbuckled his belt and quickly slid it from the belt loops.
“Sedona, please.” He looked desperate.
That wasn’t a good sign. She didn’t see anyone in front of her, so that meant danger was sneaking up behind her.
Doggedly ignoring the danger she could feel bearing down on her, Sedona wrapped Caleb’s belt around his thigh and cinched it tight.
“I think Caleb’s femoral artery has been nicked.
I cinched his belt around his thigh to slow the bleeding. ”
A strong hand wrapped around her throat and squeezed. The man jerked her back against his chest and pointed a gun at Caleb. “Come with me, or your friends die, starting with Caleb.”