Chapter Twenty-Six #2
They couldn’t track her phone because a thug outside had it.
Since her phone wouldn’t help them, what was an alternative?
The answer popped into his mind. Cam blew out a breath and wanted to kick himself for not thinking of this idea sooner.
He turned to his boss. “Would your friend at Fortress Security help us again?”
David pulled out his phone. “Let’s find out.” He tapped one button.
His friend Zane answered on the first ring. “Yeah, Murphy.”
“It’s David Montgomery. You’re on speaker with part of my team and The Thunderhawks.”
“Understood. What do you need?”
“Feel like doing more hacking?”
“Always. Who am I hacking?”
“Traffic cams.”
“Is that all?” He sounded disappointed.
“For now. Sorry it’s not more interesting for you.”
“Maybe next time. So, who am I looking for?”
Cam grimaced. “Sedona. The Collector took her.”
“How did he get his hands on her?”
“I made a judgment call, a bad one.”
“What is he driving?”
“We don’t know.”
Silence, then, “You’re kidding.”
“Afraid not. I asked Sedona to stay hidden in the woods, which she did. Caleb stayed with her while the rest of us breached the house where we believed Sedona’s student was being held prisoner.”
“And?”
“Someone attacked Caleb and nicked his femoral artery. Sedona came out of hiding to help him.”
A soft whistle. “So that’s why Elliot called for one of our choppers. Tell me where you are, and I’ll see if I can find Sedona.”
“Thank you, Zane.”
“Don’t thank me until I find her, and that will be a miracle.”
“You’ll find her,” Owen said from his watch position at the back door.
Cam asked, “Think you can handle another search while you hunt for Sedona?”
“Depends. Who or what would I be looking for?”
“Eddie Ramirez.”
“Related to Julio, I assume.”
“Brother. He’s sixteen and just got his license.”
David took over. “He was staying at the Rocking M with his mother and ran off.”
“With the security you have, how did he manage that?”
“It’s easy when one of your deputies is taking kickbacks from The Collector.”
“Why would he do that?”
“I have a theory about that,” Cam said. “But I’ll wait until we’re not under the mission clock before I tell all.”
“Copy that. I’ll let you know when or if I find anything. Murphy out.”
“Cam.”
He turned toward Dario. “Give me some good news.”
“I think I’ve got it.”
“You think?”
“Nothing is a sure bet in this business.” He grinned. “But the odds are in our favor.”
“Tell me.”
“Simpson was telling the truth about the explosives. Every window and door is wired to blow. The second someone opens a door or raises a window, boom.”
Cam scowled. “That isn’t good news. We have to escape so we can get Sedona back.” The only good news in this situation was Julio wasn’t with Sedona. Bad news that he was still here. Good news that he wouldn’t be here for long. Neither would the teams.
“Agreed. When you’re ready to go, I’ll need two minutes.”
“Consider us ready,” David said. “The sooner, the better.”
Dario looked at Cam. “Sir?”
“Go.”
The EOD man loped down the hall again.
“Get ready,” Cam said, and he and Owen went back to watching the remaining guards.
Why hadn’t Simpson said anything about the bodies littering the ground around the building?
Perhaps because these guys were mercenaries for hire, and Simpson didn’t care if they lived or not.
The Collector, after all, had his own contingent of guards who had taken over the watch.
These were the men in danger now. Didn’t they realize Simpson planned to make them the scapegoats for the police?
In less than a minute, Dario returned. “Done.”
Cam pivoted on his heel, eyebrows raised. “I want an explanation later. Where’s the escape route?”
“The window on the back wall of the room where Julio was held.”
David said, “Elliot, where?”
“Directly across from the window in Julio’s room.”
“Copy.” He glanced at Levi, who scowled but gave a slight nod. “Owen, with me.” David stopped at the door to the room and glanced over his shoulder. “Sims, don’t do anything stupid, and don’t give Levi a hard time.”
“Copy that, sir.”
Seconds later, David and Owen were out the window and circling around to get to Elliot and Caleb.
“Let’s get to work,” Levi said. “We have bad guys to capture, and we need to do it fast. I have a baseball game to attend at noon. Roman’s team is playing, and he’s pitching.”
“We’ll make sure you get there, sir,” Isaac said.
They gathered their gear and traipsed down the hallway to the last room on the right. Dario was sitting beside Julio who still looked pretty groggy to Cam.
When the boy saw him, his face lit up. “Cam! You came.”
“You bet I did. No way would I leave a friend out in the woods.”
“Thanks for coming to get me.”
“Glad to do it.” He glanced at Spencer with his eyebrows raised. Had the medic been able to question Julio?
Spencer gave a slight shake of his head.
All right, then. Guess he’d talk to his buddy about what had happened.
Cam turned back to Julio. “We need to sit tight for just a couple of minutes, then we can leave. Have you ever left a room through the window?”
Julio’s eyes widened. “The window?”
“Yeah. There’s something wrong with the windows and doors, so we can’t leave any other way except through your window. Promise me something, though.”
“What?”
“Promise you won’t sneak out your window at home. Do I have your word you won’t do that?”
He nodded. “Promise.”
While he and Julio talked, Cam kept track of the military communications between Levi, The Thunderhawks, and David and Elliot.
Five minutes later, when he helped Julio through the window, Cam heard a helicopter take off.
It hovered for a second, then sped off toward the nearest Level One trauma center.
With David, Elliot, Owen, and Caleb out of the picture, that left Levi and the Thunderhawks to find Sedona and free her from the clutches of one of the most dangerous men on the planet. If Cam didn’t move fast enough, Sedona would become another trophy in Simpson’s collection.