28. Shiloh
28
SHILOH
I had all the files out in front of me. Earlier in the day there were only three of us in the conference room. Finding the unsub was on our list of things to do. Now, however, things had changed. Drastically.
When Ryder didn’t return inside from taking out the trash, I went to the garage to find him. Instead, I found the garage door open, the trash can turned over and drag marks in the dirt. I knew immediately what had happened and called everyone I could to help.
Holden was pouring over one file while Cat and Owen each did the same with another. Cat turned to Lilly. “Can I get access to Jared’s database please.”
“Why?” I turned to Cat. Fear threatened to drown me. But I knew I was of no use if I gave into that fear. Ryder needed me to do my job “Did you find something?”
“I don’t know.” She turned on the laptop which sat in the conference room. “According to the ME’s report, the last two victims hadn’t been frozen completely. And there has to be a reason why.”
Owen nodded. “Her timeline was off because the kidnapping site was further away.”
I used my temporary Salinger login details to get Cat into the system. “I’m guessing you’re looking at storage rentals in the area.”
“No.” Cat’s fingers flew across the screen. “Storage space is too small, I think. And visible. What we need is abandoned warehouses.”
Marina De Ferrier didn’t have many of those. In fact, the town was one of those sickeningly nice places that had low crime and even lower unemployment and homelessness.
“Oh.” Lilly narrowed her eyes and pulled out a map. Specifically, a map of the border close to Tijuana. She pointed to an area just inside Mexico, about half an hour from where we were. “There are a group of abandoned warehouses here. No one pays any attention to them. One of them was blown up about fifteen years ago. But this would be where I would look. I was taken there when I was kidnapped.” She looked around the room. “Looks like I’m going into the field.”
Since all of the Salingers had been away on a mission, and were struggling to make it home for Christmas, Lilly was the only operator available.
“Also.” She smiled. “Everyone with a badge, or a rank sit the fuck down, you cannot set foot in Mexico.”
Like fucking hell. “Try again, you can’t go in without backup and everyone here is disqualified.”
Cat and Holden exchanged a look before looking over at Owen. Owen raised brow and shook his head. “We’re all going. If we get caught, everyone pleads ignorance and follows my lead.”
He was far too cavalier about that. Still, I wasn’t about to argue. “Cat, can we get an aerial view of that area that Lilly just showed us?”
“Sure.” She pointed a remote to the screen and an aerial view and street view appeared side by side. “I can zoom in once we’ve narrowed down which building that bitch is in.”
The room raised a collective eyebrow at that. Cat was one of the sweetest women I knew. Swearing was not something that came naturally to her. Of course, she was also one of the very few women who’d trained as a SEAL. As far as I knew, there were only a few women who completed the training and almost all of them had been transferred to a ghost ops team like Holden. Not that either of them spoke about what they did.
Cat was part of a team who rescued Holden a few months earlier. I suspected the Prince of England was somehow part of that but none of them were talking. They were all badasses and I needed them to do the thing they were good at.
As they studied the building on the screen, Owen stepped closer. He pointed to one particular warehouse that was hidden among the rest. “That’s the one I would choose.”
“Why?” Holden stepped up to his brother.
“If the killer did any sort of research on his victims, he’d know Ryder’s connection to Salinger Security. We pick the best places, right. Which means we’d know to look there as well. They’d want a place we wouldn’t consider.” He tapped the screen. “That one.”
Within moments we were all standing in front of the armory. Holden let out a low whistle. “I’m guessing Salinger Security can keep Snow enterprises in business all by themselves.”
He was right. The sight was impressive. I wasn’t altogether certain whether Snow enterprises was the supplier. Then again what did I know? Each one of us took what we needed and strapped and holstered.
“We can take the helicopter.” Lilly smiled.
Helicopter? “I didn’t know you had a helicopter.”
“We use it for short trips.”
“Then why didn’t you suggest I take that when I wanted to go to L.A.”
“Because I knew Ryder was on his way home with the plane.”
My voice dropped and I lowered my head. “It would've been better if he stayed there. Safer at least.”
Holden pulled me closer and kissed the top of my head. “She would’ve got him some other time. You know that. And then you may not have had us to help.”
He was right. I held onto Holden. He’d been my friend since we lost our mothers all those years ago. Mine was a trafficking victim, his was a Navy nurse who had been treating the women who were rescued. Of course, the bomb that took out our mothers, happened to be the trigger that brought us all together.
Loud footsteps in the corridor had us all turning. Harry walked up to the armory and started pulling weapons and vests out. He was nearly fully armored by the time I found my tongue. “Dad, what are you doing?”
Harry frowned down at me. “I cannot believe you didn’t think to call me. I am a Special Forces Marine and I am going to rescue my future son-in-law. Provided he has the courage to fucking ask for your hand in marriage.”
“You know this is not the Middle Ages, right? He needs my permission not yours.”
“Whatever. We can argue about that when he is back safe.”
He was right. On all counts. Ryder and I were going to get married. We wanted Harry and Tess’ blessing. But mostly, we needed to get him back safely.
Less than twenty minutes later, six of us were aboard the military grade helicopter. I heard Owen mention the make and model, but I was too keyed up to pay attention. The only thing that mattered was that it got us where we needed to go. No one spoke as we sped along the most southern part of California. All things considered, it was surprisingly easy to fly from American to Mexican airspace. Hunter would stay on board and be ready to ensure we got back out as quick as possible.
I frowned over at Lilly, but it was Owen who answered. “We’re flying too low for anyone to find us. There are not many dead areas in terms of radar. There is only a cellphone tower. Also, the area is abandoned and desolate and close to the border crossing.”
We’d already had nearly everything planned. If we had to choose, we would let the unsub go and look for Ryder. A pure rescue mission would keep us out of trouble. As it was, we had no jurisdiction. So, we needed to be careful. No. What we needed was for her to get back into the States. We had planned for that as well.
The helicopter landed on top of the building and Owen and Holden were out first. Their job was to tag the unsub’s vehicle with a tracker and then come inside back to help. Instead of entering the building, they rappelled down the outside. Each of us would take a different entrance. We were not to touch her. But we could imply mistaken identity and get close to her. She would believe we were looking for a man who attacked their friend. They’d place the bug on her and let the authorities handle it once we were back in the US.
While the guys went and found the car, Harry, Lilly, and I, each found our entrance to enter the building. Slowly we made our way down, despite my instinct to rush in and find Ryder. We reached the first floor and did the mandatory inspection.
In turn we each held up our hand as we cleared the building
Then we reached the ground floor. Boxes and containers of all sizes filled the space. Judging by some of the dusty machines, the space was once a factory of some kind. My heart sped up at the thought that she had so easily gotten rid of Ryder’s body.
Lilly flipped a light switch, illuminating the room. “Place has got power. Which means she could have a freezer in here.”
At first, I wasn’t sure if we were in the right place, until I saw a blood-stained gurney. A small table with a single scalpel was next to it. Most importantly, all the blood looked fresh. We were in the right spot.
I pushed back the tears which threatened. I couldn’t break down.
According to the ME, the human body took three days to freeze completely. But she never said anything about how long a human could survive in the freezer. Provided he was still alive.
No. I was not going to think like that. Ryder was alive. He would heal and I would be there for him every step of the way.
As I purposefully stepped from one room to another, I finally spotted it. Stained and rusted, it looked like it was a relic from an eighties tv show, but it was definitely a chest freezer. “Guys, over here.”
I jogged across the room, nearly tripping over a lever in the ground. I opened the freezer and there he was. Pale and lifeless with white ice sticking to his hair.
“No baby, please be alive.” The first thing I did was feel for a pulse but I could not find one. I prayed it was more a case of my anxiety and his circumstances.
Harry was the first to reach me. “Here let me.”
My father pulled Ryder up by his armpit and dragged him out that godforsaken box. With tears streaming down my face, I tried to help by pulling his legs out. Once he was on the floor, Harry felt for a pulse once more. “Pulse is weak, but it's there and he’s breathing.”
He pulled off his jacket and wrapped it around Ryder, who started groaning. Owen and Holden ran in. Owen pulled off his pants, revealing his basketball shorts underneath.
He smiled at me. “It pays to be prepared.”
Holden also took off his jacket to wrap around Ryder, before hoisting him over his shoulder fireman style.
Ryder groaned and I rushed to catch up with him, wiping the tears from my cheeks. “I’m here Ry, you’re safe. We got you.”
His groan was low and weak. “Bitch was hiding in the garage.” I didn’t say anything and I was sure he was unconscious again, when his voice was little more than a whisper. “Could’ve been Ethan.”
Holden shook his head. “Doubt it. I was in the garage just moments before. It's clear she was after a specific target.”
Harry turned to me. “Sweetheart, we'll get him to the hospital. When we get to Salinger you need to track that woman. Whoever she is.”
“I don’t want to leave him.”
“I know, sweetie.” He followed Holden. “Owen will go with you but you’re the one with the badge.”
The flight back was even quicker. Something about wind, or whatever. Hunter had piloted us in and out before anyone could find out.
As soon as I got to my car, I called my captain and Agent Newton. I opened the app that Cat installed to track the unsub’s vehicle. She was just on the northern edge of Marina De Ferrier.
I shared my location with the two men I called and raced after her. By the time I had her in sight, sirens blared behind me.
Police vehicles were ahead of us as well. A barricade was formed and the car ahead of me came to halt. By the time I stopped my vehicle and climbed out, two uniformed officers were pulling the woman from the car.
I walked over to the familiar figure and narrowed my eyes. “Valerie?”
“I did it for you, Shiloh.” She was fighting the hold of the officers. “For all of us who had scum for fathers. No child should have to go through that.”
The fear I had been bottling up for the last few hours bubbled up and manifested as rage. “You killed four innocent people. Two of those men were fucking good fathers. One didn’t know the kid was his. You nearly killed my man. Ethan’s father.”
“He was just as bad as the rest of them.”
I lunged toward her but I was held back. My captain’s voice was soothing. “Let it go. She’s not worth it. This is not how you want to go out.”
“What?” I pulled out of his hold and turned to him with my hands on my hips. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“I’m not stupid, Bauman.” He stepped up alongside me. “I knew when I assigned you, that I would lose you. Now let Agent Newton deal with the unsub and you go and check on your man.”