Chapter Thirty-Five
Petra
Sitting in the lost woman’s cabin, the relief Petra felt when Cooper sat up and perked his ears was immense.
Whether this was Molly coming home safely or the nurse who volunteered to come package the child—yes, as long as it was one or the other—that was great.
But then her mind flashed with other possibilities, and Petra found herself scooping up the child, fast asleep, cocooned in one of Molly’s blankets, and dashing to the bathroom.
“Petra?” Hawkeye had jumped to his feet.
“Someone’s coming. I don’t know friend or foe. I’ll hide with the child until you figure it out.”
“I figured it out. The woman is in scrubs, and they’re carrying Iniquus wilderness medical cases.”
When Petra came out of the bathroom, Hawkeye was standing angled at the window like a soldier. Could have been habit, might also be that she’d spooked him.
He caught her eye. “Good call to grab and go. Better safe than sorry.”
The nurse came in, “Oh, she’s tiny.” She called over her shoulder. “If she doesn’t have broken bones, I don’t think we need the gurney, guys. Let’s just take turns holding her if she’s asleep. Can you sit down for a minute?” she asked Petra. “I want to do a quick physical and take a history.”
“No history. We found her. Called it in. You showed up.” Petra said. She was agitated because the boys were still missing. An enormous internal pressure swelled her veins, trying to force her into the woods with Cooper to start the search.
The nurse sent her a look of curiosity. But seemed to make an internal decision when Hawkeye didn’t offer anything of any kind. After listening to the child’s heart and checking her temperature, searching for bruises, bites, or other telltale signs, the nurse stood and signaled one of the men to pick up the child. “Thanks for making the find and calling it in,” she said, and they all filed out.
“I was rude,” Petra whispered.
Hawkeye hooked an arm around her and pulled her to his chest, kissing her hair. “Yeah, I’m worried about the boys, too. I’m all packed up. How about you use the bathroom, and we’ll leave?”
That was two hours ago.
Now, the sun was starting to sink.
The sky was filling with bats.
Cooper was a machine. With his pink tongue hanging long, Hawkeye had to physically stop Cooper from searching to sit and rest and try a sip of water.
She didn’t know what happened with the search once it got dark, but as the light dimmed, so did Petra’s ability to tell where her body was in space. With the shadows and dark spots, Petra was tripping more frequently.
Soon, she’d be a liability.
Her plan was that if she fell, that would be her clue that her time of being a help was over. She’d just walk toward the sound of the sea, find a beach, and walk until there was a way to get back to the hotel. Nothing was but so far on this tiny island.
It was important that her disabilities did nothing to interrupt Hawkeye and Cooper’s finding the boys.
But now, something was different.
Petra had to remind herself to breathe. They were close; she could feel it in her body.
Hawkeye said his ears got messed up during his time in the military. He probably couldn’t hear the changes in the sounds of Cooper’s travel patterns. From what Petra heard, she would surmise they were homing in on something.
When Cooper changed again, moving slower, feeling things out, Petra reached out and grabbed Hawkeye’s arm.
When Hawkeye stopped, she stood on her toes to whisper in his ear. “Cooper found something he doesn’t like. Do you want to recall him silently and let him take you in quietly until we know what we’re dealing with?”
“Are you psychic?” he whispered with a bewildered look.
“Not in the least,” Petra said. “I’m listening to him.”
Within minutes, Petra, Hawkeye, and Cooper were crouched outside a hillside house.
Hawkeye was surveilling the situation with his field glasses. He lifted to speak into her ear. “I see three adults. A fighting-age male is brandishing a gun. An adult couple is tied to a column. Two young boys are playing with a ball in the yard.”
“Well, shit,” Petra whispered, then stuck a finger in the air as Cooper perked his ears. “There’s a car coming,” she said.
An off-road vehicle with the fabric top folded down popped over the ruts and roots and found its way to a stop.
Petra and Hawkeye moved closer. They inserted the earbuds for Hawkeye’s parabolic ear, so they could hear what was said.
The guy with the gun came out and leaned onto the hood. “What’s happening down there?” the house guy asked,
“It couldn’t be better. Lots of boats are missing, people. It’s a mess. Also, there’ve been people over at Molly’s house.”
“Her boat didn’t come in yesterday,” house guy said. “Was it supposed to?”
The car guy reached for a bag and dragged it to him. “The letter on the table said she was out for a day cruise. I bagged up everything that was edible. She likes the vegan crap, so it wasn’t much.”
“Do we go?” house guy asked. “Do we not go?”
“I called the Prokhorovs for instructions. The issues all over the Caribbean make this so much easier. But since Molly’s missing, this area is going to get attention. I told them our boat was the only one in the slip, and people might wonder why it’s not out helping. They said to wait until ten or eleven o’clock and head out as planned. The Coast Guard and searches will be happening north of us.”
Prokhorovs? Wow. Well, now Petra knew why Rowan and two other members of his joint task force were headed to the island.
“Are we going to do it ?” house guy asked.
“Get this guy’s money? Hell to the yeah, I am. You do what you want. But if you help, we get half in your Bitcoin account, half in mine. Get down to Panama, sell the boat. Go off in the world.”
“But if we have the money, why are we putting up with the family?” house guy asked. “We get the money and move on.”
Car guy was twirling his keychain on his finger. “Because you’re an idiot. What’s happening down there?” He lifted his chin toward the boys kicking the ball.
“Parents are still tied. I let the kids run around in the yard for a bit. They’re kids.”
“So first, what happens if we go and we don’t take them?” car guy asked. “They’re here, and they tell the cops about us. We’re fugitives instead of them being the fugitives. Right now, they’re not breaking any new laws. Second, the Prokhorov family paid us to do a job.”
“So?” house guy asked.
“So, the Prokhorovs can’t let someone off the hook, even a small fish like us. If they let us off the hook, everyone thinks they can come and go as they like. We deposit the family as we said we’d do. We never said we’d deposit them as anything other than healthy. I never said a word about depositing them as wealthy. That’s a separate transaction, as far as I’m concerned.” Car guy stopped talking for a moment. “Hey, I’m only counting two kids.”
“What?” house guy asked.
“There are three kids. I’m only counting two.” Car guy motioned toward the yard.
“The house guy looked into the vehicle and held very still. “I thought you had the girl.”
“What do you mean you thought I had the girl?” car guy yelled. “I told you to watch the family.”
“But you were gone. The girl was gone,” house guy whined. “I don’t know what gets your freak on, man. You want the girl? Take the girl. Not my thing, but you do you.”
There was a smack. “Are you telling me you don’t know where the girl is?”
“Ow shit, don’t do that.” House guy was rubbing his arm. “I don’t know where the girl is.”
The car guy ran to the house.
Hawkeye leaned to her ear and whispered, “Do you know who the Prokhorovs are?”
“Yes,” Petra said. “They’re not my monkeys and certainly not my circus.”
He caught her eye. “It’s Rowan’s circus, though?”
Petra shook her head. “I can’t speak to that.”
“Got it. And you saw something that tied this family to the Prokhorovs and sent up a bat signal?” Hawkeye asked.
“I did no such thing. This is all very much different than what I had imagined.” She held up a hand to signal that she was listening. It was harder to hear with the men inside, but the parabolic ear—that Hawkeye carried on searches to help him locate people who were calling out—was, in fact, very helpful.
“Where’s the girl? Where’s the girl?”
They heard fist to flesh and Jenny crying out.
“She’s a child. I have no idea. Children get things in their minds.”
The next bit was garbled. The men talked over each other, sometimes screaming at the parents, sometimes hissing softly. “We’re so deep into the trees that a child has no chance of finding her way out. If you helped her to escape, you only sent her to a painful death from dehydration, hunger, and animals. If you think it’s a good idea to try to get another child out, they’ll die just as badly.”
Then the car guy was yelling at the dad about finding a wifi signal at dark. They would be transferring his Bitcoin monies to the men’s Bitcoin wallets.
“But how will my family live? That’s all we have.” Herb sobbed.
“Yes, well, at least you will live, right?” the car guy said. “Then we’ll take the boat and get you to Panama. Your mule will take you to Columbia from there.”
“With no money, we won’t survive. Leave a little in pity for the children.” Jenny was begging.
Hawkeye signaled to Cooper to keep quiet, and the three backed deeper into the foliage.
“What’s the play Petra?”
“We use the sat phone to call Rowan and dump this onto his plate.”
It was a quick relay of information and GPS pins, then the three—Petra, Hawkeye, and Cooper—were right back in their spot, watching and listening, waiting for the FBI team to show up.
It felt like a very long time.
The house was eerily quiet. Nothing was coming over the parabolic ear.
In the last of the daylight, the kidnappers were back by their vehicle.
“Stop it and listen. When you take guy to a Wi-Fi signal and get the money, take the gun.” From her angle, Petra couldn’t see who was speaking to whom.
“Man, if I end up shooting him, it’s murder. Right now, I’m doing some Robin Hood shit, stealing from a robber baron to feed the poor—me.”
“Shoot him in the leg.”
“You think I’m a good enough shot to shoot a running person in the leg? Dude, I’ve never shot a gun before.”
“Then let him run. We have his wife and kids. We tell the Prokhorovs that the guy ran off with the girl. We’re supposed to transport them, not jail them. Yeah, I know we’ve got them tied up, but you know what I’m saying.”
Cooper signaled, and moments later, Rowan came squat-walking through the foliage.
After a quick update from Hawkeye, Rowan said. “Okay, you two, you’re done here. My team and I will handle it.” He touched the gun at his hip.
Petra blinked at him.
“You and Hawkeye need to eat, hydrate, and decompress. Petra, you’ve done amazing work. You’re done here. This isn’t for you.”
Yeah, hostage rescue wasn’t part of Petra’s skillset. She moved to go.
“Hey,” Rowan whispered. “Not a word to anyone. This is an active mission.” Rowan caught Hawkeye’s gaze. Hawkeye gave an affirmative nod.
“Off we go,” Petra mumbled when they were well out of earshot, “to have a relaxing evening.” She turned back to the house with a deep frown. “As if that could really happen.”
Hawkeye took her hand, and they walked away from the kidnapped children to get themselves something to eat.
It felt s o wrong.