Chapter 22
Jake
Probably just a deer, I thought, but years of ranch life had taught me to check everything. I glanced at Ella, still peacefully asleep beside me, her hair spread across my pillow. I slipped out of bed without waking her, pulled on my jeans, and grabbed my gun from the lockbox.
The house was quiet as I moved downstairs. Rory was asleep on the couch, snoring softly. I pulled on my boots and coat by the back door, then stepped into the frigid night air.
The snow crunched beneath my boots as I made my way toward the barn, scanning the darkness. The moon was bright enough to cast shadows, and I could see footprints in the fresh snow—small footprints, heading toward the barn.
My heart rate kicked up. Not a deer.
I broke into a run, following the tracks. The barn door was ajar, spilling warm light into the yard. I drew my weapon and approached cautiously, listening for any sound inside.
“Hello?” I called, pushing the door open wider. “Anyone in here?”
The horses nickered softly in response, but otherwise, the barn was silent.
I moved down the central aisle, checking each stall.
When I reached the one where the barn cat had her kittens, I found them all present—but I could tell from the way the straw was kicked around that someone small had been sitting there recently.
More concerning was the second set of footprints—large, adult-sized—overlapping the smaller ones.
“Nora?” I called, my voice echoing in the empty barn. “Are you in here?”
Nothing. I circled back to the entrance, following both sets of prints outside. They led away from the barn, toward the driveway, where they disappeared right where a running vehicle had been parked. I knew it had been running from the way the snow had melted from a running engine.
Cold dread settled in my stomach. I sprinted back to the house, taking the porch steps two at a time. Inside, I hit the emergency alarm switch by the door, sending a piercing wail through the house.
Rory was on his feet instantly, weapon drawn. “What happened?” he demanded.
“Need to check Nora’s room,” I yelled, already taking the stairs three at a time.
I burst into the guest room where Nora had been sleeping. The bed was empty, covers thrown back. “She’s not here,” I called, my voice tight with fear. “Rory, check to see if her coat and boots are gone from the mudroom!”
Ella appeared in the hallway, her eyes wide with alarm. “Jake? What’s happening?”
“Nora’s missing,” I said, moving toward her. “I found footprints leading to the barn, then to the driveway. Adult footprints alongside hers.”
The blood drained from her face. “No,” she whispered. “No, no, no.”
Declan and Kane appeared behind her, both armed and alert. “The perimeter alarm didn’t trigger,” Declan said. “How the hell did someone get in?”
“Check the security feed,” I ordered, even as I guided Ella toward our room. “Get dressed,” I told her gently. “We’ll find her.”
She moved mechanically, pulling on clothes with shaking hands. “Alexei,” she said, her voice hollow. “It has to be him.”
Mikhail burst into the room without knocking, his face a mask of fury and fear. “Where is she?” he demanded. “Where’s my daughter?”
“We don’t know yet,” I said, forcing my voice to stay calm. “But we’re going to find out. Right now.”
We headed to my office, where Rory had already pulled up the security footage. “The cameras went dark at 2:30 AM,” he reported. “All of them, simultaneously. Came back online at 3:41 AM.”
“That’s when my alarm went off,” I said. “Someone knew exactly what they were doing.”
“The furnace,” Kane called from the hallway. “Someone blocked the exhaust pipe—carbon monoxide. Another hour and we all could have been dead.”
“Get everyone outside,” I ordered. “Clear the house.”
As we moved to the front porch, I caught Ella’s arm. “Did Nora say anything yesterday? Give any indication she might go to the barn?”
Ella shook her head, tears streaming down her face. “No, but—the kittens. She’s been asking to see them for days. I think she might have gone on her own, and then...”
“And then Alexei’s men found her,” Mikhail finished, his voice ice-cold. “They were waiting for an opportunity.”
My phone rang—Connor, from Ella’s house next door. “Jake, cameras show that we had movement on the main road at 3:43. Black SUV, no plates, it headed east about 15 minutes ago. Mia’s following at a distance.”
“That’s them,” I said. “Tell her not to lose them, but don’t engage. We’re on our way.”
I turned to the group assembled on my porch. “Alexei has Nora. We have maybe an hour before they reach whatever extraction point they’re headed for.”
“Airport,” Mikhail said immediately. “Private airfield, most likely. My father keeps a jet on standby for emergencies wherever he is.”
“There’s a small airstrip about forty miles east of here,” Declan said. “We used it at Christmas time.”
“That’s where they’re going,” Mikhail agreed. “We need to move now.”
“Declan, Kane, you’re with me,” I said, already moving toward my truck. “Rory, stay with Ella—”
“I’m coming with you,” Ella interrupted, her voice leaving no room for argument. “She’s my daughter.”
“Our daughter,” Mikhail corrected, his expression equally determined.
I nodded, knowing better than to waste time arguing. “Fine. But you stay in the vehicle until we figure out the situation.” I turned to Rory. “Call the local police, but don’t mention Alexei. Just report a child abduction. And get Connor to send the coordinates from Mia’s tracker.”
Within minutes, we were speeding down the highway, my truck in the lead with Ella beside me and Mikhail in the back seat. Declan and Kane followed in Declan’s truck, with Rory coordinating from the ranch.
“How did he find us?” Ella asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
“He’s been one step ahead this whole time,” Mikhail said grimly. “He probably had men watching the ranch since we arrived.”
“But the security system—” I began.
“My father employs former KGB agents,” Mikhail cut in. “They’re experts at bypassing security.”
My hands tightened on the steering wheel. “Well, they’re not experts at outrunning me on my own roads.” I pressed the accelerator harder, the truck’s engine roaring as we sped through the darkness.
My phone buzzed with a text from Mia: “Airstrip confirmed. Two SUVs, approx. 8 men. They have the girl. Jet on runway, warming up.”
I relayed the information to the others, then called Connor. “We need a distraction,” I said. “Something to delay takeoff.”
“On it,” he replied without hesitation.
Ella reached for my free hand, her fingers ice-cold. “We’ll get her back,” I promised. “Whatever it takes.”
“If anything happens to her...” She couldn’t finish the sentence.
“Nothing will happen to her,” Mikhail said from the back seat, his voice hard with conviction. “My father won’t harm her. She’s his legacy now.”
“That’s not comforting,” Ella snapped.
“It should be,” he countered. “It means he’ll keep her safe until we can get to her.”
I glanced in the rearview mirror, meeting his eyes. “And how exactly do we get to her? Storm a private airfield against armed guards?”
“If necessary,” he said.
For once, we were in complete agreement.
Twenty minutes later, we pulled off the main road onto a service track that Mia had directed us to. Through the trees, I could see the lights of the airstrip—and the sleek private jet already taxing down the runway.