Chapter 41
FORTY-ONE
ALEX
“Anything?” I asked.
“Negative,” Callum reported. “The rain has washed away any tracks there might have been. All I can say for sure is there’s been no vehicle on this road in a long, bloody time.”
Lacing my hands behind my head, I paced a half-dozen steps, willing my racing heart to slow. I was about two inches away from losing my bloody mind. I didn’t know what to do or how to effectively mobilize the assets at hand. Because if I chose wrong, it could cost Ciara her life.
Ewan got in my face, gripping me by the back of the neck. “Shut it down. You’re no good to her if you panic. Work the mission.”
I didn’t know how he could even look at me right now, when this was all my fault, but I nodded.
“Think I found something,” Finn announced. “GPS tracker on the undercarriage of your 4x4.”
My head came up at that. “Military grade or commercial?”
“Looks like commercial.”
Commercial meant a subscription and user account. Those were things I could track.
“If I can get a device ID, I can hack the company’s databases and trace the signal back.”
“Headed your way.”
“Meet me inside, in Sophie’s office. I’ll have enough signal there to do what I need to do.” I began moving in that direction, Ewan close behind.
“I may have found something, too,” Callum said. “It’s a soggy note, just inside the tree line to the west of the castle. Can’t really make out most of it, but the paper hasn’t disintegrated yet. It’s relatively fresh. Someone dropped it recently.”
“Is there a trail to follow?” Ewan demanded.
“Hard to say, but it looks like there was a vehicle parked here recently, and this road continues on through the trees.”
“Stick with it a ways. See what there is to see, while Echo hacks this tracker.”
Finn came in dripping, one side of his back covered in dirt and grass stains from where he’d clearly slid under my SUV. He handed over the tiny device. I pulled the frequency scanner I kept in my bag—because, aye, I was that guy, too—and used it to identify the make and model of the tracker. Then I set to work. No one said a word as I accessed the company’s website and began hunting for vulnerabilities that would allow me to hack into their database.
I couldn’t consider that I wouldn’t find one. This had to work, because it was our only way to narrow down where Ciara might have been taken.
My fingers flew over the keys, doing what I’d once done best.
“Gotcha.”
Once I’d made it into the system, it took only a couple of minutes to hone in on the proper account and trace the signal back to its receiver. And then I did something I could conceivably face charges for if I was caught.
“Did you just hack a satellite?” Ewan’s voice remained neutral, but I could feel his brows at his hairline.
“It’s better if I don’t answer that question, so you have plausible deniability.” Piggybacking on the receiver signal, I used the satellite imagery to narrow our search grid. “Signal’s not moving. She’s about five clicks northwest. Here.” I pointed to an area on the map.
Ewan squeezed my shoulder. “Let’s go.”
We swung around, only to find our path blocked by Connor. There were more people in the hall. Malcolm, Raleigh, Hamish.
“What can we do to help?” When we only stared at Connor, he scowled. “She’s my family, too, damn it.”
“What weapons do you have on the premises?” I asked.
“Some hunting rifles. A couple of shotguns. A bow. Plenty of blades. Enough for all of us.”
Raleigh stared. “You’re all former Special Forces. Didn’t you come prepared for this?”
“This is the UK, mate. We dinna have gun racks over our fireplaces,” Callum growled.
“But we’ve got swords,” Connor added. “Verra big swords.”
Ewan shook his head. “We aren’t putting your lives in danger. The four of us are trained for this.”
“We aren’t standin’ by doin’ nothin’,” Raleigh insisted.
I motioned Connor inside and pointed to the screen of my laptop, where I’d overlaid a map on the satellite imagery. “Do you know where this is on the estate?”
“Zoom out a little.” I did as he asked, and he squinted. “Aye, that’s no’ far. One of the rental cottages, I think.”
“What’s the fastest way there?”
When he’d told us, I nodded. “There are two potential points of egress by vehicle. If you all insist on getting involved, team up in twos and see that they’re both blocked.”
“Shouldn’t we notify the police?” Hamish asked. “They ought to be here any moment.”
“You should, aye. But maybe give us some lead time. We can get in quicker and quieter than they can. We just need them on hand to do the arresting on the other side.”
Moving quickly, we mobilized, accepting the weapons offered and loading into Ewan’s Land Rover. I brought my computer, knowing I’d probably lose signal under the circumstances. We stopped to pick up Callum on the way as we headed down the narrow track he’d followed from the formal gardens.
“What’s the plan?” he demanded.
We laid out what we’d devised in the ten minutes since we’d left the castle.
I kept staring at the signal on my screen. “What if Klein didn’t take her back to the cottage?”
Ewan glanced over at me. “Then she probably left something there that will tell us where she’s going next. One thing at a time. We deal with what’s in front of us, aye?”
It was how we’d been trained. No multitasking. Complete focus on only what was directly in front of us. One decision, then the next.
We parked far enough from the cottage that no one would hear us. The patter of the rain would also cover our movement as we closed in on our target. The cottage itself had two doors, one in front and one set of French doors off to the left side, leading out to a wee stone terrace. Light shone through gaps in the curtains, a pale beacon in the gloom beneath the trees.
Operating via hand signals only, Ewan and I crept closer, taking opposite sides of the house. I had the side with the French doors. Keeping low, I leaned over just far enough to peer through a gap in the curtains covering the French doors. Through it, I spotted a small lounge with a fireplace. Ciara was tied to a chair in front of it. Blood trickled from her temple, and I spotted fresh bruising.
Rage geysered through me. I gave it two seconds to boil, then I flipped that mental switch until everything was cold and calculated. Emotion had no place here.
Peering back through the gap, I scanned the room, instantly committing the layout to memory. Klein paced the space in front of Ciara, gun still in hand, evidently ranting about something. Ciara watched the other woman, temper shining out of her big blue eyes. Temper was a damned sight better than fear. It meant she still had fight left. Signaling back to Callum that I’d spotted our hostage, I took my position to the left of the door and waited for the distraction. We’d kicked around options on the drive, given we didn’t have flash-bang grenades or any of the things we’d normally use under such circumstances. Initially, we’d planned to fire a warning shot into the sky, but spotting the car, Finn had offered another idea.
He crept out of the trees on the opposite side of the late model sedan parked out front. He tested the driver’s side door. Keeping low, he tugged it open and laid on the horn. The sound blared over the muffling rain.
Inside, Klein startled and bolted for the front window.
The moment she was across the room, I breached. The doorframe shattered as I barreled through, coming in fast and low, knives already in my palms. From the opposite door, Ewan burst in as well. We moved with a synchrony honed over years of training and missions. I saw the gun lift in my direction and threw the knives I held. Klein howled as the first struck true. Her arm jerked, and the gun fired.
For two heart-stopping beats, I panicked because I didn’t know which way the bullet had gone. Frantic, I looked to Ciara. But there was no spreading bloodstain on her clothes.
Across the room, Johanna Klein was face down on the ground as Ewan cranked her arms tight behind her back, securing them with some zip ties he’d had in his 4x4.
I ran for Ciara, whose eyes were wide and full of terror.
Gently, I dragged the gag down. “Where are you hurt?” I demanded. “What did she do to you?”
“Alex, you’re shot!”
“What?”
“Your shoulder.”
I glanced down to see blood seeping through the front of my shirt. “Well, shite.”
“There’s a hole in the back, too. Through and through,” Finn announced.
“It’ll keep.” I took my tactical knife to Ciara’s bonds, swiftly slicing through them to free her.
She tumbled off the chair and into my arms. Her hair had come loose from the careful twist she’d put it in that morning, and her suit was rumpled and bloodstained. But she was alive.
I held onto her for a long, long time, my face buried against her throat where I could feel the strong, rapid beat of her heart.
She was alive. She was safe.
The threat was over.
“What the bloody hell happened here?” This came from Constable Williamson, who’d stepped through the front door that dangled on its hinges.
Ciara lifted her head long enough to point toward our captive. “That woman kidnapped me. She’s also confessed to tampering with my brakes and running me off the road.”
“There’s also evidence she’s been in contact with Brodie Drummond, fueling his jealous streak.” Finn jerked a thumb toward the bedroom. “Her laptop’s in here.”
For several moments, Williamson could only blink at us. Then she squared her shoulders and marched toward a glaring Johanna Klein. “Right. You’re under arrest.”