Chapter Nine
Alena’s breath caught as the grainy photo filled the screen. Melissa’s face stared out from behind the windshield, pale and tight with fear. Her stomach turned hard, her pulse kicking up fast.
Beside her, Cal’s jaw clenched. “Where is this? Where’s Melissa?”
Isla’s voice came sharp over the line. “The car turned onto a road just outside of Rock Canyon. After that, nothing. There aren’t any more cameras out that way.”
Alena gripped the edge of the desk, fighting the urge to shout. “What road?”
“A dead-end stretch,” Isla said. “Leads to old ranch land. That’s likely where the person took her.”
Alena couldn’t take her eyes off the grainy image. “Did you get a shot of the driver, Isla? Was it Dexter?”
“I wish,” Isla said, frustration edging her tone. “The visor was down. No clear image. But I’ve got the address where the car was last spotted. Sending it now.”
Cal’s phone buzzed a second later, and he checked the screen. “Ten miles. That’s all.” He ended the call and pushed back from the desk.
Adrenaline surged again, evaporating some of the fatigue. Together, they hurried down the hall toward the interview rooms. Raines stood there, one hand on his hip, the other holding a folder. The doors to both rooms were shut tight, so Arneson and Kara had to be inside.
Cal didn’t waste time. “Isla found the car with Melissa, and she sent us the location.”
Raines’s head snapped up, his eyes sharp. “Good. Let’s move. I’ll follow in my cruiser with backup.”
Alena’s pulse kicked harder. They had a direction now, a chance to get ahead of this nightmare.
They pushed through the doors of the sheriff’s station, Raines right behind them. He jerked his chin at a deputy who was crossing the lobby. “Miller, you’re with me.”
Deputy Miller broke into a quick stride, falling in beside the sheriff as they headed for the cruisers.
The second Cal and Alena slid into their SUV, she pulled out her phone and punched in the address Isla had sent. “Got it,” she said, shoving the GPS between them. Cal fired up the engine and peeled out of the lot, the cruiser falling in behind.
As the road opened up, Alena swiped through her screen, pulling up old satellite shots and tagged images of the ranch land.
“There’s no house left,” she said, zooming in on the collapsed outline of a roof, now nothing but a dark scar on the ground.
Her chest tightened as she flicked to the next frame.
“But there’s a barn. Last images posted are from over a year ago. ”
Cal’s hands flexed tighter around the wheel. “Barn’s enough. If they’ve got her out there, that’s where she’ll be.”
Alena swallowed hard, staring at the faint image of the old barn. She prayed he was right.
The SUV ate up the miles, the cruiser’s lights flashing faintly in the rearview. Alena kept her phone in her lap, her fingers moving fast over the screen. “Let’s see who owns this place.”
She scrolled, tapped, waited for the spotty reception to catch up. “It’s in foreclosure. Been that way for a while.” Another swipe, another pause. Then her pulse jumped when the next detail came up. “It used to belong to Keller’s uncle. He passed a couple years back.”
Cal let out a low curse under his breath. “That makes sense. Keller would know the place. He’d know it was sitting empty.”
Alena’s throat tightened as she stared at the blurred aerial image of the barn. “So Melissa’s abductor could’ve brought her here because of that. But was it Dexter?” She shifted her gaze to Cal. “Or was it another hired gun Keller brought in?”
The weight of the question sat heavy between them. Either way, Melissa was caught in the middle.
The SUV carried them through the outer edge of Rock Canyon, and Alena felt the town give way to open country.
No businesses out here, no gas stations or stores, just long stretches of ranch land.
Weathered fences sagged against pastures gone to seed, and the houses that dotted the landscape were few and far between.
Cal turned onto the dirt and gravel road Isla had flagged.
The tires crunched over rock and dust, each bump and rattle grinding into Alena’s nerves.
She kept her eyes on the trees crowding close to the narrow road, their twisted branches throwing jagged shadows across the windshield.
A broken section of fence lay half toppled, wire curling like rusted claws.
The drive felt longer than a half mile. Every second stretched. Alena’s pulse ticked hard in her ears, waiting for movement in the trees, for the crack of gunfire, for any sign of Melissa.
Then the barn came into view. The roofline sagged, its paint long faded, but it loomed solid and dark against the pale dirt. Cal slowed, easing the SUV to the shoulder.
He cut the engine. “We’re not driving in there. Too much noise, too much risk. If Melissa’s inside, we can’t spook them.”
Behind them, the sheriff’s cruiser rolled to a stop. Gravel scattered under its tires. Raines stepped out, his figure tense, scanning the tree line as though he, too, expected trouble to break at any second.
Alena’s hand hovered near her weapon. Whatever waited in that barn, they were close enough now to feel it pressing against their skin.
She raised the binoculars, her elbows braced against the dashboard to steady her hands.
The barn sat silent in the distance, its wide doors closed, its walls weathered and gray.
No figures moved outside. No vehicle in sight either, though one could easily be tucked along the far wall, hidden by the overgrown weeds and trees pressing in around the structure.
She swept the glass lower, and her pulse spiked. “There,” she whispered. Inside the barn’s yawning shadow, she caught the glint of metal. A small travel trailer sat just past the threshold. Her gut tightened. “Melissa’s probably in there.”
Cal didn’t hesitate. He slid out of the SUV, checking his weapon. Alena followed, the weight of her own gun grounding her, her senses on high alert. Raines and Deputy Miller joined them, moving with a quiet efficiency that spoke of shared urgency.
Together they crossed the ditch and slipped into the line of trees. The air was sharp with pine and dust, every sound amplified: the crunch of boots on dry earth, the rustle of leaves as they pushed deeper into cover.
The barn loomed closer, the travel trailer a pale shape just visible through the shadows. Alena’s skin prickled with tension. If Melissa was inside, then so was whoever had dragged her out here.
And that meant they were walking straight into his trap.
They crept across the uneven ground, weeds and tall grass whispering against their legs. Every step felt too loud, too exposed, but Alena kept her focus pinned on the shadowy outline of the barn.
Then the sharp rattle froze them all in place.
Alena’s gaze snapped down. Just ahead, coiled tight and ready to strike, a rattlesnake shimmered in the patchy sunlight. Its head swayed, tongue flicking, the sound of its tail vibrating through the stillness.
Her instinct screamed to lift her weapon, but she clenched her jaw. One shot and whoever was inside that barn would know they were coming.
She held her breath. Cal did the same. Even Raines and Miller had gone statue-still, every muscle locked.
The rattle went on for what felt like forever, the tension stretching until Alena’s chest burned. Then, slowly, the snake uncoiled. It slithered away into the grass, its tail finally silencing as it disappeared into the weeds.
Alena let out the breath she’d been holding, her heart hammering so hard it made her palms slick against her gun.
Cal gave a sharp nod, and they pressed forward again, each step dragging them closer to whatever waited inside that barn.
They eased forward, every step careful in the thick grass. Alena’s pulse kept time with the crunch of gravel under her boots, her gaze sweeping the shadows.
The barn loomed larger, its sagging frame dark against the bright sky. Alena shifted her binoculars again, scanning past the broken doorframe. That’s when she spotted it. A car tucked behind the barn, half hidden by weeds.
She tapped Cal’s arm and pointed. He gave a sharp nod, and they all crouched lower, closing the distance. The car sat still, its windows blank. No movement inside. If Melissa had been in that car, she wasn’t anymore unless she was in the trunk. Not exactly a comforting thought.
They crept closer, guns up, the barn only yards away now. That’s when Alena froze again. A low, tinny murmur drifted through the air. Voices.
She held up a hand, straining to listen.
At first the words blurred together, muffled and distorted. She thought someone was talking inside the trailer. Her stomach clenched tight.
But then she recognized the static, the clipped tones. It wasn’t a conversation at all.
It was a radio.
Cal crouched low and mouthed for them to cover him. Alena nodded, her gun steady in her hands as she scanned the weeds and trees, every nerve stretched tight. Raines and Miller mirrored her, weapons ready, eyes cutting over the ground for any sign of movement.
The radio kept droning from the trailer, garbled voices blending with bursts of static.
Alena silently cursed it. The noise masked everything else, leaving her half blind to whatever danger might be closing in.
She wanted to hear footsteps, whispers, the scrape of a weapon being raised.
Instead she got the chatter of strangers on a frequency that didn’t matter.
Cal slid to the side of the trailer, moving like a shadow. He lifted just enough to peer through the narrow window, then ducked back down. His eyes locked on hers across the distance. He mouthed two words. Melissa’s inside.
Her heart slammed into her ribs.
Cal’s hands shaped another message. No one else.
Alena’s breath came fast and shallow. She wanted to believe it, but instinct told her this was too easy. Still, when Raines flicked two fingers in a sharp signal to move, she tightened her grip on her weapon and prepared to follow.
The real fight might be waiting just beyond that trailer door.
Raines reached for the latch, his hand steady, his voice low. “Not locked.” He touched the handle.
And then Alena saw the glint of thin wire just above the frame. “Stop,” she hissed. “Don’t move it.”
Raines froze. Alena crouched, following the line of the wire with her eyes.
It disappeared into the frame, hidden under the cheap aluminum siding.
Her pulse thudded. “It’s rigged. Could be explosives, could just be an alarm.
Either way, you open that door, we’ll have more than Melissa’s captor on our hands. ”
Raines swore under his breath and eased back.
Cal was already moving. He slipped to the side of the trailer and went back to the window he’d scouted earlier. His knife flicked open, and he worked it against the flimsy seal until the glass gave with a soft snap.
“Easy,” Alena whispered, her chest tight. She scanned the frame for more wires, her breath held. Cal did the same, running his fingers along the sill before he lifted it higher. No tripwire. No trigger. Just an open way in.
He tested the frame once more, then shifted his gun to his shoulder holster. With a controlled breath, he swung his leg up and started to climb through the window.
Alena gripped her gun tighter, every muscle coiled. One wrong move, and the whole place could blow.
Cal folded through the window and hit the trailer floor hard, boots thudding on a warped table. He swore, half a breath, then was already moving toward the tiny bathroom. Alena didn’t wait. She dropped through the opening right behind him and swept the cramped space with her eyes.
Melissa was on the floor by the little dinette, hands bound behind her back, legs lashed together at the ankles.
A piece of duct tape covered her mouth. Her eyes were wild and wet; she was shaking her head so hard her hair skimmed the dusty linoleum.
She was trying to speak, to say something, but the gag muffled it into frantic, meaningless sounds.
Alena’s mouth went dry. Her fingers went for the duct tape before her brain fully caught up. Cal was already there, working fast, tearing at the bindings with a blade. Melissa’s eyes met his, relief and terror in the same look.
Then Alena saw it. Taped to the underside of the little table, a crudely made timer with wires curling into a cluster of wrapped canisters. The LED readout was bright and obscene in the dim trailer light.
Forty-two seconds.
Cal’s eyes locked on the timer, then on Melissa’s wide, panicked gaze. There wasn’t time to undo knots or worry about finesse. He hooked his arms under her and hauled her up, ignoring her muffled protests.
“Go!” he barked, shoving her toward the window.
Alena scrambled to help, steadying Melissa’s shoulders as Cal boosted her through the frame. Raines and Miller were already there, reaching in, gripping her arms and pulling her out.
The second Melissa was clear, Cal swung to Alena. “Move.”
She didn’t argue. She shoved herself through the window frame, boots hitting dirt, the humid air rushing against her face. Cal landed right behind her, his gun slung tight against his chest.
“Run!” Raines snapped.
They bolted, the grass tearing under their boots, weeds slapping their legs as they tore away from the trailer. Alena’s lungs burned, every stride a prayer they’d put enough distance between themselves and the device.
Behind them, a deep whoosh of heat and sound ripped through the air. Alena spun just enough to see flames blooming through the trailer window, fire swallowing the curtains and spilling outward.
The trailer had become an inferno.