Chapter 22
Dustin was pushing the Jeep way too fast for the conditions—especially with the headlights off—but an urgency was driving him and starting to strangle him.
Silver was in danger, perhaps even life-threatening danger, and he couldn’t do anything about it.
“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” he asked Isaac.
They still had no sight of the SUV now that they were on the old country road.
He’d expected they would have caught up by now, especially since he’d shaved off several miles by cutting across the pasture.
The ride had been rough. He’d nearly tipped the Jeep twice.
But they’d made it in good time. Apparently not enough time . . .
“Hold on.” Isaac stood and peered ahead. “I think I see it.”
Dustin strained to see through the darkness down the road. The outline of a vehicle loomed ahead. It was the SUV. And it was stopped.
Both front doors were open. A passenger door was too.
Something had happened.
His pulse spurted. Shoot. Where was Silver? And what were they doing with her?
He flipped the switch on the headlights and auxiliary fog lights on the hood. Bright light flooded the road ahead. “Do you see her?” He practically shouted the question at Isaac.
Isaac was still standing, holding on to the Jeep’s front frame. He scanned the area around the SUV and then shifted to search the field off the road. “There!” He pointed to the left. “She’s over there. Two guys have her, and it looks like they’re carrying her back to the SUV.”
Dustin followed the direction of Isaac’s finger. He didn’t see anything. He swerved the Jeep off the road and onto the field anyway.
“Circle north!” Isaac called.
Dustin jerked on the steering wheel. Then he pressed his foot down on the accelerator. He had to get to Silver before her abductors reached the SUV and took off again.
Isaac slipped his pistol out and pointed it at the SUV. He took four shots. “They won’t be going anywhere now.”
Dustin nodded his appreciation at Isaac’s quick thinking in shooting out the SUV’s tires. Even so, all he could think about was getting Silver in his arms and away from the two guys who had her.
The Jeep’s headlights finally spotlighted the men and Silver. One had her by her shoulders and the other by her feet. It appeared she was gagged and her hands tied behind her back, but she was still thrashing about, trying to break free.
Was that what had happened? Had she somehow managed to get out of the SUV while it was moving? Forcing her captors to stop and chase after her? If so, it was possible she was injured.
His heart plummeted at the thought. At least she was still moving. Fighting.
He drove the Jeep as close as he could get, less than a dozen feet away. He slammed it to a halt and jumped out at the same time.
The guy holding Silver’s feet began to fumble at his side. The slight bulge there was the sign of a pistol.
Dustin sprinted toward him, his muscles tightening. He had to take the guy down before he got his gun out.
From the corner of his eye, Dustin could see Isaac heading toward the other man.
As long as neither abductor could get his weapon out and turn it on Silver . . .
Dustin’s blood pumped harder. He couldn’t let that happen.
With a spurt of adrenaline, he increased his pace.
Then, with a crescent kick that he’d perfected when getting his black belt in karate, his foot connected with the man’s hand at his gun belt, dislodging the gun and sending it flying out behind him.
Without giving the guy a chance to react, Dustin barreled into him, flipping him off his feet and sending him backward.
The guy hit the ground with a thud and swoosh of breath. Dustin was on top of him in the next instant, rolling him over and securing his arms behind his back.
Of course, he struggled for an instant, but Dustin just yanked his arms up in a painful move that silenced and stilled most people. The guy grunted, but Dustin didn’t let up.
Beside him, Silver was now on the ground, having been dropped. She was wiggling and looked like she was trying to get back on her feet.
Isaac had laid the other accomplice out on the ground and was struggling to contain his guy.
Dustin jerked his captive up, unwilling to let anything else happen now that Silver was free.
He half dragged, half shoved the guy forward until they were beside Isaac.
Then Dustin reached out with the butt of his pistol and knocked the guy on the head.
He knew just the right spot to hit to render someone unconscious.
Sure enough, the guy stopped moving.
Silver had managed to get to her bare feet and had started limping toward the Jeep.
The headlights outlined her enough that Dustin could see her hands were taped behind her back.
Her hair was half out of her hair clip and frizzy, probably because her captors had put something over her head when they’d grabbed her in the bathhouse.
He could only imagine how she’d freaked out at the darkness, maybe even had a panic attack.
As she turned just slightly, he could see tape over her mouth and a trickle of blood running down from her temple.
She was doing the right thing in putting distance between herself and the abductors. If one of them got loose—which was unlikely now—Dustin didn’t want her anywhere near the men for them to grab her and use her as a bargaining chip.
At the distant blare of police sirens, Dustin blew out a breath. He wanted the backup help, and he also wanted the police escort when he took her to the emergency room.
Within a minute, several police cars pulled up, their lights flashing.
Thankfully, they’d reacted to Isaac’s call right away.
He supposed the McQuaid name had spurred them into action.
It was also possible Isaac had given the St. James name as well.
Whatever the case, the police began to swarm the scene, handcuffing both men.
As soon as the abductors were secured, Dustin jogged over to Silver, who was at the edge of the Jeep with two police officers helping to free her of her tape.
They’d already removed the tape from her mouth.
One man was now cutting it away from her wrists while the other pressed a piece of gauze to her forehead.
She was answering their questions, her voice wobbly. As soon as she saw Dustin, tears welled in her eyes. “Thank you, Dustin. You saved my life.”
His chest ached with emotions, and he wanted to draw her into his arms and hold her tight. Instead, he stuffed his hands into his pockets. “You helped too.”
“I jumped out to delay them and give you a chance to catch up.”
“It worked.” Thankfully. Even so, she could have been hurt really badly, and he was frustrated—mostly at himself—that she’d had to take that risk at all. Because he hadn’t done his job right.
He scanned her, starting at the top of her head.
She had several cuts on her face in addition to the one the police officer was tending.
Her elbows were scraped and bleeding. Her knees were battered too.
Her outer thigh was raw and red, probably where she’d landed on the gravel. And her feet were dirty and cut.
He’d failed again. All because he’d cared about her too much and had let himself be distracted from his work.
If he hadn’t let the attraction start or had at least put an end to it sooner, this wouldn’t have happened.
He would have been paying better attention.
At the very least, Silver wouldn’t have insisted on going into the changing room by herself, because she wouldn’t have been mad at him and trying to get away from him.
“Any pain internally?” His voice came out hard and brisk this time.
She took a tiny step back, her expression tightening. “I’m fine.”
“I’m taking you to the ER—”
“No. I don’t need you to do that.”
He opened his mouth to argue with her, but before he could say anything, Isaac called out. “We’ve got a confession! Paula, the Double H housekeeper, is their mother.”
Paula. That made sense since they’d leaked word to her earlier in the day.
Was Paula the one who was demanding the money? Or had one of her sons worked for Upton St. James and developed a grudge?
From what Dustin could see, the one who’d been knocked out with the pistol was starting to revive. Dustin needed to talk to both of the suspects before the police hauled them away.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he said to Silver.
She winced as the final piece of tape was pulled from her wrists. “You don’t need to worry about me.”
He didn’t respond—couldn’t respond. He’d nearly killed himself with worry during the past thirty minutes since she’d disappeared from the changing room, and his insides were tied in tight knots he’d never be able to untangle.
He spun on his heels and headed toward the suspects. Later, he’d have time to sort through his turmoil. But for now, Silver was safe, and that was all that mattered.