Chapter Twenty-Two
BEFORE CAM COULD give the order, Dario kicked out the windshield. Even though they were more vulnerable without the glass, at least he could see to drive. He glanced over his shoulder, looking for any blood on the woman he loved.
Clean.
Thank God. “Sedona, lie flat on the seat. Don’t sit up until I tell you.”
“Go, go, go,” Dario snapped.
Cam whipped back around and slammed his foot on the accelerator. He and Isaac, who was driving the second SUV, weaved in and out of traffic in a way guaranteed to attract the attention of the closest law enforcement officers. He hoped his fellow deputies ignored the erratic driving.
His phone rang. Dario tapped the talk button on the dashboard screen. “You’re on speaker with Cam, Dario, and Sedona.”
“The deputies are reporting gunfire outside the station. What happened?”
“Ambush. Sniper shot my windshield.”
“Everybody okay?”
“10-4.” He glanced at Dario who had been texting furiously. His friend glanced up and gave a sharp nod. Cam breathed easier. “No injuries.”
David sighed. “Thank God. I was concerned.”
He’d been more than concerned. Cam had been terrified for his friends and especially Sedona. To lose her to a sniper’s bullet was in his top five worst fears. “Same.”
“Anybody get a bead on the shooter?”
Dario said, “Isaac said he was on the courthouse roof, right side.”
“Hold. Elliot, you get that?”
“On it. Tell Sedona to keep her head down.”
“I am,” she called out.
Elliot chuckled. “You’re all right, kid. Just keep listening to your security team and you’ll be fine.”
“I’ve heard that somewhere before in the past couple of days.”
“Good. Gotta go follow a clue. Later.”
David said, “Has your safe house been compromised?”
“No sign of it yet.”
“Go back to your safe house. Watch your six for signs of a tail. Did you check your SUV for a tracker?”
“No, sir.”
“Find a place off the main roads and search your vehicle before you go any further. We don’t want to take chances with your lives.”
“Copy that, sir.” He made a quick right turn, then a left, and drove into a large parking garage with the second SUV carrying his teammates close behind him.
“Stay where you are, Tiger. This won’t take long.
” Cam exited the vehicle and searched for a tracking device. He came up empty. Excellent news.
Isaac scooted out from under his SUV. “It’s clean.”
“Same. Let’s get out of here.”
“Copy that.”
The caravan started again on the journey to the safe house. Although the safe house appeared not to be compromised, he and the others would search the house before he accepted Sedona was secure for the moment.
Cam took detour after detour until he was positive they were free of a tail, then headed for the safe house to regroup.
When they arrived at the safe house, Dario and Spencer unlocked the back door and went inside to search. Five minutes later, Dario appeared at the back door and gave the all-clear signal.
Cam glanced at Sedona. “Wait for me to come around for you.” When she saluted and smiled with a twinkle in her eyes, he chuckled. He appreciated her taking their orders with grace and a sense of humor.
With his hand on her door, he carefully scanned the area with Isaac and Rhys flanking him. “Nothing. You?”
“Zero,” Rhys said.
“Same.” Isaac rested his hand on his pistol. “Let’s get her inside.”
Cam opened the door, extended his hand, and gripped Sedona’s wrist. He pulled her quickly from the SUV, tucked her against his side, and hurried toward the back door where Dario had his weapon up and tracking.
Seconds later, Cam rushed her over the threshold, stopping in the middle of a kitchen lit only by the light over the stove. The rest of the room was in deep shadow, thanks to blackout curtains. He looked into Sedona’s beautiful eyes. “You’re all right?”
“Of course. Who wouldn’t want a big, strong man to haul her around between one breath and the next?” She winked.
Although his teammates laughed and clapped him on the shoulder, Cam only smiled back. The guys could tease him as much as they wanted. The only thing that mattered to him was Sedona understood why he manhandled her so often.
Dario stood close enough that when his stomach growled, everyone heard it.
“Hungry, Dario?” Sedona asked.
“Maybe.”
“Anybody in the mood for hamburgers and French fries?” When the team enthusiastically agreed, Sedona said, “Good. Wash your hands. If you want to eat, you’re going to help.”
Although the men grumbled for a moment, one glance from Cam and they headed off to wash their hands without serious protest.
“After dinner, what’s next?” Sedona asked.
He turned back to study her for a moment. “How do you feel about a field trip?”
“Depends on where we’re going. The last field trip I was on didn’t end so well.”
“Back to where I found you in the woods.”
She stared, then said weakly, “Yay.”
He couldn’t help it. Cam laughed. “Don’t oversell your enthusiasm.”
Sedona rolled her eyes. “Go wash your hands.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He dropped a light kiss on her mouth and followed the sound of his teammates giving each other a hard time.
Minutes later, Sedona had organized them into an assembly line of choppers and hamburger patty makers.
“Are you sure about this, Sedona?” Rhys asked as he awkwardly squeezed the hamburger meat into an oblong patty.
“No, like this.” She showed him how to make a rounded patty with the hamburger in her hands. “Got it?”
The computer genius winked at her and made a perfect patty. “Yeah, I got it. You’re an excellent teacher.”
Cam knew his friend was flirting with Sedona just to mess with him, but he acted like a jealous boyfriend, which he kind of was, for the benefit of the team. Anything to create team unity, right? He growled, glaring at his friend. “Knock it off.” On cue, the rest of the team jumped in to razz him.
When they settled down, Sedona folded her arms across her chest. “The more you goof off, the longer it will take to finish preparing dinner.”
The men looked at each other and sobered. “We’ll behave,” Isaac said. Soon, the hamburgers were patted out, and the grill was heated and ready.
Cam picked up the plates loaded with hamburgers, ready for the grill. “Get the door, Isaac.” The sniper checked outside before opening the door for him, then accompanied him, shutting the door on the rest of the crew with Sedona.
Isaac waited until the burgers sizzled on the grill before turning to look at Cam.
“What?” Yeah, his tone was curt. In fact, he was just plain rude. Isaac was tough. He could handle a grumpy leader.
“We can’t wait for trouble to come to us.”
“You know it’s coming.”
“But this time, we can’t wait for it. Julio’s life is at stake.”
Cam grunted. “Hadn’t planned to just sit here. I’m well aware of the price if we wait.”
“Then you have a plan?”
“Sort of.” Not one he liked. He hoped one of his teammates would nix the idea. The plan would take Sedona to the place where she’d run from her kidnappers, bringing back terrible memories. The problem was, Cam couldn’t see another way to do this.
“Glad to see you have so much confidence in your plan,” Isaac said dryly.
“If the woman you loved would go through mental torture, would you be eager to put her through that?”
The other man stilled as only a sniper can. “You’re in love with her?”
Now it was Cam’s turn to stare. “That’s what you focused on?”
“It’s the most important part of your sentence. Answer the question.”
“I’m head-over-heels for this kindergarten teacher, Isaac. I can’t see my life having any meaning without her in it.”
A soft whistle from his friend. “I never thought I’d see the day when you fell for a woman.”
“Well, mark it on your calendar because today’s the day.”
“I guess my next question is, how does she feel about you?”
“I don’t know how or why, but she loves me, too.”
“I’m glad,” the sniper said simply. “What’s the plan?”
He told Isaac everything and waited for his friend’s response.
“It’s the right call.”
Relief swept through him. Isaac had a way of cutting to the heart of everything, and he didn’t mince words. If the plan had been terrible, he would have told Cam what he thought. “Do you have another option? I’m open to just about anything right now.”
“Sorry, man. There is no plan B. It’s the best way to stir Sedona’s memories.”
“But you know how Ketamine is. She might remember what happened. Then again, she might not.”
“Remembering how they kidnapped her isn’t necessary. We know where we captured the men chasing her. We’ll work backward from there.”
Cam nodded in agreement, although just the idea of taking Sedona to the woods where he’d found her made him feel sick. That was the last place he wanted to take her, but if it led to more information that pointed them to Julio, the pain and suffering Cam put her through would be worth it.
“When will you take her to the woods?”
“After dinner.”
“It will be dark by then.”
“Sometimes your other senses can help you remember different things if you can’t see.”
“While you finish grilling, I’ll study the map and form a plan of approach.”
By the time the hamburgers were grilled to perfection, the rest of The Thunderhawks had heard of the plan for the evening. They devoured their hamburgers and were soon on their way to the woods where Cam had found Sedona.
The closer they came to the place where they’d walk into the woods, the more Sedona trembled. He hated that he was to blame for her reaction. Making her relive her worst nightmare was wrong. He should have found another way to get the information they needed.
Cam squeezed Sedona’s hand. “Are you sure you want to do this? You can still back out, and I’ll have one of my teammates take you back to the safe house. The rest of us can pile into the second SUV after we search the areas where we arrested your kidnappers.”
Wouldn’t do them much good, though. To be truly effective, they needed Sedona’s memory jogged. The way things stood, they had just about nothing to go on. Why kidnap a five-year-old? What could Julio possibly tell a criminal that held any weight?
Sedona’s icy fingers squeezed his hand. “You and your teammates said this was the best way, and I think you’re right. If we’re to have any chance to learn something that helps us find Julio, we have to do it here.”
He glanced at her, genuinely curious about her answer to his next question. “Would you put yourself through this for any of your students?” Cam thought he knew the answer.
“Yes.” No hesitation in her answer.
Just as he’d thought. And now they were out of time because they had reached the place where he had parked his SUV. “All right. We’re here,” Cam said as they approached the place where he had parked his SUV. He stopped and backed into the woods as he had the night he’d rushed here to find Sedona.
After turning off the engine, he came around to open Sedona’s door and extended his hand.
“Wow.” Sedona glanced around, her lips curving upward. “You bring me to the best places on a date.”
The Thunderhawks chuckled.
Cam scowled at them. “Laugh it up, boys. One day soon, you’ll be the one in the hot seat because of your woman.”
Isaac held up his hands and backed away. “Take that back, man. No wishing trouble on me like that.”
Sedona poked him in the chest with her finger. “You don’t know what a jewel you’ll miss if you keep that attitude about women, Isaac.”
From behind Sedona, his teammates grinned at his dismay.
Cam said, “Gear up and let’s get moving.
I want to get this done in the next three hours.
” Didn’t know if being in these woods at the same time as she had been here before would help or not.
To give her the best chance of remembering sights, sounds, or scents, Cam would be glad to give up a few hours of sleep.
Cam and his teammates slipped on their Go bags and checked their weapons one last time, then set out in single file, except for Cam and Sedona who followed Dario through the darkened woods lit only by weak moonlight shining through the tree cover.
Although Cam longed to speed up, Sedona struggled to stay on her feet. She tripped over exposed tree roots and stumbled on rocks.
Minutes later, Cam said to his teammates, “Here is where I found Sedona.”
Spencer glanced around, frowning. “But there’s nothing here. Didn’t you say they held her hostage in a building, but she escaped?”
“That’s right. David and his brothers weren’t able to narrow down how far Sedona had run.”
“Why not?” Dario asked.
“She couldn’t help them. The kidnappers gave her Ketamine.”
“And that messed with her memory,” Spencer said. “How can we help Sedona the most?”
Taking her back to the safe house would have been his first answer. That would only delay the inevitable. Cam knew of one thing that worked to prod her memory, or rather, one person. “Spread out and do a grid search of eight hundred feet. Isaac, you’re with me.”
“Yes, sir.”
The others decided on sectors and spread out to search the area.
“How can I help, Cam?” Isaac asked.
“Sedona, would you object to sitting on the ground?”
She shook her head. “Why?”
“I want to try something with Isaac’s help.” Once she was seated close to the tree where she’d been hiding, Cam sat on the ground behind her and pulled her deep into his embrace. “Is this okay?”
“This is wonderful. You’re like a furnace.”
He chuckled, glad she would have good memories to counteract the bad ones from this place. Cam urged Sedona to rest her head against his shoulder. “Relax into me. Think about the warmth and know you’re safe. Nothing will happen to you while you’re with me.” He’d die before letting harm come to her.
When she followed his suggestions, Isaac said in a soft voice, “Close your eyes, and let your mind drift.”
She tensed.
“Relax, Sedona. You’re safe and surrounded by a team of men whose sole purpose is to keep you safe. Relax and breathe.”
Three minutes later, she gasped.