Chapter 12
Cade
My go bagwas in the back, and I’d just left NSI’s headquarters for the South Carolina border.
Amanda ‘Nikki’ Camp had been last seen, by a bystander, in the back seat of a white Honda Civic at a Jacksonville 7-Eleven on Bell Fork Road, a little over three weeks ago. Now that the same car had been found abandoned and burned to a crisp on an old gravel road outside of Monroe, the smoke having attracted the attention of civilians who called in emergency crews, it was all hands on deck.
This is where I came in.
I hated cases like this the most: the ones where it was likely the victim’s parents and family would be receiving tragic news. Then again, I suppose, in this particular case, the tragic news could potentially be doubled considering the mother’s brother had been the one who’d taken off with the seven-year-old girl.
The situation made my mind wander to Aspen’s past and what she had been through as a child, losing her sister like she had. Being the only witness, ridiculed beyond reprieve, had been tough on her. She didn’t have to tell me this as I’d seen it with my own two eyes as a schoolmate of hers and then again, when she’d reiterated her version of what she’d been through, that one night in her bed. In truth, every missing child case like this had me thinking of the one case my father—rest his soul—had never been able to solve.
On top of work, our morning tryst in bed after Brycen had called me, followed with that hot goodbye kiss against Aspen’s car, had my mind reeling. I wanted this assignment to be done and over with, and for the girl’s family to get their closure, so I could get back to my woman—yes, she was mine, whether she knew it or not—and our dogs, and finish what we’d started.
But first thing’s first. I needed to connect with the FBI contact Dalton had provided me once I got to Monroe.
We were too late. I just knew it.
Dereck Elliott had been located, half a mile from his burned-out car, hanging on by a slim thread. He was on route to the nearest hospital, an FBI team of agents on their tail after he’d nearly been taken out by part of his own vehicle, which blew up when the engine had exploded.
“No sign of the girl,” Agent Langley told me what I’d pretty much assumed.
“Could have used Renegade,” I mumbled.
“Your canine partner?” she asked, to which I nodded. “We have our own which is why we didn’t request him.”
“That’s fine,” I smirked. “I have a feeling he’s happier with his mate at home.”
She snorted. “Nice.” Looking into the trees, she took a long inhale, then released it, regaining her focus. “Something tells me she’s in this area. I hope I’m right.”
I had the same feeling; hence it was why—within the next few hours—we had a search party put together with the FBI’s canine unit, in order to cover the most ground before darkness fell. Time was of the essence when someone was lost and exposed to the elements.
“Team Tango coming in. Got something northeast of the burn site,” came crackling from the radio approximately four hours later.
“How far, Tango?” Langley demanded from our command post.
To be honest, I’d have rather gone ahead and joined the search, but with my First Responder training, I understood they needed me on standby for this particular case. Let’s face it, this was an FBI investigation after all, with cooperation from various local police detachments. Where I was concerned, when Dalton owes someone, he comes through, and the way he does that is he sends the best man for the job he’s got on hand; and this time, it was me.
“Twelve miles out,” came crackling back.
That far? “Coordinates?”
Langley radioed Tango with my inquiry as I grabbed the pack I had brought with me, hitched it onto my back, and finished preparing to leave, albeit grabbing my own radio and tuning it to the team’s frequency.
“Testing,” I said into my radio, as I walked far enough away from Langley to ensure proper connection. “Summers to command post, over.”
“Testing loud and clear,” came back.
“Tango, ready when needed,” I radioed. “What you got?”
“Shoe,” the voice mumbled. “We’re still looking—” My heart bottomed out. “Ah, fuck.”
“Command to Tango, SITREP!” Langley barked, as anxious as I was to get the situation report from the team, but I already knew it wouldn’t be good.
“Found her,” came next, sounding painful even to my ears. “Alive, but barely.”
My hand came up to my mouth as my thumb pressed the call button, and before I’d uttered, “Rescue on the move, over,” my feet had already broken through the edge of the forest, the coordinates I’d entered in my handheld GPS already telling me I was heading in the right direction. So long as the terrain wasn’t too rough or dense to navigate, it would take the average person about two hours to make it there. I aimed to cut that down to half of that if I could, all the while checking in with Langley at base and Tango at the scene, providing them pointers on how to help the victim until I got to her.
Aspen
I might not have a TV, but that didn’t mean I didn’t have the capability to stream live programing when the mood struck me.
On the first night, after Cade had left Renegade in my care, I found myself daydreaming about him and not being productive in the least with the chapter I was trying to write. The only reason I didn’t feel the pressure was mostly because I’d given my editor more than what had been asked of me last week so she wouldn’t hound me until closer to the end of this week for more.
As it was, I found myself on a local news channel site I visited regularly, checking out what was going on beyond my quiet little corner of the world. My fingers stopped dead in their tracks and my eyes widened on a kidnapping article.
Right in front of me was a photo of none other than Cade, carrying a little girl that looked no more than five years old or so, when the news source informed its readers that she was actually seven. It could have been the clash of sizes between man and child, or the fact he looked so powerful while she seemed ready to shatter at any given moment because of how thin and sickly frail she appeared, but my heart swelled despite old memories making their way to the forefront of my mind.
“Holy shit!” I breathed, my heart beating out of my chest.
Renegade’s head popped up from his latest cuddle session with Molly and I looked over at the canine duo. He left his mistress and came to my side, nuzzling the hand nearest him that I had dropped onto the cushion next to me.
I turned to Renegade as the dog whined, pushing his head under my hand and began to run my fingers lightly through his fur, reading the article aloud.
Once done, I peered at the image before me again.
Cade was different from all others of his kind. He carried himself the same way his father used to when I’d known the man in my childhood. Beyond Cade and the newly rescued little girl, I noticed others trying to help the hero, but the look of determination on his face—the depth of it in his eyes—had me knowing he didn’t need, nor did he want, their help. He did it because he needed to be the one there saving that life.
Right then, I knew I could fall for a man like Caden Summers and that frightened me about as much as it invigorated and excited me.
A wet swipe of a tongue drew me out of my musings to look once more at the German shepherd before me.
“Bet you could have found her faster than our man Cade, huh?” I ruffled the top of his head with an upward tick of my lips.
Renegade barked his agreement, or what I assumed it to be just that, making me laugh.
It wasn’t until the second day Cade was away, following a lengthy hike through the woods with both Renegade and Molly, that I began to feel unsettled. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but things were looking different inside my little haven of a cottage. Minuscule differences really, but enough to make me feel on edge.
Now, if I were being honest with myself, the eerie feeling of being watched over the last month which had only grown should have been the first inkling things weren’t as peaceful as they once were. I’d been in my head so much that I’d brushed it off, thinking my absentmindedness was the culprit to me putting things out of their regular places—like my missing book.
Sure, it had been the first of many little discrepancies, but it was far from the last one, the frequency with which things disappeared or were moved were becoming alarming.
Once I’d gotten back from Cade’s house yesterday, I’d taken the time to look at my shelves to ensure I hadn’t simply misplaced the copy I’d accused the man of keeping for himself. Hell, I’d even looked in the most unusual of places, thinking that I’d been so distracted as of late, perhaps I’d stashed the paperback somewhere like the freezer, or inside a bathroom drawer or some other nonsense, even though it wasn’t like me to do that, no matter how preoccupied I could get.
I never found it.
Staring at my cottage, Renegade seemed to pick up on the fact something wasn’t quite right. I couldn’t pinpoint it though. Then Molly began to bark just as her mate moved ahead of both of us females and took a defensive stance and released the most ferocious growl I’d ever witnessed. Chills raced down my spine.
“Cut it out, you two,” I ordered, as I approached the side of my cottage where I kept a locked rifle in my shed. Yes, I was so unsettled that I suddenly felt the need to arm myself with more than two dogs who’d by then were simmering at a growl, their attention solely on my front door.
As I climbed the steps, I was thankful I had a small key ring. Careful of minimizing the amount of noise, I slipped the key in and turned, holding tight enough so the deadbolt didn’t make its usual snick-and-click noise.
Turning the knob, the creak I’d gotten so accustomed to over the years—and evidently forgot about—made itself heard; loud enough for any intruder to get the one-up on me.
And that’s when I heard it.
Both dogs barreled past me, nearly knocking me on my ass, and ran into my bedroom, barking, snarling, slobbering messes just as a loud bang graced my ears.
I hurried into my room, rifle at the ready, to find personal items strewn everywhere. My bedroom window was left open, my curtains swaying out the sill in the gentle breeze. There was no sign of an intruder, who clearly had escaped the wrath of my two protective canines and the heat I was packing.
Lowering my weapon, I rushed to the window and peered out, knowing all too well whoever it had been was now long gone. My safe haven was no longer as such.