Chapter Fourteen
Tanner moved as silently as possible through the trees, stopping every so often to try to listen for anything out of place. Noah was so much better at this than he was. But to keep Bree and the kids safe, he would damn well learn how to do it fast.
He heard a soft bit of radio static crackle from a distance and knew it was the men signaling to one another. The good news was they were at a distance, nowhere near him or the hideout. The bad news was these guys were communicating via walkie-talkie.
And they were definitely around, and they were prepared.
Moving as silently as he could, Tanner made rounds farther and farther out from the hiding spot. He knew the men were out here, but he didn’t want to stumble on one of them unaware.
What was the best plan? Try to lead them away? Would Bree run with the kids like he told her?
She would. If he didn’t come back for one reason or another, he had to believe she would.
He shut his eyes again, focusing on the sounds around him. He heard the soft static again and moved silently in that direction. When he heard it again many minutes later he froze. That time it had been close. Way too close. He remained still. This might be his chance to take one of the men out.
He kept himself motionless to listen and figure out what direction he’d need to move, but this time it was voices that caught his attention.
“How many times are you going to let that damn thing give off noise?”
Tanner froze. That voice. He knew that voice. Where from?
“As many times as I have to until you all agree they might’ve moved on.”
“They had two small children, no supplies, no food, no light. It made much more sense for them to stop once it got dark. So we keep searching around here, Paul.”
Damn it, how did Tanner know that voice? He took a few steps to the side. If he was going to try to take both of them out, he would have to come from the best vantage point possible.
“Well, I’ve searched my quadrant twice, and there’s nobody there,” Paul hissed. “No sign of anyone. I think they moved on.”
“If it wasn’t for you and your damn cigarettes, we would’ve had them back near the trail.”
Paul let out a curse. “I wanted to have a cigarette break. And how do you know they found them?”
“Well, they turned in a different direction and started covering up their tracks at that clearing where they obviously found your butts.”
The voice clicked into place in Tanner’s mind. It was Oscar Stobbart, Jared’s lawyer.
“Shut the hell up, Oscar. You don’t know for sure it was my cigarettes that tipped them off.”
“And anyway,” Paul continued. “That bitch isn’t even with them. We’re not going to be able to bring her back to Jared if she isn’t anywhere around.”
“I’ll admit, I didn’t expect her to get in a different raft from her kids. She hasn’t been five feet away from those brats for weeks,” Oscar whispered. “If she hadn’t separated from them, we could’ve taken them all at once. That tiny detonator was pretty effective.”
Tanner took a couple steps closer so he could hear their low voices more clearly. He wasn’t surprised at all to hear they’d sabotaged the raft.
“We work on the kids now and get them to Jared. It won’t take much to get Marilyn to fall in line once they’re gone.”
“But what about the adults?” Paul said. “Jared doesn’t want the kids hurt, but I’ve got the taste for a little hunting.”
“The man is a cop,” Oscar hissed. “It was one thing when we were just going to take out some woman. It’s another thing to bring the entire police force of Colorado down on us.”
“You worry too much. Always have. It’s the wilderness. Accidents happen in the wilderness all the time. Even to cops.”
“Right now, we stick to the plan. We can’t get Marilyn, but we can get the kids.”
“Fine,” Paul said. “But if the cop or the woman poses a threat, I won’t hesitate to do what needs to be done.”
Tanner had to take them out now. Once they split up again the chances of him finding them both were slim. If he could eliminate these two, their odds of escaping the third were at least better.
Oscar and Paul both had weapons, but Tanner had the element of surprise. Even if he could take only one of them out, that would give Bree and the kids a better chance.
It was worth the risk.
He crouched, muscles flexing, about to spring, when he was tackled from the side and thrown into a tree.
“What was that?” Paul said.
Tanner couldn’t say a word at all; fingers were pressed up against his windpipe, completely cutting off his ability to make any sound.
“Quiet, Hot Lips, it’s me,” Noah whispered into his ear.
Tanner stopped all struggle, and Noah immediately released his hold on Tanner’s throat.
“We need to take them,” Tanner whispered. “They’re planning—”
Noah gave a sharp shake of his head. “Setup,” he said in the lowest of voices.
Tanner kept completely still and silent. Noah knew something he obviously didn’t. They waited there for what seemed like forever.
“It didn’t work,” said a third voice, one Tanner hadn’t heard yet and had had no idea was around. “They must really not be anywhere around here. Otherwise the cop would’ve made a play. Trying to take you guys out would’ve been the smartest thing to do.”
“It was worth a try. Let’s split back up and make another round,” Oscar said. “I still hold that they wouldn’t have kept going with the kids. Too hard.”
The other two men agreed and in a few moments there was silence once again as they faded back into the wilderness.
Tanner forced himself to count to five hundred before he even began to move, but once again Noah stopped him with a silent shake of the head and a hand on his shoulder.
Tanner was almost to a thousand this time before Noah finally moved.
“Being extra cautious?” Tanner whispered.
“There’s a fourth, who was hanging behind just in case. I don’t know where he was, but he was out there.”
His brother was damn spooky sometimes.
“Are you sure there’s nobody out there now?” Tanner whispered.
“Not near here. They’re resuming their search.”
“I’m pretty sure you just saved my life, so thanks.”
Noah squeezed his shoulder. “Let’s move. I’ve got to pick something up before we go to wherever you stashed Bree and the kids.”
“Pick something up?” Tanner whispered. “Like a pizza?” Although, damn, pizza sounded good.
“Indefinitely more frustrating than pizza, trust me.”
They made their way north, away from the hideout, but Tanner didn’t question. Noah had a reason for whatever he was doing. Noah always had a reason.
“Did you track us?”
“Yeah. Damn near impossible to hide two kids and an inexperienced hiker, although you did a good job.” His voice was so low Tanner could hardly hear him, and he was right next to him. “Tracking these guys was easier. I would’ve been here much sooner.”
Tanner waited for him to finish the sentence but evidently it was complete in Noah’s mind.
They walked for another five minutes, definitely not in a straight line. Then they came to an outcropping of rocks near a small drop-off by a waterfall. Tanner had no idea what they were doing there, until a blur of white jumped out at them, stick in hand.
Tanner jumped out of the way, but Noah was obviously expecting it. He spun around, ducking from where the branch would’ve clobbered him in the head, and behind their attacker.
“Whoa there, tiger,” he whispered, grabbing the attacker by the waist from behind and spinning her around.
“Noah?”
It was Marilyn. She lowered the stick, then looked between the two men.
“Tanner? Where are the kids?”
Tanner turned to his brother. “This is the pizza?”
“Like I said, more frustrating than a pizza. She followed me. We sent Francis and Barb home when we saw the bridge was out. Marilyn was supposed to go with them, but somebody is not great at following directions.”
“I don’t give a damn about your directions when my kids’ lives are at stake,” Marilyn spit out.
It was the most words, and definitely the most anger, Tanner had ever seen out of the quiet woman.
She turned to him. “Are they okay? We saw them fall out of the raft, but Noah assured me that the flares meant you guys were unharmed.”
“We were. We are.” He caught his brother’s eyes in the dim light. “We survived the rafting accident with no problem. But we’ve got much bigger issues now.”
The sound of the water covered most of their talking. “Your raft was sabotaged, wasn’t it?” Noah asked.
“How did you know?”
“Found something similar on ours. Some sort of puncture mechanism on a timer. I don’t know if it malfunctioned or if they only ever planned on taking down one raft.”
Tanner muttered a curse.
“We would’ve gotten here a lot sooner,” Noah continued, “but they took out not only the first bridge but the next two also.”
“You must’ve been hauling ass the whole day to have gotten here by now.”
Noah shrugged and turned to Marilyn. “It’s Jared.”
Even in the darkness Tanner could see the tension bolt through the woman. “He’s here?”
“He’s not here himself,” Tanner said. “But I know for sure one of the men tracking us is Oscar Stobbart. The other guy’s name was Paul. I’m assuming that’s Paul Wyn.”
Marilyn seemed to shrink inside herself. “I—I...”
Noah pulled her up against his chest. “Concentrate on what you know that might be able to help us right now. Leave the rest for another time. What do we need to know about these guys?”
She sucked in a couple of deep breaths. “They’ll do anything for one another. I think Jared might’ve had something to do with Paul’s wife’s death, but I could never prove it.”
Tanner barely refrained from rolling his eyes. “They’re obviously used to working together.”
“Where are the kids? Are they hurt? Scared? I just want to get to them.”
“They’re hidden with Bree. Sleeping. They’re not hurt and have been absolute troupers today. They’re hidden pretty well right now, but I don’t want to leave them any longer than necessary. I was going to try to take out our hunters, but that was when I thought I was taking on two.”
“We need a plan,” Noah said.
Tanner nodded. “Let’s get back to Bree. I know she’s worried sick. And then, yeah, a plan. Which probably involves us splitting up.”
Noah gave him a nod. Neither of them liked the thought of splitting their defenses, but the most important thing right now was making sure to get those kids back safe. Out of Jared Ellis’s clutches.