Beau

by Dale Mayer

  “Looks like a bunch of them are getting ready to go cross-country.”

  “Are there any floatplanes around the area? Any bush planes parked that you can see?” Beau asked, remembering what Danica had said before. “It’s quite possible that the kidnappers will disappear by plane.”

  “Not all sixty of them,” Jax said.

  “No, but what if it’s only the men of the cult? Or just the organizers of the trafficking operation?” Beau asked. “That leaves just the women and children there at the compound.”

  “That would make sense. Fleeing to avoid prosecution. We’re on it.” He disconnected.

  Beau turned to look for Asher and found him talking with Danica. Beau took a few steps to get to their side and quickly explained what Jax had just said.

  “So, we were already spotted,” Asher confirmed.

  Danica bit her lower lip. “You know what? I was really hoping I was wrong. I was really hoping this was all the kidnapped women involved with that cult.”

  “You might have been hoping that,” Beau said, “but it isn’t exactly hard to take the leap that, if we’ve found this many, even more are out there.”

  “I don’t like the sound of these guys going cross-country,” Asher said.

  “But you know what? If it had been us,” Beau said, “we’d have had an exit strategy planned all along too.”

  “Particularly, if they leave the cult, and once an investigation is done, and there’s absolutely nothing going on to tie the cult to the kidnappers, there’s nothing anybody can do.”

  “Right,” he said. “So I want to head back up there and circle around and make sure we’re on the far side of where the men are moving.”

  “The road only goes to the compound and then back out to one of the other smaller settlements,” Asher said, bringing it up on satellite. “We need to get an exact location from Jax and see if we can find a place to intercept them.”

  “And how will we do that?”

  “I don’t know,” he said frankly. “We could take a bush plane and land in the water up here,” he said, pointing at the map on his phone, “and come back in toward the compound.” After that, they had a heavy discussion back and forth, looking at the pros and cons of each.

  Afterward, Beau quickly ordered a bush plane from Jax. “Let’s hope we don’t need pontoons.”

  “You don’t make things easy, do you?” Jax asked in exasperation.

  “Well, we need to be picked up here,” he said, giving a set of coordinates, “and we need to land up there,” followed by another set of GPS coordinates.

  “Well, head to the back of the gas station,” Jax said. “You should hear your ride coming in a few minutes.”

  Beau clicked off the connection and turned to look at Asher. They walked to Asher’s truck, glad to see Barbara and the other women hadn’t taken off with all equipment and cash from inside the truck, then grabbed their gear and the weapons that they had confiscated, and headed around the back of the gas station.

  Asher looked at him. “You’re not saying goodbye?”

  “No, it’s probably better this way.”

  “If you say so,” Asher said. “You know she’s likely to follow you out here.”

  “Good thing she can’t walk then, isn’t it?”

  They heard the whoop, whoop, whoop of helicopter blades as the chopper came toward them. It landed in the back of a huge parking lot, normally used for the semis. As soon as the chopper was down, Beau headed toward it.

  A voice called to him.

  He turned, and, of course, there was Danica, standing with her arms over her chest, looking lost. He walked back toward her and said, “We’re heading to the far side of the compound to see if we can intercept those men trying to escape.”

  She nodded. “Stay safe.”

  He smiled. “That’s my line to you.”

  She beamed up at him as he neared her. “Well, obviously I won’t be there to protect your back. So you need to stay close to Asher so somebody’s looking after you.”

  At his side, Asher laughed.

  Beau just rolled his eyes and said, “I’ve got to go.” He leaned over, kissed her gently, and said, “Now stay safe.”

  The guys returned to the helicopter, and, with both men now on board, it lifted off. Not once did they give any extra information to the rest of the military stationed here, and Beau watched them all as they studied the helicopter, several team leads working on their phones as the chopper left. Beau knew there’d be lots of questions about their presence later on, but there would be no answers for any of them.

  That’s the way he worked now. Everything was dark. Nobody had a name, and yet, somehow he had figured it was safe to give Danica his number. And wasn’t it typical of her to hand it back to him, having already memorized it? He wondered about that.

  He settled back for the ride, but it was damn short. After only a few minutes, they arrived at the docks and at their floatplane, its propellers already turning. They hopped out, grabbed their gear, headed toward the floatplane, and were airborne ten minutes later. They skimmed across the surface of the water, only rising above the lake enough to get a good view of the area around them before they came down again. Beau was stunned to see how close they were. The compound itself was set back in the woods, and they would gain a decent height to get there, but there was already a pathway from the lake, plus there was a large open area where they could see another bush plane parked.

  The floatplane put them down within a few miles of the compound. With the gear divided evenly between them, Beau and Asher picked up the pace and ran. It was only a mile, but it was a mile too far away when their time was short. They needed to get there as fast as possible.

  Chapter 13

  Danica hobbled her way back to the medical area, and, when she sat down, the doctor came over, swearing at her for having overdone it. He put a basin under her feet, dropping them into warm water. She cried out, yet it felt so damn good that her cry was almost a moan.

  He said, “We need to clean these up first. Then I’ll bandage them. I’ve got some little elastic socks—tension socks—that I can put over the bandages.”

  She nodded. “I really would appreciate being mobile.”

  “Well, unless you’ve got a way to heal hamburger real fast,” he said, “you won’t be mobile too quickly.”

  She sagged in place and leaned against the edge of the vehicle. She hated that Beau had taken off without her, but she also knew that she was a liability and that her needs didn’t matter in this particular case, not when more critical needs required attention. She also didn’t have a phone to call him, and, anyway, to call him right now would be murder. She understood that, but it still sucked.

  One of the other women sat down beside her so the doctor could give her a quick exam. She was dehydrated and hugging a bottle of water. The woman looked at Danica and said, “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” Danica said for the umpteenth time. “Remember that I was a victim too.”

  “But you escaped,” the woman said. “I can’t even imagine. I’m just so damn grateful to not be in that truck anymore.”

  “And you should be even more grateful,” Danica said, fatigue in her voice, “for not having to spend days in that hellhole where I was.”

  “I just want to go home,” the woman whispered.

  “I think from here we’re heading back into Anchorage,” Danica said, “but I don’t imagine we’ll be allowed to go anywhere for at least twenty-four hours.”

  “Why not?” the woman cried out.

  “Not until the suspects are caught and the raid on the compound is completed,” she said. “Just imagine if the media got ahold of this too early. It’ll be a zoo out there.”

  The woman’s lower lip trembled. “I get that,” she said. “I really do. My head does anyway. But my heart? No. I just want to go home.”

  “Where’s home?”

  “I’m from Seattle,” she said. “I attend the local c
ollege.”

  “So that’s colleges, universities, high schools, and malls that these kidnappers are hunting.” Danica shook her head. “It really sucks. Now we have to figure out who these men are and how to stop them from just walking by and picking up any woman they want.” She looked over at the woman beside her. “Did they ever touch you, hurt you?”

  “Not me,” she said, “but the young one, yes.”

  “Did they rape her?”

  She shook her head. “No, but they certainly ripped her clothes and fondled her all the time while she screamed, talking about what good money they’d get for her.”

  “That’s the worst. She’ll have nightmares for every day of her life now.”

  “I’m not sure I’ll be any better,” the woman said. “I’m feeling pretty raw myself.”

  “I know. I was telling Beau that I’ll probably struggle with going anywhere after this.”

  “Beau,” the woman smiled. “Such a big gentleman for a name like that.”

  “It suits him,” Danica said. She looked at the dozen military men around them. “I wish they’d go and do that raid on the compound.”

  “Four trucks just left,” said the woman at her side.

  “Really?”

  The woman nodded. “When the helicopter came, the trucks took off too. Some synchronized timing.”

  “Good,” Danica said. “The sooner all those assholes are caught, the better.”

  “Isn’t that the truth,” the woman said. “The sad part is that this is probably going on all around the country, likely more countries all over the world.”

  Danica stared up at the sky, wondering where the men were. She wished she had a way to keep track of them. She wondered at the system that put them in Anchorage, brought them a helicopter, and took them away just on their say-so. She knew US government money was behind it all, but it was amazing to think that such an operation could send in one or two men as needed to handle things like this. The military all around her was a whole different story—that was a big machine. She highly suspected that the team that Beau belonged to was small, more silent, and likely much more lethal. As long as he was on her side, she was good. She’d seen what the other team had looked like, and she wanted nothing to do with them.

  Beau and Asher came to the cleared area to see the bush plane with one man walking around. The trouble with bush planes was that they could only pick up a handful of people at a time—so how many were leaving? Just as they scouted the field, Beau heard a shout and looked to see two men running toward the bush pilot, two more behind them. The pilot hopped into the plane and taxied it forward ever-so-slowly. Four men jumped in as they took off, but Beau and Asher had the call numbers off the plane.

  “It would be better if we could get somebody to intercept them upon landing,” Jax said in his ear.

  “It would be,” Beau said, “but I’m not sure if that’s feasible. Being a bush plane, he can hide pretty well. Unless you think you can keep him on satellite.”

  “We just got a lock on him,” Jax said. “We’ll pick him up wherever he goes.”

  “Okay, that’s good,” he said. “That’s four men in the back, plus the pilot.”

  “Okay, we got these. Where are you going?”

  “I’m heading back the same route these men took. I don’t know if they left the compound defenseless, if they’re deserting it, or if they left against the rest of the group’s will. If so, more men will be waiting for us back there. I really don’t know how many, but we need to find out. The military’s coming too. They should be up at the cult’s front gate by now.”

  “They just parked all along the edge and are disembarking,” Jax said.

  “Good enough,” Beau said. “We’re about two miles out. We’ll come in from this side.” With that, he hung up. He looked at Asher and said, “The Mavericks team will track the bush plane and take them out when they land.”

  “That works,” Asher said. He shifted the bag on his shoulder and said, “Let’s get this finished with right now.”

  “That works for me,” Beau said. “I’m thinking of a holiday in the sun.”

  “Ha, that’s bullshit, and you know it,” Asher said. “The only thing you’re dreaming about is Danica. Maybe a holiday in the sun too,” he said, “but with Danica.”

  “It is not,” Beau wrangled good-naturedly.

  “It doesn’t matter what you say,” Asher said. “It’s way too obvious that you’re hooked, and you’re already sunk.”

  “Not necessarily a bad thing,” Beau said quietly.

  “It’s not a bad thing at all,” he said. “Makes me—for the first time—wonder if I shouldn’t be hoping for the same thing.”

  “I didn’t come on a mission looking for it,” Beau warned.

  “No,” Asher said, “you didn’t, but it doesn’t change the fact that it happened. And I think now we have Kerrick and Jax and …”

  “Griffin too, but that’s a hell of a long way from the position I’m in,” Beau said.

  “No, it isn’t,” Asher said. “You just haven’t finished the mission yet.”

  At that, the men chuckled.

  Chapter 14

  Danica wondered how long they would have to stay here. Several ambulances had taken women who needed specialized medical care to the hospital, but the rest of them were still being held at the gas station. But for how long? When one of the brass walked past her, she called out, “Excuse me.”

  The man turned, smiled, and said, “Yes, what can I help you with?”

  “How long are we staying here at the gas station?”

  “We’re getting ready to pack up and take all of you into Anchorage,” he said. “We were waiting to find lodging for you all together.”

  “Sequestered, by any chance?”

  One eyebrow rose. “So you can have a hotel room, showers, and a solid meal while we arrange communication with your families.”

  “Sounds good,” she said. “I’m definitely not walking very far.”

  He took a look at her feet and winced. “We can get you a wheelchair.”

  “Well, not here, you can’t,” she said, “and that’ll make me feel pretty crappy at the hotel too. The doctor said he would bandage them up,” she said, “but he hasn’t come back yet.”

  “He’ll come around in a few minutes. For now we’re trying to get everybody mobile. We’ve got the first couple trucks with the first groups going out in about ten minutes. The doc said, because of your feet, you’ll probably be one of the last groups.”

  She nodded. “That’s fine,” she said.

  He quickly disappeared, and just then the doctor returned. He lifted her feet from the water, nodded, and said, “That’s not too bad now.” He picked up tweezers and picked off a few pieces of what looked like sticks from the side of her feet, although now she felt the pain of the great big gashes that must be there too.

  “How long till I can walk on them?”

  “It depends,” he said, “on how fast you heal. You know how much stress your body’s been under these last few days. You can obviously walk right now, but it’ll hurt, and the more you keep off of them, the faster they’ll heal. But I give it two or three days, maybe four or five, before you’re back to wearing shoes.”

  “Shoes?” She glanced at her feet. She hadn’t even considered that, but there was no doubt—they were swollen and puffy. “Can you bandage them up so that I at least have a little mobility?” she asked. “A wheelchair really doesn’t appeal to me.”

  “Walk on them for ten minutes,” he advised, “then you’ll be begging for a wheelchair.”

  She had to admit that made sense. As much as she hated the idea, she should probably be grateful to be seated this whole time. “Okay,” she said, “I can see what you’re saying. But still, let’s get them dealt with as much as we can.” She watched as he continued to clean things off her feet and advanced to digging some things out of her feet and then used a bottle with a spray tip on it to clean the spots w
here he had removed the debris.

  To keep her mind off the pain, she watched the others load up two different groups of women into two separate vehicles. Several had left earlier in the ambulances. About sixteen women slowly headed out in that convoy. Still another group gathered around as she saw another vehicle loading up women too.

  Finally just one group was left, and most of them were being loaded up. She looked at the doc. “Am I going with them?”

  He glanced around, realized that the last truck had just left, and frowned. “Normally they’d check the medic truck and take you too. Let me finish this up,” he said. “I’m sure you’ll go on the next one.”

  Just then he pulled something else from the bottom of her foot, and she cried out. “Oh, wow,” she said, her face scrunched up against the pain. “You know what? I think I’m doing fine until you touch something.”

  “Wounds are like that,” he said. He kept working on her feet while her foot kept jerking in his hand. Finally he called somebody to hold her leg. With one man holding her calf so that she couldn’t jerk it away from the doc, he quickly cleaned out the rest of the debris and apologized. “I’m sorry, but you have an awful lot of small gravel-like rock embedded in there.”

  Tears rolling down her cheeks, she nodded as she tried to wipe them away. She mumbled, “It’s okay.”

  “Obviously, it’s not okay,” he said. He lowered her feet into the water once again and said, “Let them soak for another few minutes. This time we’ll put some ointment on and bandage them up.”

  She curled into herself as she leaned against the opening at the rear of the medic truck and nodded. “Okay,” she said, “I’d really like to go to the hotel if possible.” She looked up at the man who had held her. “Is everybody gone? Am I getting a ride into town?”

  He smiled down at her reassuringly. “Hey, we won’t forget about you.”

  She nodded. “Good,” she said. “It just seems weird that I’m the last one left behind.”

  “Besides, that big guy will never let us get away with forgetting about you,” the doctor said. “He told me to make sure I took extra good care of you.”