Pursing her lips, she did as he asked.
“Good. Now toss the fuckin’ backpack outside.”
Picking it up, she held it to the open window, hesitating.
“Now, dammit.”
Closing her eyes, sending a prayer Ghost would find her, she let go. A sick feeling hit at the sound of it hitting the ground.
“Good girl. Sit back and relax. It won’t be long now.”
Eyes flashing in terror, she looked at him. “Won’t be long for what?”
“Before I bring Sully to his knees.”
“Fuck,” Wrath muttered as Wrangler’s last report came through his ear. Holding his arm straight up, palm forward, he signaled the men to follow him. A minute later, his arm extended down, palm facing down to let the men know they were coming to a stop.
Pulling off the highway, Wrath dismounted, looking around. A few seconds later, Ghost and Rock joined him.
“What’s going on?” Ghost asked, an instant before seeing Dani’s backpack. “Fuck.”
“Grab it and get back on your bikes,” Wrath ordered. “We need to keep going.”
Ghost stared at him. “But the tracker’s in the backpack.”
“Wrangler installed one more and just confirmed it’s working.”
Brows scrunching, Ghost’s mouth twisted. “Another one? Where?”
“Not now, man. We need to ride.”
Returning to the highway, Wrath rode twenty miles before making a turn. Glancing over his shoulder, he confirmed the others followed. The rutted, dirt road making driving at speed difficult, their pace slowed as they continued. At a three-way fork, he stopped, waiting for directions.
“Which way, Wrangler?”
“Those fucking country roads,” he muttered over the comm unit. “How far apart are the roads?”
“A few feet.”
“Okay. They’re headed either straight or to the left. Not right, as it appears that does an abrupt turn north. I just can’t be certain of the other two directions. What I can tell you is it appears the middle and left trails meet a couple miles east.”
“Fine. We’ll go with what we’ve got.”
By the time he was ready to dismount, the other four men already stood next to his bike. “Ghost, you follow me. Rock, you take Tracker and Moses on the trail to the left. According to Wrangler, they meet up a couple miles north of here.”
They didn’t have to ask to understand the problem. As efficient as tracking devices had become, there were times they couldn’t differentiate between two paths moving in parallel lines with little distance between them.
Jumping back onto their bikes, the two groups rode out, every one of them primed to take out whoever had kidnapped Dani.
“What?” Surely Dani hadn’t heard him right.
They’d stopped behind a rundown shack a hundred yards from nowhere. Motioning her out of the truck and inside, Rex maneuvered her into a corner.
“Take off your clothes and hand them to me.”
“Absolutely not.”
Walking to the door, Rex shouted. A minute later, a tall, burly man dressed in fatigues joined them. “Dani doesn’t want to play nice, Chad. She needs help removing her clothes.”
“Oh, hell no.”
Before either man knew her intention, she’d sprinted past them, breaking into a run the instant she crossed the threshold. For the second time that day, she ignored everything else and concentrated on getting away.
A couple shots hit the ground around her, but she didn’t slow. Instead of cowering, she sprinted ahead, dashing toward a narrow trail. Heading uphill, her lungs began to come to life, an odd peace settling over her. She was in the zone. The place where all she had to do was pump her arms and legs.
Taking every path which wouldn’t allow a truck to follow, her momentum increased. It had always been this way. The longer she ran, the faster her pace until her body signaled its limit. She still had a long way to go before then.
Hopefully long enough for them to give up and her to get far away.
Chapter Twenty
Wrath didn’t need to signal a stop when he and Ghost rolled up the crest of the road. Parked two hundred yards ahead was a gray truck next to an old shack. Letting the bikes roll back down the hill, enough so whoever was down there couldn’t spot them, they dismounted. Getting on their stomachs, they crawled forward.
“What do you see, Wrangler?” Wrath muttered into his comm unit. “Got it.”
“What’d he say?”
“The tracker’s moving east, farther than where the truck is parked.”
Inching backward, Ghost grabbed binoculars from his saddlebag before crawling back next to Wrath. “Two men are walking toward the truck from the east. One dressed in camo. Both carrying rifles.” Lowering the binoculars, his gaze narrowed on the truck. “Maybe Dani got away and they’ve been trying to find her.”
“Could be. From what Wrangler said, she’s got speed.”
“You don’t know the half of it. She competed in track in high school and college. Won more than she lost. According to Kell, she’s blazing fast. I mean, Olympic fast.”
Wrath shot him a look. “Did she go that route?”
“Nope. Kell said she loved running but hated competing. Only did it because the others spurred her to go faster. A medal held no appeal to her. If you’re talking hand-to-hand fighting, that’s a whole other story.”
Lifting the binoculars again, he focused on the men now standing at the back of the truck. “Take a picture of them, Wrath, and shoot it off to Wrangler. We need him to do his magic and run their faces through a recognition program.”
After several clicks of the camera, he sent the images to Wrangler with instructions. “He says Dani’s still moving east, but veering south. Probably taking an old deer trail so they can’t follow. Your woman’s smart, Ghost.”
“She’s not—”
“Stuff it. Denying it at this point just makes you sound more stupid than usual. For fuck’s sake, Ghost. Suck it up and go with it.”
Clenching his jaw, he stared through the binoculars. “They’re getting into the truck. Do we follow or follow Wrangler’s lead?”
“What would you do?”
“No question. I’d follow the trail Wrangler sees.”
“Agreed. What we can do is herd the truck along the current road.” Inching away, Wrath moved to his bike.
A savage smile curved Ghost’s lips. “Right into the waiting arms of Rock, Moses, and Tracker.”
“What the hell?” Rex checked the rearview mirror at the roar of motorcycle engines.
Glancing behind him, Chad pulled out his .45, taking a hard look at the cuts. “They’re Eternal Brethren.”
“How the hell did they find us?”
“The bitch must’ve had another tracking device on her.”
“Fuck.” Rex gunned the truck, heading along the bumpy road. “They won’t be able to keep up with all the ruts. It shouldn’t take long to lose them.”
“You’re right. They’re already falling back. Keep going.”
Continuing along the potholed road, it wasn’t long before they no longer saw the bikers behind them.
“We can’t just let her go. She knows who you are and has seen our faces. We’ve got to find her.”
Rex shot Chad a glare, unable to argue the point. “This road meets up with another, then heads east. We’re going to circle around and catch her when she believes she’s safe. We’ll have her back with us before nightfall.”
“We’d better. This will turn into our worst nightmare if word gets out who took her.”
“It’s not the end of our plan if we lose her. Dani is predictable.” Rex glanced behind them again, confirming no one followed. “She’s got three plays. One, stay with the bikers. Two, head back to Pine Glen. Three, run. We’ll be ready for all three. She can’t escape us forever, which means we will take care of Sully, Kell, and WETC.”
“What about WES?” Chad asked.
Rex sh
rugged, his gaze narrowing as they hit a particularly bad stretch of road. “I don’t give a damn about the security part of their business. If anyone survives, they can limp away and try to resuscitate it. The training center is what I’m after.”
“Get rid of Sully and take over his business.”
“Fuck.” Rex slowed, seeing three bikers on the road ahead. “Who the hell are they?”
“Eternal Brethren. No way they could’ve circled around.”
“That means there are five chasing us,” Rex spit out.
Chad gripped his .45. “They’re blocking the road. What do you want to do?”
“Nothing.”
Chad’s head jerked toward him. “What the hell, Rex?”
Slowing, Rex didn’t take his focus from the bikes ahead of them. “They don’t know who we are. What they’ll learn is we’re two ranchers taking a back road to a pasture south of here. Am I clear?”
“Yeah. Let’s get this over with and continue looking for the bitch.”
Moving forward, Rex’s attention switched from one to another. “The one in front is Rock. He’s their sergeant-at-arms. A real sonofabitch. I don’t recognize the others. Stay with the story and we’ll be fine.”
Edging the truck closer, Rex stopped a few feet away, rolling down his window. Leaning out, he plastered on a pleasant smile.
“Would you mind moving to one side or the other so we can pass?”
“One of them is taking our picture, Rex.”
“Ignore it. They won’t get much with our caps and sunglasses hiding our faces.”
The roar of motorcycles came from behind them. Rex and Chad turned, both voicing their reactions with a stream of curses. They were sandwiched between the two groups with no way to move around them.
“Look, we’ve got someplace to be.” The words fell from Rex’s mouth as Ghost and Wrath appeared just outside his door. “What’s going on, boys?”
Resting a hand on the roof of the truck, Ghost leaned down. “The question is, what are you doing out here?”
Shoving aside the building anger, Rex forced a neutral expression. “Taking a shortcut through our ranch to the main road.”
Ghost flashed a knowing grin at Wrath. “Odd, as the ranch is owned by the Vandermeys and I know for a fact you two aren’t part of their family. Try again.”
“No shit we aren’t family. We work for them,” Rex replied. “Look, we’ve got orders to get supplies. You’re holding us up.”
Ghost didn’t remove his hand from where it rested on the truck. “Any chance you’ve seen a woman with brown hair cut to her chin wearing jeans and a hoodie?”
Rex shook his head. “Nope. Haven’t seen anyone. Stopped at the old shack to check around for vagrants, but no one was about. And no sign anyone had been there for a while.”
Lifting his head, Ghost turned toward Rock, getting a chin lift. They’d gotten all they needed to identify the two. Time to search for Dani.
“Sorry for the holdup. Have a good trip, boys.” Ghost pushed away from the truck, taking a couple steps back as Rock, Tracker, and Moses moved their bikes to the side of the road.
“They’re the men who took her.”
Wrath stepped beside Ghost, watching as the truck continued until turning out of sight. “They’re the ones she got away from.” Walking a few feet away, he put a hand to his ear. “Wrangler, do you have a location?”
“The tracker hasn’t moved for ten minutes. My guess is she’s resting, getting ready for another sprint, Prez.”
“Coordinates?”
“Sending them now. With luck, you’ll be on her before she takes off again.”
Gathering his men together, Wrath passed on Wrangler’s information. “There’s a fork up ahead. We’ll follow it east and go from there. I’ll call Ethan to see if there’s a chance he can deploy his department’s helicopter.”
“I’m not waiting for confirmation.”
“Don’t expect you to, Ghost. We all head out now.” Wrath returned to his bike, calling Ethan on the way. Mounting, he pulled to the lead once more, heading along the same miserable road.
It took twenty minutes for the group to travel a mile. The same length of time for Ethan to get back to him. His helicopter was shut down for maintenance, and Police Chief Chuck Abernathy, a man who wouldn’t cross the street for the McCord brothers, refused the use of his department’s helo.
Stopping, Wrath updated the men before continuing toward the location indicated by the GPS tracker. At least as far as they could before the road ended.
Getting off their bikes, they surveyed the area, looking for any way to get the bikes past the thick bushes, then over the two-foot-wide crevice. An impossible task with their heavy bikes.
“Wrangler, we need an alternate route to Dani.”
“On it, Wrath.” A few minutes later, Wrangler responded. “There’s a trail south about half a mile behind you.”
“Yeah, I saw the turnoff.”
“Take it. I’ll have the SUV and van waiting for you. Both will have trailers for the bikes. From there, I’ll direct you to Dani’s latest location. You’ll have to make the call about how to best utilize the vehicles.”
“Roger that, Wrangler. Thanks.”
Explaining their only option, the group backtracked, locating the trail heading south. Wrath had expected Ghost to explode. Instead, his vice president showed the steel control which had always defined him.
Wrath knew how his close friend operated. He’d focus on completing the mission, finding Dani, and keeping her safe from any future danger. With her safety attained, he’d deal with the rest. Whether his future included Dani or not, Wrath had his VP’s back. Now he needed to make sure he kept him.
Dani shivered. Not from cold, as the temperature had to be close to eighty. Fear had her hovering within a stand of trees, her frantic gaze continuing to scan the area.
Since escaping, there’d been no sign of a house, road, or anything indicating civilization. Dani knew she’d find help somewhere close, if only she knew which way to run. Her smartwatch and phone were somewhere along the highway, buried in her backpack. She had nothing except the clothes she wore.
“Why didn’t I keep the phone in my pocket like I usually do?” Dani whispered the words, wishing she hadn’t been so stupid as to not do something which had always been routine.
Guessing by the position of the sun, it had to be midafternoon. She knew her time was short. She had to move, find a place to either call for help or stay the night.
Unfolding her stiff body, she moved out of the cover of the trees to survey the area. Going back would serve no purpose. Rex and his man might still be looking for her. Maybe they’d already called for help. She couldn’t let what-ifs stop her.
Making her decision, Dani took off south. She didn’t run this time, not wanting to make a mistake and head straight into a trap. Somewhere in this direction was a highway.
Staying vigilant, she followed one trail, then another, continuing south. Looking up, she spotted a broad, dark wave of clouds moving in her direction. It wasn’t an uncommon sight, and oftentimes the storms blew past with little rain. What she saw now appeared to be the real deal.
Picking up her pace, she zipped up the hoodie. If the storm maintained its current speed in her direction, she’d need to find shelter sooner than planned. Stopping, Dani glanced around, heart sinking when she saw nothing suitable for protection. Not even a tight grouping of trees or bushes to hide within.
Instead of the storm slowing, its speed increased, making shelter a priority. Breaking into a run, Dani pumped her arms and legs, climbing the slight hill. Reaching the top, she halted long enough to look around.
“Dammit,” she muttered, seeing nothing but what appeared to be miles of pastureland. No buildings. Not even a rundown shack. She cursed her luck once more, starting down the hill when a line of vehicles moved along what had to be a major road.
Heart racing, she sprinted, avoiding holes as she headed strai
ght toward the road. Reaching the base of the hill, she changed course to cross a creek. Forgetting her vow to stay vigilant, Dani lowered her head, increasing her pace.
Ignoring her surroundings, she jumped a low row of shrubs. Landing with a groan, she stumbled, lurching forward before righting herself. Placing her hands on her knees, she slowly rose, a scream bursting from her lips.
Ten feet away, spaced twenty feet apart, stood Rex and his companion. Two evil men, anger radiating off them, and each pointing a gun at her heart.
Chapter Twenty-One
WETC
Sully and Kell moved silently from building to building, checking for intruders, unlocked doors, broken windows, anything that would indicate the location of whoever breached the compound’s security. Four others checked the perimeter.
They’d finished dinner an hour before, the conversation centering on how there’d been no attacks since Dani left. The four who doubled as trainers and security experts added their comments. All thought it best to leave Dani in Liberty Lake.
Until today, they’d gotten daily updates from Wrath, quelling any concern Sully had about sending her away. He wanted her back home. Even more, he wanted her safe.
“North perimeter is clear, Sully.”
One by one, his other three men made contact, their reports the same. Nothing. The system indicated the breach had occurred on the east boundary, but there’d been no sign of a break in the fencing. No pieces of clothing clinging to the sharp edges of the heavy duty, commercial grade, galvanized steel wire or the barbed wire crown which added over a foot to the ten-foot enclosure. No footprints around the entire perimeter.
“Return to base.”
Sully finished checking the buildings with Kell. Stopping, he turned to his second-in-command. “False signal?”
Shaking his head, he walked alongside Sully as the two returned to the building designated as their base during security actions. “I don’t know. I’ll get the contractor out here to check the entire system.”
“At dawn.”
“I’m thinking tonight. Have you heard anything about Dani today?”
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