Both women looked at her with some surprise by the comment. Kelsey was a little more curious than her mother was and sat forward on the sofa.
“That ninja woman he spoke about,” Lee announced while raising her brows. “I know who he meant.”
“Friends?” Kelsey asked with surprise.
Lee nodded while gently rubbing her arms. “If they stormed this ‘big wig’s’ estate, it could mean they know where we are.” She shivered slightly. “That’s why they’re patrolling the area and running around like idiots. They must suspect they’re on their way here to rescue Ross and me.”
“This could be our opportunity,” Kelsey announced with enthusiasm and sprang up from the sofa. “I know our escape route. I’ve gone that way many times. They won’t be worrying about us if your friends show up.”
“No, maybe not,” Lee remarked. “But they’re also going to be patrolling every inch of the building and the grounds. You’ll get caught.”
“If you’re not caught in the crossfire,” Alma warned her daughter.
“Think of the bigger picture,” Kelsey boldly announced. “If your friends storm the place, these guys will use you and your boyfriend as human shields.”
“That crossed my mind too,” Lee replied while sighing softly and sank into thought. “We may need to come up with a really good hiding place.”
Kelsey suddenly smiled. “I know just the place.”
Chapter Forty
The sports cars pulled into a truck stop a little after ten o’clock that night. The guys along with Riley got out of the cars and discussed which of the four locations they felt Melissa Pendleton would flee to after the mansion was breached. All four locations were miles apart. There was some uncertainty and defeat from the team since they knew a lot was riding on finding the right location to search for Melissa and possibly Ross.
“So we have a condemned apartment building, an abandoned mall, a racetrack closed for refurbishment, and an old factory,” Beck informed the team. “We already ruled out the smaller businesses still in operation. It’d be difficult to hold people hostage for two weeks with daily traffic.”
“All four are big places,” Kirk remarked. “We could split our efforts, but it would take all night to search one building with only two-man teams.”
“We’d also be left shorthanded when we do find her,” Gil informed them. “We have to count on a heavily armed welcome party surrounding the location. Getting in is easy. Getting out could be suicide.”
“She’s going to have several guards surrounding her,” Riley informed them while eyeing the guys. “She wouldn’t have left the mansion unaccompanied.”
“Then there’s this mysterious man who put the bounty on our heads,” Monroe reminded them. “If she’s going to see him, he’s going to have his own militia waiting to shoot our heads off the moment we arrive.”
“We only have one shot at finding the right location,” Beck remarked.
Jackie then eyed Zack with a serious look. “So tell us, Zack,” she announced. “Where would you take someone if you didn’t want us to find them?”
Zack considered the question only a moment. “Either the factory or the racetrack,” he replied without over thinking the question. “They’re in ideal locations away from both homeless people and day traffic.” He then considered both options. “If I had to choose one, I’d go with the racetrack. It has hundreds of acres surrounded with a chain-link fence. It’s only being refurbished, so all the utilities will still be functioning, and it’s far enough away from prying eyes.”
There was an unusual silence as the rest of the team exchanged looks.
Beck looked at Zack and nodded his approval of the theory. “The racetrack it is.”
“That’s a good twenty miles from here,” Riley informed them. “There aren’t any nearby hotels. If you take time to drop me off, you’ll be wasting time.”
“You’re right,” Beck announced and nodded. “We’ll leave you here.”
“At a truck stop,” she cried out then pleaded with her eyes. “Take me with you. I’ll be fine waiting with the cars. I even know an excellent spot you can park to keep out of sight with a back way into the place. You need me.”
“No, not really,” Beck replied.
“She wants to help,” Bogart insisted.
“She’ll get herself or one of us killed,” Kirk launched back then raised his brow at Bogart. “In case you were wondering, that would probably be you.”
“We don’t have time to argue,” Beck announced with a sigh. “We’ll take her along and leave her in a safe location with the cars. If there’s any sign of trouble, she can take a car and leave.”
“Finding extraction vehicles is never an issue,” Kirk remarked with little emotion.
Monroe lovingly ran his hand along the expensive sports car and grinned. “Extraction vehicles as nice as these though are hard to come by.”
Kirk glared at Monroe as he caressed the sports car. “Do you two need a moment alone?”
Monroe snapped out of his fantasy involving the expensive sports car. “No, I’m good.”
“Let’s go find Ross,” Beck announced.
†
Riley showed them the back entrance to the racetrack, which was mostly used to transport horses to and from the track, avoiding the general population area. It was a little before eleven o’clock that night. Not far from the gate was a section of chain-link fence that had been knocked down by a fallen tree and hadn’t been replaced. The rotted tree was in pieces, allowing them easy access through the opening. It would be a long haul to the barn and racetrack building, but they would be able to keep out of sight and maintain the element of surprise most of the way. Riley had been considering her options and wanted to go inside with them at least as far as the horse barn, but they allowed no wiggle room for her new request. She pouted slightly and reluctantly waited with the two sports cars.
The guys took the more scenic route along the trees to conceal their presence. Once they were in sight of the barn, they got a better lay of the land. Zack was given an ear transmitter to keep better tabs on the others as they broke off into pairs. Although the pairing was sometimes altered depending upon the situation, Jackie and Zack were almost always paired together, since they were the only two with identical fighting skills and they seemingly thought alike. They would take the section of building dedicated to the jockeys, which also included the old kitchen and snack bar portion of the racetrack.
Gil and Darth would take the large horse barn, vet’s office, and the long building, which was used to hold the horses awaiting their races. Beck and Monroe would immediately head to the basement area once they reached the main building. The basement included the vault, cash office, and security offices. Bogart and Kirk were assigned the betting windows, indoor and outdoor viewing areas, ticket office, and the machinery building. Once they had their assignments, they went their separate ways.
†
Despite that the racetrack had been closed for renovations, several strategically placed outside lights remained on every night. The lights were meant to keep the property secure while abandoned and deter vandals or bored teenagers. Outside lights worked to Gil’s advantage in certain areas near the large barn, which would be completely dark otherwise. A few of the lights hindered his movement, making it more difficult for him to move around undetected. Fortunately, he didn’t see any guards patrolling the barn area. Darth sniffed around the massive, empty barn in the mostly dim lighting. He was finding too many new and exciting smells; leaving Gil with the feeling his partner was spending too much time goofing off.
It was becoming obvious they weren’t holding Ross within the large barn. Darth would eventually pick up the scent of someone familiar to him, and there would likely be guards somewhere surrounding the area they were holding Ross. The barn was a waste of time. When Darth had a disagreement with a cat and nearly gave them away, Gil knew it was time to move on before Darth asserted his canine superiority ove
r the cat and started barking. A dog barking on the property would draw attention. Even if they didn’t expect intruders, they’d be on alert and attempt to locate the source of the noise.
Heading closer to the main building and away from the massive horse barn, Gil and Darth approached a long building, which contained rows of horse stalls exposed to the outside. It wasn’t far from the parade paddock and the track itself. Horses were sometimes kept in the closer stalls prior to races. Once it was their turn to race, the handlers would lead the horses to the parade paddock where those attending the race could have a better look at the horses before they were taken into cubicles within the paddock and saddled. It was a large area to cover, and Darth was enjoying another round of ‘name that smell’. Gil was coming up empty and would need to regroup with the others where he’d be of more use. Darth found something of interest, although only of interest to him, and disappeared into the darkness.
Gil was about to call him when he saw a guard patrolling the area near the parade paddock. He didn’t appear to be looking for anything or anyone in particular, so he wasn’t on high alert. Gil stepped back into the shadows and into one of the stalls to remain out of sight. He poked his head out to check the guard’s position when he heard a gun cock from the opposite direction not far from his head. Gil tensed and slowly turned his head to look at the man standing only a foot away with a gun aimed at him. He remained calm and didn’t attempt to fight the man.
“Who are you?” the guard demanded.
Gil’s look remained unemotional. “You know who I am, and you’re late,” he announced firmly. “Are we going to do business or just jerk each other off?”
The man stared at him a moment then frowned. “Can’t you people find better places to conduct your dirty deals?” the guard demanded. Although he didn’t lower his gun, his hand holding it relaxed just enough. He motioned to his partner at the other end of the long building, who now spotted them as well, and then glared at Gil. “Sorry, buddy. You won’t be doing any business here tonight. Go somewhere else to do that shit.”
As his partner approached, Gil grabbed the first man by the wrist and twisted his arm, forcing him to drop the gun, and then punched him in the face. He didn’t go down as he had hoped he would and the man immediately retaliated by punching Gil in the face. He took the hit with surprising refinement. When Gil came back swinging, the guard tackled him to the ground. His partner was nearly upon them and was about to raise his radio to his mouth when Darth tackled him to the ground while snarling and growling. The second guard cried out with surprise and fought against the dog on top of him tearing into his forearm. The man punched Darth in the head, which only enraged him further. He then rammed his knee into Darth’s side, forcing him to release his grip from the hard shots. As he attempted to get up, Darth leaped forward and sank his teeth into the man’s crotch. The man cried out, catching both Gil and the first guard’s attention.
Despite that they had been brawling on the ground, both men looked several feet away and saw Darth clinging to the man’s crotch while he screamed, seemingly immobile from the hold. Gil was possibly more surprised than the man he fought. Gil punched the guard on top of him twice in the face, shoved him off, and punched him a third time for good measure. When the man no longer moved, Gil sprang to his feet and looked at his partner with his teeth in the man’s crotch.
“Darth,” he snarled at the dog in a scolding manner. “Oust!”
Darth released the man and looked at Gil while happily wagging his tail.
Gil shook his head. “No more weekend visits with Aunt Jackie,” he remarked. “I don’t know what she’s teaching you.” He wagged his finger at the dog while reprimanding him. “But that is not acceptable behavior.”
Darth didn’t know what his partner and friend was saying, but he gave a playful ‘woof’ in response and wagged his tail with added vigor. Gil groaned and shook his head.
Chapter Forty-one
Bogart and Kirk had already slipped past the outdoor stadium seating surrounding the track. They thought they’d heard something coming from the parade paddock area, but when no other sounds followed, they continued with their search. The track offered a large, indoor area of stadium seating as well, which extended past the outdoor bleachers, offering an enclosed area to watch the races out of the heat and potential bad weather. They knew Ross wouldn’t be tucked away somewhere quite so open, but they could see the luxury boxes at the top of the indoor stadium seating. They were worth investigating.
They checked the main floor and scanned the large area before the betting windows, as well as the secured area behind the closed windows. There was still no sign of Ross or even any guards. Both were starting to wonder if they were searching the wrong business location. Zack was usually great at picking the right location, but he wasn’t infallible. They ended their search of the ground level within the betting area then headed up the stairs to the luxury boxes above the stadium seating. There was a private elevator, but even if it worked, they wouldn’t risk using it, since their presence would be noticed.
Setup much like private luxury boxes at sporting events, those who could afford private boxes could throw parties and even have the track cater their event. The boxes sat above the indoor stadium, giving an unobstructed view of the track as well as providing small balconies where their party could sit to watch the events outside. Kirk had to pick the locks on each door in order to check all ten luxury boxes. Once they found all ten boxes empty, they headed back into the corridor. The elevator dinged, alerting them to someone’s presence. Kirk opened one of the doors and shoved Bogart into the nearest luxury box. They hid within the room on either side of the door and listened to someone walking along the corridor.
Kirk looked at Bogart and darted his eyes toward the door, secretly signaling for him to play decoy. Bogart gave him a look back, declaring ‘no way’ and gestured with his hands. Kirk gave a more demanding look while raising his brows and shook his fist at Bogart. Bogart vigorously gestured with his hands then gave Kirk the middle finger. Kirk then glared at him with a look threatening to kill.
Within the hallway, a guard carrying an assault rifle headed toward the stairs at the opposite end. The sound of a door opening caught his attention. He turned and saw Bogart standing in the corridor while playing on his cell phone. The guard raised his weapon.
“Hey,” the guard cried out. “Hands up!”
Bogart continued to press buttons on his cell phone and indicated with a finger for him to wait a moment without even looking up.
“Are you deaf?” the guard demanded and headed toward him with his weapon aimed.
As the guard got closer, Bogart looked up and grinned while showing him his cell phone. “I caught the little bastard,” Bogart announced with enthusiasm. “Have you played this game? It’s awesome.”
The guard stopped a few feet away and aimed his weapon at Bogart’s face.
Bogart’s expression dropped. “Oh, you have one of those big guns,” he remarked then suddenly grinned. “My friend has one of those too.”
Kirk stood behind the guard and poked him in the back with his assault rifle barrel. “You’ll want to put that down,” he informed the guard. “Nice and easy.”
The frightened guard immediately dropped the assault rifle and threw his hands in the air.
Bogart watched the rifle as it clattered to the floor then eyed Kirk standing behind the man. “I can’t believe they gave this guy a gun,” he remarked.
“Why not?” Kirk casually asked and eyed Bogart. “We gave you one.”
“One day I’m going to save your life, and I’m never going to let you live it down,” Bogart remarked.
“Yeah, well,” Kirk announced with little interest. “Not today.” He again poked the guard in the back with the rifle barrel as Bogart collected the fallen weapon. “We’re looking for some friends. Have you seen them?”
“Uh, who are your friends?” the guard nervously asked while attempting to get a lo
ok at the man behind him.
“You probably know them as prisoners one and two,” Kirk remarked sarcastically.
“I don’t think we have any prisoners,” the guard replied while trembling. “The two Columbian women aren’t really happy to be here. They’re in the penthouse.”
Bogart and Kirk exchanged strange looks at the comment. Bogart shrugged.
“What about a man in his early fifties with gray hair?” Kirk asked. “Are you holding him too?”
“It’s my job to keep the homeless guys out of here, not detain them,” the guard reported.
“He doesn’t know anything,” Bogart announced while shaking his head with disappointment. “I doubt the kid even knows how to use the weapon.”
Kirk frowned and lowered his assault rifle, allowing the guard to lower his hands as well.
The guard managed a slight, nervous laugh. “You guys had me concerned a moment there,” he reported then suddenly pulled a semiautomatic from a hidden shoulder holster.
The moment Bogart saw the gun; he struck the guard in the face with the butt of the assault rifle. The guard struck the wall then fell to the floor. They heard the muffled pop of the gun as it went off beneath him, jolting his body. Both stared at the man on the floor with surprise by what just happened.
“Is he--?” Bogart began then saw the blood rapidly spilling across the floor toward him. He sidestepped the pooling blood then looked at Kirk with horror. “I didn’t do that!”
Kirk rolled his eyes and shook his head. “I don’t know how you manage to kill so many people by accident.”
As Kirk walked away, Bogart stared at the dead guard on the floor, unable to comprehend how it happened. He then hurried after Kirk.
“It wasn’t my fault!”
“Yeah, sure,” Kirk muttered with disinterest.
†
The track building consisted of the stadium seating, betting windows, and snack areas. Beneath all that, in the basement area, was the security office with holding cells, sometimes referred to as ‘the drunk tank’, the cash office, and the vault. A separate basement entrance led to the boiler room and other mechanical necessities for the comfort of the track’s clientele. Beck and Monroe found the basement entrance to the security office and cautiously took the stairs. Despite the darkness surrounding most of the other areas, the lights were on within the stairwell and the corridor at the bottom. Light shined through the frosted glass on the security office door, indicating someone was possibly home. At the very least, it suggested someone had been within the basement recently.
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