by Becca Van
“Any ideas on why the women would have disappeared?” Whit asked.
“There have been rumors from the underground of a sex trade operation in the works. I haven’t been able to ascertain whether that is true but with women missing I’m not ruling it out, because there is never any smoke without a fire.”
“All right, we’ll pack up and be out of here within the hour.”
“Good. Just remember if you have any problems you can always call on the Elite Dragons.”
“We’ll be fine.” Whit could just imagine how well it would go over calling the retired comrades away from their families. He and his men were more than capable of handling the situation. It’s what they had been training for, and unless they found themselves in dire straits he had no intention of asking the Elite Dragons for help.
“Okay. I’ll be expecting a full report on your return.” Tony disconnected the call.
Whit quickly sent all team members a text and then headed for his room. Once his clothes were packed in his large duffel bag he headed for the office to await the rest of the team. His brothers Hayward and Dalton were already waiting for him and over the next couple of minutes the rest of the men arrived.
“Okay, we are heading to Chadron, Nebraska. Two women have gone missing and the CO suspects a sex trade operation. Dalt, I want you to get on to the police database and set up alerts so that if any more women are reported missing we are alerted from the start. It’s going to take us ten hours to get to our destination. Hay, make us a booking at a motel. All right, let’s get loaded up.”
Whit walked to the blank wall off to the side of the room, crouched down, and slid his fingertips along the skirting board. When he felt the small indent he pushed in. The wall slid back and row upon row of weapons was revealed. There were pistols and semi-automatic rifles, as well as automatic rifles, tear gas bombs, Tasers, and anything else a soldier would need.
Once everyone had their desired weapons, they headed out.
* * * *
The team converged in Dalton’s and his brothers’ motel room after stowing their own gear in their respective rooms. Dalt was already tapping away at his laptop making sure the alarms were in place. Once done, he sat back in his chair and waited for Whit to speak.
“Tomorrow we are going to walk the city. Each team will come in from different directions. Dalt, Hay, and I will take the north side of town. Cal, you, Fletch, and Law can go south. Ty, Rand, and Brom can take the east side, and, Thorpe, you, Adam, and Hunt can take the west point.
“I want you all to lower your shields and see if you can get a read on anyone who may be up to no good. We all know we can’t read everyone, that some people have a natural ability to shield their thoughts, but do the best you can. Some of those with the natural skills to shield sometimes leak the occasional emotion. Are there any questions?” Whit asked.
“No,” was echoed throughout the room.
“Make sure your communication devices are working before you head out. I don’t want us leaving together and bringing any more suspicion down on us. Since it was dark when we arrived and only the desk clerk knows we are here, I want to leave it that way. We’ll leave at 0700 hours. The rest of you follow at fifteen-minute intervals.
“Okay, let’s get some sleep.”
Dalt finished up with the software and then saved his work. He couldn’t wait to use his abilities and try to find the missing women. He had never been able to understand why people always picked on the weaker sex. He felt sick to his stomach knowing that two women were in danger. He only hoped they would be able to find some evidence that led them to the missing ladies. God knows what the kidnappers were doing to them.
* * * *
Hay lowered his shield as he and his brothers scanned the north side of Chadron. He concentrated on filtering the emotions until he was able to read each individual’s feelings and then discard them when nothing evil came his way. Whit was walking down the pavement on the other side of the street, and Dalton had taken one street over. By the time he and his brothers got to the center of town he was frustrated that he hadn’t been able to find or feel anything. He’d only felt normal emotions coming from people going about their day-to-day life. Nothing he felt had felt nefarious or out of place. It frustrated the hell out of him, making him feel helpless when there were two women’s lives at stake.
The receiver in his ear clicked and then Whit’s voice came through loud and clear.
“Okay, everyone, when you’ve finished scouting we’ll meet back at the motel and talk about what we’ve found if anything. Hay, Dalt, and I are heading to the sheriff’s office. We need to get more information on the missing women. Out.” Whit signed off.
Hay turned right down the next street and headed to the west to where the sheriff’s office was situated. Dalton was already waiting outside by the time he and Whit arrived.
“Okay, let’s go and introduce ourselves to the local law,” Whit said. “Tony sent me an e-mail letting me know he was going to inform the sheriff of our presence.”
“Good thing, too,” Dalt said. “The last thing we need is for the law to be on our backs because we haven’t gone through the correct channels.”
Hay headed for the door and stepped inside. An elderly woman looked them over as he and his brothers walked up to the counter.
“Can I help you, gentlemen?”
When Hay explained who they were and why they wanted to see the sheriff, she led them down the hall to the open door at the end, gave the sheriff their names, and left.
“Come in, gentlemen. I’m Sheriff Nick Parker.” The sheriff stepped forward and shook each of their hands. “Can I get you anything to drink?”
“No thanks, Sheriff.” The sheriff returned to his desk, and Hay and his brothers took a seat and then, without being asked, Nick handed over a manila folder. “In there are photographs and information on the two missing women. Sara-Jane Cantor has been missing for just over a week and Nicole Maynard has been missing for two days.”
“Where were the women last seen?” Whit asked.
“At the Chadron Hotel, it’s the only hotel in our town. We have a club where the young people go to dance, too, but the hotel seems to be the most popular. Both went out on a Saturday night and neither woman ever made it home.”
Hay picked up the folder and flipped it open. His breath caught when he saw two pictures of the beautiful women. Both women were in their early to mid twenties, and both of them had blonde hair and blue eyes. But it was the woman with the gold blonde hair that caught his attention. He felt like he’d been sucker punched as he stared at her beautiful image.
The hair on his nape stood on end, and he sat up straighter in his chair. His whole body had just gone on alert. The disappearance of two women with the same coloring was definitely ringing his alarms.
“Were they out alone or with friends?” Hay asked.
“They were with friends. From the information their friends told me the two women left the hotel earlier than their peers. Both were heading to the taxi stand just down the street.”
“How many taxi drivers in this town?” Dalt took the folder from Hay and studied the photos.
“We don’t have a very large population, as I am sure you are aware,” Nick said. “There are a total of ten cab drivers. My deputies and I have questioned each of them and none of those drivers even sighted the women that night.”
“Do the missing women know each other?” Whit leaned over and picked up one of the pictures.
“No.”
Hay rose to his feet and passed over a card with his cell phone number on it. “Please, call me if any more information comes to light?”
“I will, you can be damn sure of that.” The sheriff also stood. “I want those women found as soon as possible.”
“We’ll do what we can, Sheriff.”
“Thank you.”
Hay led the way out, his brothers’ close on his heels. Instead of heading back to the motel, he decided to walk o
ver to the Chadron Hotel and take a look around.
Dalton entered the hotel, no doubt to question the owner. Whit walked toward the corner, and Hay decided to walk toward the taxi stand. He was about a hundred yards from the stand when the buildings opened up to an alley. His gut knotted, and he knew this was where the predator had lain in wait for the unsuspecting women.
With his shields still lowered he tried to get a read on the place, but there was nothing. His eyes scanned the ground going from side to side until he reached the dead end. Turning around, he began to make his way back toward the street. A glint of metal shining in the sunlight near a Dumpster caught his attention. Crouching down, he saw the small silver stud earring. Picking it up, he turned it over in his hand to study it. A long strand of blonde hair was wound around the small post. As he touched the hair emotions slammed into his mind.
Pain, fear, cold, hunger. He gasped for breath and withdrew his fingers from the silky tress. With utmost care, he removed a small plastic bag from his pocket and placed the earring and hair into it. He had a really bad feeling about this. If the rumors their CO Tony Sullivan had told them were correct—and he had a suspicion they were—then he and his team could be looking for a sex slave ring. If that was the case and the ring was catering to a particular look or taste, then single young, blonde, blue-eyed women were in danger of being snatched from the streets to cater to a need in some really sick fuckers.
Hay searched every inch of the alley but didn’t find anything else. When he was finished he went in search of his brothers and pondered the reaction he’d had to touching that strand of blonde hair. Coulter and his retired teammates hadn’t once told them of being able to connect with anyone just by touching something belonging to them. But Bronsin Tiltman of the Elite Dragons team had been able to pick up on the emotions of one woman they had been looking for. It seemed the man had been able to lock onto her emotions since she had been projecting her feelings so loudly. Was that what was happening here? Was one of the women projecting?
Hay was going to do some more research once they were all back at the hotel.
Whit was standing near the doors to the hotel and frowned at him. Just as Whit was about to question him, Dalton exited the door. Both his brothers gave him a look, but he shook his head. He didn’t want to explain while they were out in the open where anyone could come upon them and hear. Without another word they all headed back to the motel.
The rest of the team were waiting to report and followed them into their room.
“Did any of you find anything?” Whit asked.
The answer all around was negative. Whit and Dalton looked at him expectantly.
Hay withdrew the small plastic bag from his pocket and placed it on the table and began to explain. Everyone was silent when he finished.
Whit scrubbed a hand over his face and then looked at him. “There is only one way to find out if that was a fluke. Take it out and touch it again. I think we all should lower our shields and see if we can pick up on what you feel and see. If it happens again.”
Everyone nodded their agreement.
Hay took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he opened the ziplock bag. He tipped it up and the small silver earring dropped into his hand. The strand of hair brushed over his skin with barely a whisper. He carefully uncoiled it from around the silver post and then wound it around his finger.
Images bombarded him.
Sara waved good-bye to her friends and headed out of the hotel. When she got outside she shivered in the cool night air, cursing the fact she hadn’t had the foresight to bring along a cardigan or sweater. When she glanced toward the taxi stand she frowned because the two streetlights which usually illuminated the area weren’t working. She gave a mental shrug and began walking toward the cab pickup. The hair on the back of her neck prickled and she looked over her shoulder, behind her, but there was no one there. Sara berated herself for her overactive imagination and picked up her pace.
Mentally cursing when she saw the black void between the two buildings up ahead where the alleyway was, she again berated herself for her paranoia. In all the time she had lived in Chadron, Nebraska, she had never heard of anyone being mugged or being the victim of a violent crime. So why did tonight feel dangerous?
She walked a little faster and sighed with relief when she saw oncoming headlights in the distance and hoped it was one the taxis returning to the stand after taking another fare home. But it was still too far away for her to see the top and deduce whether it was in fact a cab, and because the streetlights were out, she doubted the driver could see her.
As she drew closer to the alley her whole body went on alert. She squinted her eyes, trying to see into the dark bowels of the abyss, but she couldn’t detect any shadow or movement. Releasing another sigh of relief she stepped out onto the road between the two buildings, but before she had reached the middle of the entrance of the alley, she was grabbed from behind. A large, sweaty hand clamped down over her mouth and a muscular arm wrapped around her waist. She was lifted from her feet and being carried into the alley. Sara-Jane’s scream was muffled but she kicked back with both legs and dug her nails into the arm and hand at her mouth.
It was only then that she saw the shadow of a large, dark vehicle parked in the lane. Another form emerged from the shadows in the shape of a man. He spoke rapidly to her kidnapper, but she couldn’t understand what he was saying. He wasn’t speaking English. The new man reached for her legs, and she kicked out at him, but it didn’t help. Eventually he grabbed her ankles in a bruising grip, but she continued to buck, fight, and scream in the hope that someone would hear or see her.
The door to the large black van slid open and the men carried her into it and she was dropped onto the hard floor. The hand which had been over her mouth fell away and she gulped in a few deep breaths, filling her lungs with oxygen, and then she inhaled again, her intention to scream as loudly as she could. She never got the chance. The one who had restrained her legs straddled her, pinning her limbs and body to the floor with his body weight, and then covered her mouth and nose with his hand.
Sara fought, but it was ineffectual. She became weak from lack of air and she slumped to the ground as darkness crept over her. She tried to see the faces of her kidnappers, but they were covered with masks of some kind and she could barely see their eyes. Slowly she began to drift until finally she knew no more.
“That’s enough,” Whit bit out and gripped Hay’s shoulder.
Hay drew in a ragged breath and shook his head to dispel the last image of Sara-Jane losing consciousness. He still felt light-headed, and it took him a while to come back to reality. When he had, he wished he hadn’t. His gut churned with fear, and there was a knot of pain over his heart. Hay wasn’t sure if what he was feeling was a remnant of the vision he’d just had, what Sara-Jane had been feeling, or whether it was his own emotions roiling through him at what Sara had endured, must still be enduring. With care, he unwound the strand of hair from his finger and put it and the earring back into the small plastic bag.
“Did any of you see or feel what Hay did?” Dalton’s voice drew his attention. His brothers were usually so calm and in control just like he was, but Hay had picked up on the slight tremor in Dalt’s voice. He looked over to Whit and noticed that he was paler than usual.
“No,” the rest of their team answered.
“Did you?” Hay asked, looking from Dalt to Whit and back again.
“Yes,” they answered simultaneously.
“Are you going to tell us what happened?” Cal shifted in his seat and took a sip from his water bottle.
Hay began to explain, and then his brothers took over. He couldn’t believe how much they had seen and felt when he’d been the one to have the vision. But to have all of them see what they had, had to mean something. Didn’t it?
“What the hell is going on?” Whit snapped out.
Hay knew his brother wasn’t angry and didn’t take umbrage to his tone, but when Whit
rose to his feet and began to pace he knew that his older brother was just as confused as he was.
“Did any of the Elite Dragons experience anything like this?” Ry asked.
“Other than Bronsin feeling emotions from a long distance, I don’t think so.”
“Don’t look at this as a negative,” Thorpe said. “This is just another gift you’ve been given. There has to be a reason you were able to see what this woman went through. Tell us again what you saw.”
Once again Hay, Dalt, and Whit went through what they had seen.
“Did any of you recognize the language being spoken?” Adam queried.
“They were speaking an Asian language.” Hay sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
“Any idea which language?” Brom headed to the small fridge in their room and snagged a can of soda.
“It sounded like Japanese.”
“Shit.” Whit took a seat on the side of one of the beds.
“What?” Hay looked at his brother.
“Both missing women have blonde hair and blue eyes. What if there are men out there looking for those specific traits in a woman and orders are being taken?”
He sat up straighter as an epiphany occurred. His brother was right. If what Tony said was correct and there was a sex slave ring being set up, then the two missing women could have been kidnapped because of assholes ordering women with specific characteristics.
“Orders from whom?” Hunt leaned forward.
“Not from whom, but for what. What if Japan’s criminal underworld is taking orders to kidnap women with specific attributes?”
Dalton uncrossed his legs. “Fuck! I think you could be on to something, Hay.”
“I think it’s time I called our boss.” Whit hit a button on speed dial, and then he began to explain to Tony what they suspected and then disconnected the call. “Tony’s looking into it but he thinks we’re on the right track. He’s never heard of someone having visions but he wants you to try again. He’s hoping we can glean more information from your visualizations. We’ll try again tonight. We need to get some food and rest up a bit.”