Rescue Me

by Allie Adams

  “Spencer, I refuse to let this search end like the last one we were on together, all because we can't find a way to get along.”

  “You can't keep blaming yourself for that search.” A muscle clenched and ticked along his jaw. “Things happen for a reason.”

  “And what reason could there possibly be for that poor man to freeze to death? I had every available resource in the field. I had them go over the search grid with a fine-toothed comb. I should have had better instincts. It's not their fault we didn't find him in time. It's mine. Period.”

  Spencer swung back around and brought his hands to his hips. He shook his head and said words that left her speechless. “Maybe he wasn't meant to be found.”

  And then he walked away and left her standing there, leaving a heaviness hanging between them.

  Only after he disappeared on a trail did she turn and march toward the group of trees the TREX agents used as shelter. As soon as she walked through the two layers, she spotted them. Most lounged around, waiting. Dan Weber, on the other hand, paced back and forth as he muttered something about royally fucking up.

  As soon as he saw her, he froze and rested his attention on her. He ran a hand over his blond stubble of hair. “Kat? How did you…uh… What are you doing here?”

  She forced a smile. “Hello, Agent Weber.”

  “Special Agent Weber,” one of his TREX men corrected.

  “How about just Weber,” he said after throwing a glare the agent's way.

  “Do you have a minute?”

  He nodded and delivered another glare as two more agents joined in with the first one, snickering as he walked out of the sheltered area with her.

  Kat stopped and turned to face him, locking a look on him she reserved for times like this, when she didn't have words to convey just how pissed she was. Right now definitely qualified.

  He physically shrank back. “What did Allen do?”

  “He refuses to answer my questions.”

  Weber snapped his brow into a frown. “That's why we like working with K-SAR. You don't usually ask questions.”

  “When my teams could be in danger, I ask questions.”

  He sighed, downplaying her concern, and didn't hesitate to lie to her face. “Your teams aren't in any danger.”

  “That's because I'm pulling them. I thought you should know.” She whipped around and started walking away. Just as she knew he would, he put his hand on her shoulder to stop her.

  “You can't pull your teams.”

  “Give me a reason not to.”

  “Because there is a six-year-old kid out here. We have to find him and bring him home.”

  “I don't think he disappeared from here.”

  That comment earned her another frown. “What makes you think that?”

  “My teams have been searching for hours now. They're the best of the best. If there were any clues out there, they would have found them by now.” Kat thrust out her chin. “You say the subject's PLS was right here at this campground, yet we've found nothing to support that. I've spanned my teams in every direction from this point and found nothing, which tells me one of two things.”

  Weber clenched his jaw. “And that is?”

  “Either someone is lying to me or he was never here. Which is it?”

  He narrowed his eyes. Several seconds passed and he held her there in his gaze. She refused to look away. Someone was going to give her answers.

  The SAC remained stubbornly silent. Well, fine. She wouldn't send her teams searching all over this mountain for a subject who may not even be here. If she found out later that Tommy actually was out here, his death would be on TREX's hands, not hers.

  Kat lifted her radio. “Com Van, K-SAR-One.”

  “Com Van,” Ed answered in his monotone radio voice.

  She held Dan's gaze and waited. When he did nothing more than stare back at her, she made the call. “Freeze our teams' positions.”

  “Kathryn, don't do this.”

  She whipped around. Spencer hurried up to them. He heard her, no doubt courtesy of the receiver in his ear he must have switched back on.

  That smoky gaze held her in place. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “Bringing my teams in. I won't work with you guys like this.”

  “We need you,” he said, a strangled tone in his voice.

  “And I need the truth,” she snapped, frustrated that she had to keep pushing them for answers. They were all on the same side, weren't they?

  “Sir?” Spencer looked to Weber. Kat glanced at Weber as well and waited. He jerked his gaze to Spencer and gave him a single nod.

  Finally. Relief washed through her, steadying her pulse. Now they'd get somewhere. “Stand by, Com Van.”

  Spencer reached for her, shot a quick look to Weber when the man cleared his throat, and dropped his hand. “There's a—”

  Weber's cell buzzed in his hand, pulling both their attention to him as he answered. “What is it? Are you shitting me? He's on his way here now? Son of a… How far out? Good. I'll get my boys on it.” He ended the call and turned to Spencer. “We're about to get some company.”

  “Who?”

  “Martin Miller.”

  SEVEN

  Spencer cursed in four languages. The search was FUBAR right now. They didn't need a member of the board arriving to see just how much they'd already screwed this up, especially one emotionally connected to the subject.

  While TREX expertly put up the wall tent in record time and got it ready for its guest, Kathryn and Spencer sat inside the Com Van and worked on their story. Martin Miller would be there any second and they had to have every detail perfect or he'd pick up on it. Coming from old money, he didn't need to work. But that hadn't stopped him from joining TREX at the ripe age of twenty-one. He'd retired after almost forty years and hundreds of successful finds under his belt. The man's instincts put Lyons to shame.

  Spencer ground his teeth together as frustration and unease mixed in his blood. Tension tightened his body. This was never going to work. He lied for a living and had no problem with the story they'd come up with. Kathryn, however, saw right through him. Even though she knew her part in the plan, the minute he gave his side, his deceit showed in her eyes.

  Those eyes narrowed as her pretty lips turned down. Color splashed her cheeks while heartbreak washed through her expression. And damn if he didn't feel her heart breaking as lie after lie rolled easily off his tongue. TREX agents were trained to lie with conviction. If she couldn't deal with that, it was her problem, not his.

  “Let's go through it one more time,” he snarled.

  Kathryn let out a long sigh. “I know nothing. I am but a mere pawn in this game you're playing with a little boy's life.”

  He looked at her, his eyes burning. “Are you through?”

  “I know my side, Spence.” She rubbed her neck and closed her eyes. “It's you who needs work. Your lying sucks.”

  “I happen to be a very good liar.”

  She opened her eyes and nailed him with another one of those icy glares.

  “When Martin Miller gets here, you stay in the Com Van. Only come out if I radio for you.”

  “And then only answer his questions if you give me the okay.” She sucked in her lower lip between her teeth and bit down. “This doesn't feel right. Why are we keeping anything from Tommy's family? They have a right to know the truth.”

  “They have a right to know we are out here doing everything we can to find him,” Spencer countered. “We tell them what they want to hear to keep them happy. Nothing more. This is no different than any other search we've been on together.”

  Kathryn laughed bitterly and shook her head. “Unfortunately, that's true. I don't think I've gotten the full story on any of our searches.” She lifted her gaze to his, waiting.

  Too damn bad. He wasn't about to open up those old wounds.

  “One more time.”

  She took a breath but quickly exhaled when the sound of gravel crun
ching under tires caught their attention. A black four-door Mercedes with smoked windows pulled up and stopped next to the Com Van. Martin Miller stepped out, his steely gray eyes immediately assessing the surroundings. For as long as Spencer had known the man, he kept his white hair cut military style, flat on the top and buzzed short on the sides. Any resemblance to military stopped at the neck, though. It looked like that dark suit cost more than a year's salary.

  Miller walked around and opened the passenger door, and a thin whisper of a woman stepped out, shocking the shit out of Spencer. Who the hell was that?

  “I bet that's the mother,” Kathryn answered his unasked question. “Who is this family? The grandfather is wearing a ten-thousand dollar suit. The mother is in a fur coat. That had better not be real.”

  “I'll be sure to file a complaint with PETA,” he drawled and then shrugged when she shot him a look.

  The back passenger's side door opened. Spencer moved away from the table and approached the window. “Who do we have here?”

  Out stepped a tall man dressed in all black with slicked back hair that matched his clothing and receded into a widow's peak, paired with a pointed goatee covering his chin. He had on dark sunglasses and curled his lip in obvious disapproval of the entire scene as he slowly took in his surroundings.

  Kathryn joined Spencer. “He looks like he realized he just stepped in something.”

  The man removed his sunglasses and rested black-as-coal eyes on the window. He didn't meet Spencer's gaze, which told him he had to be looking at Kathryn. Spencer stiffened.

  “Showtime. Stay here.” Spencer stepped out of the Com Van and approached their guests. He stretched out his hand to Martin Miller first. “Sir. We have the wall tent set up for you and your…” he paused and let that hang, knowing Miller would finish.

  “My daughter. Martha, this is Spencer.”

  Spencer picked up the fact that Miller didn't use his title and ran with it. “Spencer Allen, ma'am.” He took her hand. He then turned to the other male when Miller didn't introduce him. Hell, he didn't even acknowledge him. “And you are?”

  “Damon Salazar. I'm Martha's boyfriend.”

  Spencer kept his attention on Salazar but in his peripheral he didn't miss the way Miller thrust out his chin at Salazar's announcement. Daddy didn't care much for the boyfriend. Good to know.

  “If you all will follow me to the tent, we can get you settled in.”

  Miller glanced at the smoke lazily rising out of the tent's chimney. He then gave Spencer a nod and the family followed him inside.

  Holy shit. The team definitely did a great job at building up the fire in the portable wood stove. It had to be eighty degrees in this thing. He was about to offer to unzip one of the flaps covering a screen when Martha spoke in a quiet voice. “It feels nice in here.”

  “Can I get anyone some coffee?”

  “Enough playing host,” Miller barked. “Where's my grandson?”

  “We're doing everything we can, sir.”

  Martha's chin quivered as she melted into one of the chairs at the round table in the center of the tent. “I just don't understand why he was even up here.”

  Interesting. So Miller didn't tell his daughter the real reason behind Tommy's disappearance. Spencer stole a quick glance at Salazar. He looked bored. All heart, that one.

  “Have you checked the cabin again?” Miller asked.

  “Yes, sir.”

  Miller thinned his lips and practically growled. “Maybe you missed something.”

  And maybe you should let me do my job. “We have a team on the cabin in case Tommy returns.”

  “Where are the Robinsons?”

  Spencer kept his expression still as he studied Miller, waiting for clarification.

  Miller added, “The Swiss family Tommy was up here with.”

  Ah. Those Robinsons. He'd been forced to read Swiss Family Robinson in high school and knew all about the Robinson family that had been abandoned by the crew when the ship ran aground. They were survivalists. Resourceful. And pretty damn lucky.

  At least the kidnappers had two out of three going for them.

  “They are up here as well.” He gave Miller a look before immediately stealing another glance Salazar's way. Was he checking his nails? Why in the hell wasn't he comforting his girlfriend?

  Spencer's suspicion mounted. Salazar had his sunglasses on inside the tent. He stood a good two feet from his girlfriend. When he caught Spencer studying him, he stepped forward and rested his hands on Martha's petite shoulders.

  Miller noticed the gesture as well and clearly didn't appreciate it. “Spencer, why don't you and I see to that coffee?”

  As soon as they exited the tent, Miller started in, his voice barely audible. “What the fuck is going on, Allen? Where's my grandson?”

  Spencer hated having to cater to Miller, simply because he was on the board. This man led the witch hunt against Spencer that nearly ended his career with TREX, all because of his relationship with Kathryn. What right did he have to demand a goddamn thing?

  But then the reality of the situation crashed down. This wasn't about Miller. It wasn't about Spencer. It was about a little boy who needed to be returned to his family.

  “We'll find him, sir.”

  “Cut the bullshit. It's just you and me.” His steely gaze bore into him. “What happened out there? It was supposed to be a simple flash and grab.”

  Spencer debated whether to brief him with the truth or make up some story to pacify him. As a member of the board, Miller had the authority to pull the intel up after a find. Even if Spencer lied to him, the man would eventually get the truth. If that didn't come from Spencer now, he'd end up in front of the board to justify his actions.

  The truth wins. “We've got three dead kidnappers. Two males and a female.”

  “So who has Tommy?”

  “Intel only has three kidnappers. One male dead in the cabin. The other two dead together about a mile north.” He kept the details of the blood they found out of it. Miller didn't need to know about Tommy's wound at the moment. Spencer would take whatever punishment for withholding the information, but he wasn't about to add to the stress level if he didn't have to.

  “Why haven't you told them the truth?” Spencer nodded at the tent.

  “Those bastards took Tommy right out from under me. That alone left a message. These guys are pros. Mercs.”

  “I had that same thought. They told you not to involve authorities, right?”

  “Of course.”

  “Where's the father in all this? I notice Tommy has the same last name as you, as does your daughter.”

  “The father was nothing more than a sperm donor. He disappeared well before Tommy was born.”

  “Could he be back and looking for the title of Father of the Year?”

  Miller shook his head. “He died in a motorcycle accident in California three years ago. It's not him. He was a James Dean type. Martha fell for him. She likes the bad boys.” He glared at the tent.

  Salazar.

  “What else can you tell me?”

  “Before the drop, I got a text from a burner phone.” Miller's eyes shined as he fought to keep his expression firm, his chin steady. He stared off into the distance as he recited the text. “'Tell anyone about the drop and Tommy dies. We are watching and will know.' That's why I called in TREX. I had no idea they'd find out. Jesus Christ, Allen. I killed my own grandson by calling you in.”

  Shit. Spencer's jaw clenched at that little bit of intel. “Why didn't you tell anyone about the text?”

  “I didn't think it mattered.”

  Why in the fuck would he think a text from the kidnappers didn't matter?

  Miller swung his swollen gaze back to Spencer. “How did they find out about you?” That accusatory look in Miller's eyes pissed him off.

  He rested his gaze on Miller and waited several seconds for his temper to settle. “Who else knows the truth behind Tommy's disappearance?”


  “Only TREX.” The accusation in his glare grew critical.

  “There's no leak within TREX. Someone else has to know. Your daughter thinks Tommy was up here camping with friends?”

  “That's right. I told her I trusted the Robinsons and that Tommy would be just fine.” His chin quivered. The guilt had to be tearing him up.

  Spencer hardened himself against the emotions threatening to break Martin Miller. “What about Salazar?”

  “Damon? He's worthless. No job. He practically lives with Martha, mooching off her.”

  “When did they meet?”

  “Three months ago at the park.”

  “Does he have kids?”

  “No.”

  Salazar's appearance three months before Tommy's kidnapping was more than a coincidence. Spencer would bet his life on it. Grown men didn't frequent the park unless they had reason to, like a chance meeting with the mother of his mark. “Then why was he at a park?”

  “He was jogging by and Martha spilled her coffee on him. It was completely random.” He blinked as his eyes cleared and he settled back into the role of ex-agent. “Do you think he has something to do with this?”

  Until Spencer had proof, he didn't want to fuel Miller's hatred for his daughter's boyfriend. “I'm just trying to cover all my bases. I'll get our intelligence division to do a full background on him.”

  “I already did. He's clean.”

  Spencer planned to have McKoy get his sister involved. If she really was as good as Weber claimed, she'd be able to dig up more on Salazar. “I'll check again. Something isn't adding up.”

  Miller lifted his brow as his voice tensed with sudden interest. “And you think Damon is somehow involved?”

  “Like I said, I'm just trying to cover all my bases.”

  Miller thrust out his chin, a tell expressing his disapproval. He did the same gesture when Salazar put his hands on Martha Miller's shoulders. “I see you called in K-SAR. Another base to cover?”

  Spencer braced himself for the explosion. He'd had to stand in front of Miller and five other members of the board to justify his actions when they found out about his relationship with Kathryn. “K-SAR is our best search and rescue contact.”