by Cindi Myers
“Blessing.” As always, the special agent in charge barked the word like a command.
“Jack Prescott, sir. We’ve had a new development.”
“What is it this time?”
“We’ve met up with a teenage boy who says Anderson and his group held him hostage for three months. He escaped right before they brought Ian McNeil here and has been hiding in the woods near the camp. His name is Brian Keeslar and he says his father is a nuclear physicist. He thinks the group was trying to force his dad into doing some work for them.”
“Give me that name again?”
Jack gave him the boy’s name and the name of his father. “Apparently, his dad is working overseas and hard to get ahold of. Brian doesn’t know if the kidnappers succeeded in contacting him or not.”
“If the kid spent three months with these people, maybe he can tell us more about them.”
“That’s what I’m hoping,” Jack said. “It sounds like he had a pretty rough time of it, but he wants to cooperate. Any word on when we’re getting out of here?”
“Not yet. I’ll see what I can do to move you up the priority list, but apparently, there are a lot of people ahead of you.”
“Tell them we’ve got a sick kid here. Ian is running a fever and not feeling well. I think—” A loud noise vibrating the air cut off Jack’s words. He raised his eyes toward the ceiling and the noise overhead.
“Is that a helicopter?” Brian stood in the kitchen doorway, Andrea behind him with Ian in her arms.
Jack opened the front door and looked out. “Sir, you didn’t just send a helicopter to get us, did you?”
“Do you really think I have the budget to scramble a helicopter in a nonemergency situation?” Blessing asked.
“Then I think this just became an emergency situation,” Jack said. He peered at the helicopter that was just clearing the treetops, preparing to set down in the middle of the camp. “I think Anderson has returned. And from the looks of things, he’s brought reinforcements.”
Chapter Eleven
Andrea clutched Ian so tightly he began to whimper. “It’s okay, honey,” she said. She smoothed the hair back from his feverish forehead, her heart hammering in time with the throbbing helicopter rotor. “What do we do?” she asked Jack.
“We’ve got to get out of here,” he said. He ran past her into the kitchen and retrieved his coat and the pack. He turned to Brian. “We’re going to run out of here straight to my truck. It’s the black Ford parked out front. Andrea and Ian go in first, then you and me.”
Brian’s Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat as he swallowed. “Can we get away from them?” he asked.
“We will.” Jack slung the pack onto his back and drew his Glock. “Andrea, when I give the word, you make a run for it.”
She woke Ian and helped him put on his coat, then shrugged into her own and retrieved the blanket from the bedroom and handed it to Brian. “Wrap up in this,” she instructed. “Since you don’t have a coat.” She grabbed the other blanket from the sofa and draped it over Ian. Her instinct was to hide her baby from the men in that helicopter. “I’m ready,” she said.
“Wait until I give the word.” Jack eased open the door and peered out. Almost immediately, gunfire exploded from the helicopter, bullets slamming into the wood at his feet and beside him. Andrea screamed as he dived back into the room. Brian shoved the door shut, then retreated toward the kitchen.
“We’ll have to go out the back window,” Jack said, and led the way into the kitchen. By the time Andrea joined him, he had already removed the nails he’d driven into the windowsill earlier and pulled a kitchen chair over to the counter. “Brian, you go first,” he instructed. “You can help Andrea with Ian. Andrea, as soon as you’re out, head for the river. I’ll be right behind you.”
Brian’s face had lost all color and his hands trembled as he clutched at the windowsill. But he didn’t hesitate to crawl through the opening. His feet hit the ground below with a soft thud. No gunfire followed him.
“Take this.” Jack passed the pack through the window, then reached for Ian.
Andrea clutched at the boy, reluctant to let him go. But Ian held his arms out to Jack and cuddled against his neck. Jack smoothed his hand down the boy’s back. “It’s going to be okay, buddy,” he murmured.
Brian took Ian and held him while Andrea crawled through the window. She landed crookedly and fell but was immediately on her feet and taking her son.
“Go!” Jack commanded. “Run to the river. I’ll meet you there.”
Brian reached for her hand, his grip stronger than she had expected. “Come on,” he said. “We have to hurry before they figure out what we’re doing.”
The race for the river felt like running in a dream, time slowing as she slogged through the heavy, wet snow. She carried Ian cradled against her chest, the blanket draped over him. His weight dragged at her. Brian, no longer holding her hand, moved farther and farther ahead of her. Her breath came in pants, lungs straining, ears attuned for the sound of the gunfire she feared would mow her down.
Then she was standing behind the fish-cleaning shelter with Brian. When Jack joined them a minute later, she almost sobbed with relief. “I shoved the chair away and closed the window behind me,” he said. “Maybe that will delay them figuring out how we got out.”
He took the pack from Brian and put it on, then reached for Ian. She surrendered the boy without protest. Jack would protect him, she was certain.
“Where do we go now?” Brian asked.
“If we stay in the woods, they won’t be able to get a clear shot from overhead,” Jack said. “We need to find a safe place to hide before they come after us on foot.”
“I can’t hear the helicopter anymore,” Andrea said. Did that mean the kidnappers were already coming after them?
“They’ve probably landed,” Jack said. “It will take them a few minutes to search the cabin and figure out we’re not there. The faster we move, the more distance we can gain on them.”
“I know a place we can hide,” Brian said. “I spent the night there last night. It’s an abandoned mine about a mile from here, maybe a little more. But we’ll have to climb a pretty steep slope to get to it.”
Jack clapped him on the back. “Let’s go.”
They jogged through the woods, maneuvering around downed trees and clots of underbrush too thick to push through. They stumbled through drifts and over hidden rocks, but beneath the sheltering trees the snow wasn’t as deep. Jack broke trail and the others followed in his footsteps. No chance of hiding their path from anyone who might be searching behind them. Their best hope was to move as quickly as possible and find a good place to hide.
The scent of fresh pine and spruce washed over them, clean and bracing. Brian directed them west, the elevation gradually increasing.
Soon Andrea was out of breath. “I definitely have to get to the gym more often when this is over,” she panted as she followed Jack and Brian up an ever-steeper slope. Jack stopped to wait for her. “How’s your leg?” she asked when she caught up with him.
“It’s okay.” But his grimace of pain told her otherwise. He should be at home, resting and recovering, instead of climbing a steep slope with the burden of a child in his arms.
“Let me take Ian,” she said.
“No. I’ve got him,” he said.
“I want to stay with Jack,” the boy said, as if he knew the man, even injured, was more capable of getting him safely up the slope than his mother.
They continued climbing, with Brian in the lead now, taking them to his hideout. “It’s not much farther.” Brian stopped and looked back over his shoulder to Jack. “Should we be doing something to cover our tracks?” he asked.
Jack shook his head. “There’s no point in that now. They know we’re out here. Ou
r best bet is to find a good hiding place and lie low until we can get help. When we’re settled in, I’ll call my boss and give him our location. He’ll get help to us.”
Andrea didn’t ask how that help was going to cross a blocked road and get past the kidnappers to reach them. This was the FBI, after all. Maybe they would call in the National Guard or send in a SWAT team. She’d settle for the cavalry on horseback if it meant she and her son would be safe.
“I have to pee,” Ian announced.
“Hold on a little longer, buddy,” Jack said. “We’re going to stop soon.”
“I have to pee now!” He pounded his fists against Jack’s shoulders and squirmed in his arms. “Put me down.”
Jack looked at Andrea. “Tell him to hold on just a little longer,” he said. “We need to put more distance between us and Anderson’s bunch before we stop.”
She took Ian from him. “You can hold it a little longer, can’t you?” she asked.
“No, Mama. I have to go.” He tried to get down, his face screwed up as if at any moment he might start screaming.
“It will be easier if we stop and let him go now,” Andrea said. “It won’t take a minute.” She lowered the boy to the ground. “Okay, honey, you can go now.”
“Not with everyone watching,” he protested.
“We’ll just, um, turn our backs,” Jack said. He turned around and motioned for Brian to do the same.
“Hurry, honey,” Andrea said.
Jack didn’t like letting Andrea and the boy out of his sight, but he hadn’t heard any sounds of pursuit since they had left the camp, and Andrea wouldn’t go far.
Her footsteps faded as she led Ian into the woods. He heard the soft tones of her voice as she reassured her son. The sound reassured Jack, too. As long as he could hear her, he knew she was all right.
“How much farther until we reach this mine?” he asked Brian.
“Maybe another twenty minutes.” Brian wrinkled his forehead. “I kind of found it by accident, so I wasn’t really keeping track of time.”
“It is safe to go into?” Jack asked.
“I didn’t go very far. But the entrance is pretty big and dry. It’s just this cave carved out of rock. And you have a nice view of the valley from the entrance.”
A good view of whatever was approaching them sounded safe to Jack. He turned around. “Andrea? Are you almost finished?”
No answer.
“Andrea!”
The sound of something moving very fast through the underbrush toward him had him resting a hand on his gun and looking for suitable cover. “Jack!” Ian’s shout sent ice through Jack’s veins. “The bad men took Mommy! She’s gone!”
* * *
ANDREA FOUGHT BACK tears as a large man dressed all in black and armed with a semiautomatic rifle dragged her away from the others. She had let Ian run ahead of her as they made their way back toward the others, hoping that if he had a chance to stretch his legs now, he would be less restless later.
Her captor had stepped out from behind a tree, clamped a hand over her mouth and wrapped her in an iron-hard grip before she could so much as squeak. He had slipped the gun from her waistband and pinned her to him almost before she realized what was happening. Ian had stopped and looked back. His eyes widened when he saw her.
Run! She’d wished she could scream this silent plea. He must have seen the message in her eyes, however, since he’d whirled and raced away.
Her captor, who seemed to be alone, dragged her back through the woods. No way did she have the strength to fight him, so she made herself go limp in his arms. At least he seemed to be moving away from the others, not toward them. If Ian could get to Jack, her boy would be safe.
Her captor dragged her, with seemingly little effort, at least a quarter mile, to where four other men waited by the river. All were similarly dressed in black, with masks over their faces and weapons slung on their shoulders. She tried to memorize details about them, but their uniforms had clearly been designed to hide any distinguishing features. She was pretty sure none of these men were Anderson. They all looked bigger and more menacing than the man who had snatched her purse.
“Look what I found.” Her captor shoved her toward the others. She landed on her knees in the snow at their feet—four pairs of identical black boots ranged around her.
“Where are the others?” The shortest and slightest of the group spoke, his voice slightly nasal.
“They’re up the trail a little ways, near where I found her.” Her captor jerked his head in the direction they had come. “The little boy and the first kid—Keeslar’s son—and the fed.”
“If you got close enough to see them, why didn’t you just take them out and save us the trouble?” another of the group said.
“Grabbing the woman was better,” her captor said. “We’ll use her as bait to get the other three without any risk to us.”
The shorter man nudged her with the toe of his boot. She’d been too afraid to move from her position on the ground. “Can you talk?” he asked.
“I don’t have anything to say to you.”
The reply earned her a sharp kick. “You want to see your kid or that fed again, you’d better cooperate,” he said.
Her captor grabbed her arm and dragged her to her feet.
“What do you want me to do?” she asked, trying to sound stronger than she felt. She had always believed bullies played on weakness.
His smile sent a chill through her. “First we’re going to tie you up,” he said. “Then we’re going to make you scream.”
* * *
IAN CLUNG TO JACK, tears streaming down his face, breath coming in hiccuping gasps. Jack knelt and tried to calm the boy, even as his own heart hammered in his chest. “Tell me exactly what happened,” he said, his hand firm on the boy’s shoulder. “Who took your mother? How many people were there?”
“J-just one man. A big man, dressed all in black—like a ninja!”
“He grabbed your mother, but you got away?” Jack asked.
“She let me run ahead and when I looked back to make sure she was coming, he was hugging her. He had a big gun and a mask on his face.”
His bottom lip quivered and Jack patted his shoulder, trying to hold off the tears. “Were there any other people with the man?”
Ian sniffed. “No. It was just him. He started dragging Mama away.” He pulled on Jack’s arm. “We have to go find her.”
“We will find her, buddy, I promise.” He patted the boy’s shoulder again and stood, pulling his phone from his pocket as he did so.
“Can you get someone here to help us?” Brian asked.
Jack shook his head. “No signal.” He stowed the phone, already shifting his focus to strategizing to free Andrea. But first he had to see to his other obligations. “You have to promise me something, too,” he said.
“What?” Ian asked.
“You have to promise to stay with Brian while I go and get your mom. Can you do that for me?”
Ian regarded the young man critically, then looked back at Jack. “I want to go with you,” he said.
“I know you do. But I don’t want these men to try to hurt you. Instead, I want you to go with Brian to a hiding place he knows.”
“Yeah.” Brian straightened his shoulders and did his best to look excited. “It’s like a secret clubhouse I know about. I’ll take you with me.”
Ian still looked doubtful.
Jack bent to put his face close to Ian’s. “It’s really, really important to me that you go with Brian,” he said. “I’m going to fight these bad guys and get your mother and then we’ll come to the clubhouse where you and Brian will be waiting.”
Ian stuck out his lower lip but nodded. “All right.”
Jack straightened and pulled Brian a
side. “I want you to take this.” He slipped the pack off his back. “Have you ever shot a gun?
Brian’s eyes widened. “No.”
Jack unzipped the pack and took out the pistol. “I hope you don’t have to use this, but the people who are after us are armed, and I don’t want to leave you helpless.” He showed Brian how to operate the safety. “The rules are simple—don’t put your finger on the trigger until you’re ready to shoot, don’t ever point it at anything you don’t want to shoot, and when you do shoot, be aware of what is around and behind your target. Don’t use it if you don’t have to.”
“No, sir, I won’t.”
Jack replaced the gun in the pack and adjusted the straps to better fit Brian. “How do I find this mine where you’re headed?” he asked.
“Keep climbing up this mountain and above tree line you’ll see the opening to the mine,” Brian said. “It’s kind of a scramble to get there, but there’s sort of a trail.”
Jack slipped his cell phone from his pocket and handed it to the boy. “I’m hoping you’ll be able to get a signal when you get above tree line,” he said. “When you’re able to call out, call the number for Ted Blessing and tell him what happened. He’ll send help.”
“What about you?”
“Andrea and I will meet you either at the mine or wherever the FBI takes you. Don’t worry about us. You take care of Ian and yourself.” He clapped the young man’s shoulders. “You’ve survived a tough ordeal for three months—you can get through this.”
“Yes, sir.”
Jack squatted down in front of Ian. “Everything’s going to be okay,” he said. “Now, tell me—which way did the man take your mother?”
Ian pointed in the direction he had run from. Was the kidnapper taking Andrea toward the river? Or back to the camp? Jack straightened. “Okay, guys. You’d better get going. I’ll see you both soon.” He hoped.
When he was satisfied Brian and Ian were headed away from him, he began searching the ground in the area where he had last seen Andrea and Ian. The recent snow made it easier to track movements. He found where Ian’s small tennis shoes had scuffed through the drifts and, a few yards later, spotted a portion of a man’s large boot print and drag marks, as if from someone—Andrea?—being pulled backward across the ground.