The longer Locke drove, the madder he got. He had called the police department, explained the situation, yet the only consolation they could offer was a welfare check. Locke was certain they could do more, but didn’t argue. Then. But when they called back, outside the Easts’ home and Bellamy gave permission to break in the door, and they refused, Locke blew a fuse. Yes, he knew about chain of command and proper protocol, but if Bill and Regina were in trouble, they needed to know it. Using his anger as motivation, they made it to New Orleans in three hours.

Arriving at the Easts’ home in the Garden District, Locke instructed Bellamy to put on the extra bulletproof vest, and she didn’t protest. Luci’s face pressed against the glass as they crept to the back door, guns drawn. Inside, the kitchen had been destroyed. Flour containers spilled, dishes broken, and chairs turned over. Bellamy fought the urge to call out for her parents and watched Locke for further orders.

“Stay here. Back against the wall. If anyone but me comes in, shoot them.”

She nodded and took a step back.

Minutes later, Locke returned, Pongo cradled in his arms. He was bleeding. “It’s all clear, but I found him in their bedroom, cowering in the closet.”

“Oh, Pongo! Sweet Pongo.” She cleared a place off the bar and Locke gently sat the dog in the center. “I’m so sorry, boy.”

Pongo whimpered and nuzzled Bellamy’s nose.

“I also found this on their bed.” He passed a crumbled note.

“Bring it or else,” Bellamy read.

“Do you have any idea where they’d take them? I have a feeling their plan is to lure you to where your parents are and ambush you.”

“We have a house at Lake Salvador. It’s private, out of the way. Perfect place to… get rid of bodies if need be.” She shuddered at the thought, then pushed it out of her mind. Her parents were going to be okay. She and Locke were going to be okay. She knew it.

Locke went to the door. “Text me the address so I can find it. I’m going to get Luci.”

“Wait. What? I’m going with you.” She straightened to make herself appear taller.

“Bellamy, no. It’s dangerous.”

“What was all that flowery mess about letting me fly and not holding me back a few hours ago?” she countered.

He choked back the lump in his throat. “This is different. You haven’t been trained. We don’t know how many bad guys there are…”

“Tie me up if you want, but nothing is keeping me from my parents. Better for me to go with you and be safe as a team rather than go separately with no plan. No one knows the area like I do, except maybe my dad. I grew up hunting on the land and fishing in the lake. I could get you from the highway to the house blindfolded if I had to. I’m going.”

Though he didn’t want to admit it, she was right. He didn’t have the luxury to wait for backup and her parents were on borrowed time. It was a better idea to go with her and coach her through than have her show up without him. “What about Pongo and Luci?”

“Can I call my aunt Atlee? She lives just around the corner. She’ll take Pongo straight to our hospital’s ER and get him fixed up.”

“You mean the emergency vet?”

“Not at all. She’s chairman of the board of the hospital my great-grandfather started. She’ll walk in with Pongo and Luci and have the ER physician do a complete work-up. She has cats and dogs, and is a very big animal lover.”

“Clearly. Yeah, call her. Let’s get this guy some attention.” He glanced at Pongo and scratched his ears. “Where’s the stuffed rabbit? I’ll go get it.”

She gestured behind her. “Out back in the storage shed. You want to know something scary? I was going to give it to Pongo to play with the next time I came home. I didn’t the last time because he was at the groomers, so I just threw it in the storage shed so he couldn’t find it.”

“If there are drugs inside, he could have been hurt.”

“Exactly.”

“I’m going to call the team and the police while I’m out there. Text me that address so they can get directions.”

“As long as you promise not to leave me.”

He clutched her shoulders and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. “I will never leave you.”

Atlee hadn’t been thrilled about the situation Bellamy and Locke had placed themselves in, but after some convincing, Pongo and Luci loaded in her car and they were off to the hospital. She promised to call Bellamy with a report on Pongo’s progress as soon as he was seen by a doctor. Before they left, Locke had opened the rabbit and as he suspected, the inside was entirely plastic and filled with a white powder. At least two pounds’ worth. What kind of drug it was exactly, he didn’t know, and Locke was smart enough not to open it beyond what was needed to see. For all he knew, it could be anthrax.

On any other day, in any other situation, Locke would’ve enjoyed the drive out to Lake Salvador. It reminded him of childhood summers with his Cajun grandfather riding on an airboat in Bayou Teche, or the smell of his grandmother’s gumbo cooking in a cast iron pot. Locke couldn’t wait to share those memories with Bellamy.

“Start slowing down,” she said as they neared the turn-off for the house. “Do you think they had someone follow us out here?”

“The thought has crossed my mind, but I’ve noticed nothing out of the ordinary. This Kramer guy has men doing his work that would rather take their lives than return back to him empty-handed. They could be professionals or they could be users gorked up on drugs, looking for their next fix. Either way, they are dangerous.”

“Locke, do you think Amy and her boyfriend were involved this entire time?”

He shrugged. “Hard to tell about Amy, but I’d bet Zane was a part of it. We’ll find out for sure once we get your parents back safe and Vance Kramer behind bars.”

Bellamy diverted her eyes from Locke to the rising sun. “Here. Turn left.”

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m worried about them. Dad’s been trained as a soldier, ya know?”

“I will evade answering further questions to the best of my ability,” Locke recited part of Article 5 of the U.S. Military’s Code of Conduct.

“But Mom’s in the picture. He will say anything, do anything to keep her safe. And gracious, does my mom have a mouth on her!”

A slight chuckle escaped. “The apple didn’t fall too far from the tree, love.”

“No. I am my mother’s daughter. Both of my mothers.” For the first time since this ordeal began, Bellamy felt tears pool in the corners of her eyes. She blinked to keep them from falling, but one slid down her cheek. “We’ve got to save them, Locke.”

“We will.”

After slowing to a stop, Locke opened a case and passed Bellamy two knives, a baton, and a pistol. While they were at her parents’, she had changed into a pair of cargo pants and a tank top and she clipped the new weapons onto her clothes. The bulletproof vest was two sizes too big, but it would work if she was shot at. Locke prayed it wouldn’t come to that, but deep inside, he knew it would.

“The house is about half a mile away. We’ll go through the marsh and come up on the left side of it. It’s on stilts with a wrap-around porch. There’s a broken window on the top floor. If we can get up there undetected, we can sneak inside.”

“Good idea. Don’t shoot unless you or me or your parents are directly threatened. Because it’s your home and they’re in it, it’s basically a home invasion. Stay as close to me as possible and use your instincts. You’ve got some of the best I’ve ever seen. Use that natural ability.”

“Got it.”

After fifteen minutes, the Acadian style cabin came into view. Locke and Bellamy crouched in the tree line behind a cypress stump. A man with an AK-47 patrolled the area. Locke watched him make a complete rotation around the house before he threw a rock into the reeds and the man headed over to check it out. As he passed by, Locke jumped up and pulled him to the ground, wrapping his arm around his neck. Within seconds, he was unconscious.

After they tied him up and taped his mouth, Bellamy checked him for any more weapons, and Locke swung the AK-47 over his shoulder. He’d wake up with a splitting headache for sure.

“We don’t have long, babe,” Locke whispered as they slithered up the stairs.

“We don’t need long,” she answered.

When they reached the window, Locke peered from corner to corner, and no one appeared to be inside. “All clear.”

Together, they jiggled the frame and the window gave way. Locke went in first, confirming the room was safe and then he pulled Bellamy in too. “Same rules apply in here. Let me lead. Where’s your parents’ bedroom?”

“Down the hall, to the right.”

Carefully, Locke and Bellamy tiptoed to the bedroom. The door was ajar and Bill and Regina were bound and blindfolded on the bed. Once Locke checked the interior, Bellamy ran inside and they closed and locked the door.

“Mom, Dad!” she said as quietly as her excitement would allow. She and Locke removed their constraints and helped them sit upright.

“Bellamy?” Regina cried.

“Sweet girl, how did the two of you find us? How did you get in?” Bill asked as he shook Locke’s hand.

“Bellamy figured it out. She knew they’d bring you here. You’ve got an incredible girl here.”

“And, Dad, you never fixed that window I told you was broken.”

“She’s incredible for sure,” Bill agreed, then turned to his wife. “See, Gina, you should stop nagging about that honey-do list. This time it paid off.”

“Just this once,” she conceded.

Bellamy touched the side of Regina’s face. “Mom, you’re bleeding.”

“It’s a small head wound. I’m fine. Are you okay? And you, Locke? How are you?”

“We’re good.”

“What in the world are these people after?” Bill stood and walked around to the other side of the bed to help Regina stand.

“Drugs.”

“Remember that rabbit I brought home from Florida for Pongo? It’s filled with some kind of white powder. We think Amy’s boyfriend’s dad has something to do with it. And if Amy’s involved, it would make sense how the perps got in our apartment so easily.”

After leading Regina to the window for light, Bill tilted her head to look at the wound. “Well, these characters downstairs are amped up on something for sure.”

“How many of them, Captain?” Locke removed one of his guns and sat it on the bed.

“Three and one outside.”

“He’s taken care of.” Bellamy smirked.

“Dr. East, I’m assuming you can shoot?”

Regina pointed to Bill and Bellamy. “Not as good as these two, but I can hit a target if I need to.”

“And that’s all you need to do.”

Bellamy passed her a gun and Bill picked up the one Locke had laid on the bed.

“Here’s the plan. I go first, Bellamy second, and the two of you last.”

“Bellamy, second?” Regina couldn’t hide her horror.

“Mom…” Bellamy’s hand went to the center of Regina’s chest and immediately she calmed. “I know what I’m doing. I was born for this.”

Regina clasped her daughter’s hand, holding it as tightly as she could. Then she let go. “I know,” she breathed.

“Keep your weapons up at all times.” Locke continued with their instructions. “And when one is down, kick the weapon away and move on to the next.”

After a look right and left, the four of them crept to the great room. The three men gathered in the kitchen, guns at their sides. Locke shot, knocking a man to the ground. The other two ducked and fired shots of their own, prompting Locke and company to take shelter in the hallway. The smell of gunpowder filled the cabin as the accosters continued their gunfire assault.

“They’ll run out soon, I hope?” Locke said.

“I doubt it. They have enough of an arsenal in here to supply a small country’s army. We need to take them out.” Bill looked at Bellamy. “Remember when I had you practice shooting through glass, sweet girl?”

“Yes, sir.”

Locke’s heart swelled with love for this woman and her family. “Can you do it?”

“I can.”

“Regina, go with her. It’s safer for you. Cover her if she needs it.” Bill bestowed a soft kiss on his wife’s lips and was surprised when Locke did the same with Bellamy.

“We’ll explain later,” Locke said as the two women disappeared down the hall.

Outside, Bellamy knelt on the porch and she and Regina crawled to the perfect vantage point. Regina leaned her head as far as it could go in both direction and confirmed no one was around while Bellamy got in position.

“I’ll expect details soon. I mean, if you want to tell me, that is,” Regina said with a hint of a smile.

“You’ve never asked me about guys before.”

“No, but this is a man. Your man.”

“How can you tell, Mom?”

She swallowed hard. “Because he looks at you the way your dad looks at me. The way Will looked at Johanna. Now, take those shots so we can go home!”

Bellamy clicked off the safety, aimed, and closed her eyes as the glass shattered. When she heard the first target groan, she opened her eyes to take the next shot, but Locke beat her to it. Sirens sounded in the distance and Bellamy sagged against Regina, relaxing for the first time since they left Hope Hull.