HAPTER 16
Hannah clutched Senora’s hand as the small helicopter dipped slightly. Ty ignored the look she shot him, but Senora knew that he’d seen her. They’d been flying over the wilderness for over half an hour, and so far, Hannah hadn’t been able to identify the place she’d been held at.
“I’m sorry,” Hannah said through the headset they each wore. “It was dark, and I only got a quick look at the barn before they used the Taser on me.”
Senora cringed. She couldn’t fathom how evil a man had to be to use a Taser on such a petite teen. The electricity that ran through the Taser was meant for much larger, more imposing people, and Senora was sure that the experience had been quite painful. When she added the drugs she was given and the rough way she’d been handled, Senora was in awe of Hannah’s resilience. Senora had rescued kidnapping victims with less done to them and hadn’t handled their situation half as calmly as Hannah. Not that Senora blamed them, but it spoke to the teen’s level-headed nature. Senora knew that if Ty could just find the area Hannah had escaped from, the teen would be able to identify the building.
Hannah still held Senora’s hand even though the air had smoothed out and the chopper held its steady course. Senora smiled at the girl, and Hannah smiled back weakly. She was terrified, and the tiny, glass-enclosed chopper that was clearly lacking in the extra bells and whistles that made it safer wasn’t helping Hannah’s nerves.
Not that Senora felt any better about flying in the death trap, but she kept her cool for Hannah’s sake.
Ty was turning the chopper when Hannah sat up suddenly and looked excited.
“Over there!” she said, pointing. “I think that’s it.”
Ty nodded and turned the chopper in the direction she was pointing to.
“We have to pass over it fast, as if we’re not looking for something,” Ty said. “I’m going to pass once and keep going straight for a while so they don’t get suspicious.”
“Got it,” Hannah said.
She sat up straighter, her eyes focused on the area ahead. Senora looked at the site, but it looked like the dozen or so other homesteads scattered throughout the area and along the boundaries of the forest. How Hannah was going to tell this one from the countless others after only seeing it once in the dark was beyond Senora. She wasn’t sure she could do it herself.
They were still a few seconds away from passing over the property when Hannah began shaking violently.
“That’s it,” she said. “I’m sure of it. And there’s the SUV the Sheriff picked me up in.”
“That’s heavily tinted but it otherwise is very non-descript,” Ty said. “I doubt anyone can see into the vehicle at all, even if you had your face pressed against it. If no one saw you get into the car, they would have no reason to suspect a kidnapping.”
“He took me out the side door. I didn’t realize it at the time, but now that I think about it, it’s the only place where no one can see people that are getting into cars.”
“The side door?” Senora asked.
“It’s where they take the residents who have died and load them into an ambulance or a hearse when they pass away,” Ty said. “When that facility was built, they made a big deal about sensitive end of life care. Some people found it offensive while others thought it was an amazing idea.”
They flew over the property just then, and the two adults went silent as they watched Hannah’s face. Senora knew without a doubt that this was the place, and Hannah’s expression confirmed it.
“What are we going to do?” Hannah asked after they’d moved on, leaving the barn behind them so that anyone on the property wouldn’t get suspicious.
“We’re going to get reinforcements, and we’re going to go when it’s dark.”
“Why when it’s dark?” Hannah asked.
Senora was about to state the obvious when she realized that the girl didn’t know about Ty and the rest of the village. She shot a nervous glance at Ty, and he shook his head.
“We’ll talk about that later,” Senora said. “For now, we’re going to go back and we are going to need you to describe every inch of that place how you remember it.”
Hannah nodded.
“I want to go with you,” Hannah said.
“No way,” Ty said immediately. “It’s too dangerous.”
“If I’m not going, then I’m not telling you anything. That man lied and told me that my father was dying, then he took me to the middle of nowhere and left me tied up in a horse stall like some animal. I want to be there when you catch him.”
“It’s not a good idea,” Senora reiterated. “I know you want to be there, but it’s not safe. After we catch him, if you want to confront him when he’s already shackled and under arrest, I can arrange that.”
“No,” Hannah insisted. “I want to be there when you show up and catch him. I want him to know that he can’t just kidnap people like he did to me and get away with it. I’m going. I’ll go alone if I have to, but I would feel safer with you.”
Senora looked at Ty and shrugged. Hannah wasn’t going to be deterred, and it was either bring her with them and know where she was and that she was safe, or risk her sneaking in and getting struck down in the cross fire. As far as choices went, they weren’t very good ones.
“Fine,” Ty said. “But you’ll ride with Laken and you’ll hang back until I say it’s safe. Understood?”
Hannah looked like she might argue, but then she finally gave in.
“Okay. But I want to see his face when he realizes that I’m the reason he’s going down. I want him to know that no matter how big and bad he thinks he is, he was thwarted by a teenaged girl. If I can do that, I know I can sleep at night when I go home.”
Ty nodded, but Senora was left in awe of this slip of a girl, not quite a woman, and her bravery. She couldn’t help but feel a bit of pride at Hannah’s resolve. She reminded Senora of herself when she was younger. Hannah had been through a lot, but Senora knew, in that moment, that the girl would be okay.
Satisfied, Hannah sat back, but a moment later sat forward again.
“Is that the highway?” she asked.
“Yes,” Ty said.
Hannah closed her eyes in frustration.
“If I had gone south instead of north, I would have been right by my friend’s house,” she said angrily. “It was right there. This place is right there.”
“Every time I’ve found these operations like this, it’s always been hiding in plain sight,” Senora offered. “A lot of my kidnapping victims are victims of human trafficking, and I’m telling you, almost everyone within a mile of these places says the same thing. It was right there and they never knew.”
“But I should have recognized the area. I’ve been to my friend’s house a million times, and it’s so close. Why didn’t I know that?”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Ty said. “You were asleep, it was dark, and before you got a good look around, they zapped you. You had the deck stacked against you, but you still stayed on your feet for six hours and found help. That’s no small feat, and you should be proud of that. Think of it like this: if you had gone to your friend’s house and the Sheriff had come after you there, you and your friend would be in that barn now.”
Hannah shuddered visibly, and Senora knew that Ty had gotten through to her.
“You did the right thing,” Ty continued. “You found the best people to help keep you safe. I think it worked out exactly how it should have worked out, and come night time, we’re going to make sure that the Sheriff never hurts anyone else ever again. You’re going to be a big part in setting a lot of wrongs so that they’re right. You should be proud.”
“All I did was get kidnapped,” she said.
“And instead of waiting for help, you saved yourself,” Senora said. “I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve found a missing person dead, and if they had just taken some time to look around and calm down, they could have gotten out of the car trunk they were locked in, or they were within a dozen or so yards of freedom when they couldn’t go on anymore. You did an amazing thing. Don’t diminish that.”
Hannah smiled for the first time since she had seen the barn.
“Thank you,” she said.
“Now, let’s get back home and make a plan. This man isn’t going to go down easy, and we have a lot to cover with the others if we’re going to make this happen tonight.”
***
Dale was turning down off the highway toward the station when a call came over his work cell phone. He checked the caller ID, relieved that it wasn’t his client, then intrigued when he realized he recognized the number.
“Sheriff,” he said by way of greeting.
“Hey, Dale. It’s Steve.”
“Steve,” Dale said, his voice dripping with fake happiness.
He didn’t have the time nor the energy to deal with the President of the wildlife center today.
“I could use your help, and I was hoping that you could come down personally and deal with this situation. Just you. I want to make an impression, but I don’t want to make a big deal out of it.”
Dale sighed, hand over the mouthpiece of his phone so Steve didn’t hear him. It was the same thing he always called for. Anytime a young child stole from the gift store, Steve would call the Sheriff to scare them straight, then send them off without much more than a stern look. It wasn’t how Dale would handle all the entitled brats that came through the wildlife safari with their enabling parents, but Dale did get a cheap thrill out of making the little buggers cry.
Still, he didn’t have time today. His client had given him an ultimatum: find Hannah and get him another treasure to sell by tomorrow morning, or Dale was as good as dead.
Dale didn’t feel like dying today, and he needed to find that girl. She’d seen his face, knew who he was, and she had seen enough of the property to give a detailed account of where she’d been held. In Texas, a horse farm down a long dirt road was a dime a dozen, but all it would take was one unique feature and they would know exactly where she’d been held. Dale had most of the police force in Glen Rose under his thumb, but there were a few men that couldn’t be bought or beaten into submission, and he worried about them.
Their self-righteous sense of justice could get him caught, and that wasn’t going to fit into his plan. His only choice was to find Hannah or another girl like her and one more for good measure. And now, Steve wanted him to drop everything to come scare the hell out of some wannabe thug kids.
“…so I don’t want these girls to have a record, but I want to make sure that they never do it again,” Steve said, breaking through Dale’s thoughts and catching his attention.
“How old are they again?” Dale asked, then added, “My phone cut out, and I missed it.”
“All eighteen, recent high school grads enjoying their first summer of freedom. They came from out of state on a road trip. I didn’t ask them where they were from. There are three of them, and I think this is their first time going out of town by themselves.”
Dale felt giddy, flipping the car around in a quick U-turn but trying not to sound excited.
“So they decided to steal from the drive-thru safari?” Dale asked.
“No, man, you need to get a better phone. I was telling you that they were parking and getting out to pet the animals. Then, I caught them driving down one of the employee only roads, and they were trying to catch an Okapi baby.”
An o-what? Dale thought, annoyed, but he shoved the pedal down to the floorboards. This was a sign that the Universe still loved him. Forget Hannah; he was about to produce three teens for his clients, and he knew that the man would be thrilled. Once he got them photographed and uploaded to the site, he would continue his search for Hannah. If he found her dead and half-eaten, so be it. He was about to get what he needed, and he didn’t care about that foolish girl and her escape.
“I’ll be there in a few minutes. Can you take them to the back? Where is their car?”
“It’s in the employee parking lot, and I have them in the holding room.”
“Perfect. I’ll tow their car with me so they can leave from the station, and they don’t have to pay an impound fee. But Steve, I need you to keep this between you and me. I’ve gotten chewed out for doing this for you, and I’m not supposed to tow with my Sheriff truck unless they’re stranded.”
“I understand,” Steve said. “It’s between you and me. I didn’t even ask them their names or anything. Plausible deniability and all that.”
Steve laughed, and Dale felt a sense of relief. The man was a fool, but this was perfect.
He made it to the wildlife center in record time, hooking up the beat-up car to the tow bar and setting it in neutral before going inside to gather the teens.
They looked terrified, and when he walked in, one of them started crying. Dale winked at Steve who was grinning like an idiot. This man thought he was in on some little conspiracy, but really, he was sending these girls to a fate worse than death. Maybe, one day, Dale would reveal that to Steve as the other man lay dying. Dale would love to see the look on the man’s face when he found out what he’d inadvertently done.
He shuddered with excitement at the thought.
Quietly and without saying a word, he handcuffed each of the girl’s behind their backs, then pointed them toward the door. A second teen burst into tears, but Dale ignored them and Steve looked pleased with himself.
Sadistic bastard, Dale thought with a smile. Maybe he and Steve weren’t that different after all.
Dale loaded the three of them into the backseat and buckled them in. Child locks engaged, he went to the driver’s side and got in, then slowly and calmly drove out of the employee parking lot and down the private road that accessed the back of the facility. Out of sight from the other visitors, no one would witness him leaving with the girls’ car. Things were looking up, and this was perfect.
“Where are you taking us?” the girl who wasn’t crying asked.
“We don’t take kindly to outsiders messing with our wildlife center and its creatures,” he said in an exaggerated southern drawl.
“We just wanted to touch the baby. We weren’t going to hurt it.”
Her expression was haughty, and Dale couldn’t help but laugh on the inside. She was clearly the instigator, and she was about to get knocked down a few pegs. He’d met her type before, and he knew that she thought she was untouchable. She was about to learn the hard way that there were tougher people in this world than her, and worse things than missing an opportunity to get a selfie with the local wildlife.
He turned down the dirt road without seeing another car on the road and turned up the radio when one of the girls starting wailing in despair. They were still under the impression that the uniformed Sheriff’s officer was taking them to the police station, and they were probably terrified that their parents would be called and they would have to spend the night in jail. Little did they know, there were things that exceeded their imaginations and they would be begging to call their parents when he was through with them.
The day had turned out good after all.