Chapter 16
From a distance, Reese heard voices. His head felt like it was splitting in two and everything felt wrong.
He slowly opened his eyes and found himself flat on his back with Greg Mann, an EMT, crouched next to him. “’Bout time you woke up, McBride,” Greg said as he held an oxygen mask up that he had apparently been about to put over Reese’s nose and mouth.
Dazed, Reese shoved Greg’s hands away. “I don’t need that.” Despite Greg’s attempts to keep him down, Reese pushed himself to a sitting position. He looked around and saw his truck across the street near the jackknifed semi. The truck was upside down, everything crushed and shattered. The street was blocked off and a tow truck was backing up to Reese’s obviously totaled vehicle.
“Kelley.” Reese tried to scramble to his feet. He made it but stumbled, nearly falling before gaining his bearings. He looked around. “Where’s Kelley?”
John came up to stand beside Reese. “Maybe you’d better sit down.”
“I’m not sitting down.” Reese scowled. “Where the hell is she?”
With a tight expression, John said, “We think she’s been kidnapped.”
Chills ran down Reese’s spine and he struggled to clear his mind as the words sank in. “What the hell are you talking about?”
John gave a nod toward a group of people across the street. “Witnesses saw a man dragging Kelley out of the wreckage and throwing her into the back of a brown sedan. Apparently she tried struggling, but she was hurt. No one has any idea of how badly. The car fled the scene before anyone could stop them.”
Reese tried to remain calm. It wasn’t going to do him any good to lose it and not get all of the facts. Still, the words lashed out like a whip. “Was it Taynor?”
“The witnesses’ descriptions of the man match Taynor’s.” John looked grim. “Everyone available is out looking for the men who took her and so far they’ve come up empty.”
“Men?” Reese’s focus grew clearer. “How many? What did they look like?”
“One other male.” John looked at a notebook he was holding. “Late twenties to early thirties, small mustache, olive skin, slender but looks like he might work out.”
“I’ve got to find her.” Reese looked around for a vehicle he could commandeer and started toward a black SUV.
“We’ll find Kelley.” John caught Reese by his upper arm. “You just got knocked out cold in an accident and you shouldn’t be driving.”
“Fuck that.” Reese jerked his arm away from his stepbrother. “I’m not resting until I find her. We’re losing time.”
“You’re not going anywhere, Reese,” John said, a hard note in his tone. “You’re injured.”
Reese narrowed his eyes. “Try and stop me.” He strode away for the black SUV.
“Give me a minute.” John caught up to Reese and blocked his way. “I’ll drive.”
Reese thought about telling John to fuck off and get out of his way, but bit back the words.
John gave Reese a hard look and Reese clenched his jaw before he said, “Hurry.”
It took only a couple of minutes for John to turn over command of the scene. He got the keys to the black SUV from another detective and he and Reese climbed in.
“According to witnesses, they headed toward I-17.” John guided the SUV in that direction. “But like I said, there’s been no sign of them.”
“You saw the message Zip wrote.” Reese gritted his teeth. “They’re headed toward the Mexican border in Douglas. We need to get there before they can cross.”
“I figured as much, too.” John looked at Reese. “That’s where we’ll go. We’ll have to hope that they have no idea Zip could have tipped us off.”
They climbed into the vehicle and put on their seatbelts. Lights flashing, John drove the truck away from the scene, rushing through town with the sirens on. He didn’t cut the sirens or lights until they reached open road and embarked on the six-hour drive to Douglas.
During the drive, Reese felt like he was going to crawl out of his skin. He and John kept in frequent contact with law enforcement. Every available officer was searching from the air and ground. When it came to a kidnapped officer of the law, the manhunt mobilized all agencies and was even more intense than if it would have been if it were a civilian. Roadblocks had been set up and every vehicle was being stopped and searched.
According to all law enforcement agencies involved, there was no sign of the brown car or anyone matching Taynor’s and the other man’s descriptions. Nor was anyone seen matching Kelley’s description. Reese had no doubt the men had ditched the vehicle and were in another one, and somehow had Kelley hidden.
“For all we know they could be back in Prescott.” Reese clenched his fist on his knee. “Hiding out until they think it’s safe to go.”
“Could be.” John adjusted his hands on the steering wheel. “Frankly we could be headed in the wrong direction. For all we know, Taynor went north.”
Reese pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger as he thought about it. He raised his head and lowered his hand. “We know that Taynor and Rocha were planning on taking the shipment of women and girls to the Mexican border.”
“Although we don’t know exactly how they planned to accomplish that without being caught,” John said.
“They had to know they’d never get across the border with that semi.” Reese considered the problem. “So how could they stash eight females and get them into Mexico?”
John and Reese looked at each other. “Whatever the method was, that could be the way they’re taking Belle and Kelley,” John said.
“For all we know, they could have planned on taking them in numerous vehicles,” Reese said. “But trunks are being opened, backs of trucks searched, and K-9s have been deployed and can detect people who may be stashed somewhere inside the vehicle.”
John’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. “It’s easier smuggling humans into Mexico than out, but security is fairly tight.”
Reese considered the problem. “It could be easy to pay off the Mexican customs agents.”
“I don’t doubt it,” John said.
“So it could be one or multiple vehicles.” Reese blew out his breath. “We’re not any closer to figuring this damned thing out than we were before.”
“We’ll find her.” John looked at Reese. “They won’t get away with this.”
Reese glanced out the window at the scenery speeding by. No, the bastards wouldn’t get away with it. “I’m going to find them one way or another.”
“I’m right here with you,” John said. “Every damned step of the way. Petrova’s like family.”
It came out before Reese could stop it. “She’s more than family to me.”
John gave him a sharp look. “Are you telling me that your relationship has gone beyond work?”
“Yes.” Reese pushed his hand through his hair. “Up until recently, we’ve always had a strictly working relationship. Then things…changed.”
“Have you told the captain?” John asked.
Reese shook his head. “Not yet.”
John looked back at the road. “Do you plan to anytime soon?”
“We’ll pick the right time.” Reese nodded. “It’ll be soon. After we find Kelley.”
“You couldn’t have picked a better woman,” John said quietly.
Reese didn’t need anyone to tell him that fact.
In a way, even though she’d been working by his side for two years, he’d just found her. He wasn’t about to lose her now.
* * * * *
Kelley woke with a start and opened her eyes. She was in total darkness. She felt disoriented, confused, and chilled. Her body ached from head to toe and she had a splitting headache. What was going on?
She tried to move but her ankles and wrists were bound and walls pressed in around her, above her, below her. Her heart beat faster and she felt claustrophobic. She recognized the signs of panic as her pulse hiked.
Where was she? What had happened?
Icy chills shot through her as memories started to come to her, one after another. The accident…Reese so still…
And then being kidnapped…drugged…and locked in a compartment at the bottom of a refrigerated truck.
And being taken to Mexico to ultimately be sold to someone in South America.
Sold.
She shuddered, her gut twisting at the thought.
The effects of the drug had faded but she still felt out of it. Still, even through the strands of fog, she knew that she was coming around to herself again. She prayed that it wasn’t too late.
Where were she, Belle, and their captors? How close to the border? Had they already crossed?
She swallowed. If they were in Mexico it would be that much harder to escape and get back to the border. She prayed they were still in the U.S.
How much time had passed? Long enough that the effects of the drug were wearing off was all she knew.
Was Reese following? Dear God, he had to have survived the accident and he had to be searching for her. He had seen Zip’s note, so he had to be certain that she was being taken to Mexico.
It was all she could do to hold those thoughts in her mind to give her hope.
Kelley started to work at the rope that bound her hands so tightly. The rope cut into her wrists, but they didn’t seem to be knotted particularly well. Taynor might not have been the greatest at tying knots or he believed that the effects of the drug would last.
Jaw set, she fought to loosen the rope. She’d start to feel herself drifting and she’d have to force herself to bring her focus back around. Her wrists felt like they were being rubbed raw by the rough rope as she tried to get it off.
The compartment gently rocked her back and forth as she struggled. If she allowed it, the sensation could lull her to asleep again.
Frustration grew inside her until finally she felt a little give in the rope. But it wasn’t enough. Her chest ached from fear welling inside her.
The rope slipped a little more and she worked at it all the harder. Moments later, the rope slid off her wrists.
She hurried to take off the gag and then let out a rush of air. As she did, she realized that she’d never had a problem breathing in the cramped space. She’d been too out of it to care when she’d first been put into the compartment.
What if she called to Belle? Would the girl hear her? Or would she risk being heard by Taynor and Rocha? Then she remembered that Taynor had planned to climb into a compartment himself to avoid being caught.
No, she couldn’t risk calling out.
Wriggling and squirming, she tried reached for her ankles in the cramped space. She’d been put into a small compartment, and even though she was petite, there wasn’t a lot of room to bend. It took a while but with one hand she finally reached the rope that so tightly bound her ankles. It didn’t take her as long to undo the knot around her ankles as it had for her wrists.
She placed her palms on the metal plate that was currently her ceiling in the refrigerated section of the truck’s floor. It was smooth, with no seams that she could find. Of course the seams were there. She just couldn’t feel them.
Using her hands and knees, she tried pushing up against her ceiling, but it wouldn’t budge, not even a fraction.
Anger started a slow burn in her chest. She’d tried desperately not to fall prey to her emotions, but it was all becoming too much. The compartment felt like it was closing in on her and soon she would be unable to breathe. Her rational mind knew that the air supply would probably be just fine, but she couldn’t push away that niggling fear.
The silence around her was so complete that her ears rang with it. She was in a soundproof insulated space. She wondered if the truck also had something to mask odor that was strong enough to keep K-9s from smelling humans. But then they were probably not as worried about humans being smuggled into Mexico from the United States as opposed to smuggling from Mexico into the U.S.
Although, it was possible that this same truck was used to smuggle Mexican Nationals into the U.S., and then traffic U.S. citizens into Mexico.
The drug had worn off considerably more and she was becoming more aware of the pain in her head from the accident and every ache in her body. Her shoulder, where she’d been shot, felt like it had been wrenched somewhere along the way.
She let out her breath, trying to decide what to attempt next when the swaying of the compartment stopped. She was certain the vehicle had come to a halt.
Her breathing came faster and she prayed someone had found her.