Chapter 31
“We have a strong pulse, O2 rate is good, he’s breathing on his own, and he’s just out. Nasty hit to the head,” Carigan updated when the three returned to the scene.
“He’s stirring. We think he’s waking up,” Sam offered as she finished wrapping his head to protect the large gash across his forehead.
As if on cue, Colton opened his eyes and looked at the faces hovering around. A flash of confusion was followed by fear shortly after as he wrestled his way up, yanking the neck collar off that had been put on as a precaution.
“Megan” was the only thing he got out as he stood and fell again, holding his head, making a strained face.
“Whoa, handsome!” Everly said, helping him sit again. “You had the snot knocked outta ya. Take it easy.”
“Where’s Meg?” More straining, head obviously in pain, he asked the question he already knew the answer to.
“Take it easy, lover boy,” Blake charged, walking up with a black box in his hand. “Is this what I think it is?”
All eyes were on the small ring box as he dropped his head and slumped his shoulders in a defeated nod.
“Oh, Colton, love…” Carigan choked. “We’re getting her back. You hear me, boy?” she said, her Irish dialect imposing as it always was when she was emotional.
Declan returned to the group, a sour scowl on his face, anger radiating. Blake read him like a book, knowing full well where his anger rooted from—he found his men.
“There isn’t much here, small blood splatter there.” Blake pointed to the porch steps behind him. “May have a small trail that direction but only goes a few feet.”
“Christ,” Declan spat.
“What happened, Dec? You said she was safe, eyes on her at all times!” Colton accused, his voice seething with anger. “Where were those eyes? Why did Valdez himself walk right up to us? How did half a dozen or more assholes get this close? They fucking have her, man…” His voice cracked, choking on his last words at barely a whisper. “They have her.”
He spun the little black box in his hands, clearing his throat as if his emotion was nothing more than an irritation that could be resolved so easily.
“I’m sorry, Sparks. We’ll get her,” Dec said, his words sympathetic. “It looks like they had the spin on us, three men dead. No struggle at all, from what we can tell. That only means one thing.”
“Inside job,” Blake delivered firmly rather than as a question.
“Shit. Any idea who?” Morgan asked.
“Three men dead on a four man team…pretty good idea that it’s the missing fourth man,” Dec reconciled.
“So we’ve had a traitor trailing us, on my property, in my home, this whole time. Fucking great. Now, they’re one step ahead. How do we catch up?” Colton asked, ready to move on to what was really important.
Dec excused himself when one of his teams arrived back from a preliminary search. Voices were out of range, but body language and hand gestures indicated their interest was in the trees surrounding the lake. Saying they took her through the woods was like saying a bar has alcohol.
“I don’t think I’ve heard your animals this loud before!” Sam said. “They must be worried.”
“Boss! The gunfire – I think he was hit!” Colton tried to get up, but his world spun beneath his feet.
“Hold up, big guy. Get your bearings. I got you,” Dawson said, grabbing Colton’s arm to steady him.
“I’ll go check on him. Help me, Cari? Might need your EMT skills,” Morgan offered. Having an operating ranch, Morgan was pretty well versed in animals, just not gunshot wounds.
As soon as the door opened, Duke shot out, making his way to Colton. He nudged Colton with his nose several times while whimpering and eventually began barking. Colton scratched his ears, comforting his spooked dog. His behavior intensified. He would growl and violently bark, run several feet, do it again, then run back to Colton’s side, each time becoming more aggravated. Duke finally resorted to biting at Colton’s pant leg and pulling with every lap, back and forth.
“Has he ever done this before?” Morgan asked, walking out of the house.
“No, actually, never. He must really be spooked. He has become attached to Meg. Maybe he is
worried,” he replied. “How is Boss? Everything okay?”
Morgan looked to Blake, giving him a nod, each remembering a time when they noticed Duke acting exactly this way, not too long ago.
“Boss took a hit to his ear. He’ll be fine, just looks a little lop sided on top. Say, Duke might be trying to…tell us something,” she hesitated to share.
“The night of the fire…he took off toward the woods, wouldn’t listen or stop. Got a ways in and lost whatever he was chasing,” Blake shared.
“What, like Lassie or some shit?” Sarcasm slid from Colton’s words.
“No, well…sort of. What if he saw or has a scent?” Morgan questioned. “What else have we got at the moment?”
“He does have it bad for Meg, follows her everywhere.” Colton crouched down, holding his dog’s head in his hands, scratching his ears and asked him, “Do you know something, boy?”
After a quick deliberation between man and his dog, Colton rushed inside the house, ever so briefly returning with a loaded gun, sliding an extra magazine in his waist band. He called for Duke, who led the way down to the lake shore, headed toward the flock of trees resting behind Megan’s house.
“Sparks, what are you doing?” Blake scolded.
“Getting my girl back.”
Dawson kissed his wife before running after his friend, slapping Blake’s arm as he went by as if inviting him along.
“Let’s go, Coop,” Jessie said as she passed, following Dawson and checking her weapon, having changed in to a pair of pants and sweatshirt at some point.
“You’re not going!” Blake insisted.
“I am. That’s my partner, just like Morgan is yours. You’d have her
back – I have his
. I’m just as trained as Tayler is!” She took off after Colton and Dawson at a fast run, not looking back for approval.
“Shit!” Blake quickly followed, keeping Jessie close, protecting more than just his friend.
Duke led them deep into the dark woods, moonlight the only light to chase. The dog paused at the same clearing as he had the frightful night of the fire. With everyone gathered, Dec and his men on their heels, they waited for Duke’s next move. Just as he did before, he shifted from left to right, this time going right.
Dec talked quietly into his wrist, giving orders to his team. The McKenzie Ridge team went right with a portion of Dec’s team while the rest disbursed in the various directions, assuming the dog’s hesitation was because he was picking up the scent from Valdez and his men from both directions. That suggested that they were everywhere.
Light came into view, just ahead of them. Duke sat and stared at what appeared to be an old hunting or forest service cabin. The team crouched low while Dec delivered coordinates and orders into his wrist again. Movement from inside cast shadows through the dark, dirt-stained windows. This had to be where they were, where Meg was, given the short head start. They had probably been here all along, watching and plotting. A loud rumble in the distance caught their attention – cars, several, headed their way.
“He’s leaving
. We’ve got to go in now
!” Colton exclaimed in a panic.
“Not yet. My men are nearly in position. We’ll have them surrounded,” Dec replied.
“They get her in a car, and we won’t see her again. We need to go now. There can’t be but a dozen or so in there,” Colton negotiated, determined to get inside and get Megan back.
“Stand down, Sparks! You’ll get her killed! You hear me? Do I need to place you under arrest?” Declan threatened. “We do this the right way – no one who matters gets hurt. You got me?”
Fury filled Colton, knowing she was in there, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do. Dec was a good guy, seemed good at his job, whatever it was, but Megan was his life, and it was getting harder and harder to put that in someone else’s hands. He understood there was a procedure to follow, a protocol, but he had promises to keep, and he intended to make good on them. He would get her out of there or die trying.
Four SUV’s in various dark colors rolled to a stop in front of the cabin, blocking half from the team’s view. The door, still visible, opened, and three men walked out, each heavily armed, taking their post, securing the area. One stood at the rear of the small convoy, one at the front, and one centered himself between the vehicles and the cabin. Declan continued to rattle off information to his team, in some sort of code, while the rest watched, keeping track of what and who was in front of them.
Each driver remained in the vehicle with it running, confirming the idea that they were taking off with Megan, their bargaining chip, along for the torturous ride. Colton’s anxiety and anticipation reached new heights, remaining patient becoming increasingly difficult. A few brief moments passed before more activity approached the doorway.
Four men disbursed, one to each vehicle, opening the rear doors. Finally, the major players found their way out of the cabin. Dec’s suspicions were confirmed when his missing man, Tom Boyd, exited first, Megan bound, blindfolded and gagged in his tight grip. Valdez was the last to make his way out. There they all stood, only yards away, and Colton was still sitting in the fucking bushes, watching his life stand in peril.
“My team has a clear path from the back. They swept six men, giving them access from the rear. I have eyes out here.” He pointed to his left. “Snipers, ready to disable the vehicles…tires first, then driver if need be. They aren’t leaving.”
“How do we get her? When do I grab her?” Colton inquired.
“You
don’t, bro. You
stay right here. We
bring her to you.” Dec put his hand on Colton’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze, trying to assure him they had this under control.
“We have the element of surprise – less than a minute and we’re done,” Blake offered. “Jessie, Morgan, you stay here with Colton. Morgie, you got eyes in the background here, got it? Dawson, you follow me in. We’re only support. We let them do their job, and I leave with all of my people in one piece.”
A branch snapped behind them, putting everyone on alert, and setting the plan into motion before they knew what happened. On instinct, Blake tossed Jessie and Morgan’s heads to the ground, weapon drawn on whoever was behind them. Word must’ve made it to Valdez just as quickly because his people scattered, taking defensive positions.
Gun fire rang out like a fireworks display in July. The man behind them eliminated, Blake began to move in, Dawson at his side. Shots whizzed by, so close, Blake shoved Dawson down, yelling for him to stay low and fall back. Their organized plan quickly shifted to chaos, and he wouldn’t be responsible for Sam becoming a widow, or their children fatherless.
With vehicles out of commission and his men falling at his feet, Esteban grabbed Megan, using her as a shield as he went for cover behind the SUV’s. Tom Boyd stayed close, offering protection, shooting at his own team like the traitor he was. Shots rang from behind, turning Blake’s attention to his own team. Jessie had fired at another of Valdez’s men, apparently wounding him in the groin. She smiled and winked at Blake, gun aimed at her prize, while Dawson zip-tied the hands and feet of her target.
Shocked and impressed, he moved in, watching Dec’s back as they got closer to Megan. Several shot to death, most wounded and zip-tied, it appeared that Valdez was down to a barely-there army. Creeping from behind the vehicle, Valdez used Megan as their armor. Declan and Blake had a clean shot on Tom. Esteban, being the coward he was, had himself pinned between Meg and the SUV, gun placed at Meg’s temple as insurance.
Blake circled back around to meet Esteban at the front of the vehicle while Dec used traitor Tom as a distraction. With Blake in place, Dec discharged his weapon, nailing his target in the right thigh, clean shot, straight through, and likely a nice break as well. Tom lay on the ground in the throes of pain, screaming like the bitch that he was, doing exactly as the shot was intended to do…distract. Dec smiled, thoroughly satisfied with his shot, even if it didn’t make up for the lives lost at Tom’s hands.
“You’re done, Valdez. Let her go!” Blake said, weapon locked on Esteban. “It’s over!”