Chapter 39
Vaughn checked his cell phone again. Close to 9:00 p.m. No signal now that they'd reached the hills.
What if Kerr was wrong about the location? What if Shelby couldn't stay in contact with him to adjust direction?
Just like Shelby always located the person she sought, Kerr never got lost. Ever. Vaughn sent a brief prayer that his younger siblings wouldn't lose their mojo tonight. Already, Kerr had adjusted direction once based on urging from Shelby.
Even if they reached a location, they had no guarantee that Mariah would be alive.
What if the Brands got to her first?
Shit. He tightened his hands until the horse snorted. Loosening his grip, he peered into the forest. If anything happened to Mariah, he would personally dismember anyone responsible. Plain and simple.
His power surged again, wanting him to move faster.
Something had just happened to increase the danger to her. Did that mean she was still alive? Hurt? What? Damn his stupid power, it was acting like a directionless stagecoach driver, whipping the team into a frenzy but without a clue as to which direction to go.
He wiped sweat off his upper lip.
"Stay calm, my friend." Odie kneed his horse to draw even with his. "We'll find your lady. You must trust the process. Your brother and sister can do this."
Vaughn ground his molars until his jaw ached. "It's hard to know that she's out there, alone, in danger."
After a pause, Odie studied him with ancient eyes. "I know precisely what you mean."
"What do—?"
Kerr lifted his arm up with a fist, military style, and they all stopped.
As they reached a forest road cut, Garrison whispered, "Anything?"
"We go on foot from here," Kerr said. "Keep it quiet. I thought I heard something."
"How close are we?" Vaughn's gut twisted into a snarl of knots.
"Close. Tie 'em up, bro." As soon as their horses were secured, Kerr motioned to them as he walked into the forest. "Footprints," he whispered.
Multiple sets.
Something edged into the periphery of Vaughn's vision. Dark and light. Shadow and movement. He peered into the woods. Nothing visible. Every nerve went on screaming alert, making his skin crawl. "There's something out here, guys."
"I feel it, too." Garrison's jaw had gone rock-hard under the shadow of his hat brim.
"Keep going, we're almost there," Kerr whispered.
Another fifteen minutes of bushwhacking up and down draws, jumping small streams, and they reached a cliff edge. Vaughn braced against the headache and reached out with his power. Nothing distinct, but the mental ability pulsed again. She was close. Still alive. He hoped.
But in serious danger.
Frigid air scythed in and out of his lungs.
As they came to a high point, Kerr held up his fisted hand again. Everyone stopped. He pointed.
There, a hundred feet ahead of them, two dark figures scrambled over the edge.
His power all but dragged Vaughn forward. Mariah. Those men had to be tracking her.
"Stop, man. I'll go in first, undetected," Kerr said. "You know, with my little trick?" He pulled off his duster and hat and set them on the ground.
Garrison crossed his arms. "Can you get in there, make sure she's safe, and then stay hidden for five minutes?"
"Of course." After a grimace, the edges of Kerr's body blurred. His rarely-used ability to disappear manifested as he faded from sight. Invisible steps crunched away from them.
Odie murmured, "Mon dieu. Impressive."
Waiting nearly killed Vaughn, but after what seemed like forever, Garrison finally gave the okay to move, and Vaughn and Odie paced right with him to the cliff edge. Following the tracks, they navigated a steep, thin path down to a four-foot wide ledge jutting out from the sheer rock. Below that: another fifty feet of fresh air.
Vaughn's overactive imagination fed him an image of Mariah's broken form at the bottom of that drop. His stomach muscles tightened. Kerr had better reach her before those bastards did.
The crisp, frigid air crystallized his decision: If Vaughn got her out of here alive, not only would he beg for her forgiveness, he'd spend every day of his natural life atoning for being dumb enough to let her go.
If his bad decision hadn't already cost Mariah her life.
They crept along the ledge, and sure enough, a dark opening into the rock loomed out of the shadows. Footprints, large and small, tracked into the cave. Vaughn's heart stopped.
Flickers of light, then voices and shouts filtered out of the cave.
"Careful with guns in there, guys," Garrison muttered. "No collateral damage."
Collateral damage. Mariah.