Page 24 of Avenging Kelly

“Well, it wouldn’t be a top-secret operation if it was on the five o’clock news, would it? We’re going to sneak over to the ranger station to see if that chip’s disabled. If it is, then we’ll be leaving so he can find those assholes responsible for Mia’s kidnapping,” I stated.

My brother stared at me for a moment before he spoke, his words measured. “If there’s a chip there, Lon. Rafe said he couldn’t feel anything. This could be an elaborate line of bullshit.”

“To what end, Dallas? What does he gain by lying to us?”

Without waiting for a response, I went to the bathroom and shut the door to take care of business. I wasn’t exactly sure what to think of Kelly’s confession, but my brother’s comment had confirmed something I worried about myself—how the hell would we ever be able to confirm what Kelly was saying?

What if it was all a lie? What if they planted all of that information in his brain during those hypnotherapy sessions? Had any of the things Kelly mentioned really happened?

I didn’t want to think he might be lying. Was I letting him manipulate me into believing a truckload of bullshit?

10

KELLY

Dallas had agreed to stay at the beach to watch for the park rangers to return and blow a blast horn to alert us since the jammers were still active and he couldn’t call. London and I followed Rafe to the other side of the island, relieved to see nobody was around.

The second shift of park rangers was slated to arrive from the mainland in an hour, but my gut told me we didn’t have time to waste as the sun sunk lower in the sky. We jogged the trail and found the log building where the rangers’ headquarters were located, unguarded.

The Park Rangers’ Station was actually a pretty cool structure. It was a two-story building with men’s and women’s restrooms on the first floor. A sturdy-looking set of stairs led us up the back of the building to the Rangers’ Operating Headquarters, so we quietly made our way to the second floor in the event someone had been left behind, only to be met with a locked door.

“I’ll just kick it in,” I offered.

Rafe shook his head. “Sometimes, less is more. These folks didn’t do anything to us, so let’s not leave a mess for them. I’ve got this.”

He retrieved a little leather pouch from the pocket of his puffy coat and kneeled next to the lock situated above the knob, sliding what looked like an allen wrench into the keyhole before he took another tool that resembled a bobby pin and slid that in and out in slight movements before the allen wrench turned the lock. Rafe stood, grinning at his accomplishment. The door snicked open, and we entered with no damage to the Station.

London closed the door and flipped the lock, likely to give us a fighting chance to get out of there somehow in case the rangers showed up early. As I glanced around, I hoped to hell that didn’t become an issue. I didn’t see another way out except through the second-floor windows.

Rafe turned the flashlight app on his phone on to guide us through the place. As he shined the light around the room, we all saw their radio equipment was in disarray. Some of their hand-held units were on the table in pieces, and their main radio was sitting on a counter with the cover off, a set of screwdrivers next to it.

Apparently, the jammers had reached their side of the island and made them think their radios were toast. It was a relief for me to know the signal was completely scrambled.

“Got it!” Rafe stage-whispered from the far right of the station.

London closed the closet he’d been searching, and the two of us hurried over to where Rafe was rifling through a medical cabinet where he’d picked the lock. He held up something that looked like a magnifying glass with a tiny screen. Thankfully, there was a label on it: Chip Scanner.

Rafe grinned. “Let’s try it.”

The chef pushed the small power button on the side to start it up, and the screen lit, a cursor blinking as it cycled on. After a few seconds, a small green light came on. The two of them looked at the device as if they were afraid to try it. Hell, I’d already been chipped, tased, and drugged. I could take whatever that scanner was going to dish out.

“So, I guess you just hold it to my neck, and we’ll see what happens?” I whispered, thinking I’d heard something outside. We needed to hurry.

London took the white apparatus from Rafe, and I turned around. I felt it being brushed against the back of my neck, first down, then up, before it beeped. London pulled it away, and we all stared at the little screen over his shoulder. After thirty seconds, the small screen went dark and the words, No chip detected flashed across it.

London exhaled. “That’s good, right? That means it’s fried?”

There was a moment’s hesitation before Rafe grinned. “Sì! I think that’s true.”

We quickly put the scanner back where we’d found it and prepared to return to the other side of the island. “I’ll go check that we’re clear,” I suggested and rushed down the stairs.

I scanned the area to see we were still okay, so I waited at the bottom of the steps. When they weren’t appearing, I quietly climbed the stairs in case someone had surprised them and they were in trouble.

When I reached the third step, I heard Rafe and London talking. “What?” London asked.

“The scanner said there wasn’t a chip detected, London. That doesn’t mean there ever was a chip inside him, you know.” Rafe’s comment had me on edge. Clearly, he wasn’t sure I was trustworthy.

I put myself in both men’s shoes, and I could see the issues. I waited for some response from London, my nerves bubbling up in my chest.

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