Page 41 of Operation: Return

Inside the ranch house, everyone had gathered in the dining room. She hadn’t realized how many men had come to help. There had to be over a dozen of them. She took a seat closer to the front and Artemis went over by another group of guys dressed like him.

Teddy stood up alongside Edwyn and pulled down a screen along the wall she’d never noticed was there. “I went to our hallway security cameras as soon as Edwyn told me Pete had been taken. Today was Sam’s day in the booth, but he told me he saw nothing. I took a look at it. There is a single frame with a blurry image. That’s all we have. For privacy’s sake, the hall cameras only take a photo every five seconds. It’s not video and there’s no audio. Too many things get discussed in the halls, and it would violate HIPPA to have recording going on.”

A few of the men murmured in the back, but Teddy didn’t stop.

“Here is the image.” He clicked a button and a photo from the very end of the hall popped onto the screen. There was a red blur for Pete’s shirt and large black smear that was all they could see of the man who had grabbed him. “We can tell he’s large and wearing dark clothing. That’s about all.”

He glanced pointedly around the room. “This question is for everyone present. There were few vehicles that came or left today. Only the ones The Guardian team came in about a half an hour before Pete went missing and Cole’s vehicle that left with Dominic and two of our residents. I have no sign of anyone coming or going from any of our other security cameras around the fences. Did any of you notice any of your team members missing at any point between when you arrived and when you were notified about the missing boy?”

“Are you blaming us for this? None of us even knew there was a boy here,” said one of the men she didn’t know yet. They all looked so similar, she doubted she could pick most of them out of a lineup.

“No. I’m not. I’m talking to our men too. Was anyone missing or not where they should’ve been between the times of 1400 hours and 1430 hours?” He glanced around the room slowly.

Erica stood slowly and forced her chin to remain firm even though she wanted to melt into a puddle on the floor and cry. “Please. This isn’t about placing blame. Did any of you see anything? He’s a little boy with dark hair in a bright red shirt. He would’ve been easy to see. I just want my son back.”

Edwyn nodded at her. “I promise you; we’ll do our best to find him.”

“Your best? Yet you won’t call the police?” She couldn’t fathom how they planned to find her son without help. He’d been gone too long already.

Teddy gripped Edwyn’s shoulder. “I think Connor would agree with me when I say that it’s time to call in the police on this one. While we don’t normally trust them with our business, this is beyond the scope of our business. He didn’t just walk off. We can see that, even from that blasted blurry image. Now is the time.”

Edwyn visibly swallowed. “They won’t like this. They’ll think having all these guys here is a military action.”

Teddy continued, “Military or not, you can’t put the boy at risk. Call them.”

Erica refused to back down. “If you don’t call them, I will. I’ve been respectful and I listened when you said you wanted to look for him first. You thought he was just being a kid and went off exploring. I told you that wasn’t like him.”

Edwyn sighed. “Go ahead. You call them, tell them exactly what happened.” He turned his focus back to the men from The Guardians. “I’d like you men to either get on the ATVs or saddle up if you’re familiar with horses and head back for the perimeters. There has to be a spot where people are getting in undetected. We’ve had someone send in a dog and now they’ve taken Pete. I want the spot found and cameras placed. I want men stationed there. They won’t catch us off-guard again.”

He turned and headed out of the room and Teddy turned to face her. “I’ll stay with you while you call. I don’t want to leave you alone and the other guests are being guarded by Eric while Sam and Junior are splitting up to take the guys out. This feels like a trap. We won’t be protected up here.”

“What if they find him and I’m not there?” She clutched her throat feeling torn in every direction. What could they want with her son?

“Then they’ll bring him back here and you’ll hug him like you’ve never hugged him before.” Teddy squeezed her shoulder as he led her back to his office.

He directed her inside, then closed the door. The first thing she noticed was Pete’s ball cap laying on the sofa and she sat next to it, clutching it to her chest. “Do you think one of Sam’s dogs could scent him?”

“Our dogs aren’t trained for that. Maybe the police could call in a K-9 unit from Cheyenne, but I don’t know.”

“I guess I have to call first before I can start thinking ahead to calling in different departments.” And as much as she wanted to call, her energy had all slipped away and just thinking of what she would say took everything she had.

“I think that’s the best. I’ll be here. You can count on me.”

Teddy wasn’t quite as good as the man she wanted at her side, but she had to admit the men at Wayside treated her more like family than any other family she’d ever had. She reached for her phone. “Let’s get Pete back.”

ChapterSixteen

Cole pressed the gas pedal and almost hoped he saw the police following him in his rearview. Edwyn had to come to his senses and call the police over this. A kidnapping, if that’s what this was, belonged on police radar. This was more than Wayside could handle on its own.

Dust kicked up behind them on the gravel road and unlike the ride to town, Scarlet was silent in the back seat. So much had changed within the last hour. He knew the drill. They were to keep the guests as comfortable as possible, but safe. He’d known the risks in going to town, but thought the risk was less with Dominic at his side. He’d thought the only risk was in town, not what he’d left behind to go.

“How did they know we’d be there?” Cole asked in case Dominic had ideas he’d missed. It was like they’d been waiting for his car. “And how was it that Pete disappeared at almost the same time as those two attacked us at the gas station? It’s just a little too coincidental.”

Dominic nodded. “I agree. Someone is getting information from the ranch. They knew we’d left and there would be less protection. They might not have planned to take the boy, but if the opportunity was ripe . . .”

Cole hated to think what would happen to Pete if Viceroy got a hold of him. They’d never see him again and his life would be unimaginable. “I can’t let this happen. I can’t. Not to Erica’s son.” The son that he wanted so badly to be his own.

Trace made a noise in the back seat and Scarlet murmured something to him in response. Cole heard the sounds of him moving, doing his signs to Scarlet.

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