Page 21 of Lone Star Hostage

Presley had to shove that aside, too. This was a step in getting her back safely. And that meant trying to keep at least one of the kidnappers alive, so he or she could be questioned. If these were hired thugs, then Presley needed to know the identity of their boss. He always carried some zip ties in his pocket that he could use to restrain one of these SOBs if necessary.

“Drone feed coming in,” Ruby said. “I’ll send it to your monitor.”

That happened in a blink, and Presley saw the drone skimming over the treetops. Of course, in that part of central Texas, there wasn’t much of anything else.

The aerial view gave him a good indication of just how thick the woods were, and where there weren’t trees, there was dense underbrush. This wasn’t a place for a leisurely stroll. It was a remote part of the rugged Hill Country with steep limestone bluffs hidden in the woods. A fall from one of those would be deadly.

They continued to drive, and in the background, Presley could hear Ruby continuing to field calls and texts. She was a general readying her troops for battle. Except there’d be another general on this particular field, and Presley had to wonder if that was meant to add some chaos for the bosses to be on scene. Maybe the killer thought Owen and Ruby would butt heads and lose focus on the mission.

But that would never happen.

Not for Ruby, anyway. And he couldn’t imagine the DV Whisperer falling for it either.

He continued to drive, the minutes seemingly in hyper speed since both time and the landscape were flying by. The drone was continuing to do its thing, too, giving them views of the area. What Presley wasn’t seeing though were any signs of the kidnappers or Victoria.

No surprise there.

The kidnappers would have had everything in place before the ransom demand call had even been made. Their vehicle was likely tucked away somewhere out of view from the drone.

“This could be another wild goose chase,” Billie muttered, voicing the concern that was racing through his head.

It’s what they’d done at his childhood home. Billie and he had rushed there only to find Victoria’s finger. Was there another part of her waiting at this location?

Presley had to shove that possibility aside.

Victoria was his mother in only DNA, but it twisted at him to think of her being tortured. And for what? So that some sick SOB could get revenge or eliminate her so there’d be no competition for their daddy’s money?

“Someone’s there,” Presley blurted when he saw the motorcycle pull to a stop off the side of the road about a half mile from the creek.

Billie zoomed in on the drone feed to show a heavily muscled, dark-haired man in camo pants and a black tee. He looked like a bouncer you wouldn’t want to cross paths with.

“That’s Hayes Brodie,” Billie said.

“Yes,” Ruby verified. “He’ll be approaching the site from the south of the creek. Owen from the east. Angel, from the north. That leaves the west side for Billie and you. I’ll be coming in behind you once I arrive. Obviously, friendly fire rules are in effect.”

Again, that was no surprise. Not with six operatives in the vicinity. That meant even if he had a kidnapper in his line ofsight, Presley would have to wait to make sure he had a clean shot.

The kidnapper had probably planned it that way to stop Maverick Ops and Strike Force from coming in with guns blazing. Not that they would have since the person most likely to be in the middle of this was Victoria.

Presley continued to drive, and he soon passed the motorcycle. No sign of Hayes though, which was probably a good thing. It wasn’t a smart idea to be out in the open for long.

When he reached the rock cluster, Presley pulled off the side of the road, and he reached into the back of the SUV to bring out two Kevlar vests, complete with bullet-resistant neck guards. They were a pisser to wear since they were damn uncomfortable, like wearing a thick dog collar, but the guards could save them from a neck shot. The vest would do the same for their chests.

Presley pulled out leg guards next. Again, they were uncomfortable, but Billie and he put them on, along with helmets. The final step was to grab some extra weapons and ammo.

Billie already had a primary and backup weapon, but she took a sheathed Bowie knife and shoved it into the waist of her pants. Presley did the same, and he grabbed a third gun for himself, along with a pair of tiny binoculars that he knew had thermal capabilities. If the kidnappers had Victoria hidden in the trees, he might be able to use the binoculars to spot her.

He grabbed his phone, inserting it into a slot on the sleeve of his shirt. The position would allow him to keep watch of the screen for the drone feed. That could come in handy if for some reason they had to detour off the projected course.

“Earbuds going in now,” he told Ruby as Billie and he inserted them. That would keep them in constant voice contact with Ruby.

Presley didn’t waste any time saying things like be careful to Billie. Neither did she. Once they were fully armed and geared up, they bolted from the SUV, both of them hurrying to the ditch. Presley had braced himself for gunfire, but it didn’t come.

Thankfully, it hadn’t rained in a while, and the ditch was not only empty, the mud had dried to a hard rock-like surface. Also, it was deep enough that they didn’t have to commando crawl for the quarter of a mile. They were able to crouch down and move fairly fast.

The helmets had a huge disadvantage of blocking out some sounds so Presley had to stay vigilant. He knew that Billie was doing the same behind him. They kept watching, kept moving while Presley also made glances at his phone screen. He didn’t see anyone.

“Angel and Owen are at the location,” he heard Ruby say through the earbud. “They’ll be in place in ten minutes.”

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