Page 63 of Wine Whiskey & Lipstick

“Me too,” Ben agreed. Though Ben was relieved by Wyatt’s answer, he didn’t have the mental bandwidth to deal with all of his brother’s questions regarding Dillyn. His only focus was to get Selah back safely.

“Based on Dillyn’s tracking information, they’ve only got an hour head start on us. If we take a few shortcuts, we can catch them.”

“That’s provided they don’t stop anywhere for an exchange.”

Wyatt was aware of that but was trying to be hopeful. Instead, his jaw clenched in anger. “If they’ve hurt her in any way . . . I’m going to bury them and everyone connected to this outfit in ways they can’t even imagine.”

Ben zipped up his black bag filled with weapons. “I’ll help and bring the shovels.”

“What are we going to do about Lucas?” Ben lifted his eye to Wyatt’s.

“He’s a good shot.” Ben reminded him.

“He hunts animals, not men. That’s different.” Wyatt shook his head. Lucas wasn’t built for this situation.

“What would you do if you were in his shoes?” Ben asked.

Wyatt sighed. “I see your point.”

“Exactly. Still, we’ll keep him close. I’ll take the front, we’ll keep him in the middle, and you can bring up the rear. I don’t think Lucas will need it, but just in case, he’ll have protection from the front and the back.”

Wyatt nodded in agreement. “We should take my truck. If that dude has been grooming Selah for the past couple of weeks, they probably have already checked you and Lucas out. That means they’ll know what kind of vehicles you drive.”

“They couldn’t possibly have checked us out; otherwise, they would know better.” The frown Wyatt gave him made Ben feel foolish. He’d always been vigilant, but since he’d been spending more time with Dillyn, Ben had lost focus on Selah. Wyatt was right. They probably did know. “Yeah. We can take your truck.”

Lucas walked in on them. He’d missed their entire conversation. “Yo . . . Let’s get moving. Dillyn sent a link to our phones. Once we click it, she’ll be able to feed us information. She’ll be our eyes and ears.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. The brothers were hardened by anger and unified by a singular purpose.

Ben led the way. “Let’s go get Selah.”

*****

Selah struggled as Thomas gripped her wrists and dragged her along. “You bastard! Why would you do this?”

He didn’t answer but kept walking away from the interstate where their trailer was parked on the shoulder and toward the dense trees. Thomas had one thing on his mind—to get a little taste of Selah before he had to hand her over. After all, he’d found her. She should have been his reward. His luck had turned around when the driver had to pull over due to tire pressure issues. Otherwise, they would have kept driving until they reached their destination, andThomaswould have been left wondering what it would have been like to have Selah.

Selah forced herself to stop panicking and think. She knew what he had planned but thought maybe she could use it to her advantage. Selah stopped struggling, knowing that she would need all her energy.

*****

Wyatt drove like a bat out of hell. “I can’t believe the cops aren’t there yet. That they haven’t pulled them over.”

Frustrated, Ben ran a hand down his face. “According to Dillyn, there is a delay in issuing a warrant because there is an inter-jurisdictional fight.”

Lucas did his best to remain calm but was struggling. “So, are you trying to tell me that the city is fighting with the state on who can stop the damn truck? They’re like twenty minutes from crossing the border!”

Wyatt nodded. “Then the case becomes Federal, and there will be even more red tape.”

“How far away are we?” Ben asked Dillyn over the car speaker.

“You’re close. They should be coming into your line of sight in about two minutes. The truck is stopped on the side of the road.” Dillyn was doing her best to keep her own emotions at bay. This entire situation was reminiscent of her childhood. She could only hope and pray that they got to Selah in time.

“Slow down,” Ben told Wyatt.

A corner of Wyatt’s lips lifted. “You act like this is my first rodeo. I’ve got this.” Wyatt asked Dillyn, “Are we sure that trailer doesn’t have an escort?”

“Fairly certain. However, I’m not sure how many men you might come in contact with. I counted two in the cab and one that came out of the trailer. There is at least one more in the trailer since I don’t see Thomas.”

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