Page 9 of Whiskey Run Heroes

“Hey, Walker.”

Walker’s voice is thick and soft. “Hey, honey. How you holding up?”

“I’m good. These three assholes are bullies, but I’m fine,” I tell him, wanting him to know that there’s three of them.

“Good, baby. That’s good.” He takes a deep breath. “I need you to hold on, okay? I’m going to get you out of there.”

“Walker, he wants the codes. Don’t give them to him.”

“You bitch!” the man holding the phone says. He points to the other guy, who pushes me backwards and kicks me again.

I scream, unable to hold it in.

“Brook! Brook! You fuckin’ bastard, you’re a dead man. Do you hear me? You’re dead.”

The man laughs. “Awww, and she said you didn’t care about her. It sounds like you do.”

“Damn straight I do. You give me Brook, and I’ll give you whatever you want,” Walker says.

The men are completely floored with the notion that he’s going to willingly give up the codes. Walker’s voice fills the room. “Unless you touch her again. You put your hands on her one more time, and you get nothing.”

“Fine. Send me the codes and I’ll send you her location. Thirty minutes.”

And then he hangs up. “Set a timer,” he tells the man on the laptop. “We’ll wait for the codes. If we don’t get them, we’ll take her apart, piece by piece.”

I lean down and rest my forehead on the dirty floor, concentrating on my painful breaths. Oh, Walker, what have you done? He’ll do it. He’ll give up the codes, I know he will. He’s that kind of guy. We’re like his family, and he’s protective of hisfamily. I should have been paying attention. I should have done something to stop this from happening.

6

WALKER

I hang up the phone and turn to Dylan. “Did you get it? Where is she at?”

“They’re close, Walker. They’re in the mountains. We’ll need the ATVs.”

Dylan holds up a map on his electronic tablet. He zooms out. “Here’s where we are.” He moves the map down to show the northern region, where the mountains are. “Here’s where they’re holding her. I’m pretty sure that’s the old Crawford line cabin. Nobody’s been there in years.”

I move the map with my fingers. “Until now.”

“There’s no roads.”

Dylan shakes his head. “No. They probably drove so far and then either had ATVs to take her the rest of the way or they carried her.”

“How long?”

He shrugs his shoulders. “Fifteen, maybe twenty minutes.”

I grab all the sets of keys that are hanging on the wall. “All right, let’s go.” I nod, already running through the building. Bear and Logan are both with me, and I holler for Dylan to send me the coordinates. He’s the tech guy, and he’ll stay behind to keep us all informed with air and land support.

The rest of the guys all follow behind, and we cart up in the ATVs, side by sides and the off-terrain Hummer. “What’s the plan, boss?” John hollers at me over the roar of the engines coming to life.

“We go get her. There’s three of them. He’s giving us thirty minutes, and we’re down to twenty-five.”

I drive the ATV out of the warehouse and toward the mountain. I have the gas pushed down as far as it will go. The need to get to her, to hold her in my arms is almost overwhelming. I won’t survive it if something happens to her. I know I won’t.

The guys are all behind me when I hit the trail on the side of the mountain. I go across rocks and unlevel terrain, but I don’t slow down. I can’t.

I make a motion with my hand for the others to go around to come at the cabin on the other side. I don’t stop until the cabin is in sight. I’m off with my gun drawn before the ATV comes to a complete stop. I know there are tactics and strategies to this, but I also know that right now, I can take on three men. I kick in the door, ready to start shooting, but all I see is Brook, head down and not moving. I rush to her as John, Logan, and the others come running in.

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