Page 95 of High Density

Easier said than done. I can’t help think of all the things that could be happening to Janey during these precious minutes that keep slipping through my fingers. I can barely contain the rage flowing through my veins.

Pa, Jonas, Bo, and Jackson showed up in my old truck, while Sully and Fletch stayed to load up the horses and take them back to the ranch. They brought communication equipment, weapons, ropes, extra batteries for the Matrice, and a medical kit. I hope like hell that last item won’t be needed, but I’m grateful Bo brought it, just in case.

I’m lead with Pa, Ewing is right behind us, and Bo and Jackson right behind him. Jonas has taken over control of the drone and is feeding us directions.

It’s hard to see where we are in relation to the dirt driveway. It would’ve been easier to follow it, but there’s no way to know if the guy set up a few game cameras by way of surveillance. The military-style netting Jackson saw at least suggests he’s taking precautions. Better we stick to the trees, where we can move undetected.

“The cabin about two hundred feet up ahead at eleven o’clock,” Jonas warns in our ears. “Go to hand signals.”

Pa stops us a little farther along and points up ahead. I catch a glimpse of a roofline.

The plan is to use the trees for cover as we go around the back of the cabin. There we’ll split off in two pairs and approach the property from opposite sides. At this point, we don’t know whether Janey is kept in the trailer or was moved into the cabin. But Jackson will find a perch in a tree, where he has a good shot at anyone going in or coming out of either structure.

We move even more cautiously now, keeping an eye on the cabin as we circle it.

“Stop!” Jonas suddenly orders. “Movement. Go low.”

Pa motions for everyone to get down. I try to maintain a visual of the cabin while staying out of sight.

“He’s on the move. Coming around the side now. He’s carrying chains.”

I’m barely forty feet away, looking at what Jonas is describing; the kid I’d pegged as harmless, hauling a coil of chains to the shelter at the back of the property. I’m suddenly convinced that’s where he’s holding her, and the chains give me an odd sense of relief.

You don’t chain up dead people.

It also presents me with an opportunity. What’s he going to do with his hands full of heavy chains when he’s caught by surprise?

I move on instinct, fast but silent, like my grandpa taught me when he took me hunting back when I was a kid. Ignoring Jonas’s muffled cursing in my ear, I sense, more than hear, my father right behind me. Still pretty spry and light on his feet for a man his age.

There are fifteen feet of clearing from the edge of the trees to where Logan Osborne is heading toward the trailer. It takes him long enough for me to get within a few feet of him before he hears me coming.

But it’s too late, he tries to turn, but I’m already launching myself at him. I catch him mid-turn, tackling him to the ground where he lands face-first. Then I haul my fist back and my mind blanks out.

“You got him, Son. He’s down, ease up.”

I find myself with my arms pinned to my sides, my father behind me, holding on fast while Ewing slaps the cuffs on Logan, who is not moving.

Then my eyes snap to Bo, who is approaching the shelter.

“Wait!” I yell, wrestling from my father’s hold. “Let me go in first.”

He holds up until I catch up with him. The ramp is down but the interior is cast in dark shadows. I have to squint to get my eyes adjusted to the dark.

“Damn,” Bo mutters beside me.

At the front of the trailer, I see her twisted body, her weight hanging on her arms which are bound to the crossbar above her head. I rush to her side, lifting her to take some of the weight, while Bo pulls out a knife and cuts the zip ties off her wrists.

It’s not until she slumps in my arms as my ass hits the floor, I question if she’s even alive.

But then her eyes flutter open.

“There you are.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

JD

“He’s threateningto sue you for assault.”

---