Page 11 of Fear for Her Life

“What else?” Jo stared at him one eyebrow raised in question.

“He needed insurance, so he wanted to get to her.” Little pointed a finger at Jenna. “It hasn’t escaped Souza’s people that she is pregnant. He figured she’d remain in town during the search for the prisoners. With all her resources used up, she’s vulnerable. Putting her in danger, would ensure her husband would come running, just as he did when Riley carjacked her. Souza would have taken him down then, but they didn’t have time to organize a chopper.” He turned his gaze slowly to Jenna. “As long as Souza is alive, your time on this earth is limited. He has a score to settle and doesn’t give up easy.”

Needing more information, Jenna leaned into Jo to whisper in her ear. “If this is so personal, does Souza plan to be there when he disposes of Dave?”

“Okay.” Jo nodded and turned her attention to Little. “Just one more question, Mr. Little. Is Souza planning to be there when Deputy Kane is murdered?”

“From what I heard, he’d like to do it himself but he doesn’t care as long as he’s dead.” Little leaned back in the chair with a smug smile on his face. He turned to Jenna. “He won’t stop until he’s murdered every one of your family.”

TWELVE

STANTON FOREST

After estimating the distance the prisoners might have traveled, they headed to the river’s edge to find their trail. It was clear from the footprints left in the sand along the riverbank that the woman was still with the prisoners, although from the footprints, she often stumbled and might be injured. Kane decided the best chance of catching them would be if they broke the group into two. He, Atohi, Raven, Wolfe, and Rowley had the fastest horses and would head back to the fire road. By using well-known trails, they’d get in front of the prisoners. Keeping in touch with their coms, they should be able to close in on them in two different directions. Sitting astride Warrior, Kane took Duke from Blackhawk’s arms. His dog had become quite familiar riding this way. As he wasn’t getting any younger, keeping up with a galloping horse would be difficult. Raven’s dog, Ben, wouldn’t have any problem at all. Given that Styles and Carter had worked together in the past and having Rio as backup and two of Blackhawk’s cousins to guide them, the plan would work well.

They’d traveled approximately three miles ahead of the other team, and were moving along trails running parallel to the river to keep undercover in the forest, when Kane’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He listened in astonishment as Jenna brought him up to date. “I’m sure glad that Jo and Beth decided to stay with you.”

“I know, you were concerned about leaving me alone, and this time you were right.”Jenna’s voice sounded strained.“We’ll be leaving for the ranch in a few minutes. I’m going with Nanny Raya and Tauri. Beth and Jo are driving my SUV. Beth figures, being blonde, they won’t confuse her with me.”

Since Souza kidnapped Tauri from their ranch, Kane had spent a great deal of time scoping the area, looking for threats and possible sniper positions. Since they had engaged the laser net around the area, landing a chopper or flying a drone above the house was impossible. The laser net interfered with the onboard computers but unfortunately did nothing to prevent a sniper’s bullet. He pressed the earbud tighter into his ear and constantly scanned the immediate area for the prisoners. “You’ll need to get inside the house and stay there. Keep everyone there. They’ll be fine and we have plenty of spare bedrooms. You can’t risk sending anyone to the cottage. The path from the house to the cottage is in a direct line from the hillside, and if there’s a sniper up there… well, you know the rest. Suit up for the ride home as well. Just in case.”

“I intend to. We have enough Kevlar vests for everyone, including Tauri. I’ll add helmets as well.”Jenna took a deep breath and blew it out slowly as if trying to keep calm.“We’ve made so many new improvements to the security, I’m sure we’ll be safe once we’re inside the house.”She paused a beat.“Any sign of the prisoners?”

Kane readjusted Duke in front of him. The old dog was prone to falling asleep and sliding off the horse. “No physical signs, no. We found tracks alongside the river and decided to split up into two teams. Rio, Carter, and Styles along with two of Blackhawk’s cousins are following the tracks. The rest of us have gone ahead using the fire roads to hopefully get around in front of them. With luck, we can surround them and take them down without too much difficulty.”

“I hope so.”The familiar squeak of Jenna’s office chair came through the earbud as she sat down.“We’ll be leaving soon. I’ll call you again when we get there. I don’t really know Agent Katz, but when Styles assisted me he insisted she was tougher than she looked and fought like a demon. I figure she’s going to be an asset if anyone shows.”

Kane smiled to himself. “I’m sure if a few of Souza’s henchmen manage to get through our security, which I doubt, they won’t know what they’re up against. Nanny Raya was chosen for a good reason. She might be older than us, but she has a chest full of medals for bravery under fire. Along with Jo and Beth, I’m sure you’ll be just fine. Don’t forget these men are more than capable of creating a diversion to try and get you out of the house. The horses are safe in the corral. They have plenty of food and water to last them for a week at least. If they set fire to the barn for instance, call the fire department. You know the fire chief by sight. Don’t leave the house.”

“And the house is covered with fire retardant, I know. Maybe we should have used some on the barn as well?”Jenna cleared her throat as if someone had just come in the room.“I’d better let you go. I’ll call you later.”She disconnected.

After catching up to the others in his group, Kane brought everyone up to speed. “So this was well planned ahead of time. It seems the moment the prison warden started moving his extra prisoners to Black Rock Falls County to avoid overcrowding, Souza decided to set fire to the maximum security area so there wouldn’t be any space for them. All Souza needed to do was to get the plans of his escape to his associates. The moment the fire was lit, it was only a matter of time before the transfer was made.”

“I’m impressed how fast someone in maximum security can get the word out to organize a prison break.” Raven moved his horse alongside Kane. “Money talks, huh?”

“So it would seem.” Rowley came up behind them. “The women should be safe at the ranch.”

Kane nodded. “I sure hope so.” He tapped his mic. “Copy. Is there a problem?”

“I believe so.”Carter was keeping his voice low.“They’ve split up. Two are continuing along the riverbank. One is moving in your direction with the prison guard. I figure you’ll be running into them soon if they keep heading in the same direction. We figured we would stay on the heels of the two walking along the riverbank.”He cleared his throat.“We also found hoofprints, which Blackhawk’s cousin insists are fresh. So we have an unknown rider in the mix as well. I’ve heard a few shots, but I believe they’re from the other side of the river. Over.”

Shooting a glance at Rowley, Kane raised his eyebrows in question. Rowley knew which areas were designated for hunters. When he gave him a nod, he tapped his com again.“Don’t worry about them. They’re hunters. They should be moving away from the river. Over.”

“That’s good to know. Just a second, we’ve found something. Over.”

The others had heard Carter’s transmission and they slowed, bunched up in a group along the trail waiting to hear what they had found. Kane waved them on. “Keep moving and stay alert They could be anywhere close by.”

A few minutes went by before Carter got back to him.

“We found a cabin with blood on the front stoop and drag marks. We followed them and discovered partial human remains in the pigpen. The cabin has been ransacked. There’s evidence there’s a female living here. Looking at the clothes hanging in the closet, I would say female around ten to twelve years old. There’s no sign of her anywhere and we’ve found no footprints or any evidence that she’s left the premises. We can only hope that she visited here at one time. Or maybe she died and he’s just kept her room as is.”Carter, heaved with the effort of remounting his horse.“Rio has marked the cabin with crime scene tape. There’s nothing we can do for the victim now. So we’re going to keep moving. Over.”

“The hoofprints you discovered, do you figure the girl took a horse to escape?” Raven tapped his com. “Maybe you should check out the place and see if there’s a stable anywhere. It’s pretty easy to see if there’s fresh manure or a dirty stall. Over.”

“Copy that. Will go. Over and out.”Carter disconnected.

Kane wiped a hand down his face. If there was a young girl alone in the forest, that was another problem to add to the list. With serial killers running around, she would be in danger with them or on her own. Now nowhere was safe. He turned as Blackhawk came to his side. “You heard about the girl?”

“Yeah, I know the family. That would be Troy Lee and his granddaughter, Serena. If Carter comes across her, one of my cousins would be able to get her out of the forest safely.” Blackhawk met his gaze. “With Jenna out of town, it would be safer to take her to the res. There are trails from the riverbank that no one would be able to find. They look like they’re going nowhere but they offer good cover if you’re trying to get away.”

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