Page 95 of Rescued Faith

“Over here! I found Noble!” Tony called from the other side of the table. “We need help.”

Jude appeared in the doorway, dirt or soot smeared across his face. Another man Penny recognized as one of the FBI agents stood behind him.

“We need to move quickly and get him out of here. This building is unstable.” Jude moved to help Tony. Together the men pulled the governor out from under the broken table and wall that had caved in.

Reba and the security guard woke. Penny and the FBI agent helped them up. They were all able to walk out and follow Tony and Jude, who had the governor propped between them.

Once they moved far away enough from the building, Tony and Jude set the governor down in the parking lot. Tony’s radio immediately went off, and he stepped away to listen.

“Where’s my family?” The governor’s voice was scratchy and raw.

“Why don’t you tell us what you know first.” Jude stood above him. “And you two”—he pointed to the security guard and Reba—“go get medics and bring them here.”

The guard nodded and jogged away. Reba looked back at the governor. “Sir?”

“It’s okay. Go find the rest of the staff. Tell me they’re okay.”

After she left, Governor Noble dropped his head to his hands. “What do you want to know?”

“Have the kidnappers been in contact with you?” Penny asked.

He nodded slowly. “The text said they would meet me at the airport.”

“That’s over an hour away.” It didn’t make sense. “How were you planning to ditch your security team?”

“They don’t mean that airport. There’s a secret airport here in Last Chance. It wouldn’t have taken much for me to sneak away.”

“And what did they want?” Jude asked.

“They would take me in exchange for my family, and that’s all I cared about. We were set to meet tonight after I left the ball. But then you”—the governor lifted his head and looked at Penny—“you said you’d found them. I called to say the deal was off, but they told me whatever lead the cops had was a trap. That’s when the bomb exploded.”

Tony tapped Penny on the shoulder. “You’re gonna wanna hear this.”

They moved away but kept Jude and the governor in their sights.

“What is it?”

“That callout we got about finding the Nobles was the wrong address.”

“What? So whoever the governor talked to was right?”

“Yeah, but get this. Zack Stephens called in. He and Bryce apparently are the ones that figured out where the Nobles really are. The firefighters and police were supposed to show up and didn’t. They were sent to the other side of town.”

“Because of the whole wrong address thing?”

“That’s my guess. Zack found the wife and kid, but he can’t do anything. There’s too many people guarding them, and somehow he lost contact with Bryce. When no one showed up, he called again. He gave dispatch the right location, a barn just outside of town. But no one knows where Bryce is. He’s disap?—”

Penny’s phone rang. Pulling it out of her holster pocket, she checked the screen.

Blocked number. She let it go to voicemail. The phone immediately dinged with a text message. Penny opened it up to see an address.

Another ding.

It took a moment for a picture to load.

Penny’s breath caught. Her body seized.

It was a picture of Bryce, bruised and bloodied. The words underneath made her blood run cold.

---