Page 76 of Rescued Faith

“Does a cowboy know how to two-step?” He winked at her.

And after his story, she knew. The wink wasn’t a sign that he didn’t care or wasn’t taking this seriously. He would do everything in his power to save her sister and the kids. He really was a hero.

“Good. We’ll need to park farther away and scope things out when we get there. But let me make one thing clear: nobody shoots anything if innocents are nearby. Understood? And we need Sosa alive. He’s got something going on, and we have to find out what it is. If he’s not there, we’ll need his henchmen.”

She waited until each man nodded understanding before they left. Soon they were jogging through a tree line that ran around the outside of the lot the trailer was parked on. Thetrailer had seen better days. Coyotes barked in the night. Lights were on inside, but all the windows were blocked with blinds or drapes. Straw bales surrounded the outside of the trailer, most likely used for winter insulation to keep the pipes from freezing.

“What’s the plan? We can’t go in blind with guns blazing,” Izan said.

“We need to draw them out and get eyes on what’s going on inside.” Penny peered at the trailer, trying to best guess where her sister and the kids would be.

“Why don’t we go knock on the front door?” Zack asked.

“Seriously?” Bryce balked.

“I play a good drunk guy. I can pound on the door, pretend it’s someone I know. Try to push my way inside.” Zack made it sound easy, but there were too many ways that could go wrong.

“Too risky,” she said.

“What about the TIC? I have one in the truck I was repairing.” Bryce used his thumb to point toward his vehicle.

Izan stared at him. “You know how to fix a TIC?”

Bryce froze for a second. “It wasn’t a big deal. The screen needed replacing.”

Zack looked confused. “And you knew how to do that?”

Bryce shrugged like it was no biggie. “There’s a YouTube video for everything.”

“Focus, boys. Yes, the thermal imaging device will help. We should be able to distinguish where the kids are at least. And I’ll use Libby’s watch to see if we can figure out where she is in the building.”

Bryce jogged away and soon came back with the thermal imaging device. Thankfully, with the cooler night air settling all around them, the ninety-eight-degree bodies stood out in red and orange on the TIC’s screen.

“There are the kids, on the south side of the trailer.” Bryce pointed to them. The orange blobs were significantly smaller than the others.

“It doesn’t look like anyone is guarding them. There’s three adults on the other end of the trailer. Is that where your sister is?” Izan asked.

Penny used Libby’s phone app. “Yeah, she’s over there.”

Bryce pointed at the TIC screen. “She’s probably the one sitting down on the ground while the other two people are standing. That must be a kitchen. Looks like there’s heat coming from a coffee pot too.”

So all three of them were alive at least. That brought the nerves down a smidge. “First, let’s grab the kids. If we can get them out while they’re not guarded, and without alerting Sosa, we can focus on getting Libby next. And we’ll take away their leverage.”

Bryce looked at the other two. “Izan, you stay here. You have a clear shot at the back door. Watch our backs and give us a signal if you see anything. Zack, you take the front yard. If anyone else approaches from the driveway, take them out.”

Zack moved away silently, and Izan hunkered down among the shadows of the trees. Penny and Bryce approached the room on the south side. The window was boarded up with a piece of plywood.

“Let’s try the room next to them. It’s empty, right?” Penny asked.

Bryce checked the TIC again. “So far. But I think it’s a bathroom. Look how small and high that window is.”

“It’s our best shot for getting in there undetected. Give me a boost.” Penny tugged a long straw bale out from under the trailer and stood on it. She removed the window screen without a sound.

Bryce stood next to her on the ground. She easily slid onto his shoulders. “Step up here onto the bale, and I’ll be able to reach,” she whispered.

Bryce held on to her legs and stepped up. Once Bryce was stable, she used the side of the trailer to brace herself and moved to kneel on his shoulders. The flimsy window didn’t take much to wiggle open.

She shimmied her body through the small opening and quietly stepped onto the toilet situated right under the window. Peeking around the door, she saw only dark outlines of frames hanging on the walls of the hallway. A light from the opposite end of the trailer glowed, but the coast was clear.

---