Page 39 of Protective Assignment
“Well, they didn’t take the roads, either,” Carter reminded him.“There are police stationed on every road in and out of this place.They’ve been there since she was taken.They couldn’t have gotten past them.So she can’t have gone far.The woods are the best bet.”
Cade rubbed a hand over his face, trying to settle his scattered thoughts.He knew he couldn’t let himself spin out of control like this, but it felt like it had been an eternity since River had been taken, not just hours.He was terrified at the thought of what the Shepards could be doing to her.
If she was even still alive.
The moment Hannah had finished detailing what had happened in town, they had all launched into action.Calls were made to send out guys to patrol the area, including searching close to town, and alert the local police.Cade hadn’t left out any detail of what River had shared with him about her past in hopes that the smallest thing might give them a leg up in tracking her down.But so far, nothing.No sign of her, or any of the Shepards, either.What had they done to her?Where had they taken her?
“So, what’s our next move?”he demanded.
Cade couldn’t just sit around and do nothing.He had to get out there and help.He had to hope they were right when they said she couldn’t have been taken too far from the lodge.But even the distance between them right nowwas more than he could take.He had promised to protect her, and now she was out there, trapped in the middle of a nightmare he couldn’t pull her out of.
“We have some thermal imaging cameras,” Xavier suggested.“We could set up a camp at the edge of the forest and send out a couple of drones to see if we can find any people out there.Should be easier than normal because of the snow.”
The snow.Cade had been trying not to think about that part.He hated the thought of her out there in the snow, freezing and lost and wondering if anyone was coming to find her.He prayed she knew that he was coming for her, no matter what.He wouldn’t stop searching until he found out where she was.
“What are we waiting for?”he demanded again.“I’m getting the guys together to set it up now.”
“I’ll come with you,” Xavier replied, getting to his feet.They were in the main office, and Cade couldn’t sit around any longer.He had to do something.Xavier had seemed just as invested as him, and Cade wondered if it had something to do with how close Hannah had come to getting snatched up too.
“Okay, good,” Cade replied.“Let’s go.”
They grabbed a few more guys and everything they needed and packed into the truck.Cade insisted on driving, even though the cold had his shoulder aching more than usual.He needed to take control of something, needed to drive this thing forward in any way he could.
He was already cursing himself for letting her go without him by her side.They never would have gotten to her ifhe had been the one with her in town.But it was too late to worry about that now.What mattered was getting her back.
At the east edge of the forest, the guys unpacked the supplies and began to set up the drones.Cade paced back and forth, feet crunching in the snow, wondering if they could go any faster.
“How long is this going to take?”he muttered to Xavier.
“Not long,” Xavier assured him.“You just have to wait a little longer.We’ll find her.”
“We have to,” Cade replied.And then, he heard something—the crack of a footstep on the snow in the woods.
His head snapped up.“What was that?”he demanded.
“I didn’t hear anything,” Xavier replied, but Cade grabbed one of the flashlights and shined it into the woods.It bounced off the shadows, and then he saw it—a man darting back into the trees.
“There!There’s someone there!”he yelled, and he took off after him.The man was winding in and out of the trees, trying to vanish back into the darkness, but Cade wasn’t going to let him get away.His eyes were pinned on his target as he cut in and out of the branches around him, feet crunching on the compacted snow beneath him, until he was within grabbing distance.
He threw himself at the man, wrapping his arms around his waist and tackling him to the ground with a sharp thud.The man tried to scramble away, but Cade held on tight.Soon enough, Xavier and a couple of the other guys appeared through the trees to help.
“Get him back to base,” Cade spat, pulling the man upright and shoving him toward the other men.They draggedhim back through the woods toward the truck, where a couple of the lodge’s men were setting up the thermal drones.
“Who the hell are you?”Cade demanded, shoving the man back against the side of the truck, fisting his collar in his hands.The man wore the same ragged clothing River had worn when he first met her, and he knew at once he had to be part of the Shepards.
“Let me go,” the man muttered as he struggled in Cade’s grasp.
Cade narrowed his eyes at him.“What are you doing out here?”
“It’s a free country, I was just hunting—”
“Not without a permit, you weren’t,” he shot back.“Tell me what you’re doing here.Are you with the Shepards?”
The man’s eyes widened in surprise, but he did his best to cover it up.
“Who’s that?”he asked.“I’ve never heard of them—”
“Don’t you lie to me,” Cade snarled.“You’re with the Shepards, aren’t you?”
