Page 40 of Protective Assignment
“I told you, I don’t—”
“You can tell us, or you can tell it to the cops,” he added.“How does that sound?I think they’re going to have some big questions for you.”
Cade slammed his fist into the panel next to the man’s head, and the guy jerked in surprise.Cade needed him to know how far he would take this.He would do whatever it took to get River back, and he knew this man had the information he needed.
“We’re sending out a drone over that forest, so we’re going to find your psycho little cult one way or another,” he told him.“Better for you to tell us where we should look.Or do you want to talk to the cops about this?”He took a step back, waiting.“Talk!”
The man’s expression shifted.Cade could tell by the look on his face he was trying to think of what best to say.Cade glared at him with clenched fists, waiting for him to break—and then, at last, he did.
“They were staying in a hunting lodge on the north side of the forest,” he grumbled, eyes lowering to the ground as though he couldn’t believe he was really admitting it.
“Over to the north of the forest!”Cade yelled to the guys programming the drone.“Get it out there, now!”
He zip-tied the man’s hands and shoved him into the truck, locking the doors to make sure he couldn’t go anywhere.He was sure he could get some more information out of him when the time was right.Even if he couldn’t, the Feds would have plenty to say to him about his involvement with the Shepards.But right now, he had one goal in mind, and he needed to find out where River was before the Shepards could get out of there.
They launched the drones, and Cade paced back and forth, shooting glances at the screen where the thermal imaging cameras were broadcasting.
“There!There’s something,” Xavier exclaimed, jabbing his finger at the picture.Sure enough, a cluster of heat spots stood out on the screen.
“It looks like a lot of people,” the man running the drone remarked.“Could be the whole group making a break for it.”
“What’s that?”Cade demanded, gesturing to a couple of smaller spots breaking off from the main group.
“Looks like there’s a smaller group splitting from them,” he replied, frowning.“Two people, from the looks of it.”
Two people.Cade’s head spun as he tried to come up with a plan.Two people—Ryker and River, he was sure of it.Even if the rest of the gang were on the run, he was out there doing his best to capture her and keep her to himself.
“I’m going after them,” Cade announced.
Xavier grabbed his arm.“Cade, no,” he warned.“We need to put some backup together.You can’t just go off after them like that—”
“Watch me,” Cade snapped back, yanking his arm loose.There was no way he was going to let Ryker get any farther with her than he already had.He was going to catch him and bring her back.He was going to take him down, once and for all.And River was going to be safe.
He couldn’t wait any longer.He sprinted off into the woods, Xavier’s shouts fading behind him, and rushed toward the woman he loved.
Chapter Twenty-Four
She stumbled behind Ryker, doing whatever she could to stay upright as he dragged her through the freezing woods.She heard a commotion through the trees, but she wasn’t sure what was going on.The whole forest seemed to be alive with people rushing around, calling to each other, but she couldn’t figure out why.Had someone found them?She could only hope they had.
“Hurry up, bitch!”Ryker spat at her, and she did her best to match his pace, but her body was aching from the cold and the bindings.She couldn’t keep up.
“Slow down,” she protested.
He spun around and lashed out so fast she had no time to react.She started falling back and he reached out and yanked her to his chest, his eyes flashing with anger.“You don’t get to tell me what to do,” he snapped.“Not after all the crap you’ve put me through.”
River wanted to protest, but she was sure there was no point.He was in a rage and there would be no reasoning with him.He’d already decided it was all her fault, when he was the one responsible for this nightmare.If Ryker had just let her go and not followed her, none of this would behappening.But no, he had decided that he was owed something from her, and he wasn’t going to stop until he got it.
He wasn’t going to stop until she was tied to him for life.
“I didn’t want any of this, Ryker!”she protested, hoping she could get through to him somehow.He reached out again, grabbing her arm, pulling her forward.She mustered up all the strength and confidence she could as she tracked in his footsteps.If she got lost in this forest she likely wouldn’t survive.
“You made your vows to the Shepards like everyone else,” he reminded her.
“You think I wanted to make those vows?”she demanded.“I was a child.I was forced to!You would have hurt my family.And it didn’t protect my father, did it?He’s dead!”
“He’s dead because he tried to walk away from everything my father gave to him,” he snarled back at her, his voice dripping with venom.“He owed us.If he hadn’t been a coward—”
“Don’t you call him that,” she snapped, her voice colder than she had ever heard it.Her ability to speak to him like that surprised her, but she had put up with enough.Her father was a strong man, stronger than so many of the people who had been nothing but cowards.People who were willing to go along with what the Shepards demanded from them.They could see the evil that was being done, the harm they were causing, but they allowed themselves and their families to remain a part of it because they were terrified of the retribution.
