Page 88 of Deadly Evidence
Then another, slowly, inexorably stretching out the fear of what this man was about to say.
Her heart pounding in her ears and blood turning to ice, she held her shaking hands at her mouth.
“We think we know who has your daughter, ma’am.”
The man’s eyes were so gentle and sympathetic that Anna wanted to scream. “Tell me.”
He expelled a deep breath. “She’s been taken—by the Garcia gang, we think. If we cooperate, they might just give her back.”
“I should have sent her to Houston weeks ago, before this all started.” Anna blinked hard, holding back her tears. She swayed on her feet. “What do we have to do? I’ll do anything.”
“They want to make a trade...her, for the four men we arrested on the border tonight. We figure three of them are just mules, but the fourth is higher up in the chain. The bosses are apparently worried about him being interrogated. If we let them go tonight, they’ll release her in the morning and let us know where she is.”
Brady gripped Anna’s elbow, steadying her, but she heard the meaning behind Tom’s words.
These were ruthless killers motivated by powerful greed. They’d killed before, and now her daughter was in their hands. They would never risk letting her go.
“There’s not much chance this will work out, is there,” she said, trying to hold back her tears. “Not much at all.”
Anna sat at her kitchen table, feeling numb and cold, then launched herself to her feet and began pacing again.
Staying home was driving her crazy—but both Brady and Tom had insisted that she stay here while they worked on a rescue plan, rather than risk having her inadvertently get in the way.
“How far could these people get with her?” she asked no one in particular.
“Not far,” Brady said. He looked up from the topographical map he’d been studying. “We have so many agencies involved in this operation that someone would have noticed travel on that highway—especially since it’s usually deserted.”
Hope flooded through her. “You think she could still be somewhere on the ranch?”
“With twenty thousand acres here, it’s possible. You’ve got several thousand acres of almost impassable land in the northeast quadrant.”
She shot to her feet and stood next to him, her forearms braced on the table. “Someone could at least get to the base of those mountains with a four-wheeler. After that, it’s either horses or hiking. The trails are too narrow and rugged for anything else.”
When a cell phone on the table jangled, she jumped.
Tom lifted it to his ear and listened, giving Brady a small thumbs-up. When he ended the call, he gave Brady and Anna a grim smile. “Our ’copter pilot has been up in the air and searching for the last half hour. He picked up four heat images in the far northeast quadrant of your ranch.”
Praise the Lord, she whispered to herself.
“Could be wildlife, but he’s guessing they’re human, from the type of movement he’s seen. They seem to be in a very rocky, hilly section, several miles from that sharp, right-angled bend in the highway.”
“Which is certainly convenient, if they think they’re going to be collecting their buddies tomorrow,” Brady said. “Well hidden, with good access for escape. Or so they think.”
Anna drew in a sharp breath. “I know the place—big cliffs, with caves the Native Americans once used. I used to go there tohunt for artifacts when I was a kid. Some of those drop-offs are a good five hundred feet.”
“Tom and I will head out at first light. If these are the kidnappers, we’ll—”
“Now! Why can’t we go now? I know this ranch like the back of my hand.”
Brady rested a hand on hers. “It’s treacherous going, and these guys mean business. We don’t even know for sure that these images are the people we’re looking for.”
She stalked across the room, grabbed a rifle from the rack and snagged a set of keys from the hooks by the door. “You stay here. That’s fine. But I can trailer a horse to a spot close to there and ride in—I could do it blindfolded. If my daughter is there, I’m getting her back.”
Tom shook his head. “You need to stay here.”
“I don’t think you can stop me.” She glared at him. “If these are the guys who have my daughter, they won’t be expecting visitors this soon. Maybe they’ll even be asleep by the time I get there.”
Brady and Tom looked at each other.
