Page 84 of Lacey's Fight

“Sounds like an engine,” Ghost said.

They had split into three groups of three to approach the main farmhouse. He was with Ghost and Coach, and they were approaching from the back of the building. Besides the farmhouse, there was a barn and another half dozen outbuildings. Mervin could be in any one of them as could Lacey.

“Vehicle approaching,” Coach confirmed as they all saw a dark gray SUV weaving through the trees.

“Whoever’s driving it looks drunk,” Ghost muttered, and Ben had to agree. The vehicle wasn’t moving smoothly it was weaving all over the place, scraping along trunks and branches, jerking like whoever was driving it had never sat in the driver’s seat before.

“Can’t see the driver,” Coach said as they moved to block the vehicle’s path.

Although the car came continually forward, he couldn’t see anyone behind the wheel, it was like it was being driven by a ghost, or an invisible man.

Or a small child.

“What if—”

“It’s a kid,” Coach finished for him.

“Olivia and Raven were going through missing persons reports for all girls under the age of ten, they pinged several that fit The Master’s MO,” Ghost added.

Because there was no way to know that it was indeed a small child attempting to drive the vehicle, they moved to surround the oncoming SUV. None of them wanted to fire at it to make it stop in case it really was a little girl driving.

“Stop the car,” Ghost called out.

Immediately the vehicle rolled to a stop mere inches from where they were standing. There was still no one visible inside, but whoever was driving had stopped upon Ghost’s order, so they were aware that they were no longer alone.

“Someone’s moving inside,” Coach murmured as they rounded the sides, weapons drawn, ready to take down a threat.

But there was no threat.

As Ben moved so he could see through the driver’s side window he saw a tiny figure sliding down between the passenger seat and the front of the car.

Before he could say anything, he heard a small cry.

A baby’s cry.

Quickly putting his weapon away, there was no way he was pointing one at an infant, or a child, even if the child had been brainwashed into becoming one of The Master’s minions.

“We’re not going to hurt you,” he said, keeping his voice calm even as he wanted to grab the child and demand to know if she knew anything about Lacey.

Whoever was in the car didn’t make a sound, but he could hear heavy breathing.

Scared breathing.

The poor child was terrified.

Easing open the door, he moved a mere inch at a time as he slid into the driver’s seat, making sure to keep every movement slow and measured. Startling the child, who could very well be armed, was the last thing they needed.

“It’s going to be okay, we’re going to take you home, you’re going to be okay,” he soothed. Kids weren’t his thing. It wasn’t that he disliked them, he had several nieces and nephews, he just hadn’t spent much time with them. Three years of shutting himself off from his family was a lot of time to miss out on with them. But right now, he’d do whatever it took to get information on finding his girl.

“W-who are you?” came a small, scared voice, and a face peeked out at him.

“My name is Ben, but most people call me Rabbit.”

The face scrunched into the most adorable frown. “They call you Rabbit?”

“You like Beatrix Potter? Benjamin Bunny, I convinced my friends to change the nickname to rabbit rather than bunny, seemed a bit more manly.”

“Not to me. How come you need a nickname?” A little girl edged out, a baby wrapped in her arms, held tight against her chest.

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