Beau (The Mavericks Book 4)

by Dale Mayer

  “And the cell doors were locked?”

  She nodded. “No way I could open those doors. Whoever was put in those holes was not intended to be let out on their own.”

  Beau looked at Asher briefly. “One of us could go in there, get out through the door, and release the other women.”

  “Did you not just hear me?” she asked. “You can’t get through that door.”

  Asher just grinned and held up a small block of something.

  She looked at it and frowned. “What’s that?”

  “C-4,” he said. “It’s pretty easy for me to get a door open. I won’t need much. I can just pop it. Which one was farther away?”

  “Nania’s,” she said. She told him where it was, as much as she remembered. “But there’s a good chance she won’t get out again.”

  “Warning noted,” he said with a big grin. “I’ll let you know how I do.” And, with that, he disappeared into the darkness.

  Beau looked at Danica. “Are you doing okay?” he asked in a low voice.

  The look she shot him was a mixture of amusement, outrage, and frustration. “Of course I’m not doing okay,” she said. “And, at the same time, I am. I’m not a prisoner anymore. I’m here with you, safe and sound. I have something in my stomach, probably fear, but I don’t want it there. I want to be back at college where I belong. I had a job interview for Tuesday a week later. I don’t even know what day of the week it is.”

  “Today is Tuesday.”

  She stared at him, aghast. Her shoulders slumped. “Well, so much for that job.”

  “I’m sure there will be another one,” he said.

  She raised an eyebrow and stared him down.

  If there was one thing he liked in a woman, it was spirit. But normally he liked them a whole lot bigger than this pint-size woman. But she had gumption—or grit as his grandmother would call it—because she didn’t back down. She’d flung her arms around him several times, and yet, when she felt he needed a dressing-down, she gave it. He admired that.

  “Surely we’re not just sitting here and waiting, are we?”

  He stared at her steadily and said, “We aren’t.”

  Immediately her hands fisted on her hips.

  He just grinned. “Now that you’ve got some of your mojo back,” he said, “you’re fighting mad all the time.”

  “I’m not mad at all,” she said. “It’s up to the circumstances. If we were sitting in a bar, having a beer together, you wouldn’t be getting up and walking away from me all the time, would you? But, out here, it’s like you can’t stand to be around me.”

  He snorted at that. If he hadn’t caught the twinkle in her eyes, he’d have wondered if she was off her rocker. “Hey,” he said, “if we were sitting down and having a beer, you know I’d be right there. But, out here, I’ll leave you behind and out of trouble so I don’t have to worry about you getting shot.”

  “I can get shot here just as much as over there,” she snapped.

  That grin of his winked out again. “I need to do reconnaissance on the far side,” he said. “Fifteen minutes tops.” And, just like that, he disappeared into the trees without giving her a chance to argue.

  Beau knew Danica understood the drill by now. He’d get back as soon as he could, but taking her with him was dangerous and also made it harder on him. He could control the sounds of his own movements—he couldn’t control hers. And now that they knew what extra element of danger and weaponry these guys had, the pisser factor had gone up exponentially. He wanted to see if they had other defensive measures as well.

  Once again he faced the fence he had gone up and over via the lookout tower, but he had to be smarter, faster now. He thought about it, nodded, and quickly cut himself a path through the bottom of the fence where he could slip in and out. It wasn’t big enough to detect through the brush, but it was enough to enable them a quicker entry and exit.

  He also needed to know if it had been used. So he set up a rudimentary alarm for him. He gathered several sticks, quickly tying them with a vine, so, if somebody tried to pull the fence open, several of the sticks would cling together. It might not be enough of a warning signal, depending on how far away he was, but it was something.

  Still inside the compound, he headed around to the side where Asher had initially come in. It was still an area Beau didn’t know, and he didn’t like having blind spots. It was too easy for the unexpected to happen. From the corner of his eye, he saw Asher disappear down a hole. Beau stopped, measured off the distance, and shook his head, realizing just how much of this whole area had to be tunneled, then kept on running. On the far side, he saw several sheds that looked like greenhouse gardening sheds or utility sheds, and one large long hall-like building was nearby. He suspected more than any of the other constructs here that that one would hold the children.

  He slipped up to the side and pressed his ear against it, but he couldn’t hear anything. He crept under one of the windows, listening closely.

  Nothing again.

  With his ear pressed against the window frame, he shifted so he could look in ever-so-slightly. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the difference in lighting, but he noted bunks, dozens and dozens of bunks. And as far as he could see, every one of them was full. He studied the length of the bodies and then nodded. Probably a few older children were in there, but they appeared to be all younger children. He sank back down again and quickly sent off a message.

  If the authorities were to bomb this place, they had to avoid this particular area of the compound, but it was so damn close to everything else, meaning an air attack would not be possible, not unless they dropped in a SWAT team. Maybe law enforcement would have to bring in a couple military units. That was probably the best option.

  He quickly sent off another note to his Mavericks contact with a suggestion for just that, but he doubted the locals would listen to his suggestions. All Beau’s years in the military had taught him that nobody liked to hear suggestions from below. And by the time the suggestions made their way up to the brass, they had been changed so many times that the final message probably made no sense anyway. But then neither did most of the decisions that the brass made.

  Beau wasn’t sure about what he was doing here as a Maverick, but at least he got to do things his way. Considering which, he wondered about leading the children completely away from this compound. If they were out of the way, that would be a whole different issue.

  Just then he received a notification on his comm. Asher whispered, “I’m in.”

  “And out the door?”

  “Yeah. I’m counting five women who I can see or hear behind the other doors.”

  “Do you need a hand?”

  “I think we’ll have to lift them up via the grates and take them through the back fence at your entry point.”

  “I was wondering about that,” he said. “I was also thinking about disabling all the vehicles too.”

  “Go for it,” Asher said. “It’ll take me a bit to get to all these women.”

  “I also found the hall full of children,” Beau said. “Contemplating removing them all too, but I can’t do it quietly, and there’s no guarantee that they will come with me either.”

  “I’d say, leave the children for now,” Asher said, “but maybe you can lock them in? So they don’t come running out into a gunfight?”

  Beau contemplated that, and it did make some sense, as long as the lock wasn’t something easily released. He walked to the front double doors of the long hall building. Grabbing a bunch of sticks from the ground, he jammed them in between the bottom of the door and the threshold. As long as nobody burned the compound, he wouldn’t have to worry about the children running around and getting caught up in any gunfire.

  With that done, he quickly slipped to the side of the next building and headed to the front entrance of the compound. One large panel van, a three-ton truck, and several large passenger vans were all parked in the main driveway, ready to transport the
women—or to pick up more. Oddly enough, nobody stood guard. Beau shook his head. These cult guys were amateurs, too intent on taking out the known enemy—the escapee—without considering other threats. Beau quickly cut the fuel lines on the passenger vans and on the panel van. Three pickup trucks sat on the side. He lifted the hood on each and quickly disabled the engines.

  That left only one vehicle—a three-ton truck, probably something that they used for supplies, but he could just imagine what else it could be used for. He couldn’t get the hood open on that one, and the doors were locked, so he couldn’t get into the ignition to cut wires there. He dropped underneath and checked for electrical components and snipped wires where he could.

  With that done, just to make sure, he took a piece of pipe and jammed it into one of the tires. If the kidnappers did get out of the gate and down the road, their tire should go flat on them before too long.

  He quickly told Asher what he’d done.

  “How long until we get backup?” Asher said.

  “Two hours.”

  “Okay,” he said, “I think you and me should get these women out of here.”

  “I’m coming,” Beau said. He made his way back around to where he’d seen Asher drop down. “Where are you?”

  “I’ve got one of the women through. I’m just clearing her ties and moving the grate.”

  Crouching low to the ground, Beau quickly watched for movement at any of the grates until he saw Asher not far off. Beau came to another grate, where he would work this end and meet Asher in the middle. It took a bit to move this one because it had been pounded into one corner. With it up and over, Beau reached down, grabbed the woman’s hands, lifted her to the ground, and, putting a finger to his lips, whispered for her to lie quietly as he untied her bindings. Her eyes were huge, but she nodded.

  He went to the next grate and did the same. Very quickly he and Asher had five panicked and distraught women, all looking more like they wanted to run, as Nania had, instead of letting these guys save them.

  Just like that, Asher was beside him. “Let’s go,” he said, “and get them all back toward Danica.”

  Beau nodded. They got all the women to their feet, and, keeping low to the ground, he took them to where he’d cut the fence. It took a moment to ease each one of them through. They were all barefoot, wearing minimal clothing, and were obviously suffering from dehydration and likely lack of food.

  Finally they were on the other side of the fence, and he could reset his makeshift alarm there. He moved the women toward Danica. As he came around the bush, the two tied-up men were still there, but no Danica. He stiffened, his hand behind him sending a signal to Asher as Beau’s gaze quickly searched the area. Then he let out a hoarse whisper. “Danica?”

  “Oh, she’s here,” said a hard male voice. He stepped into view, holding Danica with an arm choking her breathing as she struggled. He held a handgun against her temple. “Nice of you to collect all the women in one place for us.”

  “Asher?” Beau asked softly in his comm. Just then Beau felt the gun in his kidney. The women were crying hysterically. The first gunman yelled, “Shut the fuck up.”

  All that did was send them into a bigger frenzy. The gunman behind him reached out and kicked one of the women.

  Beau didn’t even think. He grabbed that leg while still airborne, pulled it up, dropped the second gunman to the ground. When a gunshot fired in Beau’s direction, his attacker was taken out seconds afterward. Beau immediately rolled to save Danica and saw her attacker on the ground, dead. Danica stood there, shaking and trembling in pain and probably in shock, but still holding the handgun. He raced toward her, gathered her up carefully, and asked, “Are you okay?”

  She shook her head. “No,” she said, her teeth chattering. “I’m not okay.”

  He gave her a little shake. “I need you to calm down,” he said in a strong voice. “We’ve got enough panicking women right now.”

  “I’m not panicking,” she snapped, glaring up at him. “But I’ve never killed anyone before.”

  “Good.” He smirked at her. “And I much prefer the temper to the whining.”

  At that, she gasped in outrage.

  He leaned down, kissed her hard, and said, “That’s much better. Now, what the hell happened?”

  “I was just sitting there,” she said, “right there, and this guy came around the tree with a gun. As I tried to scream, he wrapped an arm around my throat, and that was it. I couldn’t do anything,” she admitted.

  “Were these two guys alone?” Asher asked. He had kept the women from dispersing, while they distracted the two gunmen from his presence. Now all five women huddled together on the ground, their arms wrapped around each other.

  She nodded. “At least I didn’t see anybody else.”

  Asher looked at Beau. “We need to get these women to the truck.”

  Beau contemplated their options and nodded. “We need backup, and we need it now.”

  “We can get a satellite feed running on this to make sure nobody from the cult escapes,” he said, “but what we also need are a couple hours so we can get the teams in position.”

  “I don’t think I can walk,” one of the women gasped. “They hurt my leg pretty bad.”

  Beau bent to check her leg, noting the gash dripping blood. He quickly reached into his pack, pulled out a quick-clot bandage, and tied up her wound to further slow the bleeding. “Yeah, Asher, she’ll have a hard time. But we still have to get her to the truck. I think it’s the safest place for them.”

  Asher nodded. He swung the wounded woman up into his arms, turned to look at the other four, and asked, “Can you guys move?”

  One, a redhead, nodded. “If it means getting the hell away from here, yes.”

  And, with that, the two men and six women raced across the country and away from the compound. Beau kept an eye on Danica. She was slowing down more than the others. Her adrenaline rush was wearing off, and it was much harder to keep going at full speed if you didn’t have a sense of panic. He reached out a hand, grabbed her, and tugged her forward.

  “I’m coming. I’m coming,” she gasped. “But being barefoot …”

  He didn’t say a word. He swung her and lifted her onto his back.

  She laughed. “You always treat me like I’m a toddler.”

  “Well, if the shoe fits.”

  She smacked him lightly on the cheek and then whispered against his ear, “Sorry.”

  “It’s the horseflies in this area,” he said, chuckling. “They’re hell on wheels.”

  “You damn well better believe it,” she said. “So, is this size of yours a blessing or a curse?”

  He had to admit, having her warm breath against his ear was not the kind of physical stimulation he needed right now. It sent all kinds of bedroom thoughts to his groin that he couldn’t deal with right now. There was something sexy, even sultry, about her voice. But, under these circumstances, it was so odd and at cross-purposes that he struggled to reconcile the two.

  “Both,” he said briefly. He studied the four women walking in front of him. Asher still carried the one with a gash in her leg and led the way, while the others followed. One, a much taller woman, about five-nine, limped. Beau reached out toward her and asked, “Are you hurt?”

  She looked at him, gasping. “Just weak,” she said, “and, like the woman on your back, no shoes.” The other woman had sandals, but one was broken. “Can you continue?”

  She gave him a smile. “Until my last breath and my body falls,” she promised. She picked up speed and surged ahead.

  He loved that. “It’s nice to see women who can follow orders.”

  “If the orders mean something,” Danica said, “we’re happy to follow them. It’s when we get all that senseless bullshit that we don’t have anything to do with those orders.”

  “Senseless bullshit?”

  “You know—stay home, chained to the kitchen, and make me a sandwich,” she said in imitation of a popular
meme.

  He could feel laughter rumbling up inside. What was it about this woman who could bring out his sense of humor even under the most deplorable conditions? There was something special about her. Even as he compared her to all the others in front of him now, the only one he was attracted to was the one on his back.

  Hell, even comparing her to his past girlfriends, she was still the one he was most attracted to. Hmmm.

  Normally he didn’t like tiny, petite women. He always felt like he would break them or that he couldn’t give them a real hug, but he’d hugged this one without worrying that she was so fragile that she would break. Problem was, she was the kind of girl you brought home to your mom. He wasn’t sure he was ready for that, especially not in his current stage of work and life. Being in a military family was hard on everybody, but, doing the work he did now, well, that was probably way worse. At least for his significant other.

  And he wasn’t ready to quit. Not yet. Maybe in ten years he could settle down, but she was the settling-down-now kind of woman.

  “What do you study in school?” he asked abruptly. He could feel her curious glance.

  “Marketing,” she said. “I’m an odd data person.”

  He considered that. “Interesting.”

  “It can be,” she said. “It can also be frustrating because I want to do what I want, but I don’t want the other parts of the job.”

  “Set up your own company,” he suggested.

  “I was thinking about it,” she said, “but you still need a place to live until you get good enough to make some decent money.”

  “I’m sure you’re good enough now,” he said, instinctively knowing that she was a person who gave 110 percent to any job.

  She chuckled, that same warm laughter now rolling through his insides and making his heart smile, and he realized how quickly he had become attached to her. Dangerously attached.

  “So says you,” she said. “I’m also not much of a city person. I’d prefer to be in the country.”

  “All the more reason,” he said, “to have your own company. You can live where you want to live and set it up.”