* * *
The rain hammered down, bouncing off the equipment and hitting the ground around them. They’d been called in on a missing persons case. They’d worked together with the local law enforcement and were now searching the surrounding fields and forests.
The missing person was a young African American woman, back home from college for the weekend. No one knew why she’d disappeared and her family was frantic.
It had been five days, and Jared could see the locals and the police losing hope. Still, he and the rest of Rescue Inc carried on, never giving up. She was coming home one way or the other, Jared just hoped the outcome was that she made it home to her family alive and well.
He trudged through the wet and muddy fields, adjusting the first aid kit he carried on his back. He glanced to his left and right, seeing the line of people that stretched out alongside him before looking ahead again.
Staring at the mud, he grunted when his boot got stuck and had to pull it free.
“Shit, the weather’s worsening,” Ale muttered beside him, and Jared nodded in agreement.
They had to find her soon. In this weather, she wouldn’t last much longer if she was alone, injured and exposed to the elements.
He heard muttering to his right and looked over at Miguel Gomez, who looked as miserable as he felt. Miguel was new to the team, coming in to cover for Kerrie, but he’d fit right in.
Strong and compassionate but with a will of steel, when Miguel set his mind to something, it was hard to change his mind. His bleached blond hair lay flat to his head, the strands dripping water to soak the coat he wore.
Everyone was wet, but they continued regardless. They had to find the missing woman. Jared pushed his discomfort aside and reached for Sacha, needing his mate’s soothing touch.
Sach.
Have you found her?
No, not yet.
The news said it’s getting worse out there.
It is. I don’t know how long we have before they call the search off.
They wouldn’t.
They would if they think it’s too dangerous to risk our lives.
Her poor family.
I know, Sach. I just needed to hear your voice.
I’m always here.
Speak later. Love you.
Love you.
Jared continued until they reached the edge of the field and then gathered on the road. The officer with them was talking on his radio, and from the look on his face, Jared knew they were being called home.
“Shit,” he muttered, running a hand through his soaked hair and shaking the water off it.
“It was to be expected with these conditions,” Miguel said in a low voice. “I don’t like it. Don’t like her being alone.”
“Me either, but it’s their call.”
Jared shifted his bag again then decided to take it off. Shrugging it free, he dropped it to the ground and with his hands on his hips, he twisted his back, easing the ache in the muscles.
They’d been there for two days helping with the search, and when Jared had first boarded the plane, he’d had high hopes that they would find the missing woman quickly.
The local police had been grateful that they had come and when he saw the search area, he understood why. The area was so vast.
The town had fields, valleys and forests surrounding it, so there were multiple places she could be, as well as numerous empty cabins. Each one had to be searched and cleared.
They’d split up into search teams, with Jared, Ale, and Miguel working the fields and valleys, but the task was huge. There was no denying that, but still, he thought with the locals helping who knew the area that they would be successful.
Yet, here they stood two days later and five days since she’d been reported missing. Hope was disappearing, and it was disappearing quickly.
The officer turned and shouted, “We’ve been called back. The weather is deteriorating. We’ll try again tomorrow.”
Jared heard Ale talking behind him, and one glance at his face told him that Chester’s team had also received the news.
“They been called back too?” Miguel asked.
“Looks like it.”
With a heavy sigh, Jared lifted his pack onto his back, grunting under the weight, and walked back towards the approaching vehicles.
“Where are Tank and Dodge?” he asked Ale when he caught up with them.
“Still with Chester. Kicking up a stink about being pulled back.”
Jared grunted. “Sounds about right.”
“Chester’s pissed. They had almost crossed off all the abandoned properties on the list, and he wanted to have that completed before returning.”
“Makes sense. You could start at a new location rather than returning to an old one.”
“Well, he’s telling them what he thinks.” Ale gave him a vicious grin which Jared returned.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t want to be on the end of one of his tirades.”
“Bad?” Miguel asked.
“Volcanic,” Jared said. “He’s slow to blow, but when he does...” Jared lifted his hands and mimicked a bomb going off.
“Ouch.” Miguel grinned. “I wouldn’t want to be around for that.”
“Me either.”
They walked on in silence until Ale’s cell rang. He answered it, frowning the longer he listened. “When?” There was a long pause before he asked, “How? How didn’t you know?”
Both Jared and Miguel stopped walking, and the three of them stood in a circle as the other searchers walked past.
Ale raised his eyes to Jared and mouthed ‘shit.’
“What,” he whispered, but Ale shook his head.
When he eventually finished the call, he said, “Don’t ask me for the details because I don’t have them, but one of the abandoned properties wasn’t empty. The woman wasn’t missing either, she was kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend.”
“She still alive?” Miguel asked.
“Unknown at this time, but her kidnapper is still there.” He sighed deeply, shaking his head. “He has Chester.”
Chapter Eleven
“What?” Jared stared open-mouthed at Ale. How was Chester involved?
“He attempted to negotiate her release, but from what I’ve been told, he took Chester hostage.”
“How? I mean, Chester isn’t stupid. Why would he do something like that?”
“I don’t know. In fact, the intel they’ve given me is shit, and I think they’ve fucked up.”
Miguel stepped closer, crossing his arms over his chest. “I thought the ex had been cleared from the investigation.”
Ale grunted. “Yeah, his brother’s an officer.”
“Fuck.” Jared kicked the ground and stared out over the fields surrounding them. “What now? Are we going over there?”
Ale stared at him. “Definitely. Let’s borrow one of these trucks.”
Both Jared and Miguel grinned. Borrow wasn’t what Ale meant. The three of them marched over, and Ale grabbed a set of keys from one of the officers. They ignored his shout of protest and got in. Ale quickly drove away, ignoring everyone around them.
“Where are they?” Miguel asked, looking at the map.
Ale glanced at it and pointed to a wooded area before looking back at the road. “Here. There’s a cabin there that’s apparently been empty for years.”
“Perfect location. Hidden by woods, stream nearby, hardly any foot traffic,” Miguel murmured.
Jared grunted when the truck hit a deep pothole. “This road is shit.”
“Try driving on it.”
Ale’s hands gripped the steering wheel, the knuckles turning white. The windshield wipers were going as fast as they could, but hardly made any dent in the rain that fell on the window. It was torrential now, visibility drastically reduced.
Jared grimaced, staring at the sheet of rain that poured around them. “Shit, Ale. We can barely see. How much further?”
“Not far now. We’re on the main road leading up
to it, and then it’s on foot from there.”
After another ten minutes, they finally arrived and the three of them armed themselves with Ale saying, “If anything happens, we take the bastard out.”
The road—well, muddy path—wound through the trees, and they slowed down when they heard a voice up ahead.
“Stan. You know me. We’ve known each other for years. Release Serena and Chester, and we can all go home.”
Jared looked at Ale and Miguel.
“That’s not good,” Miguel muttered. “He shouldn’t be negotiating. He’s too close.”
“If this Stan is an officer’s brother, then they’re all too close. Ale?”
“Let’s move forward, cautiously. We don’t know what we’re walking into. Stay in the cover of the trees and scope the area, then we’ll plan.”
All three moved slowly, watching where they stepped, and once they were close enough, they squatted down. Jared stared at the scene in front of him, one thing apparent.
“There are too many people.”
“Our guys are withdrawing and will rendezvous with us here, but we can’t do much about the rest.”
“There must be twenty at least,” Miguel whispered. “Can we radio one and relay a message? Too many will agitate him especially if he knows them.”
“I’ll try to get closer. Maybe I can catch the attention of the closest officer and advise them to pull some of their men back.”
Ale slowly crawled forward, and from Jared’s position he saw Ale motion to one of the men, but he waved him away. Ale tried again, and the officer eventually stepped closer.
Jared heard the whispered conversation and grimaced when the officer left. Ale crawled back, a look of anger on his face.
“They won’t leave. The man is there is one of theirs.”
“What?” Miguel asked. “I thought he was the brother of an officer.”
“Seems he’s recently joined the local force.”
Jared shook his head. “Fuck, Ale. What are we going to do now?”
“Hey,” Donnie muttered as he and Michaela arrived. “This shit has gone south. Fuckers won’t listen.” He shook his head, spraying water everywhere.
“They don’t want to listen, D,” Mich muttered, squatting next to them.
Ale asked, “What do you know?”
Donnie snorted. “Twenty-two local law enforcement surrounds the cabin-”
“Twenty-two?” Miguel interrupted, shock written all over his face.
“Overkill, I know.” Donnie glared over at the scene in front of him. “Chester attempted to negotiate, but you can imagine how that went with that crowd out there.”
“How did this Stan get him?” Ale moved closer, his voice low.
“Chester was attempting a swap. Him for her. He could see how this was playing out. The guy’s unstable.”
“Weapons?”
“The kidnapper has a Glock, a Sig and a shotgun, possibly a Mossberg. Hard to tell at the distance we were, but he’s heavily armed. I imagine he’ll have plenty of ammo too.”
“Fuck, it’s bad out there,” Michaela added. “Tension is at a breaking point.”
“Mich,” Ale turned to Michaela. “Did you scope out the back?”
“Yeah. Two windows and a door. I’d say from the looks of it, the windows are boarded. He planned this.”
“Distraction at the front, in through the back?” Jared asked the group.
“Shit.” Ale ran a hand over his face. “What choice do we-”
The sounds of shots stopped him, and everyone launched from their positions and ran over to the cabin and the officers shooting at it.
“Mich, Donnie. Hit the back!” Ale shouted, and the team divided up, Donnie and Mich heading to the rear of the property, with Jared, Ale and Miguel running to the front.
They dropped down behind a cruiser for cover and Ale shouted over to the closest officer. “What the fuck is going on? We’ve got a man in there!”
“He just started shooting.”
The officer glanced at the gun in his hands and Jared watched him straighten up, turn and point his pistol over the hood of the car and aim at the cabin.
“Don’t shoot. Everyone stop firing!” Ale screamed.
It took a few seconds for him and the sheriff in charge to gain control, and when the shooting stopped, the silence was deafening.
Over the earpiece, Jared heard Donnie’s voice. “Man down. Need medical and helicopter out.”
“Who?” Ale asked, staring at Jared. They both knew who was down. The sound of Donnie’s voice told them.
“Chester. Chest. No exit wound.”
There was a moment of stunned silence before Jared shot up and ran over to the front door of the cabin, ignoring the shouts behind him.
Once inside, he pushed emotions aside and knelt next to Chester. Michaela already had bandages over the wound, attempting to stem the flow of blood pouring out.
Jared quickly scanned the room and winced when he saw the woman, lying dead in the corner.
“Possibly dead forty-eight hours,” Michaela informed him.
“Let’s roll him, so I can check his back.”
Between them, they rolled Chester on to his side, who grunted in pain but said nothing else. His back was clear, which meant the bullet hadn’t passed through.
“Bullet’s still in.”
“No shit, Jared,” Chester muttered, coughing up blood.
“Donnie. ETA?” Jared asked, working on Chester to stem the blood flow.
“Chopper’s five out.”
“Let’s get him as stable as possible and ready for extraction.”
They worked quickly and efficiently, hearing the sounds of the helicopter approaching.
The next few minutes were a blur until the paramedics came in and took over. Jared passed all the details over and stepped back, letting them do their job.
“I’m going with him,” Ale shouted over the noise, and within seconds, the helicopter was airborne.
Jared glanced at the scene around him then walked away, the others following. He needed to get to the hospital. They had a man down.
* * *
Sacha read the papers in front of him when he was suddenly overwhelmed by shock and fear. His heart raced in his chest, sweat breaking out over his skin, and he gasped loudly, pushing away from the table and trying to stand.
“Sacha.”
Sacha shook his head, stumbled a few steps and managed to say, “It’s not me.”
Alessio rushed over to him, grabbing his arm and helping him to stand. “Is it Jared? Has he been injured?”
“No, I don’t think it’s him. I need to call him.”
Sacha rummaged through his jacket, trying to get to his cell and was vaguely aware of everyone leaving the conference room until only he and Alessio remained.
He almost cried. “I can’t find my cell.”
“Sacha. Stop and think.”
“Shut up, Father. I need to-”
Alessio spun Sacha around and shook him. “Listen to me.”
“What the fuck-”
Alessio tapped Sacha’s head. “Talk to your mate.”
Sach closed his eyes and slumped against Alessio. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled into Alessio’s jacket.
“Understandable. Now speak to him.”
Taking a deep breath, Sacha spoke to Jared.
Jared. What’s wrong?
Chester’s shot. Can’t talk right now. Will talk later.
Opening his eyes, he looked at Alessio. “Chester’s been shot. He couldn’t tell me more. I think it’s bad.”
“Do you know where they are?”
“He mentioned Tennessee when he left. A missing woman.” Sacha grabbed his hair and groaned. “I don’t ask him a lot about it. I just let him do his job.”
“Don’t worry. Jared is uninjured, and he’ll contact you when he knows more. Go back to your office and wait. I don’t want you going home right now until we know for certain.”
&nb
sp; Nodding, Sacha said, “Okay, but I don’t think I’m going to be doing much today.”
“Forget about work. Work on your bond, send your love to Jared, and let him know he isn’t alone right now.”
Nodding again, he let Alessio lead him out of the conference room and back to his office. He slumped in his chair and rubbed a hand over his face.
“Do you need me to stay with you?”
Sacha smiled and looked over at Alessio. “No, Father, but thank you.”
“Call me, if you need me.”
“I will.”
Alessio bent and kissed his forehead. “It will be alright, figlio mio.”
As soon as Alessio left, Sacha stood. He couldn’t sit down, he needed to be moving. He paced his office, watching the clock. The seconds dragged by and he growled in frustration. Come on, Jared.
Sacha.
Sacha almost slumped in relief when Jared contacted him.
Jared. What’s happened?
Cluster fuck of a situation. The missing woman was kidnapped by her ex. The ex is law enforcement and had been ruled out as involved, but he had her.
Shit.
Yeah. Found them in an old cabin and somehow Chester was in there with them. Don’t know full details yet, but someone fired a shot and then everyone was shooting. Chester took one to the chest.
How is he?
In surgery. Doesn’t look good.
What about his mate?
He doesn’t know Chester’s been shot. I’ve left him a message to contact me ASAP.
Have they bonded?
No.
At that moment, Alessio walked in, and Sacha tapped his head. Alessio nodded and stood waiting, hands on the back of the chair in front of him.
Wait. Father’s just walked in. Let me speak to him.
“Father. Chester’s been shot in the chest, and it doesn’t look good.”
“Mated?”
“He has a mate, but they haven’t bonded.”
“Have they exchanged blood?” Alessio walked closer and stood next to Sacha.
“I’ll ask.”
Jared. Have they exchanged blood? Chester and his mate?
No, why?
I don’t know. Father asked me to ask you. Wait a sec, and I’ll find out.
Rescue Inc Collection Vol 1: Mate of Mine & Forever Mine Page 17
