“Do you have your gun with you?” Montana asked.
“Right here.” Asia patted her ankle.
Montana opened up her dresser drawer and retrieved a semi-automatic weapon. She double-checked to make sure the safety was on and slipped it in her purse.
“Your car or mine?” Asia asked.
“Yours, because speed is of the essence.”
Asia tried Mike again but he still didn’t answer. Montana locked up and hopped in the passenger seat of Asia’s sports car.
“Where are we going by the way?” she asked Asia.
“The outskirts of Dallas. Vanna’s phone was tracked to this area on the other side of Mesquite.”
“Off Highway 80?” Montana asked.
“Yes. Apparently, that’s where her and Troy are being held.”
“I hope they can get them out in time.”
“Me too. Now buckle up because I’m not stopping for anyone.”
Montana made sure her seatbelt was secure and held on for dear life as Asia made her way through traffic on Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway.
6
Sean used hand signals to his team so as to not alert the guards who were watching the fort. The fort looked like a huge compound surrounded by bob-wired fences with guards carrying assault rifles. Sean cut into one of the fences and made an entry way for him and his team. He snuck up on one of the guards, placed his arm around his neck, and twisted it. Sean didn’t want him to make a loud thud so he carefully laid him down. This was part of the mission he didn’t like. Killing never got easy. But it was either kill or be killed. Sean pointed toward the right as Mike followed suit with one of the other guards.
Normally, Sean would wait until nightfall to try to perform a rescue mission, but that luxury of time he didn’t have. If he didn’t get to Troy soon, he was afraid his brother-by-another-mother would be forever lost to him. Failure was not an option, as Sean blocked out any negative thinking and they continued to work their way outside of the view of the security cameras. He snatched up the walkie-talkie the guard had and continued to what appeared to be a huge warehouse.
Sean waited for Rex to pick the lock on the door. With another hand motion, Sean and his team made their way inside. Gunshots started ringing as soon as they entered. Sean barely missed being hit by one of the bullets.
“Hold them off,” Sean yelled.
Sean tried not to shoot blindly but bullets were flying from everywhere. He searched each one of the small rooms that looked like cells, hoping he would find Troy or Savannah, but no such luck.
“The back. Just saw some go through the back,” Mike yelled.
Sean caught a quick glimpse of a woman, who he assumed was Savannah, as she was pushed out the back door. Sean yelled, “Mike, we got to get to them before they get away.”
Before he could get to the door, there was a loud explosion. Sean and Mike both fell back. Building fragments were everywhere. Sean cursed under his breath as he found strength and ran out the door.
A green Hummer jetted through the open field. He yelled in the small microphone clipped to his collar, “They are mobile. You guys head them off.”
Fortunately for Sean, some of their men were waiting outside of the compound. Mike limped out behind Sean.
“Man, are you okay?” Sean asked.
“Go. I’ll be all right,” Mike assured him.
Sean was torn. He didn’t want to leave Mike.
Mike shouted again, “Go.”
Sean yelled, “I’ll send one of the guys to pick you up in front. You don’t want to walk too much on that leg.”
Sean ran to the front and jumped in one of the cars. He didn’t know who it belonged to but fortunately for him the keys were still in the ignition. He put the car in reverse and shifted the car in the direction of the Hummer. “Do you still have them in sight?” Sean asked Rex.
Rex responded, “Yes, but they are about to go head-on with this red sports car.”
“Do whatever you can, but do not, and I repeat, do not let them out of your sight. I’m right behind y’all.”
Sean pushed the gas pedal to the floor as the dirt behind him made a dust storm appear as he rushed through the wooded area. “Are they crazy?” Sean asked out loud as he saw the sports car and Hummer come so close to colliding.
The red sports car spun, missing the Hummer. Sean jumped on his brakes to avoid hitting it. The car he was in spun several times. When his car came to a complete stop, the engine cut off and then there’s nothing.
“Sean.” He heard a familiar voice call out his name.
To his surprise it was Montana and Asia. Several questions went through his mind, but he didn’t have time to address them. He needed to get back behind Rex and that Hummer. “Asia, I hope you don’t mind me driving your car. Hop in the back. Troy and Savannah were in that Hummer.”
Asia didn’t protest. Sean jumped behind the wheel and was soon back in pursuit. He called Rex. “Are you still on their tail?”
Rex didn’t respond. “Rex, are you still on their tail?” he repeated. No response. Sean hit the steering wheel several times.
“Hey, watch it. This my car,” Asia yelled.
The sight of the car Rex was driving wrapped around a tree shut Asia up. Montana yelled, “Oh, my God.”
Sean jumped on the brakes and all of their bodies jerked forward. The Hummer was nowhere in sight. Sean hopped out of Asia’s car and ran to the other vehicle. Rex’s bloody body and the body of one of his other colleagues were in the front seat. He reached through the broken glass and checked each one of their pulses but felt nothing.
Mike pulled up in another car with some of their other men. Each was upset at the demise of the comrades.
“I don’t know how I’m going to tell his mother,” Sean said.
Sean didn’t know when Montana had gotten out of the car, but she rubbed her hand on his back in a comforting manner.
“I’m sorry to hear about your friend.”
Sean didn’t mean to but he jerked back. “What are y’all doing here? This could have been you wrapped around the tree. I told you to stay at home.”
Montana held her head in shame. Sean reached for her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell. But seriously, I didn’t want to worry about you too.”
“Savannah called us. We tried to reach Mike but we kept getting his voice mail.” Montana looked at Mike who looked beat up and bruised. “Is he going to be okay?”
“He will be. I’m going to insist that he gets some medical treatment.”
Asia was assisting Mike as he limped back to the other car.
Sean heard Montana say, “Asia, I’m going to stay with Sean. Go get Mike some medical help.”
“Thanks, but you could have gone with them,” Sean said.
“No. I’m not going to let you deal with this on your own.”
Sean felt like he failed Troy and now Montana. The mission should have been simple. Now they were gone.
“I know my sister must really care about Mike because she left me the keys to her baby,” Montana said, trying to lighten up the situation.
“Our cleanup crew will be here in a minute and then I can think about what my next move is going to be.”
“If we would have known Savannah and Troy were in there, we wouldn’t have moved,” Montana said.
“No, you did the right thing. I just don’t know if we’ll have luck finding their location again.”
“Well, maybe they left some clues back where they were being kept.”
“You sure you haven’t done these types of operations before?” Sean asked, knowing the answer that this wasn’t something that Montana normally did, but he just wanted to see Montana’s pretty smile. Her smile made him almost forget the issues that were staring him in the face.
7
Montana watched Sean direct his team as they eased the bodies of the dead men out of the car. They wanted to clean things up before the state troopers arrived on the scene. Montana wiped away a few te
ars as she saw the pain of loss in Sean’s eyes. This was a simple diversion from her own problems. She closed her eyes and inhaled and exhaled.
Sean eased in Asia’s driver’s seat. “I got a team checking out the warehouse. We were this close to rescuing them.”
Montana patted his right hand with her left. “You’re doing your best. I know you are. I’m not upset with you.”
“I’m glad you’re not, because I am.”
Sean’s phone rang and without hesitating, he started talking to someone else, so Montana remained quiet. She didn’t know who it was on the other end but she could hear Sean’s end of the conversation.
“I will find you and when I do, I’m going to deal with you personally. No intercessors,” Sean snapped.
Montana wondered who he was talking to.
He continued to say, “If one hair on either one of their bodies is harmed, consider yourself a dead man.” Sean ended the call. “If I didn’t know before, I now know for a fact who has them. They are now demanding money for their safe return.”
Montana must have been holding her breath the whole time because she sighed. “How much?”
“Ten million.”
Montana’s mouth dropped. There was no way she would be able to come up with that much money. Tears started streaming down her face as she thought about the demise of Savannah.
Sean squeezed her hand. He was the one now comforting her. “I promise you I will get them back.”
“If I lose Savannah, I don’t know if I can go on.” Montana’s lips shivered as she talked.
“I’m going to have you drop me off at my place so I can get cleaned up and go tell Rex’s mother about her son.”
“I’m being so selfish. I’m sorry.”
“No. You’re very calm under the circumstances. I commend you for that.”
“Why don’t you get cleaned up and I’ll wait on you and go with you to tell his mom. Maybe seeing a woman with you will help ease the situation.”
“I’ll think about it.”
An hour later, Montana and Sean were knocking on the door of Rex’s mother. The quaint, small house had a beautiful arrangement of colorful flowers adorning the lawn.
“Sean, it’s been a long time.” Rex’s mother had aged gracefully. Her salt and pepper gray hair was pulled back in a bun and she didn’t have many wrinkles. “And you’ve brought your girlfriend with you.”
“I’m not . . .” Montana started to say, but caught herself.
“Come on in, you two, and have a seat.” She placed one of her hands in the pocket of her pink floral house dress.
Montana remained quiet and followed Sean and Rex’s mother into her living room. The sofa still had the plastic on it. Montana took a seat next to Sean.
“Mrs. Titus, I don’t know how to say this.”
Mrs. Titus removed a handkerchief from her housecoat pocket. “He’s gone isn’t he?”
Sean shook his head up and down. “It was instant. He didn’t suffer.”
“I knew this day was coming. Just hoped I would be old and senile by then.” She attempted to laugh as the tears started streaming down her face.
Montana got up to comfort her. “If there’s anything I can do, let me know.”
Mrs. Titus said, “Can you hand me the phone off the table?”
Montana looked up in the direction she was looking, went and retrieved the cordless phone, and handed it to her.
“I’m going to walk you two out first.” She stood up while gripping the phone.
Montana looked at Sean and pleaded with her eyes not to leave. Sean said, “We’ll remain here until you can get someone else here.”
“I’m okay, honey. I’m going to make a few calls and take this time by myself to reflect on some things. You know once I call and tell everyone I’m not going to get a moment of peace.”
“But—” Montana said.
“No buts. Dear, you’re a sweetheart. Sean, you’re lucky to have this woman.” Mrs. Titus took Montana’s hand and placed it in Sean’s. She said, “Now you two run along. Sean, have his body sent to Ledbetter Funeral Home.”
Sean and Montana hugged her on their way out the door.
“Are you sure it’s okay to leave her by herself?” Montana asked as they walked to Sean’s car.
“She’s taking it better than I thought she would.”
“My baby.” Mrs. Titus’s loud wail could be heard from where they stood.
Montana’s heart ached for her. One of the neighbors walked to the fence. “I just heard her scream. What’s going on?”
Sean asked, “Are you close to her?”
“Yes, Betty and I have been friends for over thirty years.”
“She’s going to need you. Rex was killed today.”
“Oh my God. Betty, I’m coming,” the elderly woman cried out.
Sean and Montana sat in the car until they saw the elderly woman enter Mrs. Titus’s home. Silence filled the car.
8
Sean didn’t have time to deal with Rex’s death right now. He had to figure out a way to avoid any more deaths. Guilt tugged at him as he tried to play back what he could have done better so that Rex could still be alive.
Montana said, “There’s nothing you could have done. It was an accident. As fast as they were going, the car must have skidded when they went around that curve.”
Sean knew Montana was right but it didn’t stop him from feeling guilty. He was determined, now more than ever, to find Troy. He couldn’t let Rex’s death be in vain.
Sean glanced at Montana who was, now, on her cell phone. The compassion she showed Rex’s mom touched him deeply. He was not one to believe in love at first sight, but he could actually say he knew he fell in love with Montana the day he laid eyes on her.
The problem lay in the fact that he was not sure it was possible for her to reciprocate that love. The same compassion she showed Rex’s mom she had displayed to him, so he knew it was just in her nature. That he was no one special was his life’s greatest fear. No one would ever feel that he was special. His mom abandoned him when he was a baby and if it hadn’t been for his maternal grandmother and grandfather, he would have been a ward of the state. Sean never knew his dad. Major, Montana’s daddy, seemed to take on the father image in his life when he joined the military. He hoped one day, when things were back to normal—as normal as could be with his job—that Montana would see him as someone special and give him the opportunity to show her how special she was to him.
“That was Asia. Mike’s okay. They wanted to keep him overnight for observation, but you know how stubborn he can be.”
“From what I hear, your sister can be pretty stubborn too.”
“That we both can agree on.” Montana chuckled.
Sean drove to his place and pulled up beside Asia’s car. “Montana, thanks for going with me. I really appreciate it.”
“There’s no way I would let you go by yourself.”
Montana clicked the alarm off and stood by Asia’s car.
Sean’s phone buzzed. He read the text. “Look. I got to get to the office. I’ll call you.”
“Is it about my sister?” Montana asked.
“Yes.”
“Then I’m coming with you,” she responded.
Sean didn’t have time to go back and forth with Montana. “Come on.”
Montana hit the alarm button on her keychain. She got back in the car with Sean and he pulled off.
Boom! The sound startled them both. They looked up and Asia’s car blew up into little pieces.
Montana’s hand couldn’t stop shaking. “If I didn’t come with you, I would be dead.”
Sean called the office. After telling them what just happened, he said, “Have the squad come scan for any more devices.” He gave out some instructions and then addressed Montana. “Whoever set the bomb up in the car assumed that it was my car.”
“What if Asia or I would have driven the car? We would have been blown to pieces.”
&nbs
p; “I got two hours to figure out our next move. We will not be giving them ten million dollars.”
Montana wasn’t paying Sean any attention. Her ear was glued to her phone. “Bad news, Asia. Is your insurance up to date?”
Sean couldn’t hear Asia’s response. Montana said from her end, “I don’t know if someone bombing your car is part of your policy plan but I hope so because your car just blew up.”
Asia’s voice got louder because Sean could hear her from the driver’s seat.
“It’s at Sean’s place. His team is headed over. Police report. Hmm. I don’t know.” Montana addressed Sean. “Can she get a police report for her insurance company?”
“I’ll make sure she gets one,” Sean responded. Sean called one of his employees. “Make sure there’s an official filing so the owner of the car can file her insurance.”
Sean was used to multitasking but it was becoming difficult to concentrate as he drove away toward the office. He tried to figure out what his next move would be, and he wondered what was on Montana’s mind.
Montana remained quiet the rest of the ride into the office located on the outskirts of Dallas. From outward appearances, it looked like any other office building. Sean gave the password to the guard at the gate. “This is Red. She’ll be our guest.”
Montana spoke for the first time since getting off the phone with Asia. “I haven’t heard that code name since you guys trained me.”
“I know. You actually turn red when you’re excited or upset,” Sean said. He wished he could have taken it back. He didn’t want Montana to know he had paid that much attention to her.
“Asia’s upset at me about her car. But I know she’s just taking out her frustrations on me because of Savannah’s situation.”
“I guess it’s times like these I’m glad to be an only child.”
“Being an only child I’m sure has its perks, but I wouldn’t trade my sisters in for all the money in the world.” Sadness filled Montana’s eyes.
Sean would do whatever he needed to do to replace that look in her eyes. Sean found a parking spot in the covered parking area. Confident they were now safe and secure since they were on Sean’s turf, Sean held Montana’s door open and she followed him to the elevator. He entered a code and they stepped into the elevator. When they made it to the basement, there were about ten other people in the room.
Montana's Way Page 3
