Ultimate Prey (Book 3 Ultimate CORE) (CORE Series)

by Kristine Mason

  “Yeah, but don’t you want to go there? After what we saw during the Skype call, I’d think—”

  “We are not going back to the house,” Ryan said, shifting the truck into PARK.

  “I was asking Lola, not you.”

  Ryan killed the ignition, but didn’t make a move to exit the truck. He stared forward, his strong jaw clenched, his shoulders tensed.

  “Aren’t we getting out?” she asked.

  “Not until you explain to your agents what you and I have already discussed. I’m not going into the Glades with a team divided.”

  He was absolutely right. She cleared her throat and tossed her ponytail over her shoulder. “Ryan is in charge. He knows this place, we don’t. We do as he says and follow his lead.” She shifted her gaze to the Russian. “Vlad, I know you don’t work for CORE, but since the agency is compensating you for your time, I expect you to listen to Ryan, as well. Are we clear?”

  “Whose call is this?” Harrison asked.

  “Mine. I want my mom out of this mess, and Ryan’s the only one who can help bring her home.” When she pulled on the door handle, the truck’s interior light came on, and she looked to Ryan, who stared at her. Shadows hid what she suspected were blue eyes, but not the appreciation softening his jaw. In that moment, her resentment and earlier humiliation melted away, leaving only her fear, anger and gratitude.

  This should have never had happened. Her mom and Ian should be enjoying a relaxing vacation. She should be back in Chicago, baking frozen pies for Jessica and Dante’s Thanksgiving dinner. Ryan had mentioned his mom. Maybe he’d had plans for the holiday, too. Whether he had or not, she would forever be in his debt and would always be grateful to him for placing his own life in danger to help her save her mom. “Are we ready?” she asked.

  Ryan smiled as he opened his door. “Bring your bags. We’ll stow them on the boat.”

  The reminder of the boat had her running a shaky hand from her forehead down her cheek. Ignoring her churning stomach, she exited the truck. A slight breeze carried a mixture of odors. Not stagnant water or even salt water, but vegetation, maybe fish and definitely tar from the asphalt parking lot.

  “Vlad like Ryan truck. What it called?” he asked, lighting a cigarette.

  Ryan already had the bag she’d brought with her, and was closing the back gate.

  “It’s a Chevy Suburban. And I don’t care if you smoke, just clean up your butts.”

  The twenty-year-old truck had been outfitted with tires that raised the entire frame at least an additional foot off the ground. Climbing into the passenger side had been like climbing onto a mechanical bull.

  “Vlad no litter insect.” He took a long drag, then blew a ring of smoke. “Vlad like this Suburban truck. Maybe when—”

  “It’s litter bug, not insect. And don’t get any ideas about buying a truck,” Harrison said, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. “After what happened with the Toronado, I’m not springing for another car.”

  “Why Harry hurt Vlad so? Vlad love that car. When Misty took baseball bat to windshield, it broke Vlad heart.”

  “You and Misty are breaking my bank account.”

  “Can we please remember why we’re here?” Lola looked between Vlad and Harrison, who both nodded. She then turned to Ryan. “Lead the way.”

  Light from the lampposts touched on the tall green shrubs in front of Ryan’s Suburban. Water lapped from the other side. As she followed behind Ryan, a high-pitched chorus of katydids and other crickets, along with baying sheep, grew louder. “Is there a farm near here?” she asked.

  Ryan glanced over his shoulder. “No farms.”

  “Then why do I hear sheep?”

  “We feed them to the alligators to keep them around for the tourists to see.”

  She stopped. “That’s horrible.”

  “Not really,” Vlad said, taking another drag. “Sheep stupid animal. Smell bad, too.”

  Horrified that Ryan would condone such a thing, and irritated with the Russian for going along with it, she said, “I don’t care if they smell. It’s cruel and—

  Ryan chuckled. “Lola, I’m kidding. Those are frogs. not sheep. I’ve lived here for so long, I don’t even notice them anymore. It’s like white noise.”

  “It’s annoying,” Harrison said.

  “It a shame.” Vlad snuffed his cigarette in a sand-filled can setting near the edge of the parking lot. “Sheep used to terrorize young Vlad on grandfather farm.”

  Ryan looked at the Russian, then started laughing. “Now that’s something I would’ve loved to have seen. Come on inside.”

  A sconce glowed on the side of the building above a weathered sign that read, Cap’n Ryan’s Airboat Tours. Ryan took several steps onto a large porch filled with picnic tables, then opened the door. “There’s a bathroom to the left. I suggest you use it before we go. There aren’t any rest areas where we’re heading.”

  When Lola entered the darkened room, she took a quick step back, slamming into Vlad, who latched onto her upper arm and quickly dragged her away from the door. The room lit up with fluorescent lights and Ryan’s laughter.

  “It’s not real,” Ryan said, still laughing. “Sorry, I’m so used to it, I forget it’s there. This is where tourists come to sign up for a tour and hopefully buy a souvenir. Over there is our ice cream and soda shop.”

  She looked to the life size replica of a Florida alligator, then to Vlad.

  “Vlad not amused.”

  “Lola isn’t either,” she said, relaxing.

  Harrison chuckled. “I am. You two should’ve seen your faces. Priceless.”

  Ryan opened another door. “Sadie, Daddy’s home.”

  She hadn’t pegged Ryan as the father type, and hadn’t noticed a ring on his finger when he’d been driving. Single dad? If so, this place probably wasn’t the best environment for a kid. Who was she to judge, though? She’d grown up on studio lots, around actors and actresses who had no problem behaving inappropriately in front of a kid.

  Since she hadn’t seen Ryan in any real light, she hadn’t been able to catch a good look at him, either. Curious about the man who was helping them, she slipped free from Vlad’s hold and followed after Ryan. As she moved through the room, she glanced at the racks of t-shirts, stands of postcards and key chains, along with glass cases filled with gaudy souvenirs. She made her way around the cash register and into an office.

  An adorable Golden Retriever stood on its hind legs, pressing its front paws against Ryan’s chest. A rather big chest, and she couldn’t help noticing the way his t-shirt fit him snug, especially around his biceps. She also realized his hair was lighter than she’d first thought. More dark blond than brown, and sun-streaked. Ryan gave the back of the dog’s ears a scratch, then said, “Sadie, down.”

  The dog immediately obeyed, then trotted over to her, tail wagging furiously. She bent and pet the dog’s soft fur. “Hi, pretty girl.”

  Sadie’s tail thumped along the wood floor as she gave Lola’s hand a couple of licks.

  “She’s a whore,” a man with a gravelly voice spoke from behind her.

  Lola quickly turned and raised a brow. “Excuse me?”

  The man towered over her by about a foot, wore a black eye patch over his left eye, and although she figured him to be in his late sixties, he had a barrel chest and little fat on him. “Sorry, ma’am. I’m talking about the dog. She takes love from just about anyone.”

  “Way to introduce yourself,” Ryan said, grabbing a map off the desk. “Lola Tam, this is Barney Newton.”

  Barney removed his hat, unleashing a head of graying, thick curly hair and the elastic string of the eye patch. “Not to be confused with Isaac. I’m smarter than he ever was.”

  When Ryan laughed, she couldn’t help but do the same. “Of course. Will you be joining us?”

  “Nope.” He slipped the hat back on, then called the dog to his side. “I’m babysitting Sadie and the business.”

  “Barney is one o
f my boat captains. He’ll also guide us home if we lose GPS or get turned around out there. He knows the Glades better than anyone I know.”

  “How’s he going to guide us from here? I heard the cell phone reception is bad.”

  “Satellite phone,” Harrison said, stepping into the office. “Am I right?”

  “That you are, boy,” Barney said. “Never leave dock without ’em.”

  Harrison lifted his backpack. “We have a couple, too. I also have a GPS device and a compass. We tried to find a map, but didn’t have one in our Chicago office.”

  “Got one right here.” Ryan held up the folded map, then tucked it in his back pocket. “Let’s head into the shop. There’s another one hanging on the wall. Before I show you the different areas of the Glades, lemme grab your boots.” He opened a closet door, then pulled out two pairs of boots. “Here,” he said, handing a pair to Harrison. “These are mine. They’re a size too big, but double up on socks if you have them. If not, I have an extra pair.”

  “I’m good, thanks,” Harrison said, stepping out of the office.

  “These belong to Melanie, the woman who runs the ice cream shop. There a size nine and should also work.” After he handed Lola the boots, he added, “Your jacket looks expensive. Leave it here and grab a couple of sweatshirts off the rack. Tell the others to do the same if they need to. Do you have an extra set of clothes? If we get wet, you’ll need it.”

  “We all do,” she said, then thanked him for the boots and sweatshirts.

  “Good.” He turned to Barney. “Did you finish putting the water and food on the boat?”

  “That, and extra fuel.”

  “What happens if we run out?” Lola asked, worried about being stranded in alligator and snake-filled waters.

  “We won’t,” Ryan assured her with an easy smile. “And if we do, we have a kayak with us.”

  Kayak? Oh, God. Flashbacks from It’s a Small World made her stomach queasy. “Better not forget the Dramamine.” Her cell phone rang. She quickly checked the caller ID. “It’s Dante,” she said, then answered.

  “Hey, Lola. Your mom’s credit card showed a transaction at Enterprise’s Exotic Car Rental in Naples. Turns out they rented a Range Rover Autobiography right after they landed in Florida.”

  “Hang on, I’m going to put you on speaker so Ryan can hear. Okay, go ahead.”

  “We just found out that the vehicle is located off State Road 29, about two miles west of U.S. Highway 41,” he said, then rattled off the license plate number. “Rachel Googled an aerial view and it showed nothing but trees. Ryan, do you know the area?”

  Ryan looked to Barney, who nodded. “Yeah, that was one of the places I was going to suggest we start with. If those parts weren’t protected by the State, the place would be crawling with hunters. There’s plenty of boar, turkey and deer. Bears and panthers, too.”

  No mention of water, thank God. Maybe they wouldn’t need the boat after all.

  “We’ll head out in five and call you when we find the car.”

  After saying good-bye, Lola ended the call. “Can you show me this place on a map?” She wanted to reassure herself that maybe her mom wasn’t going to be forced to walk through water and alligator territory. That maybe they’d be able to catch up with them quicker than they’d originally thought.

  “Sure can, then we need to leave. At this hour, we can be there in about ten minutes. Maybe we can stop this hunt before it begins.”

  The dog followed as they all left the office, then lay down at Lola’s feet. Ryan glanced to the dog, then her, and she realized his eyes weren’t blue like she’d thought, but an interesting shade of gray. His mouth slid into a half-smile before he returned his attention to the map.

  “What Vlad miss?” the Russian asked, as he made his way from the bathrooms in the back.

  Ryan looked away from the map. “Nothing. You’re right on time.”

  “Holy hell, it’s Ivan Drago,” Barney said.

  Vlad frowned. “I know not this Ivan Drago. I am Vlad Aristov.”

  “He’s talking about a character from a movie,” Harrison explained, and finished lacing his boots. “Now that I think about it, you do look like that Russian boxer.”

  “Vlad was Russian boxer. And who is this man?”

  Anxious to be on their way, Lola let out a frustrated sigh. “Barney Newton. He works for Ryan. Now enough about the boxer thing. Dante called and we have the location of Ian’s car.”

  “Really?” Harrison rose. “Where?”

  “We’re here.” Ryan pointed to the map of the Florida Everglades. “And the car is here,” he said, dragging his finger a couple of inches. “This is the area where I said the hunting would be good.”

  Damn it. The small area was boxed in on three sides by water.

  “I told Lola to grab a sweatshirt. You two can do the same if you need one. Harrison, bring your satellite phones, too. I think it’s good we have a couple with us.”

  “What about the rest of our gear?” Harrison asked.

  “I’ll put it on the boat,” Barney said, then reached behind the cash register and pulled out a can of bug repellant. “Put some of this on before you go. There’ll be more on the boat.”

  “What if we don’t need the boat?” she asked, hoping to God they wouldn’t. If her mom and Ian were forced to travel through the water, she couldn’t imagine tracking them would be easy.

  “We’ve got that covered,” Ryan said, pulling his keys from his pocket. “Let’s head out.”

  She gave Sadie a quick scratch, then moved to the racks along the wall. After slipping out of her leather jacket, she yanked an aqua-blue hooded sweatshirt off the hanger.

  “That color might look nice on you, but go for the black,” Ryan said, as he walked toward the door. “The mosquitos are unfortunately attracted to dark colors, but I’d rather have them finding us than the jackass we’re looking for.”

  Her cheeks warmed. She should have thought about camouflaging herself, but when she saw Vlad and Harrison putting back their brightly colored sweatshirts, she realized she wasn’t the only one who was clueless.

  Once Ryan had them back on the road, her queasy stomach filled with a weird mixture of fear and excitement. Not knowing what they’d find once they came across the rental car worried her. Ryan was right, though. They could possibly stop the hunt before it began.

  After a few miles, she spotted a yellow panther crossing sign. “Are there really that many panthers here?” she asked.

  “No, only about one hundred are left in the wild. It’d be a shame to lose any of them to a careless driver.” He slowed the truck, then made a turn. “Should be coming up on the car in a couple of miles.”

  After a few minutes, Ryan pulled off onto the side of the road. “Call Dante and double check the location. We should have seen the car by now.”

  She dialed Dante, then put the phone on speaker. “Did you find it?” he answered, excitement in his tone.

  “Not yet,” Ryan said. “Are you sure you guys have the correct coordinates?”

  “We’re sure. Hang on…Rachel said all of us have a third party tracking app on our cell phones. She’s going to turn on Lola’s, and we’ll see just how far off the car is from you.”

  “Who’s Rachel?” Ryan asked her.

  “She’s CORE’s computer forensics analyst.”

  “Did you know they could track you?”

  Lola shook her head and held a finger to her lips. They were still on speaker and she would prefer not to let Dante, Rachel, and whoever else might be listening, know that she didn’t like not having knowledge of this tracking device. It might be helpful for their current situation, but it was also a little too Big Brother for her.

  “Okay,” Dante began, “we have Lola’s location. Hopefully it’ll last before we lose reception. It looks like you’ll be out of range from the nearest cell phone tower soon.”

  “Should I keep going or turn the car around?” Ryan asked.

  �
��Neither. The rental is at your location. About forty yards west, to be exact.”

  Everyone in the Suburban peered out the passenger side windows. “Dante, that’s nothing but woods.” Lola opened her door and, taking her phone with her, stepped out of the truck. “He must have driven the car off the road.”

  Ryan walked toward her where the gravel met grass. Vlad and Harrison joined him. “Ready your weapons,” he said, firing up a flashlight. “Dante, let us know when we’re hot.”

  The four of them quickly moved, the beam from Ryan’s flashlight dancing along tall grasses.

  “Getting warmer,” Dante said. “Warmer. Okay, hot.”

  Lola spun around, then shook her head. “There’s no car. That GPS program must be—”

  “Got something,” Ryan called, crouching in the grass.

  She rushed to him, then stopped and stared at the small black box and its single, tiny green light. After she described what Ryan had found, Dante let out a sigh. “Damn it. There goes that plan.”

  “All not lost,” Vlad said. “This…hunter cannot hide big car so easy. Vlad think we stay on this road.”

  Ryan pocketed the device. “Agreed. He wouldn’t turn around, that’d be too risky. He couldn’t be one hundred percent sure no one from CORE contacted the Sheriff. Dante, we’re going to keep going. I know we’ll lose reception in another mile or so. If you need to reach us, stick with the satellite phone you gave Harrison.”

  “Will do. And let us know if and when you find anything.”

  Lola ended the call as they made their way back to the truck. Once inside, Ryan started the ignition, then began driving. “There are a bunch of old logging trams that lead into the Everglades. Most tourists either don’t know about them, or heed the warnings posted by the Fakahatchee park rangers. I know I’ve joked around about a few things, but I’m not kidding when I say that black bears and panthers are known to roam these woods.”

  After about a mile or so, he turned down a dirt road. “We’ll check this road first. There are a couple of more we could try if this one doesn’t pan out.”

  “And after that?” she asked, overwhelmed by the numerous places the kidnapper could have started his hunt.