Silver Shield Security Box Set

by Dee Bridgnorth

  “I’m not sure she can walk on her own.”

  She recognized the voice of one of the men. She knew it was not the traitor, so it must have been Ron or Ray. She forced her eyes open and gasped at the splitting pain in her head. She decided to ignore it. She took several deep breaths, letting them out slowly until she felt the nausea recede.

  “I’m okay,” she said hoarsely.

  “What?” one of the men asked.

  “You can let go of me now.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah.”

  They let go of her and she swayed again. But when they would have reached out to grab her, she held up a hand stopping them. Even if it was going to kill her, she was determined to do this on her own steam. She placed pressure on the injured ankle and gasped at the shooting pain. She concluded that walking the rest of the trail probably would kill her before her abductors got a chance to do so.

  As they made their way forward, none of them realized that Hope had left one of her running shoes behind. She kept her fingers crossed and continued hobbling till the shoe was out of sight. She did not think a professional tracker would have any trouble figuring out which way they had gone, but she wanted whoever was coming after her to know without a doubt that she had passed that route.

  A thought flittered through her mind that she was probably wasting her time. It was not likely that anyone would come after her. Then she thought about Rusty and knew deep down inside that he would come for her.

  Eventually, they got to the river banks. It was a large river so Hope was not surprised to find a boat waiting there for them. There was no sign of anyone else, so she assumed it was their mode of transportation.

  “Are we getting on that?” Marinette asked.

  “Yeah, we are,” her brother replied shortly.

  They all got into the boat. As soon as she found a place to sit, Hope leaned down and took off her last shoe. She was waiting for just the right moment. The two men pushed the small boat into the water and then joined them. She held on tightly to her shoe. She needed to get this right. She waited until the boat was a few feet from shore, then she swung with all her might and watched as the shoe went sailing through the air and landed on the shore.

  “Hey, what the hell was that?” one of the men shouted.

  “She threw her shoe on the river bank!” the other said.

  “What? Are you crazy?” Marinette demanded.

  “You are not going to get away with what you’re doing,” Hope said in what she hoped was a calm voice.

  “You fucking bitch!” Marinette yelled in frustration. Then she grabbed hold of a firearm and with as much strength as she could muster, she brought the butt down on Hope’s head.

  Hope could not stop the cry that was torn out of her mouth. The pain was so intense that everything suddenly went dark as she slumped right where she was sitting.

  The traitor caught her before she fell into the water. He glared at his older sister.

  “What did you do that for?” he asked.

  “She had it coming,” Marinette said without a single hint of remorse.

  “Yeah, but did you have to hit her so hard?” There was blood flowing from one side of her head and the other side had a nasty purple bruise.

  “What’s the matter, brother? Going soft on me?”

  He felt a growl in his throat. He had forgotten just how completely infuriating his sister was.

  “You want to kill her before we get the dough?”

  Marinette folded her hands into fists. “What is it with you?” She reached down and felt Marinette. “There, her pulse is still beating, so there.”

  He gave up with a sigh. There was no need arguing with her. He looked down at the pale, lifeless face of Hope Conran and wondered what he had gotten himself into. It suddenly occurred to him that he may have bitten off more than he could chew, especially seeing that his damn sister was so fucking crazy!

  “Just leave off on the hitting until we actually get the dough. No need damaging the collateral. If they ask for proof of life, you’re going to have a problem on your hands.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him in that mean way she had and he knew she was going to find a way to make him pay for standing up to her. “Have you heard from them?” she asked eventually.

  “No.”

  “Why the hell has he not sent the money? It’s been three hours!”

  “He will send it,” he said, trying to sound more confident than he actually felt. Casting a glance at Hope, he asked, “What do you plan to do with her once they pay?”

  Marinette looked at him like he’d lost his mind. “Are you seriously asking me that? We dispose of her, of course.”

  “We leave her out here for the cops to find?”

  “So she can identify each one of us? Have you lost your mind? We dispose of her. Permanently.”

  His blood ran cold. When they had hatched this plan, she had not said anything about murder. Come to think of it, she had not said anything about kidnapping. The deal had been to destroy her finances and leave her with nothing. Okay, so the idea to ask for a ransom was his, still…his sister was right. Hope could identify them, although, the fact that he was conspicuously missing from the office might have already made it obvious. Also Hope and Rusty had paid a visit to Sandy.

  “I think it might not make a difference either way,” he said quietly.

  **

  Emily scanned the area. The cabin looked uninhabited, like no one had been there in months. Just then her phone vibrated. She pulled it out and read the text message. It was from Wayne. The message was straight to the point:

  Emily, my life is in danger. Call ASAP.

  Emily felt her heart skip a beat. Wayne’s life was in danger? She slipped the phone back into her pocket and kept moving. As much as she wanted to abandon everything and run to his rescue, Hope needed her. It crossed her mind that it probably had something to do with why he’d been hounding her all the while. Although the last time she had seen him had been when she had that terrible headache, and he had taken care of her.

  She sighed as she signaled to the others. Her relationship with Wayne was too complex to understand, even for her. She’d been unable to figure it out in the years they’d been together or the years afterward and there was no way she was going to figure it out now. She took a deep breath and let it out. Feeling centered, she focused on rescuing Hope Conran.

  She waited in the shadows while Rusty approached the cabin from the rear. Tamika had gone through the front, while Ace was sitting on top a tree, his rifle in position. A few minutes later, they got the all clear from Rusty and went in to inspect the cabin.

  “There’s no one here now, but they were clearly here,” Rusty said.

  There were obvious signs of disturbance. They had found the leaves and grass around the house scattered like a number of people had walked through.

  The sun was setting and the reflection beamed into the house through the windows. It bounced off the panes and picked up an object hidden in the corner, just by the door. Rusty walked forward and picked it up. His heart began to thump in his chest when he recognized what was in his hand.

  “What’s that, Russ?” Tamika asked.

  “It’s Hope’s key ring.”

  He knew that bunch of keys. He had teased her about the crystal that hung from it and she had shrugged, saying she’d had very little positivity in her life so she’d bought it years ago as a symbol of something positive.

  “That means she was here, definitely,” Emily said.

  Ace walked in then.

  “Anything?” Emily asked.

  “I would say five people. Two females and one slight male. The other two were quite heavy and definitely male.”

  Ace had gone on ahead and had put his tracking skills to work.

  “Let me guess, they followed the hiking trail,” Tamika said dryly.

  “You called it, babe,” Ace said with a chuckle.

  Tamika made a sound of dis
gust.

  “Alright, let’s hit the road,” Emily said and they all walked out.

  Just then, Rusty’s phone vibrated. It was a text message from Jared.

  “What’s up?” Emily asked.

  “It’s from Jared. They’ve sent an offshore account and are asking for a million dollars in the next five hours.”

  “Ask him to ask for proof of life. He should tell them he is not moving an inch until he sees that,” Emily said.

  Rusty quickly typed out a reply then placed the phone back in his pocket.

  “Alright. I’m good to go,” he said, trudging out of the cabin after the others.

  Emily brought up the rear, her senses on high alert. She did not think they were in any immediate danger, but she was not prepared to be taken unawares.

  They hurried down the trail in pursuit of the abductors. The clock was ticking and they were quickly running out of time. The sooner they found and rescued Hope, the sooner she could go figure out exactly what Wayne had been up to. Wayne was pragmatic to a fault. If he said his life was in danger, then it must really be bad. She thought briefly about confiding in Ace but decided against it. They all needed to bring their A-game to this mission. She could always tell him later.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  They followed the trail to the river banks. Rusty had in his hands the two items they had retrieved from the trail. One was a hanky and the other was Hope’s running shoe, the one with flowers that he’d teased her about. He clenched the hanky in his fists. Hope had been here, that was for sure, and not too long ago either.

  “She sure is crazy smart, leaving her stuff for us to find,” Tamika said, coming to stand beside him.

  “She is.”

  They stood gazing at the river. “Think they got into a boat?” she asked.

  “Definitely. There are several footmarks and one of them is consistent with the markings on this shoe,” Ace said, holding up the second of Hope’s running shoes. “I found it at the edge of the river.”

  “We need to get a boat ASAP,” Tamika said.

  “On it.” Emily strode towards them. “I’ve already contacted Mom and we should have a boat here in about half an hour.”

  Half an hour. Rusty walked closer to the edge of the river. Half an hour was too much time; the abductors could be anywhere by then. He knew they had no other choice, but that didn’t make it easier. He tried to imagine how Hope was holding up and failed. She was brave, but he didn’t know how much she could take before she crumbled.

  They moved to a concealed area and waited for the boat to arrive. Before long, they saw a boat coming around the corner. Rusty peered through the rushes and saw a man in fishing gear. He had on a visor cap and dark sunglasses. The thick jacket he wore protected him from the wind as he leisurely paddled towards them, his fishing rod perched atop his laps.

  Rusty exchanged glances with the others. Emily reached into her backpack and pulled out a set of binoculars.

  “That’s our boat,” she said, getting to her feet.

  “Yeah, but who’s on it?” Ace asked.

  “Ryan.”

  “Did he bring our gear?”

  “Everything we need.”

  Rusty felt a surge of relief at that news. Ace and Ryan were former Navy SEALS, trained to combat above and below surface. Emily had made sure that they all went through an intense underwater combat training when they signed up, but it was nothing like the expertise of the other men.

  Ryan docked the boat and stepped on to shore. The others went out to meet him. Rusty was the first to get to him.

  “Hey bro, you okay?” Ryan asked, giving him a pat on the back.

  Rusty shrugged. “Not really. I don’t think I will be till we get her back.”

  Ryan smiled sympathetically. “Love can be a bitch, right?”

  Rusty reared back. “Whoa! Calm down, brosef. Who said anything about love?”

  “Still at the denial stage, I see,” Ryan said with a wry smile and walked off to meet the others.

  Rusty stood staring after him. Love? He was not in love with Hope, was he? He didn’t even believe in love, not really. He cared about her, he enjoyed spending time with her…just laughing and talking. He felt like he could tell her anything…and making love with Hope? That was as close to heaven as he’d ever come. But love…? Nah. He didn’t do love. Ever.

  He walked to where the others were standing in a huddle. Emily held out a tablet and was pointing to something. He moved closer so he could hear.

  “These are the coordinates. We were able to trace them based on the last contact they had with Jared. So based on this map, this is exactly where they appear to be.”

  “I brought the navigational system. If we hook it up to a satellite, we should be able to see how many they are and their fire power,” Ryan said.

  “Great work.” Ace nodded in approval.

  “I’ll get on that.” Rusty reached into his backpack for the small, but really powerful, computer he carried along on missions. He waited for Ryan to return with the waterproof rucksack that contained the navigational system, and then got to work.

  “We might have to go into the water at some point, so jeans won’t cut it.” He heard Emily say to the others. “I asked Ryan to bring along some wetsuits. While Rusty is doing his thing, I suggest we all get changed.”

  “Brrr! I bet the water will be cold,” Tamika said.

  They all looked at her in surprise. Tamika was the last person to complain about anything. Seeing their surprised looks, she shrugged. “Well, it will be cold,” she said defiantly.

  “Sheesh. Give a girl a little comfort and she turns into a princess,” Ace said in disgust.

  “Damn right I’m a princess. And you’d best remember that, Sailor!” she shot back.

  Rusty tuned them out and focused on his screen. Before long, he was able to not only see the exact location where Hope was being held hostage but also a clear idea of how many people were there. The picture was grainy but not impossible to read.

  It was a log cabin raised on stilts. It was surrounded by water. There were two people in the building and three out on what appeared to be a deck. They were all armed. They would spot anyone who approached the cabin from a distance. He turned his focus inside the building. One of the inhabitants had a gun, so he guessed that the other was Hope.

  When he lifted his head, he saw that the others had changed into wetsuits. They looked ready for anything. There was only one problem, they were too conspicuous. There was no way anyone who walked past would not stop for a second glance.

  “Do we have their exact location?” Emily asked.

  “Yeah. It’s like Ace said, there are five people, four of whom are armed.”

  “Let me see that,” she said, coming to sit beside him on the ground.

  The others huddled around and peered at the computer.

  “The only way to approach without being seen is from underwater,” Ace said.

  “It might work better under the cover of darkness,” Tamika observed.

  “Yeah, that’s what I was thinking as well. We may have to wait for nightfall.”

  “What if they don’t wait that long?” Rusty asked.

  There was silence. They all knew it was a real possibility. The abductors might decide to use the cover of darkness to flee and when they did, they would most likely leave their hostage behind. Dead. So she could not identify them.

  Emily glanced at her watch. “Sundown is in two hours. We move then. For now, we go into stealth mode.”

  They all nodded. Rusty packed up his stuff and walked into the woods. He found a semi-secluded place and quickly changed into his wetsuit. When he was done, he walked over to where Emily was seated on a rock. It was an enclave, not easily seen from the trail, but they could see everyone who walked past. So far, no one else had been on that trail.

  They sat side by side in silence. He noticed that she checked her phone frequently and seemed a bit distracted.

  “Eve
rything okay?” he asked.

  She shot him a glance. “Yep. I’m good.”

  “You seem worried.”

  She hesitated briefly then sighed. “I got a text message from Wayne that his life is in danger,” she said.

  “Your ex?” Rusty asked in surprise. “He’s just a businessman, who would want to harm him?”

  “A businessman whose company researches and invents top security gadgets. Some of his inventions are used by the military.”

  Rusty knew that Emily’s ex owned a company that created spy gadgets. Heck, some of the stuff they used was from his company. But he had no idea that they worked with the military as well.

  “That must be top secret,” he said at last.

  “You have no idea,” Emily said bitterly. “I don’t even know a fraction of his operations.”

  “So he really could be in danger.”

  “Almost certain.”

  And yet she was here, going after Hope. Rusty glanced at her, not bothering to hide his admiration. He had always had respect for Emily as a leader, but his respect for her just got to amazing proportions. He knew she still cared for the man, even if she claimed she didn’t. But it was almost impossible to react so viscerally to someone you cared nothing about. He guessed theirs was a love-hate relationship. But even with such relationships, it must be hard for her to put aside his cry for her help and just focus on work, but she was doing it anyway.

  “We’ll wrap this up soon,” he said softly.

  She looked at him and smiled. “Yeah.”

  Just then, Rusty’s phone vibrated. It was a message from Jared saying he had received proof of life.

  “She’s still alive,” he said quietly.

  “Is there a video attached?” Emily asked.

  Rusty nodded.

  She tapped on the watch on her wrist, which was also a communication device used by all Silver Shield operators. Rusty wanted desperately to open the video, but he needed to wait for the others to reach them, besides, he was not sure what he would see. He read the message again:

  Proof of life sent. She’s alive, but looks really bad. Get her back. Please.