Silver Shield Security Box Set

by Dee Bridgnorth

  Was she injured…weak? What did he mean by she looked really bad? Well, he would find out in a moment.

  The others arrived from their different hiding spots and huddled around Rusty and Emily. With his heard beating in his chest, Rusty clicked on the play button. They all watched in silence. As he watched the beaten and bloody face of Hope on the screen, Rusty felt a thick ball of emotion rise to his throat and get lodged there. He was finding it difficult to breathe through the ball. His fist clenched and rage took over. There and then, he made a promise to make everyone who had laid a hand on Hope pay. Every single one of them.

  When the video was over, he turned off his phone and got up abruptly.

  “We need to get to her before it’s too late,” Tamika said in a calm voice.

  Rusty could feel the veins at the side of his head throbbing. He wanted to hit something. Anything. He needed an outlet for the violence that was suddenly flowing hot through his veins.

  “She’s not holding up well,” Emily noted. Then she looked up. The sun was going down, but it was still a bit bright. “It’s going to be dark in the next few minutes. Let’s move!”

  They hurried to the river bank and Ryan handed out night vision goggles. Tamika held out a waterproof rucksack and they all silently dropped their phones and anything that was not water resistant into the rucksack. Once they were ready, they got into the boat.

  Ryan and Rusty handled the oars and paddled into the open river. They were barely ten minutes on the water when it went dark. They slipped on the night vision goggles. Forty-five minutes later, they stopped rowing.

  “The cabin is about two hundred yards away right around that bend,” Rusty said, pointing to a sharp bend on the river, which led to a tributary.

  “We can’t approach by boat,” Emily said. “We’ll find a place to dock.”

  “What’s the plan? You want me to pick them off one by one?” Ace asked.

  “Hmm…that would have been the best option, but if the others notice what is going on, Hope’s life is forfeit. We have to do it in a way that those inside have no idea of what’s happening till it’s too late.”

  Rusty agreed with Emily.

  They were hemmed in by thick woods on each side of the river. When Emily gave the sign, they all slipped into the water. Tamika was right, it was freezing. They trod water to keep afloat and gently steered the boat to the banks. Then they pulled the boat further into the woods so that it was out of sight.

  They had their earpieces on and Rusty heard Emily’s voice come through.

  “Rusty and Tamika, you go straight for Hope. The rest of us will take out the folks outside.”

  They gave her the thumbs up and dove into the water again. They each had on rebreathers, which enabled them to move underwater for several miles without detection. As he moved underwater, Rusty caught sight of Tamika beside him, he was still a little worried about her but decided to trust that she could handle herself. He steeled his resolve. No matter what happened tonight, he was sure of only one outcome…he was getting out with Hope.

  **

  “It’s time to leave.”

  Hope cracked her eyes open at the words. She did not think she could go anywhere that night. There was a consistent throbbing at the base of her skull. Her eyes were swollen shut and she could only see through slits. She could not see it, but she was pretty sure her ankle had become fat and mangled. The pain was excruciating. And she had not eaten anything since the day before. She lay curled up in the corner, with her hands tied behind her back. She was sure she was dying and she just wanted to be left to die in peace.

  “What do you mean? Has he paid the money?”

  That was Marinette’s shrill voice. Hope winced at the sound, it not only grated on her nerves but it intensified the ache in her head.

  “No. He has not paid.”

  “What the hell! We sent the proof of life ages ago!” she yelled.

  “Maybe he didn’t like seeing her all banged up and bruised!” the man snapped back.

  “You watch the way you talk to me,” Marinette snarled.

  “Well, you are free to stay here and wait. I’m going. I’m not going to sit here and wait for the cops to catch up with me,” he said, reaching for his bag.

  Hope heard the loud click and froze. She knew what that meant. It meant the crazy woman had taken off the safety on her gun. That could only mean one thing.

  “What are you doing, Mari?”

  Hope heard the uncertainty in the man’s voice.

  “You are a damn traitor,” Marinette said.

  She could not help herself, Hope snorted. She could have told the crazy woman that. Suddenly she felt eyes on her. Uh Oh. She’d been hoping to remain inconspicuous and she had gone and called attention to herself. Nice going, Hope.

  “You think this is funny?” Marinette asked.

  Hope shook her head, then winced at the sharp pain. There was nothing funny about the situation she was in.

  “I will deal with you later,” Marinette said. “As for you, brother, I am not going down alone. We are going down together.”

  “We don’t have to go down at all, that’s what I’m trying to tell you! We can get out now.”

  “Do you think I’m a fool? Sandy’s body would have been found. I’m probably wanted in six different counties. The only way we’re getting out of here is by using this useless piece of flesh as a bargaining chip.”

  The chill in the other woman’s voice sent a shiver of dread through Hope’s body. What did she mean by Sandy’s body had been found? Could she, would she… Nah. Hope dismissed the thought. Yeah, the woman was crazy, but she wasn’t that evil. They were speaking again and she paid attention.

  “I can’t believe you would turn on me like this, after all I’ve done for you,” he said.

  Marinette laughed, sounding shrill and half-crazed. “I killed my own daughter, fool. Why would I spare you?”

  Oh god! Oh god! Hope was suddenly sick to her the pit of her stomach. Sandy was dead? Marinette had killed her? This was much worse than she’d thought. She began to dry heave where she was on the floor. Everything was suddenly too much for her to bear.

  “What is wrong with her? She dying or what?” Marinette asked.

  And then it happened so fast. As soon as the woman swung her eyes to focus on Hope, the man leapt on her and tried to grab the gun off her. There was a brief struggle and then the gun went off. Hope screamed at the sound and when she saw the lifeless body of the man drop to the floor, she began to sob. She needed to get out before they killed her and she had no idea how that was going to happen. She had asked to use the toilet not long ago and had been shocked to see that they were surrounded by water.

  “Stop your snuffling, bitch! You’re my ticket out of this hellhole,” Marinette said before marching out of the cabin.

  Hope took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She repeated it several more times until she was in control of her emotions. She had to get out. There was no escape. Yet she could not afford to give up. She thought of Rusty and felt her hope being renewed. If there was even a slim chance on earth that she could be with a good man, she was going to take it and not even a dozen crazy women were going to stop here. With that resolve, she struggled to sit up, but fell back again. She rolled onto her knees, then used the wall to help her to a sitting position. Then she looked up and almost screamed again.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Rusty and Tamika were beneath the cabin, trying to figure out a way in that would not jeopardize Hope’s safety when they heard the gun go off. They both tensed as Hope started to scream. Rusty’s blood ran cold with dread, then a red haze of rage came over him and he knew he just had to get in there. He started to swim away, but a firm grip on his arm held him back. He turned angrily.

  Tamika shook her head and was gesturing vigorously. She was telling him to think before moving. Using his hands, he told her that Hope was in there. She touched her chest and asked him to wait. Then she beckoned
to him and swam in another direction. She stopped when she saw he was not following and gestured for him to come on. When she pointed somewhere above, he stopped treading water and swam after her.

  Just as he got to her, the device on his wrist began to vibrate. They both looked down simultaneously. It was a message from Emily, short and to the point:

  One man down. Hope safe.

  Okay, so Hope was not the one that was shot. The wild beating of his heart calmed down a little. But he knew he still needed to get in there. He had no idea for how long she would remain safe. He looked up when Tamika tapped him, then she pointed up. They had moved just out from beneath the cabin and as he looked up, he saw an open window. He gave Tamika the thumbs up and hauled himself to a point where he could look inside without being seen.

  Taking a sweeping glance around the room, he noticed Hope in one corner, struggling to sit up. She didn’t make it the first time, but she found a way to sit up. Rusty felt his heart beating with pride. He had never been so glad to see anyone before. He looked around again to be sure there was no one in the room, then he pulled himself in through the window.

  Just then, Hope looked up and opened her mouth to scream in fright. He hurried towards her and clamped a hand over her mouth just in time. When he was sure she was not going to scream, he removed his hand and took off the goggles.

  “Rusty?” Hope whispered in shock. “You came?”

  “Yeah, baby, I came,” he said as he brought out a knife and slashed the ropes on her wrist.

  With her hands free, Hope flung them over Rusty, hugging him tightly. “I can’t believe you came for me.” The tears were flowing unchecked.

  Rusty held her, relishing the feel of her in his arms. He pulled back and gently wiped the tears from her face.

  “I’ll always come for you, Hope. Always,” he said, surprising himself by how much he meant it.

  The last twelve-plus hours had been a nightmare and it was not over yet.

  He got to his feet and helped her to hers. “We need to get moving,” he said.

  “Not so fast!”

  Rusty felt Hope freeze beside him as they turned and saw Marinette standing by the door. She had her firearm pointed at them.

  “Leaving in such a hurry? I don’t think so,” she said with a manic smile.

  Hope straightened up. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Shipman, but it’s over,” she said bravely.

  Marinette laughed. “Stupid, stupid, Hope. You still think you are going to get out of this, don’t you?”

  Rusty saw her move a fraction and acted. He shoved Hope hard just as he heard the gun go off. He jerked as a sharp pain went through his chest as he crumpled to the floor.

  Hope stared at Rusty’s body in a daze. “No,” she whispered in horror. This could not be happening.

  She went down on her knees and clutched Rusty’s hand. He opened his eyes and the wealth of emotion in them nearly did her in.

  “Now it’s your turn, bitch,” Marinette said. “Stand up!”

  Hope ignored her. If she was going to die, it might as well be on her own terms and she wanted to go down with Rusty’s hand held in hers. She looked him over, there was a hole on his chest where the bullet had gone through. She could see that he was finding it hard to breathe.

  “H-Hope…” he whispered, then shut his eyes as he struggled to take in a breath.

  She cupped his face with her free hand, not bothering to wipe the tears rolling down her face. So this was it. She had reached the end of the road. Hope shut her eyes as tears fell off her face. She did not want to believe what had happened. Suddenly, she lost the will to fight. It was finally over. A surreal feeling settled over her as she waited for the end to come.

  Suddenly, she heard the sound of a gun going off. She opened her eyes just in time to see the shocked look on Marinette’s face, before she fell to the floor. Hope looked around in a daze, not sure where the gunshot had come from or if she was still in danger. Then she saw a woman that looked like Tamika climb in from the window. When she pulled off her goggles, Hope expelled the breath she did not know she was holding.

  Heart beating rapidly, she turned her attention back to Rusty. There was blood everywhere and he was not moving. She could hardly see because of the tears blocking her sight. She placed a hand on his chest and felt it move. His breathing seemed shallow and she felt real fear as she lifted her hand and found it covered in blood.

  Rusty opened his eyes then. They looked unfocused.

  “Russ…” Hope called his name.

  His eyes found hers, “Hope?”

  “You’re going to be okay, Russ,” she said, sobbing softly.

  “I’m s-sorry,” he said, speaking with difficulty.

  “Hush, sweetheart. You’ll be okay. Tamika, tell him he will be okay.” She turned to the other woman who had gone on her haunches beside her.

  “Stay with us, Russ,” Tamika said briskly.

  “So…s-sorry…” He sighed as his lids fell shut and he lost consciousness.

  “Rusty? Russ, don’t leave me!” Hope said, weeping uncontrollably, “Please…don’t leave me…” she buried her head in her palms and cried as her heart broke into several different pieces. This was all her fault. She should never have gone to them for help.

  “There’s a pulse, but he’s losing blood fast,” she heard Tamika say.

  “I’ve called for help. We need to get them to the hospital ASAP,” another voice said. “Turn him around so air doesn’t get into that opening on his chest.”

  She became aware that there were other people in the room, but she was too distraught to look at them. Several hands reached for Rusty and turned him face down. Then Hope felt warm arms come around her as she wept.

  “He’s going to be okay, Hope. We’re not going to let anything happen to him.”

  Hope clung to Tamika. “It’s my fault. It’s all my fault,” she said over and over. “I should never have brought him into this.”

  “Don’t talk like that. You know that’s not true,” Tamika said gently as she tried to comfort her. But Hope was beyond comfort.

  She heard a loud droning sound, but didn’t bother looking up. She felt a sharp prick on her arm. She had no idea what was going on, but she didn’t care anymore. As she slowly began to drift off, Hope shut her eyes and wished that she would never wake up again. She wanted to go on sleeping forever.

  **

  Emily watched the distressed woman go limp. Then she turned to one of the paramedics who had arrived on the chopper.

  “Is he going to be okay?” she asked, referring to Rusty.

  “It’s fifty-fifty. He’s lost a lot of blood, but the bullet is still inside him. We couldn’t find an exit wound. We’ve done what we could, but we need to get him into the emergency room immediately.”

  They watched as Rusty and Hope were placed on stretchers and carried outside.

  “I’ve got to go,” he said briskly.

  Emily nodded and watched him leave. She let out a breath and turned to look for Tamika. Rusty getting hit that way was hard for all of them, but she knew it would be especially hard for Tamika.

  She found her standing outside on the deck. Next to her, one of the men who had been part of the abduction was out cold. His hands were cuffed behind his back. Emily stepped over him and went to stand beside Tamika.

  “Are you okay?” She placed a hand on her shoulder.

  “I’m not sure,” Tamika said, staring into the darkness. “Do you ever think that maybe, this stuff we do…I don’t know…?”

  “Is pointless?” Emily supplied. Tamika looked at her in surprise. “What? Don’t look at me like that, each time one of us gets hurt, I ask myself hard questions.”

  “But we saved Hope. That counts for something, right?”

  “If I didn’t believe it did, I would pack up this gig like that.” She snapped her fingers.

  “It’s just, I can’t imagine doing anything else. I really love this,” she said with a sigh. “And I know Russ
feels the same way too, even knowing how risky it is.”

  “Hey, are we swimming back to the boat?”

  They turned as Ace approached them.

  “Mom’s sending the chopper for us. It should be here in a few,” Emily said.

  She was barely done speaking when they heard the sound of a chopper in the distance.

  “What about these clowns?” he asked, nudging the unconscious figure on the deck.

  Emily glanced at her watch. “They should be here any moment now,” she said.

  “Who?” Tamika asked.

  A bright light shone on the river. It was a boat. “The forest rangers,” Emily said.

  Several minutes later, after handing over the thugs to the rangers, they were each pulled up by the helicopter rescue ladder.

  As they flew over Shawnee National Forest, Emily gazed bleakly into the darkness. Since she began Silver Shield Security several years ago, she had not lost a single one of her operatives. She was not sure how she would handle it if they lost Rusty. She said a prayer for him, hoping against hope that by some miracle, he would make it.

  **

  5:45 a.m., Herod General Hospital and Clinic

  Hope hobbled out of the hospital room they had assigned to her. She had no recollection of being brought to the hospital, but that was probably because she was out cold, thanks to the shot she was given. Since she came to a couple of hours ago, she’d been asking about Rusty, but no one had given her any satisfactory answer. Well, she was done waiting for them to answer her and was going to find him herself. If he was in this hospital, then she would find him.

  “Hope, are you okay? What are you doing out of bed so early?”

  Hope paused as Tamika hurried towards her. She was surprised to see the woman there. She peered at her through the one eye that had not been bandaged up with the rest of her face.

  “I need to see Rusty. Is he okay?”

  Tamika put an arm around her and gently led her to one of the chairs in the waiting room.

  “Hope…” she began with a sigh.

  “Why won’t anyone tell me anything?” Hope asked, close to tears. She dashed them away impatiently. “Please, just tell me how he is. I can take it.”