CHAPTER 17
Coming over a small rise past a set of railroad tracks, Sam hit the brakes and slowed to a crawl. Seth Harper stood in the middle of the road flagging her down with a flashlight in his hand and looking soaked in the drizzle. Up ahead, lights from a small town shined on the horizon, but she couldn’t tell how far it was. She pulled behind Seth’s blue van, along the graveled shoulder of the road, and turned to her passengers.
“I need you both to do as I say.” She knew Tanu had the discipline of a cop, but Archer was another story. “Do I have your word, Mr. Archer?”
It took him too long to answer.
“Look, I’m not sure what we’re going to find, but I can’t afford to have you fuck up this search trying to be a cowboy. You could not only jeopardize the rescue of your niece, but other people’s lives could be at risk. Now I want your word that you’ll do as I say, without question.”
“Yeah…sorry.” He nodded, looking her square in the eye. “You’ve got my word.”
She could see that it took restraint on his part not to say another word; the internal struggle showed on his face. She couldn’t imagine his frustration, but maybe tonight, he’d find peace.
To make her vehicle more visible, Sam left her hazard lights blinking for Detective Garza. They cast a yellow light onto scrub brush and mud puddles and gave them limited visibility, without drawing a lot of attention. Sam got out of the car, with Archer and Tanu following her. After quick introductions, Harper filled them in.
“I lost the signal, but I’m pretty sure I saw them turn off here.” He pointed across the road to what looked like private property. A recessed gate with an old abandoned guard station. Goodville Textiles. A rusted sign was posted on the fence.
“And see here? With the rain, their tires left fresh tracks.” He pulled at her elbow and shined his flashlight to the ground. “We can’t be that far behind. We gotta find her before…” He didn’t finish. He shrugged and turned away.
As a friend, Sam wanted to crash the gate and drive onto the property looking for Jessie. But as a cop, she had to think about the law. She had enough reason to believe Jess was in danger. And even though Harper hadn’t actually seen the men drive onto the premises, he’d trailed them to the property and was reasonably certain they were inside, plus the fresh tracks made his statement more credible. She had a witness to give her probable cause to search the premises without a warrant, but had to make sure.
“How certain are you that she’s here, Seth?” she prompted, but before he answered, she clarified her point. “For me to have probable cause to search the premises, I need a solid witness, or else I’d have to get a search warrant. And that would take time.”
She squeezed his arm and held his gaze until he knew what she was saying.
“Then yeah, she’s in there. I saw everything.” He nodded. “Definitely.”
“Good man.” She smiled. “And thanks, Seth.”
Her backup, Detective Garza, had her location and was on his way, but she had to make a decision now. She stared through the gate to the deserted textile plant. At a minimum, she needed more intel.
Having made up her mind, Sam pulled Harper aside again.
“Seth, I need you to stay here and flag down Detective Ray Garza. He should be right behind me, but I can’t wait for him to get here.” She wrote down the detective’s cell phone number on a piece of paper. “Here’s his cell just in case. When he gets here, let him know I’m on the property, but I won’t be alone.”
She turned to Joe Tanu and Payton Archer, who stood within earshot.
“Officially, I can’t ask you to join me, Joe, but I could use your help.” She knew it would be a waste of time to argue with Tanu about coming along, however his sidekick was a civilian. “But Archer stays here.”
The retired trooper stared at her, an unreadable expression on his face. She hadn’t expected such a calm reaction. When he finally opened his mouth, he had her attention.
“Look, Payton and his sister are like family. If there’s a chance Nikki is being held by these people, I’m with you and I’ll follow your lead.” Tanu looked at Archer. “But Payton won’t sit on the sidelines, not with so much at stake. I know him.”
When Sam shifted her gaze to Archer, the man shrugged and said, “I never liked sitting on the bench. What can I say?”
Tanu retrieved the Walther PPK/S from his ankle holster and handed it to Archer, who confirmed he had a full magazine and racked the slide checking for brass, safety off.
“If it makes a difference, he’s a crack shot,” the retired trooper said. “I taught him how to shoot. And I’ll take full responsibility. The way I figure it, we could use all the help we can get.”
Tanu had a point, but she felt the need to make a point of her own and fixed her eyes on Payton.
“If you make me regret this, Archer, I’ll shoot you myself.”
The man shot her a sideways glance and shared one of his dimples. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“Anytime.” Sam peered through the fence across the road and took a deep breath, feeling the rush of adrenaline. “Call me a gear freak, but I’ve got Kevlar in my trunk. Once we get suited up, we’re going in.”
“I like a woman with a sense of style.” Archer forced a grin, the tension showing through.
“Yeah, you should see my Christmas catalogs.”
As soon as they were decked in Kevlar vests and she had her badge visible, Sam breached the fence and crossed the massive parking lot, heading for the old abandoned textile factory with Tanu and Archer. Steady drizzle had drenched her clothes and given her a chill, despite the body armor. And with storm clouds blocking the moonlight, her eyesight gave her fits, making the shadows of the old building seem menacing. She had a flashlight, but didn’t want to screw up her night vision or make herself a target. She’d save it for when she actually needed it.
In her head, she said a quick prayer that no one would die, hoping God was listening. In her line of work, she’d begun to think that wasn’t always the case.
Hidden security cameras strategically placed on the Goodville Textiles premises had picked up the intruders outside the gate. Another vehicle had joined the blue van, and if cops were involved, Ethan knew more would follow. He’d never pulled the plug on a facility like this before, but now they had little choice.
That’s why he’d risked pissing off the Russian, insisting that he forget about the bounty hunter and keep his cock in his pants. Petrovin had the authority and the guts to make the final call. The bastard thrived on power and all that came with it; egotistical bullshit, as far as he was concerned. He knew when he had a losing hand and when to bail, and it had nothing to do with duty.
Ethan also knew there would be fallout over the incident. There always was. But he didn’t want to get caught in the middle. There would be no brownie points in knowing when to flush the operation—only repercussions—and he preferred not to be linked to the final decision, no matter how necessary. That’s why soldiers like Petrovin made convenient scapegoats, but Ethan was smarter than that.
“We can’t risk it, Stas. We have to shut it down…now.” He urged the Russian to do what must be done. “We can’t afford for anyone to find the control room. The rest of the organization would be at stake. Shutting down this facility is bad, but we can still operate elsewhere.”
When the Russian didn’t respond, he pressed. “It won’t take long for them to make it to the building. We gotta go.”
Petrovin clenched his jaw, glaring at the security monitors in the control room. The silent red flashing light cast a strange pallor on his face. There were times Ethan was perfectly content to be in ignorant bliss where the Russian was concerned, but not today.
“What are you thinking, Stas?” he asked. “I’m not gonna like this, am I?”
“Make sure they find their way through the garage. Unlock the doors.” Petrovin smirked.
“Are you crazy? We can’t mess with them now,” he urged, pleading his case.
“Don’t worry. We will stick to our plan. I am only…adapting it.”
The control room had been rigged with thermite incendiary devices, primed with other pyrotechnic additives like barium nitrate to enhance their effect and make ignition more reliable. The enhanced thermite had been Petrovin’s choice. The chemical mixture burned with an intense white heat, and since it contained its own oxygen supply, it could not be smothered or extinguished by conventional means.
The incendiary devices had been placed strategically through the control room, atop critical equipment to destroy the bank of computers, their hard drives, and any reports left behind. The rest of the makeshift facility didn’t
