His voice changed to a more-respectful tone. “Hi, Garett.” Carson could almost make out the loud, gruff voice on the other end. “I’m with them ‘cause I ain’t gonna get played by some jerkoff grunt.” Another pause. “Yeah, I’m not gonna do anything. They won’t even give me a gun.” A few more seconds. “No, not yet. He should be heah any second.” Pause. “How the hell should I know? It’s wicked dahk out heah and we’re in the middle a fuckin’ nowhea.” The grumbling voice increased in both volume and ferocity, and Brendan was barely able to utter a couple of syllables until the screaming stopped.
“I’m working on it, Gar! This ain’t the easiest thing in the world, ya know! You’ll be able to file the papers next week, promise. Yes! I’m sure! Let me do what I gotta do!” He handed the phone back to one of his colleagues, cursing under his breath. Carson could hear the other two laughing into their sleeves.
“Shut up! Look, maybe you’re right. We gotta have Katie, and we can deal with Mistah Marine later if we have to. Let’s send ‘em.”
I was Navy, you asshole, not a fucking jarhead.
“I think he’s right,” Phone Voice said.
“OK,” Voice Three agreed, placing another call. Shit! They weren’t going to do the pickup themselves. They were going to send someone else! Carson immediately thought about shooting right then and there, but he wasn’t in the right place, and he couldn’t move fast enough to get to a good shooting position before the call connected. He decided it was time to return to Katie. He barely started to turn when another cell phone rang.
It was almost directly behind him.
“Hey,” Voice Three said. “I don’t know what’s keeping him, but we can’t wait any longer. Go pick her up. He might have doubled back to the cabin – Sarge ain’t watching any more – so be careful. Get her to Point Two. Someone’ll call later. Right.”
An engine rumbled to life and tail lights appeared through the woods, not 30 yards away. There had been someone there. A transmission clunked into gear and the car pulled out onto the road and made a left, back towards the cabin.
Carson nearly panicked. His car was a good quarter mile away. Even if he rushed without any regard for stealth, it would take him several minutes to pick through the trees and branches and follow them. That was far too much time. How long would it take for two armed men to grab a woman who was already tied up and throw her in a car? On top of that, he had no idea where “Point Two” was, meaning it would be very difficult finding her again. With her kidnappers aware of him, it would be that much harder to rescue Katie now.
He could stay in place, outwait Brendan and his cohorts, and then follow them to this new location – if they went there. They probably would. Based on what he’d heard Brendan say, he probably wanted to convince Katie to come back to him. That was stupid. Katie wasn’t that kind of woman, but this possessive asshole probably figured he just hadn’t beaten her down enough when they were together. But it did mean she would probably be OK until he got there. Probably.
All these thoughts happened in a microsecond before he turned back to his Chevy. The stakes were just too high to risk it. He’d trust his driving to make up the distance and leave the rest to his slightly-faded skills and a little bit of chance. It was exactly the kind of risk he’d hoped to avoid, but hoping for a better scenario wouldn’t change the situation now. Katie had been right to want to come with him. He wondered if he’d have the chance to apologize to her – yet-again – in person.
His steps were faster and messier than before. He still put his feet down lightly and still tried to find the path of quietest transit, but each footfall made more noise and his rapid movements were more easily seen. He would have to trust that the darkness and the distance he had already put between his intended targets was sufficient.
He was panting when he reached the car and climbed in. He turned the key and backed out onto the road, realizing he should have cut the reverse lights too. There was no time to change that, so he popped it into drive and took off. He didn’t accelerate too hard. The trio behind him was in contact with those going to get Katie and, if they heard his engine roar, they might send a warning ahead with disastrous results. He settled for building his speed up quickly until he was doing sixty by the time he hit the intersection.
He braked too hard and the back wheels broke free, but he made a few adjustments with the pedals and the wheel and got the Chevy back on track. He was pushing it too hard and too fast in the conditions, but he was driven by the mental image of running into the cabin only to find a smear of deep-red blood on the floor.
He was a couple hundred yards from the entrance to the shack and slowing down when he saw the exiting headlights. They paused at the end but apparently did not see his blacked-out vehicle hurtling towards them, because they proceeded without stopping, moving in the same direction as Carson. He matched their speed, leaving about a quarter mile between them.
Part of him considered checking the cabin, but realized there was little point in doing so. In his phone call, Voice Three had said to “pick her up,” and if they had, she was in the car in front of him. If they hadn’t… well, Carson knew they wouldn’t leave her in a condition from which she could recover.
He followed the car as it turned several times until it
