Elite Dragoons 1: New Recruits (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (12 page)

“Sara, come over here,” Whit demanded. When she was next to Whit he clasped her hand and showed her where the button was to open the hidden cupboard. “I want you to be able to protect yourself if anything ever happens. We don’t think you’ll have any problems while we’re gone but it’s better to be safe than sorry.” Whit showed her where the bullets were and some spare Kevlar vests were stored.

“Have you ever used a gun before, sugar?” Hay asked as he hugged her from behind.

“No.”

Hay picked up a nine millimeter pistol, inserted a clip, and then showed Sara where the safety was and how to take it off. “If you ever need to shoot anyone, point at the largest part of the body which would be the chest and torso. Don’t pull the trigger, squeeze gently. Okay?”

“Okay,” Sara answered in a shaky voice.

Hay made sure the safety was back on and handed the weapon to Sara. “Keep the gun within reach at all times. We’ll give you the Elite Dragons’ phone number before you leave. That way you call them for help if you need to. Call us anytime, honey. We don’t care what time it is. If you’re scared then you call right away.”

“I’ll be fine, Hay.” Sara placed her hand on his forearm and squeezed as if to reassure him.

“I know you will, honey.” Hay placed the gun on the closest desk and then pulled her into his arms and kissed her. He lifted his head and kissed her forehead. “I love you, Sara.”

“I love you, too.”

Hay handed her off to Whit. Whit lifted Sara up into his arms, and she wrapped her arms and legs around his brother and was kissing him as he walked out of the room. Dalton watched Whit devour her mouth until they were both gasping for breath.

“Love you, baby,” Whit panted and then lowered her to the floor, and then he, too, was walking out of the office.

“Me, too,” Sara said loud enough for Whit to hear.

Dalton swept her off her feet and cradled her against his chest. One arm was beneath her knees and the other was supporting her back. He lowered his head and kissed her hungrily. He swept the interior of her mouth with his tongue, sliding it along hers, and then he sucked her lower lip into his mouth. When he released her all he wanted to do was carry her into his room and make love with her, but he had a job to do. A woman was missing and they needed to find her.

“I love you, darlin’,” he declared and then lowered her to her feet once more.

“I love you, too, Dalton. Please be careful out there. I have a bad feeling about this.”

Dalton cupped both her cheeks in his hands and kissed the tip of her nose. “We’ve been trained for this sort of thing, Sara, don’t you worry, darlin’, we’ll be fine.” Dalton lowered his hands and walked toward the door, but turned back before he exited. “I want you, Nicole, and May to stay close to the house. No horse riding or going off by yourselves until we get back. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Dalton smiled and then hurried to his bedroom. Since they always kept a bag packed all he had to do was pull it from the closet and he was good to go. When he walked out the back door he was glad to see everyone was ready. Four trucks were pulled up close to the house, and he was just in time to see Ry kissing Nicole. He smiled when his friend and teammate released her. Nicole was looking at Ry with a shocked expression on her face. He glanced to Ry’s brothers and saw the satisfied smiles on their faces. It looked like he and his brothers weren’t the only ones to find a woman they could love.

Sara came out onto the verandah, her hand in Whit’s as he stopped on the wooden deck. Dalton was already moving toward their truck and got into the passenger seat, since Hay was already in the driver’s seat. Whit said something to Sara which made her smile, and then he got in back.

“Okay, let’s go. We have a woman to find.”

Dalton kept Sara in his sight until he couldn’t see her anymore. Then he turned his mind to the upcoming mission.

It took just over ten and a half hours for them to reach Alliance, Nebraska, and by the time they all had their room keys Dalton was tired. Sitting in a truck for such a long time was more tiring than spending hours going over their training course. He was worried about Sara and the other two women but tried to keep his anxiety at the back of his mind. He was going to need all his energy in trying to find the missing woman and hoped they would be able to locate her quickly. It was two a.m., and even though he wanted to begin searching for the missing Prudence he knew that it would have to wait until tomorrow. A few hours’ sleep would be enough to rejuvenate him in mind as well as body. He and the rest of the team were used to getting by on a few hours’ sleep since they had already served overseas, and tonight was no different. He would be raring to go first thing and was glad that Alliance was such a small town with a population of less than nine thousand people.

Once they visited the local sheriff—who was aware that they were coming thanks to Tony—the Elite Dragoons would spend the day scouting the town with their mental walls lowered. Hopefully they would have the same success they did with Sara and find something they could use to connect them with the missing woman. If not he didn’t want to think of the consequences. Dalton dumped his bag in the closet and stripped out of his clothes. Whit was taking a shower, and Hay was already in bed and by his breathing he was well on his way to sleep. He sighed and slid beneath the covers, concentrating on releasing the tension in his muscles and relaxing his body. He was only vaguely aware when Whit entered the room and got into bed, too.

Dalton’s last thought as he slipped into sleep was Sara.

* * * *

Whit shook hands with John Partridge, the sheriff of Alliance, and then he followed the man into his office with Hay and Dalton on his heels. They each took a seat as the sheriff sat behind his desk.

“What can you tell us about Prudence?” Whit asked.

“She was reported missing yesterday but we believe she has been missing for almost a week. Prudence Peters has no known living relatives and when she didn’t turn up to work three days in a row, her employer contacted her next of kin on her employment form. Her friend, Yvonne Butters, went around to Prue’s apartment but no one was home. The last time anyone sighted Prudence was Sunday just gone, when Yvonne and Prue met for lunch.”

“Shit, she may not even be in the area any longer,” Hay speculated.

“Wait.” Whit held up his hand to stop his brother from talking. “Are you telling me that Prudence was kidnapped in broad daylight?”

“That would be my guess,” the sheriff answered.

“These assholes are getting game,” Dalton said. “Has there been an influx of Asians of Japanese descent in your town of late, Sheriff?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” the sheriff answered. “Let me go and ask my deputies.”

The sheriff rose from his chair and hurried away. Whit could see the intelligence in the sheriff’s eyes and knew if something was going down he would probably be aware of it, but it seemed the members of the Japanese underworld had been keeping a low profile in this town and had taken great care not to stand out. If that was the case then their job just got a lot harder.

“Gentlemen, these are my deputies, Joe and Gary,” the sheriff introduced. “Joe, why don’t you tell these men what you know?”

“I saw four Asian men hanging around the Alliance Hotel last weekend when I was out on patrol. I’m sorry I didn’t think anything of it because they went into the hotel when they saw me, so I figured they were just going in for a meal and a drink.”

Whit gave Joe a nod then turned back to the sheriff. “Where did Prudence and her friend have lunch?”

The sheriff sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “In a little café on Main Street. It just happens to be situated right across from the hotel.”

Dalton shifted in his seat. “Are there any alleys, lanes, and such near this café and the hotel?”

The sheriff frowned as he thought over the question. The frown deepened when he nodded. “There is a lane between the café and real estate office which leads to a parking lot behind Main Street. We don’t have a very large town and we don’t allow cars to park in the main street.”

“Do you have a map?” Hay rose to his feet as the sheriff did.

The sheriff opened a filing cabinet, and then he placed a map on his desk and began to point out where the café and hotel where. The alley was the optimum place for an abduction to occur and definitely fit the MO of the previous kidnappings. Whit’s gut clenched and he knew without a doubt they were on the right track.

Whit thanked the sheriff and his deputies and headed out. The rest of the team were already walking the town and the outskirts of Alliance with their shields down hoping to pick up on some sort of emotion or see some clue to the missing woman, but since they hadn’t tried to contact him, Dalton, or Hay, they obviously hadn’t found anything as yet.

Whit decided since he and his brothers had been able to connect with Sara when Hay had found her earring in the alley in Chadron, that they would search the area first. If they found something belonging to the missing woman then he would have the rest of the team try to connect with Prudence.

It didn’t take long for them to walk the couple of blocks to the Tasty Café. Whit had lowered his mental shield as soon as he had left the sheriff’s office but hadn’t picked up on any unusual emotions. He and his brothers entered the lane between the café and real estate office and searched thoroughly. They walked the length of the narrow street three times but didn’t find anything.

Hay stopped midway in the alley and lifted the lid on the Dumpster and then slammed it shut. Next he was lying on his belly and peering beneath the large bin. He reached in under the Dumpster and pulled out a woman’s sandal. Whit watched as his brother closed his eyes and a frown formed between his eyebrows.

“Anything?” he asked.

“No.”

“Here, let me try.” Dalton took the shoe into his hand but kept his eyes open. “Nothing.”

Whit wrapped his hand around the shoe and sighed with frustration. He wasn’t getting anything either, but then none of them knew if the sandal was Prudence’s. Whit shoved the shoe into his pocket and the three of them walked from one end of town and back. Not once did he feel he even touched the emotions of anyone nefarious or of a criminal intent. By the time they headed back to the motel he was hungry and drained from having his shields lowered for so long. All he wanted to do was eat, talk to Sara on the phone, and crawl into bed, but the first thing he had to do was meet and get a report from the rest of their team.

Everyone crowded into their room, and Whit listened as each of them reported they hadn’t found anything. Not one damn fucking thing. Then he remembered the sandal in his pocket and withdrew it.

“Hay found this in the side street where we suspect Prudence Peters was set upon by her abductors. We’ve each touched it but weren’t able to get anything off of it. It may be that because we felt a pull toward Sara and were attracted to her physically that we were able to connect with her on a deeper level when we touched her strand of hair, even though we’d only seen a photo of her and never met her in person. We don’t even know if this shoe belonged to Prudence but I want each of you to touch it and see if you can feel anything or connect to her in any way. You’ve all seen the photo of Prudence, and even though I know it’s a personal thing to admit, I would like you to speak up if you are attracted to this woman from just seeing her picture.”

Thorpe didn’t say anything, but he reached out and took the shoe from Whit’s hand. His face paled and his eyes glazed over as if he were in a trance.

“Everyone, lower your mental walls,” Whit said quietly so he wouldn’t disturb whatever Thorpe was seeing. He watched Thorpe’s brothers intently as Adam and Huntley lowered their shields. Hunt gasped, and he, too, reached out to touch the sandal, as did Adam.

Thorpe made a growly noise and removed his hand from the sandal. “They’re in Chadron. We have to leave now.”

Whit didn’t question his comrades. He trusted them with his life, just as they trusted him. He reached for his large duffel bag and removed his automatic rifle, checked the clip, and made sure the safety was on. His pistol was already tucked under his arm in his shoulder holster and he had another round of bullets clipped to his belt. His knife was in a sheath strapped to his calf and he was already hooked up with receiver and mic. “Lock ’em and load, boys. We’ll talk on the way.”

Once everyone was suited up with bulletproof vests and weapons they got into their trucks and headed north toward Chadron. “Tell us what you saw,” Whit commanded as he drove.

Thorpe’s voice came over the com unit loud and clear, and Whit knew that all the members of the Elite Dragoons could hear him.

“She was abducted in broad daylight. The men were Asian and my guess would be Japanese. Two men subdued her. One held her from behind while the other one placed his hand over her mouth and nose until she passed out from lack of air.”

Thorpe spoke in almost a monotone, but he knew his friend was anything but calm. The only time Thorpe spoke without any inflection was when he was highly agitated.

“She was in the back of a van when she woke up. She planned to escape but they had her trussed up like a turkey at Thanksgiving. Her hands were tied behind her back and her feet were tied up with duct tape.”

Whit wanted to ask how Thorpe knew to head for Chadron when Prudence had been in the back of a van. There was no way she could have seen any signs if she was lying down, but he waited for his friend to continue.

“They stopped on the side of the road for a couple of minutes.” Adam took up where Thorpe had left off. “Probably so one of them could take a leak. One of the assholes opened the back door to the van to check on Prue and she saw a sign no more than ten yards away indicating that Chadron was twenty miles ahead.”

“She counted in her head,” Hunt said. “Counting to sixty over and over, the way you would if you were counting the distance between a lightning strike and thunderclap. Each time she reached a minute she lifted a finger and when she had ten fingers up she started counting all over again. She lifted each finger twice before the van slowed and pulled into a driveway.”