Darkness closed in and Reese dragged his hand down his face. His entire body ached from being wound so tightly. The accident had a hand in the aches and pains he felt, but for the most part he ignored it all. His thoughts were focused on Kelley.
John stared out the window as a rusted Blazer with a broken taillight approached the border.
Reese’s phone rang. He picked it up off the seat, glanced at the caller ID, and saw a number he didn’t recognize.
“Detective McBride,” he answered and heard the tiredness and frustration in his own voice.
“Reese.” An urgent whisper came over the phone and his heart jerked as he realized it was Kelley.
“Kelley.” Reese straightened in his seat and glanced at John whose attention had swiveled to him. “Are you all right, honey? Where are you?”
“I don’t know where we are.” Her voice sounded tight. “But if Belle heard correctly, we’re still in Arizona, near the Mexico border.”
“Thank God.” Reese gripped his phone so tightly that his knuckles ached. “How did you get hold of a phone?”
“It’s Belle’s. Rocha and Taynor obviously didn’t think to check her pockets,” Kelley whispered. “Can’t talk long. The battery is low and Rocha and Taynor are close.”
“Are you in a refrigerated truck?” Reese asked.
“We were in hidden compartments in the floor of a truck that transports ice cream from Mexico into Arizona,” she said. “They’re going to switch to something else. I don’t know what, yet.”
“What can you tell me about where you are right now?” he asked urgently.
“We’re in a barn, so the truck is hidden,” she said. “I’m pretty sure this place is abandoned because the barn looks like it’s falling apart.”
“They’re in an abandoned barn,” Reese said to John who grabbed the radio and started relaying the information.
An edge of fear that he’d never heard in Kelley’s voice accompanied her inner strength as she continued, “Just in case…there’s something I want to tell you.”
“We’re going to find you.” He heard the ferocity in his words as he interrupted her, not wanting her to consider defeat in any way.
“I love you, Reese.” She sounded choked up as she spoke. “I think I always have.”
It struck him like a punch to his heart, as if he might never see her again. He refused to believe it or let it happen. “I love you, Kelley. I
will
find you.”
The line went silent.
“Kelley?” he nearly shouted her name.
“Kelley.”
The phone beeped in his ear, telling him the call had been disconnected.
“Shit.” His mind raced. Had she been caught on the phone or had she severed the connection because Rocha or Taynor had come near her? The battery could even have gone dead.
Her words repeated in his mind over and over.
“I love you, Reese.”
“They’re somewhere here in the valley,” he said to John. “Now that we know Kelley and Belle are here, we’ll be able to get the local police to set up road blocks before any vehicles can get close to the border.”
“It’s not going to be easy finding the barn with it being so dark out,” John said. “Not to mention we have no idea how close or how far away they may be.”
Reese gave a grim nod. He and John spent the next fifteen minutes contacting sources and making plans.
As soon as it was arranged, they drove to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection airfield where they parked so that they could board a helicopter to search for possible locations where Rocha and Taynor could be holding Kelley and Belle.
The whir of the helicopter’s rotors was nearly deafening as Reese and John kept their heads down and hurried to the copter. They boarded and were given headphones to cut out the roar and to allow communication between Reese, John, and the two Border Patrol agents who were with them, one of whom was the pilot. The pilot was Ben Holloway and the other Border Patrol agent was Jorge Munoz.
It had been some time since Reese had been in a helicopter, and he’d never been too crazy about flying in them. He had a swooping sensation in his gut as they lifted from the pad and took off, but his mind was solely focused on Kelley and finding her. Little else mattered.
The helicopter’s searchlight swept over the ground as they covered territory around Douglas. Most of the locations with barns big enough to house a refrigerated truck had occupied homes on the property, the barns seeming to be in good repair. According to Kelley, the barn that they were in was in poor condition.
The area was so large that there was a lot of territory to cover. The longer it took, the tighter Reese’s gut seemed to twist and the harder he clenched his jaws and his fists. He had to rein in his emotions if he was going to keep a clear head.
All four of them peered out into the night, searching…searching. It was so damned dark.
Some time later, Agent Munoz said, “I think I’ve found something.” He gestured to the east. “Right there.”
Agent Holloway did a flyby, and Reese’s throat grew tight as he looked at the dark barn that Agent Munoz pointed out. It was hard to tell in the darkness, but it looked weathered and dilapidated. A house was close to the barn, but with its weed-choked yard, the front door hanging by its hinges, and the roof that was caved in on the west side, it was no doubt abandoned.
Munoz called it in before looking over his shoulder at Reese. “Border Patrol and the sheriff’s department are on their way.”
Holloway circled the barn and house. Reese saw no activity and the barn was dark, not even the slightest glow peeking through the boards. If Taynor and Rocha were holding Belle and Kelley in this barn, they must have had all lights off.
The barn was so far from Douglas that it took twenty minutes for the Border Patrol to arrive, followed by the sheriff’s department. Reese had never taken his eyes off of the barn, so he was certain that if their quarry was there, they hadn’t left.
When their backup arrived, Holloway lowered the helicopter so that it hovered a few feet above the ground, the wind from the rotors stirring dust and grass. Reese, John, and Munoz jumped out of the copter while Holloway guided the craft into the air again and circled the barn, the searchlight illuminating the barn.
John, Reese, and Munoz joined the Border Patrol agents, the sheriff, and his deputies. The Border Patrol agents had two German shepherds trained to detect humans and drugs.
Reese was a long way from his own jurisdiction so as much as he wanted to take charge he had to let the sheriff be in control.
Sheriff Pike appeared to be a good man who was serious and determined to rescue Kelley and the girl. He broke the agents and deputies into teams to cover the back and front. Reese and John were with Agent Munoz and Deputy Carlyle and would enter from the front of the barn. Reese would take the lead on his team.
Bulletproof vests were distributed and strapped on and they came up with two extra for Reese and John.
The night was cool and quiet, the silence broken only by a pack of coyotes yipping in the distance. Stars sparkled overhead in a glittering swathe across the dark sky, and the moon was silvery and bright.
John and Reese moved to one side of the huge barn doors while Munoz and Carlyle took the other side. Like the other men, Reese held his weapon in a two-handed grip, ready for anything that might greet them from inside the barn.
Reese waited for the signal that everyone was in place. Reese shouted “Police!” as the doors were shoved open. At the same time, the team from the backside of the barn broke in, also with shouts of “Police!”
Nothing was inside the barn.
No truck, no men, no Kelley, no Belle. There was no sign that anyone had been here for years.
Reese felt like he’d been punched to the gut. Where were Kelley and Belle? The men worked their way through the barn, checking the hayloft as well as the stalls.
Nothing.
Reese dragged his hand down his face. He cursed beneath his breath and turned to John.
“I was so damned sure they were here.” Reese holstered his Glock.
“Damn it,”
he growled.
John rested his hand on Reese’s shoulder. “We’ll find them.”
Resisting shrugging off John’s hand, Reese took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. “We’ll just keep looking.”
“You should get some rest.” John removed his hand from Reese’s shoulder and glanced at the time on his phone. “It’s closing in on two a.m.”
“I don’t have time.” Reese started out of the barn. “They could be heading across the border even as we speak.”
John nodded. “Then we’d better get to searching.”
Reese’s phone vibrated in its holster. He always kept it on vibrate when necessary, during times like this. He pulled the phone out of his pocket to see that he had a text message and went to his message screen. His heart squeezed when he saw that the phone number on the text was the one Kelley had called him from earlier.
He clicked on the message and read it.
They’re getting ready to move us. An hour ago Rocha saw a searchlight and it spooked him. Don’t know where we’re being taken.
Reese read through the message twice then handed his phone to John who scanned it.
When John looked up, he said, “They must have been in one of the other barns that we passed before coming to this one.”
“My thoughts exactly. We’ve got to get to them before they move out.” Reese turned and jogged to where Sheriff Pike was talking with a couple of his deputies.
Reese explained about the text. Pike nodded. “We’ll be ready when you locate the next target.”
After Reese caught up with Agent Munoz, John joined them and they hurried to the helicopter where Holloway had found a place to land in a grassy field. They ducked beneath the rotors and climbed into the craft.
As the helicopter rose, Reese prayed they would find the location where Kelley and Belle were and soon.
* * * * *
Rocha started the big truck and turned the headlights on, nearly blinding Kelley. Kelley had just shoved the phone into her front pocket and she prayed he hadn’t seen her. Rocha climbed out of the truck, his newly shaved head gleaming in the headlights.
Taynor approached Rocha. “What now?”
“Get the bitch and the girl into the back.” Rocha gave a nod in the direction of the refrigerated truck. “We gotta get the fuck out of here before that helicopter comes back.”
Kelley glanced at the pick again. Could she get to it before Taynor got to her? No, she didn’t have enough time. She set her jaw as Taynor came toward her to take the bindings off of her wrists. When he saw that her wrists were already untied, he narrowed his gaze. With a furious expression, he swung his foot, and kicked her in the side with his boot.
She cried out, nearly doubling over as pain shot through her side and her chest. He’d kicked her so hard she briefly wondered if he’d cracked one of her ribs.
“I’ll teach you to get out of your fucking ropes.” He swung his foot back again but Kelley managed to roll out of his way.
“They fell off.” She scrambled away, her eyes watering and her body screaming from the pain. “I could have left, but I stayed.”
“Get the bitch into the truck like I told you,” Rocha shouted. “Now.”
Taynor walked over to Kelley, grabbed her by her hair and jerked her to her feet. Stars burst in her mind and she felt momentarily dizzy as it felt like fire seared her lacerated scalp. Warm blood trickled down the side of her face as the head wound reopened.
He pushed her away from him and she stumbled out of the glow of headlights, every ache in her body seeming to come alive. Her mind once again clouded from pain and she had to struggle to remain upright.
This sonofabitch was going to pay as soon as she had the opportunity. Rocha had woken when Kelley had been on the phone with Reese and she’d barely been able to put the phone away before he looked over at her. He’d kicked Taynor’s thigh, forcing him awake.
Later, when Rocha was ranting about the helicopter and needing to leave, she’d had the opportunity to text Reese. Hopefully the call and the text would be enough to save Belle and herself.
The last words he’d said before she disconnected the call came to mind once again and she held onto them like a lifeline.
“I love you, Kelley. I
will
find you.”
She knew he would. She had to believe it.
But she also needed to do what she could to save herself and Belle. She needed to fight through the pain and fuzziness in her head. Just in case Reese didn’t find her in time.
She waited as Taynor untied Belle. He forced her to stand and shoved her toward Kelley who caught the girl by her hand before giving her a quick hug.
“We’re going to be okay,” Kelley whispered to Belle as she tried to comfort the girl whose face was streaked with tears.
Rocha stood by the back of the truck and held one of the doors open as Taynor shoved Kelley and Belle toward the vehicle. Rocha’s phone rang again and he dug it out of his pocket and answered it. He listened to the caller. His gaze cut to Taynor then shifted away again like he didn’t want Taynor to know what he was talking about.
Taynor paused in what he’d been doing as he watched Rocha who was still looking away. A change came over Taynor’s face and he moved toward Rocha, leaving Belle and Kelley by the truck’s bumper.
As Rocha turned back to Taynor, Kelley saw the glint of a barrel of a gun. Taynor had clearly been expecting it as he kicked the weapon out of Rocha’s hand.
Rocha snarled and went for the gun, but Taynor lunged at Rocha and took him down to the ground. The pair rolled in the dirt, fists flying.
“I’m going to kill you,” Rocha shouted as he slammed his fist against the side of Taynor’s head.
“You won’t get the chance,” Taynor said as he hit Rocha with an uppercut.
Taynor was taller and packed more weight than Rocha who was fairly short for a man, slender and wiry. What Taynor held in height and weight, Rocha made up for in speed and agility.
Kelley pressed Belle back against the truck. “Get under the truck and hide, Belle,” she said urgently.
Belle hesitated then did what Kelley told her to do. Kelley eased toward the men, her eye on them and the gun that was just out of their reach even though both of them were fighting to get to it.