Stranded (26 page)

Gage and Jake jumped into the first of the
Bering
's auxiliary boats. They'd contacted the Coast Guard, alerting them to the search grid they'd created based on the information Ted had supplied and the map work Jake had done. Their best bet was a small island ten miles from the day's excursion destination. It would provide a perfect drop location—isolated, uninhabited, and close enough for Clint or Jeremy to run a victim over, or even for someone on the other end to head over for a pickup.

The rest of the McKennas and what security personnel the
Bering
was willing to lend fanned out in the rest of the boats, each taking a different island on Jake's grid.

“We're going to find her,” Jake said as they headed out into open water.

Gage gripped the wheel. “I pray you are right.”

Darcy squinted at the boat in the distance. Was it the man Clint had called to pick her up? She wrestled against her bonds, her hands tied to the post, the rope burning her skin each time she tried to wriggle free. The boat grew closer, and panic set in. She squeezed her eyes shut.

Please, Lord.

“Darcy,” Gage screamed.

She opened her eyes, relief crashing over her as Gage jumped from the boat, sloshing through the remaining ten feet to shore.

He raced to her side and, kneeling beside her, kissed her fiercely. “I thought I'd lost you.”

“We need to hurry.” Her breath came in shallow pants. “Someone's coming.”

“What?”

“George said they would call for someone to pick me up. I think . . .” Bile rose in her throat.

Gage pulled the utility knife from his pocket. “We need to get out of here.”

“No. Wait.”

“What?”

“Leave me here.”

His eyes widened. “Are you crazy?”

Gage knelt beside Jake in the bushes. They'd agreed to Darcy's cockamamie plan against his better judgment and hidden their boat in a nearby cove.

“This better work,” he murmured to Jake as a boat came in from the east.

“I won't let anything happen to her,” Jake promised.

The boat drove right up to the beach. A man jumped out, pulling the small craft up on the sand, and then strode to Darcy.

“Now,” Jake said, pulling his Sig .375.

Gage followed.

Jake paused just shy of the man bending to cut Darcy loose. He cocked the gun, and the man stilled. “Turn around.”

The man turned slowly, his hands lifting. “You're making a big mistake.”

“Funny,” Jake said. “I don't see it that way.”

The man refused to talk, but it didn't matter. The GPS in the boat held the coordinates they needed.

“You really think Abby's still being held there?” Gage asked as they climbed in.

“I pray she is,” Darcy said. “Regardless, some women are, and we need to rescue them.”

Jake lowered the radio he'd been using. “Coast Guard is on its way, as are the rest of the searchers. I told them we were leaving our friend here.” He gestured to the man tied to the same post that moments ago Darcy had been secured to. “I let them know he's been subdued.”

“That was a pretty good knock you gave him with that oar,” Gage said, squeezing her shoulder.

“It was my pleasure.” Darcy smiled. They couldn't risk his getting away or warning whoever was in charge they were coming.

Darcy rubbed her arms as the boat sped toward the island fixed in the GPS's coordinates. “What if we can't find them? What if . . . ?”

Gage clasped her hand. “We should pray.”

She looked up in shock. “
What
did you just say?”

“We should pray.”

“I thought . . .”

“So did I, but God had different plans.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Are you saying . . . ?” Had she been right? Had God been at work in Gage's heart?

“I spent our last night aboard the
Bering
on my knees,
begging God to forgive my bitterness and anger toward Him for all these years.”

“And?” Hope sprang in her eyes.

He swallowed. “I've asked Him to be my Savior.”

Tears welled in her eyes, and she hugged him, clinging to him without saying a word.

“You okay?” He rubbed her back.

She burrowed into his hold. “I'm so grateful.”

“Are you crying?”

She sniffed. “Don't worry. They are tears of praise. I've been praying—”

“Ever since we met,” he said, kissing the top of her head. “I know, and I'm not sure what I did to deserve your prayers, especially considering how I treated you when we first met or even over the past week, but I am so glad you offered them.”

She gazed up at him, so overwhelmed with love. “So am I, but I can't take any credit. I may have offered the prayers, but it was God who answered them.”

He clutched her hand tightly against his chest. “Let's pray He answers our prayers now.”

They poured out their prayers for a miracle to occur. For Abby to be rescued, for enough evidence to mount to bust up the trafficking ring and convict the men behind it.

The low-lying island was dotted with hills—a combination of brown tufa and cinder cones—several nearly a hundred feet tall. From their vantage point in the boat bobbing along the rocky coastline, Gage could see the hills provided ample coverage for a house or compound to be nestled behind, out of sight from any passersby. Though, in this region of the Bering Sea, only fishing vessels trawled.

Gage confirmed the coordinates to the rest of the McKennas, the Coast Guard, and the FBI agents en route. Hopefully, they'd arrive soon.

“We have no idea how many men are on this island,” Jake said.

“Or how armed they are,” Gage added. “Should we wait for backup?”

“We can't,” Darcy said. “They're expecting that man we left on the island to return with me. The longer I'm delayed, the more suspicious they'll become. If Abby or any other women are being held on the island, we need to move now.”

Jake nodded. “I agree. And if they hear the boat approach, they'll assume it is their man arriving with Darcy.”

Trying to find a place to pull ashore proved tricky—the
majority of the coastline was rugged and interspersed with sheer cliff headlands swathed with nesting seabirds. Gage finally spotted a small cove sheltered from the breakers, but they still had to wade through several feet of rock-strewn water to reach the shore.

Having not been greeted by gunfire, they hoped the island's remote location had lulled any guards into complacency and they would be able to approach without confrontation.

“I'll climb that hill.” Jake pointed to the nearest mound. “It should give me a good view of the island. If there's a structure here, we'll be able to assess what we're facing.”

“All right, let's go,” Gage said.

“You two should wait here, in case someone spots me.”

Gage wavered.

“Trust me,” Jake said.

Gage nodded, watching Jake hike up the hill littered with lichen-covered rocks as Darcy paced beside him. “We're taking too long.”

“We need to know what we're walking into.”

She balled her hands into fists, her skin paling to an ivory blue.

Gage clasped hold of her. “Give me your hands.”

She held them out, and he pressed them between his, trying to warm her. It couldn't be much above freezing. The Bering Sea climate was Arctic Maritime, and with the constant lashing southern wind, it felt it.

Within ten minutes, Jake was back. “Okay, we've got a building about fifty yards northeast. I spotted one man outside. I didn't see any windows, so I couldn't get eyes inside. I think the best course of action is for you to lead Darcy in just as they're expecting her.”

“They aren't expecting
me
.”

“Keep her in front of you and your head down. Even though they probably know there was trouble on the ship, they have no reason to expect anything out of the norm out here. I'll flank around and overtake the man when his attention is directed on you two.”

“And then?” Gage couldn't allow anything to happen to Darcy. Couldn't even think about . . .

“We use him to figure out what's next.”

Gage led Darcy through the knee-high grasses swaying in the breeze.

The man ahead was tall but scrawny; his attention was fixed on a magazine, his gun in its holster at his side. “About time,” he said, not bothering to glance up at the sound of Gage's approach. “Don't tell me she gave you a hassle.” He flipped to the end of his magazine and turned to Darcy, a smile curling on his bearded face. “The boss will be pleased. She's perfect.”

Gage kept his head low.

“Steve?” The man cocked his head, trying to see around Darcy.

Jake took the opportunity to sneak up behind the man and relieve him of his weapon, handing it over to Gage.

“How many men in the house?” Jake asked.

The man raised two fingers.

“How many doors?”

The man raised one finger.

“Thanks.” Jake knocked him over the head, and they moved for the house. “I'll go in first,” he said, hovering outside the entrance. “Darcy, wait out here until we signal it's okay.”

To Gage's amazement, she agreed.

Jake went in first and Gage followed.

A large man sat at the table, dealing out cards in a game of solitaire, his broad back to them.

Jake approached, the man shifted, and Jake leveled his gun at his head.

Noise stirred from the rear, and Gage headed toward it, gun in hand.

The hall was dim, a series of doors lining each side of the narrow passage. He peered into the first room. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust. A woman lay on a mattress on the floor, a tattered blanket covering her. Her hair was dark, her face covered. She shifted with a moan.

Something cracked, then splintered in the room at the end of the hall. Gage rushed to it and jiggled the handle.
Locked
.

A crash sounded and light burst forth beneath the door. “I think we've got a runner,” he hollered, kicking in the door.

The room was dank and cold, and he saw another woman lying on a mattress. Her bare arm was littered with puncture marks.

Jake rushed in and glanced at the opening. “A hidden door.” The boards blocking it had been kicked to the ground. “I'll go. You stay and check on the women.”

“The man in the front room?”

“Secure, as is the rest of the house. We have a total count of three women, including her.” He gestured to the woman balled up on the mattress.

“Abby?”

“I didn't look that close. I was just making sure the rooms were secure.”

“I'll get Darcy.”

Jake nodded and headed outside, while Gage moved to the front, signaling Darcy it was safe to enter.

“Where's Jake?” she asked, hesitating at the sight of the large man bound and gagged in the room off the entry.

“We had a runner. He's tracking him now.”

“And Abby?”

“There are three women. From your description, I don't think the two I saw are her.”

“And the third?” Darcy asked, heading for the back hall.

“Second door on your right.”

She ran into the room and Gage followed. He entered as Darcy's breath hitched.

Abby lay on the makeshift bed, needle marks in her left arm, her eyes dilated, her head swaying.

“Abby.” Darcy rushed forward, enveloping her friend in her arms.

Abby looked so frail, so weak, so cold. When she spoke her voice cracked. “I . . . I . . . kn-knew you . . . not . . . give up . . . on me-e-e-e.” Her head drooped to the side.

“Never,” Darcy said, cradling Abby tighter.

“How is she?” he asked from the doorway, trying to assess the best course of action.

Darcy smoothed the hair from Abby's brow, studying her face. “Semiconscious.”

“I'll go look for medical supplies. See if we can't start flushing the drugs from her system until the Coast Guard medics arrive.”

Jake sprinted up the hill, trying to avoid the jutting rocks.

The runner had a good hundred-yard lead on him and was racing for the south shore—where he probably had a getaway boat stashed. Seeing him disappear over the next rise, Jake increased his pace—his heartbeat whirring in his ears, his legs burning. It felt good to be back in pursuit.

Reaching the top of the ridge, Jake surveyed the landscape while maintaining his brisk pace. It took a moment for his eyes
to fasten on the movement ahead—the man darting in and out of his line of sight, weaving around the volcanic mounds. Jake continued pursuit, gaining ground with each stride.

“Kayden, stop!” Piper's shriek echoed over the ridge.

Jake scanned the space, fear welling.
What is she
 . . .
?
Panic rose in his throat as he spotted her racing along the lower edges of the hills at a perfect angle to intercept. “Kayden, no!”

She was fast—record-shattering fast. He'd heard as much, but he'd never seen her in action, not like this. Within seconds she'd be between an armed criminal and his bid for escape.

Jake lost visual as he neared the bottom of the hill, his heart firmly wedged in his throat. As he cleared a thicket, they stood not five feet ahead. Unable to stop, he barreled into them midstride, and the wind left his lungs as he collided atop the two on the hard-packed earth.

A shot fired, the retort echoing around them.

Please, don't let it be Kayden. Please, God
.

Jake scrambled to his feet, his fingers tightening around the gun's grip. Something cracked into his jaw, lashing his head back. Blood pooled in his mouth, the sun overhead flashing bright in his eyes.

He straightened, blinking the sunspots from his eyes until he saw Kayden wrestling with the man on the ground. The man kicked, knocking her back, and lunged for his gun mere inches from his reach.

Jake cocked the hammer, ready to fire. “Stop!”

The man stilled, his gaze fixed on his weapon.

Jake kept the barrel aimed directly at his head. “
Don't
do it.”

After a moment's hesitation, the man's shoulders slumped and he lifted his hands in the air.

“What were you thinking?” Jake asked as they trudged back to join the others.

Kayden wiped dirt from her mouth and swallowed, trying to settle what seemed like a swarm of bees swirling in her stomach. Piper and Landon escorted the now-handcuffed prisoner far enough ahead to be out of earshot. “I was trying to help.”

“By chasing down an armed criminal?”

“I . . . ” She'd had a plan, hadn't she? “I stopped him before he could escape.”

“Yes, but if I hadn't arrived when I had . . . ” Jake's face tightened, true fear edging his eyes.

She'd never seen that depth of concern on his face before. She'd missed a lot of things about him in the midst of her distrust—how strong he was, how powerful in his element. What else had her stubbornness caused her to miss the past three years?

What
had
she been thinking?

“I don't even want to imagine what could have—”

“Nothing happened. I'm fine. You're fine.” She winced at his swollen jaw. “Well, mostly fine. And now we may finally get some answers.”

Darcy remained steadfastly at Abby's side while Landon and Jake secured the third man in the room where they were holding the other two. Meanwhile, the McKennas tended to the three women as best they could with the minimal supplies available until the Coast Guard arrived.

A half hour later the Coast Guard medic said, “She's going
to be fine,” and offered a reassuring smile as he hooked up Abby's IV.

“Thank you.” Darcy clasped Abby's clammy hand. “See, Abby, you're going to be all right.”
Thank you, Lord.

Gage signaled to her from the doorway, and after a moment's hesitation, she left Abby and joined the McKennas along with Jake and Landon in the front room.

“Federal agents should be here within the hour,” Landon said. “Since the women aren't in critical condition, they've requested that the Coast Guard wait to transport them until they've had a chance to assess them on scene.”