If it were an innocent civilian, whether a leisure hiker or hunter or someone searching for lost livestock, they might not realize he was a human and they were trying to conceal their presence.
Without a clue where he was, he didn’t dare speak English.
After another ten minutes of this and with the mist beginning to swirl with the hints of a soft breeze kicking up, Peyton finally had enough. He opted to make a very loud, obviously human cough.
When he did, not far ahead of him he heard another noise, like rock on rock.
And when he cocked his head and froze in an attempt to zero in on the source, pain slammed into the back of his skull, turning his world black.
Again.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Ken
Okay, so we’re doing this.
There wouldn’t be any easing into it. Dewi stood looking at the four of them with her arms crossed over her chest, a thick, dark cloud of serious energy swirling around her in a way he’d never seen or felt before. Ken didn’t know if the others sensed it the way he could, or if it was just a mate thing.
Trent started to speak but Ken talked over him. “There was a trap. Peyton was abducted.” Ken sensed Dewi currently had zero tolerance for slow-rolling info, and this whole conversation would go much easier with a “rip the bandage off” mindset instead of the gentler way Trent wanted to conduct it.
Great in theory and intent, but not so great considering Dewi’s current take-no-prisoners mindset.
Slow-rolling would only fast-track her anger.
She sucked her teeth. “Alllrighty. Whose head am I removing from their shoulders, and where do I find them?”
“We don’t know,” Ken said. “And even if we did, you can’t.”
She barked a laugh that cut through the air as sharply as a well-honed boning knife. “Oooh, I absofuckinglutely know I can.” She tipped her head from side to side, cracking her neck. “Give me one valid reason why I shouldn’t?”
“Lyssa,” Ken snapped, grabbing Dewi’s attention. He knew that because her eyes widened slightly. Once she was really seeing and hearing him, he plowed forward. “We don’t know who took him, or why they took him, or where they took him. But there were several of them armed with tranquilizer guns, and they hauled him off in a helicopter. By the time Trevor and the others caught up, there was nothing they could do. None of them were armed.”
“A fucking helicopter?”
“It was a trap,” Ken said. “They were prepared to jump whoever showed up at the supposed campsite. There wasn’t an informant. Either the guy was forced to say what he said, or information was tortured out of him about the local area and someone used his phone to impersonate him. That doesn’t matter now, because three members of the Haugen family are dead. Murdered. Including the kid who was the supposed informant. The father’s in the military and on deployment. Trevor’s trying to make contact with him so he can break the news.”
“Wait, what? Murdered?” He sensed her confusion.
Which was exactly what he wanted, hoping that would derail her wrath long enough he could reason with her.
If not…
Well, he kinda hoped maybe Badger had a tranquilizer gun stashed around here somewhere, because they’d probably need it if he couldn’t reason with her.
Now that Ken had Dewi’s focus, he let Trent take over, since he was the one who talked to Trevor. While Trent had Dewi’s attention, Badger and Duncan slowly edged around behind her, ready to pounce, if needed, to control her.
Dewi’s gaze slowly dropped to the floor as Trent spoke. She chewed on her lower lip and Ken heard her angry mental mumbling, but she didn’t interrupt. Anyone else might have thought she was ignoring her brother, but Ken knew it was just the opposite—she was absorbing every word not just into her brain, but through her very skin.
When Trent finished catching her up, all the way through him opening the safe and reading Peyton’s instructions, she stood still for a long moment, even her mental mumbles going silent.
Finally, “How’s Gillian?” she quietly asked.
Ken didn’t dare breathe a sigh of relief yet.
“As expected,” Ken said before Trent could. “Upset. Scared for her husband. Angry. Actually, move angry to the top of the list.”
“No shit,” she muttered, still staring at the floor. She took a long, deep breath and slowly let it out again. “Why do I get the feeling Peyton invited everyone over tonight as a ‘just in case’ move?” She looked up, meeting Trent’s gaze. “All those Enforcers? Really? Maybe he had a…a feeling.”
