“So we’ve got them bottled up in there,” Bran said.
That’s one way to look at it, Kenzie thought.
“Anyone find a decent crossing?” Chase asked. “The way I went in isn’t any good. Too many hazards.”
“Same to the north,” Reese agreed.
“I found a route,” Bran said. “Had to clear some of the brush and obstacles, but I left it marked with yellow neon reflective tape. It’ll work as a way to bring Griff out.”
Kenzie’s heart began to pound. It wouldn’t be long now.
“What about your sniper’s nest?” Reese asked Bran.
“Already in place. Tranq gun’s loaded and waiting on-site.” Bran rose from the log. “Let’s fire up the drone and make another pass over the cabin before it’s too dark. We can check things out, make sure everything looks good. There’s a crescent moon tonight, which will help or hurt, depending on how the situation unfolds. As soon as it’s full dark, we go in.”
Griff sat on the edge of the saggy iron bed. The slivers of sunlight that dimly lit the room through cracks in the walls were fading. It was almost dark outside, the evening filled with eerie swamp sounds.
Fear crawled through him. Time was running out. Tomorrow morning, as soon as the call the men were waiting for came in, they were going to kill him.
His stomach churned. Any minute they would be bringing something for supper. For once in his life, Griff wasn’t hungry.
He had to find a way to escape. He couldn’t afford to wait.
His mind spun with ideas, stuff he’d seen in the movies or read in fantasy novels. But he didn’t have a weapon and he didn’t really think any of the make-believe stuff would work.
In the end, he decided the best he could do was be ready if an opportunity came along. It worried him that even if he got away, the men might do what they said and come after him and his mom.
Griff closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He would think about that when the time came.
In the meantime, he would be ready.
THIRTY-FIVE
“Two minutes,” Bran said. “Check your gear one last time, then we move out.”
Reese was more than ready. Had been for what seemed hours. It was heading toward full dark, the night sounds of the bayou beginning to come alive. A coyote howled. Insects rubbed their wings, setting up an eerie rhythm. A bobcat growled in the underbrush not far away.
Reese strode toward Kenzie, reached out, and caught her shoulders. “You going to be okay?”
She managed a passable smile. “I’m terrified, but I’ll be all right.”
“I know you will.” Leaning down, he kissed her, taking it as deep as time allowed. “You’ve got a radio. You’ll be able to hear what we’re saying. The keys are in the pickup. If anything goes wrong, take the truck and get out of here.”
“I’m not going anywhere without you and Griff, so don’t waste your breath.” Reese opened his mouth to protest, but Kenzie pressed her fingers over his lips. “Don’t argue. Just kiss me one last time and get going.”
Reese complied, lingering a few seconds longer than he should have, earning a nudge from Chase.
“Time to go.”
“Stay safe,” Kenzie called after them.
Reese draped a pair of night-vision binoculars around his neck and adjusted the earbud that connected him to the radio he was carrying. Bran headed in one direction, Reese and Chase in another. The plan was for Brandon to use the tranq gun to take out the men guarding the perimeter. Once they were down, Reese and Chase would drag the men’s unconscious bodies out of sight. But it could get dicey.
Whatever it took, they would do what they had to. The men were kidnappers, hired killers. A child’s life was at stake. They didn’t have a lot of choices.
Reese followed Chase along the path Bran had scouted and marked with yellow glow-in-the-dark tape. The trail sloped onto the bank of the creek. Reese’s cowboy boots sank ankle-deep in the mud, then a few more steps and he was sloshing through the water, a slowly moving stream about three feet deep. A beaver slid into the lazy current on his right and suddenly a deer bolted on his left, bounding noisily through the low-hanging branches toward safety.
At the sound, Chase went still in the water ahead of him, waiting, giving the silence a chance to return, followed by the forest sounds that had muffled their movements.
