“Yeah, and whether she’ll come willingly.” His electric blue eyes locked on her light green ones. “Doesn’t really matter. One way or another, your sister is going home.”
CHAPTER FIVE
BACK AT THE MOTEL, EDGE WORKED WITHSKYE ON HER LAPTOP FORa while, pulling up a tax assessor’s map showing the size of the parcel of land, three hundred acres, where the church was located. She sent the map to the office printer for a copy, then pulled up ownership information, which turned out to be a corporation with a Denver address.
As afternoon became evening, Edge returned to his own room to change clothes. Dressing head to foot in black clothes from his go-bag, he grabbed a black bill cap and tugged it on, then headed out of the room. When Skye pulled open her door, he saw that she was dressed in a similar way: in black stretch jeans and a black pullover sweater.
They were both professionals. Neither of them needed to be told what to wear when you were going on a night mission. They would be trespassing on someone’s property. They had no idea what they would be facing when they got there. With luck, they could get in and out without being seen, but there were no guarantees.
“You ready?” Edge asked.
Skye nodded. She had pulled her dark hair into a high ponytail, then covered it with a black wool cap. Her Glock 19 rode in a holster clipped to her belt. Her tight-fitting clothes outlined her curves, and arousal slid through him.
Damn.He did not need this right now. Unfortunately, his body disagreed.
They headed out to the car. Edge carried some basic gear in a canvas bag in the small space that passed for a trunk in the Nissan: a backpack, black face paint, a pair of black leather gloves, a pair of Night Owl Nexgen night vision binoculars, bolt cutters, a set of lock picks, and miscellaneous other items.
He wished he’d tossed in body armor for the two of them. The gate guard was carrying a semiauto. Good chance other men were, too. A drone fitted with a night-vision camera would have been useful.
“Tonight we’ll just be collecting information,” Edge said. “If we have to go in and physically bring Callie out, we’ll need more equipment and a workable plan.”
“You think we’ll be able to talk to her tonight?”
“Depends on what we find when we get in there.”
Edge drove the Nissan down the dirt road, turned right about a half mile from the gate onto a side road that he had spotted on their earlier drive. The road ran parallel to the southern boundary of the property. In a wide spot, he backed the car in for a speedy exit and killed the engine.
The night was mostly dark, with enough clouds to intermittently hide the moon. He’d bought a black car for a reason, and it was paying off tonight. Always better to be prepared.
Skye quietly closed her door and walked around to where Edge stood in front of the trunk. He pulled out the can of face paint and opened it.
“Hold still.” Catching her chin, he ran a blackened finger down each of her cheeks and down her nose. Her skin felt soft beneath his touch and smooth as glass. A ripple of heat went through him. He wanted to peel off her dark clothes and admire the rest of her, run his hands all over her sweetly feminine body.
“My turn,” Skye said. Taking the can out of his hand, she drew several black lines down his cheeks and across his forehead, then screwed the lid back on and tossed the can back in the canvas bag.
Edge took out the bolt cutters and stuffed them into the backpack, slid the straps of the pack over his shoulders, and quietly closed the trunk. They had checked their weapons and ammo before they’d left the motel. The trick was not having to use them.
Following the side road on foot, they reached the spot they had chosen on the map, made a 45-degree turn, and started across the open country in front of them toward the southern boundary of the compound.
The ground felt solid beneath Edge’s feet, but there wasn’t much cover, just a field full of dry meadow grass, and a few stubby trees and bushes. The mountains were close, but here in the valley, it was fairly flat.
“This way,” Edge said quietly, spotting the shallow ravine he had seen on Google Earth that ran the same direction they were headed. Traversing the bottom, staying out of sight, they reached the point where the ravine came to an end. Above it, a chain-link fence marked the property line.
Edge pulled out the bolt cutters, found a spot in the fence hidden by a leafy bush, and cut a square hole big enough for them to crawl through. In seconds, they were inside, the fence back in place behind the shrub.
Grapevines covered several acres of the property, he saw. He had noticed a sign for a winery along the highway and wondered if Henson supplied the grapes.
They moved silently forward, skirting the vines running parallel to the fence line. Edge spotted a guard standing at the corner of the property where the south boundary intersected with the east and motioned for Skye to drop down out of sight.
Patrolling the east fence, a second guard walked up beside the first, and they began to chat, one of them laughing at something the other said. Both men carried AR-15s and had handguns clipped to their belts.
What the hell is Henson doing out here?
The guards eventually split up, each of them traversing the fence line back the way he had come. Edge motioned to Skye, and staying low, they skirted the vineyards and moved deeper into the compound, finally coming up on a pair of metal toolsheds near the vegetable patch. The sheds provided cover and a chance to get their bearings.
“The cottages aren’t far from here,” Skye said softly. “I wish I knew which one Callie is in.”
“The lights are all off, the curtains closed. The women will all be sleeping. Nothing we can do tonight but recon the area and come back better prepared.”
