“Vegas,” Edge repeated. “That’s interesting.”
“Sunstar owns the property in Blancha Springs,” Zoe said. “Orion owns seven hundred acres west of Chamaya off Highway 64. Bought it last year. Before that, it was the Pine Tree Ranch, owned by the Miller family. When Thomas Miller’s wife died, he sold the ranch to Orion and moved to Santa Fe. I’ll text you a map of the site.”
Edge’s gaze shifted to Skye. “If the property ownership connects Blancha Springs and Chamaya, and Beekman is already here, there’s a damned good chance that’s where Henson is setting up next.”
“Limited cell service out there,” Zoe said. “But Beekman’s last ping was in the area.”
“That’s where we’ll find him,” Edge said, certainty settling in his bones.
Skye’s gaze shot to his. “Which means there’s a very good chance Daniel is with him—or already out there.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
AFTERZOE’S CALL, SKYE CLIMBED INTOEDGE’S TRUCK FOR A RUNto the local grocery store. They picked up coffee, breakfast goodies, sandwich stuff, and a frozen pizza they could bake for supper before they headed out.
Neither Beekman nor Daniel had ever seen Edge’s black Ford pickup, so they decided to drive west on Highway 64 toward the Orion property and do a quick recon of the area before it got dark.
Thirteen miles west of Chamaya, a dirt lane off Highway 64 led to the site on Zoe’s map. The road was a barely visible line a little before the turn onto Highway 84 heading north to Pagosa Springs. Like the rest of the area, it was a land of high mountain valleys, golden this time of year, surrounded by rolling hills and tall, forested peaks.
Skye rode in silence, tense as they neared their destination. The open grassland on both sides of the unpaved road heading to the property was uninhabited—until the pickup rounded a bend and a two-story log house came into view.
Edge slid to a halt and quickly backed up around the bend out of sight. Turning the pickup around, he drove to a narrow dirt track peppered with potholes he had spotted on the way out, turned down the road, and backed into a place where they couldn’t be seen.
Skye joined him at the rear of the truck and watched as Edge assembled the drone on the tailgate, hooked it up to his iPad, and launched it into the air.
It didn’t take long for the device to reach its destination.
“Looks like just the log house and garage, plus a couple of wooden outbuildings,” Edge said. The drone moved toward the wooden buildings. “Dilapidated barn with a few old stalls and what looks like a bunkhouse.” The drone hovered close to the windows of the second building.
“Got bunk beds lining the walls.” Edge moved the drone higher. “There’s a black SUV in front of the house. Garage door is open. Another black SUV’s parked inside.”
“So far no sign of Henson or Lila,” Skye said, her gaze glued to the iPad screen.
Edge changed direction and flew the drone closer to the house, staying just above the windows.
“There! Two men in the kitchen.” She pointed at the screen. The drone hovered, giving them a better view.
“Worker bees,” Edge said. “Ex-cons, street thugs, or mercenaries from the look of them.”
“Just like before,” Skye said.
Edge moved the drone to a different set of windows. Three men sat on overstuffed sofas and chairs in the living room. One of the men was Daniel Henson.
Edge grinned. “Bingo.”
“See the guy with the red hair?” Skye pointed at the screen. “That’s Dutch. He drove me out to the vegetable garden where Callie was working.”
“The butt-ugly guy with the shaggy, mouse-brown hair is Beekman,” Edge said. “I recognize the tat on the side of his scrawny neck.”
“The third guy fits Molly’s description of Purcell.”
Edge nodded. “Around six-three. The pointed beard is a dead giveaway.”
Skye’s heart was racing as she stared at the screen. “Where’s Lila?” So far they’d seen no sign of her or Stella or any other woman.
“Let’s try upstairs.” The drone shot up to the second floor and cruised by the windows. In a bedroom at the back of the house that looked out toward the mountains, a beautiful, black-haired woman with a curvy figure sat on the side of a queen-size bed, staring into space. The despair on her face tugged at Skye’s heart.
“Got to be her,” Edge said.
