Two men in the house plus Henson to deal with. If they timed it right, they could avoid being spotted by the guard or waking the men in the bunkhouse. With luck, they would be long gone by the time the DEA or the sheriff got there to round them all up.
They went over the plan for the third time before Edge was satisfied they were ready to go. The first guard had been relieved at midnight and returned to the bunkhouse. Three hours later, the second guard was relieved.
Probably rotating in three-hour shifts. They waited until the guard who’d just finished his turn was back in his bunk and a new guard was on duty, then, staying in the shadows, made their way down the slope, through the pine forest that surrounded the house. Edge used a lockpick to open the back door, and they slipped silently inside.
They would be saving Henson for last, taking down the other two men first, since they were the bigger threat. These guys were streetwise and tough. From what Molly had said, Harley Purcell was former military and mean as they came. Sarah Simmons and Stella Beeker had both been murdered.
Fortunately, none of the men were expecting visitors that night. They were miles from Blancha Springs, in a completely different state. Edge drew his Beretta, while Skye pulled a stun gun from its holster on her belt next to her Glock. At her nod, he quietly opened the door of the bedroom at the far end of the hall.
In the dim rays of moonlight coming in above the curtains, he caught a glimpse of red hair and a short red beard on the man asleep in the double bed.Dutch.
Skye moved, her hand shooting out to jab the stun gun into Dutch’s ribs. Electricity crackled and popped. Dutch’s eyes flew open, and his whole body shook. Muscles locked, teeth clenched. Dutch couldn’t move, and in seconds, Edge had him on his stomach, his hands behind his back, cuffed with nylon zip ties.
Skye slapped a piece of duct tape over his mouth, and together they duct-taped his ankles. On a count of three, they quietly lifted him off the bed onto the floor so he lay facedown, then bent his legs back and taped them to his arms. Dutch was no longer a threat.
To be sure he stayed quiet, they dragged him into the closet and closed the door.
One down.
As they eased along the hall, Edge heard movement in the second bedroom. Someone was stirring, but there was no sound of footfalls on the floor. Skye pulled her Glock and held it two-handed. Edge opened the door and rushed forward, recognized Purcell from Molly’s description, shoved his pistol into the flesh beneath Purcell’s jaw before he was fully awake.
“Make a sound and I pull the trigger,” Edge softly warned. Next to him, Skye kept her Glock pointed at the middle of Harley’s barrel chest.
“Sit up, Purcell,” Edge commanded. “Very slowly.”
Harley’s jaw clenched in fury as he sat up on the bed. “It was Molly, wasn’t it? That bitch heard us talking. When I find her, I’m going to kill—”
Edge pressed the barrel deeper, tipping Purcell’s head back. “I told you not to open your mouth.” Harley fell silent, but the fury in his face didn’t lessen.
“Hands behind your back.”
Harley complied, his dark eyes tracking their every move. Skye slipped a nylon tie around his thick wrists and cinched it tight, then tore off a strip of duct tape and sealed it over his mouth.
Edge rolled him over, and Skye began duct-taping his ankles. When Harley jerked and started fighting, Edge did a quick tap with the gun barrel to the back of Harley’s head, and he collapsed face-first on the mattress. Not dead, but definitely out for a while.
Skye finished tying him up, and they left him on the bed.
“Now Daniel,” Edge said. Skye followed him out into the hall, both of them two-handing aHareHhtheir weapons. He turned the knob on Daniel’s bedroom door, but it wouldn’t open. Pulling the lockpick out of his pocket, he quickly worked the rudimentary lock. Daniel was fast asleep, one arm draped over Lila’s middle. When Edge glanced at the woman’s face, he found eyes as dark as midnight, open and watching him.
This was the moment their well-thought-out plan could rapidly turn into a shitstorm. Lila didn’t move as Edge approached the bed.
“Callie sent us,” he said just above a whisper, and shoved the gun barrel against the side of Daniel’s neck. Henson jerked awake.
“What the . . . ?” His whole body went rigid. “You!”
“We meet again,” Edge said. “Be smart, Daniel, and don’t make any sudden moves.”
“Lila, are you coming with us?” Skye asked. “Or staying with him?”
Lila shoved Henson’s arm off her and came to her feet beside the bed. She was wearing a man’s white T-shirt, nothing more, while Henson wore a pair of men’s red plaid flannel pajamas. She leaned over Daniel and spat in his face.
Edge flashed a grin at Skye. “Well, I guess we have our answer.”
“Get dressed,” Skye said to Lila. “Put on a jacket and some shoes you can walk in, and let’s get out of here.”
Wiping the spittle off his face with a shaking hand, Henson glanced wildly toward the door.
“Afraid they’re out of commission for a while.”
