That was something completely new for her son, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it.
“No. You stay here with your mother and keep her safe. I won’t be long. Once I’ve made sure that the cave is safe, the two of you can help me gather supplies, and then we’ll be on our way.”
“Okay, just be quick,” Rider agreed.
***
Seeing the kid reunited with his mother warmed Deadshot’s heart in a way he didn’t know was possible. He wanted to stay right there with them, but he had to make sure that nobody was going to follow them. So he headed back into the cave. Now that he knew the layout, it didn’t take long for him to inspect the entirety of it. While he was busy checking it, he also looked for clues to see if he could figure out where Quincy had taken Sarah.
Much to his frustration, he did not find anything. Maybe some of the men knew, but they were all dead. Since there was nothing left to do, he headed back outside and told Isabelle and the kid that they could join him inside to gather some supplies. Traveling back home shouldn’t take half as long as it did to find the cave, but now there were three of them, and Deadshot wanted to make sure that they did not run out of food or water. The kid and Isabelle had been through enough without needing to worry about dehydration and starvation.
None of them wanted to be in the cave, so they collected everything they needed as fast as possible and then got on their way. They only had two horses, so they took two more from the herd of horses in the corral behind the cave. Deadshot did not want to leave the horses; they would surely starve, so he opened the gate and let the rest of them go free.
Moving as quickly as they could, they packed their horses and then got on their way. Each of them had their own horse, and they had one extra horse to carry some of their supplies. They should have taken some blankets so that Isabelle could be more comfortable on their travels.
Deadshot did not want to camp anywhere close to the caves, and since he had a pretty good idea of how to travel back home, he led them through the desert. They traveled for hours and deep into the night. Once Deadshot thought that they were far enough away from the cave, he found some boulders to camp behind for the night.
He wasn’t sure whether he would actually be able to sleep. His mind was overwhelmed, and his body was aching. He would probably stay awake and keep watch while Isabelle and the kid slept. He didn’t mind doing that if it meant keeping them safe.
The kid took it upon himself to start a small fire, and soon enough, they were sitting around it, drinking coffee and eating tinned food. Deadshot could see how tired the kid was, and it didn’t surprise him when he dozed off. The kid needed his rest after everything he’d been through.
Deadshot didn’t even try to sleep, and Isabelle seemed too tense to even try. So they started talking. Before, Deadshot wouldn’t have been able to talk so openly and honestly, but the kid had helped him with that, and he and Isabelle spent the entire night talking. She was full of questions, and he explained to her how he and the kid met. He also told her about their journey to find her and Sarah.
Isabelle listened intently, looking surprised and horrified at some of the stories. She couldn’t believe that her son had done all of those things to find her, and she made sure to tell Deadshot how grateful she was. She then explained to him what had happened to her and Sarah. She told him that Sarah was carrying Quincy’s child and that Quincy had told her he was taking Sarah away and that she would never see her daughter again.
Deadshot couldn’t believe everything he was hearing. Quincy was even more of a monster than he had originally thought. Isabelle then went on to tell him what the men had done to her and that Quincy had given them instructions to kill her and get rid of her body once they were done with her.
Deadshot was horrified. He couldn’t believe that men could truly be that cruel, and he was glad that he had killed all of them. Now only Quincy remained, and Deadshot was going to find him and make him pay for what he had done.
Chapter 44
The journey back to the kid’s ranch did not take long and was pretty much uneventful. They had enough supplies with them and only had to search for water a couple of times. The desert was still ruthless, and one night it stormed, causing a flash flood. Luckily, they managed to get away without too much of a struggle, and soon enough, they left the desert behind.
Deadshot felt overwhelmingly relieved when he saw an actual road come into view. He had never minded going on dangerous missions, but searching the desert for so long had really taken a lot of strength and determination. His body was tired and really needed a rest. Deadshot was happy that they could rescue Isabelle, but his mission still didn’t feel complete. Quincy and Sarah were still out there. And he had to find them. From their conversations, he knew that Isabelle and the kid wouldn’t rest until they had found Sarah. You couldn’t blame them for that, but at the same time, it was too dangerous for him to search for Sarah with Isabelle tagging along.
Deadshot had promised them that he hadn’t given up on Sarah and that his mission was still to find Quincy. But first, he had to get Isabelle back home. He couldn’t keep bothIsabelle and the kid safe while searching for Quincy. It was too dangerous.
Isabelle was desperate to find her daughter, but she understood and agreed. The kid, on the other hand, wasn’t as happy about the idea of not joining the search for his sister.
“As long as Quincy is out there, your mother is in danger,” Deadshot told him. “It is up to you to keep us safe now.”
The kid frowned. “I know you are right, but I want to help you.”
“What?” Deadshot laughed. “You still don’t believe that I’m capable of finding Sarah on my own?”
“That’s not it,” the kid told him. “I just think that maybe I can be of help.”
Deadshot ruffled his hair. “I’m pretty sure you could be, but like I said, your ma needs you now, and I am more than capable of finding your sister.”
It took some convincing, but eventually, the kid agreed. Deadshot didn’t really mind having the kid with him. In fact, he had come to really enjoy the kid’s company. It was going to feel strange to search for Sarah without him. It was true what he had said, though; Isabelle needed some protection, and the kid was capable of doing that.
As they traveled, they stopped at one or two shops for supplies, but it really didn’t take too long for them to reach their ranch once they had found a road. They didn’t have to hide from anybody and could simply head home. During their travels, Deadshot had gotten to know Isabelle, and she truly was a remarkable woman, just like the kid had said.
The sooner he went after Quincy, the better, especially with Sarah being with child. He wasn’t sure how far along she was since Isabelle had lost track of time, and to be honest, so had he. Everybody had agreed that it would be much better if Deadshot found Sarah before the baby was born; once she wasn’t carrying Quincy’s child anymore, there was no telling what he might do to her.
According to Isabelle, Quincy wanted to make a life with Sarah. He wanted to marry her and have more babies with her, but Deadshot did not trust a man like that. If Sarah so much as stepped out of line, he was afraid that Quincy would hurt her or, even worse, kill her. Of course, he did not want to voice these thoughts, but Isabelle had no problem doing so. She believed the same, and so did the kid.
Deadshot had only been to the kid’s ranch once before, but he managed to find it easily. He might not be good with names, but he was exceptionally good with directions. He had expected the ranch to still be an estate, but to his surprise, not a single thing was out of place. It was as if the raid had never happened. The kid had told him that he cleaned up the place a little, but Deadshot did not expect it to look like that. He was rather impressed and happy that Isabelle did not have to come home to a reminder of what had happened there.
