“Do you know how long we’ll be there?”
“Not sure yet. We’ll have to figure it out as we go along. Why? Do you have an important appointment coming up or something? Do you have to be back in Alienn by a certain time?”
“Oh no, not really. But Ellie Mae Foster is having her open house and garden party in two weeks, remember? You and I had decided to attend to see if she spent too much money redecorating her home to look like one of those crazy makeovers that no one in their right mind would ever want to live in.”
“Ooh, that’s right. I forgot in all the excitement. We do not want to miss that. Let’s hit it hard and try to make it there in a day and a half. We’ll both take turns driving.” She pressed the gas pedal down, automatically looking around for any police vehicles that might catch her speeding.
Dixie Lou smiled. She hadn’t talked her way out of a traffic ticket in quite a long time.
Chapter Fifteen
Wyatt found a perfect location to set up his gun stand at the bauxite pit’s lovers’ lane. There was a strategically located picnic table inside the edge of the woods just out of sight to anyone driving by. One end was half buried in the dirt after the area flooded a few years back, moving the wooden table from the eating area by a pavilion and depositing it here. No one had bothered to dig it up and move it back.
The angle and location were perfect for him to flatten onto his stomach across the length of it and rest his alien purple goo splatter gun barrel between two chipped plank ends of the tabletop’s edge.
Looking through the newly attached riflescope, he was in place to get a great shot at Mr. Flirty. He couldn’t wait. Through the line of trees at the edge of the road and across the shallow ditch, Diesel, Cam and Axel waited for the infamous Alpha criminal to come and trade Valene for whatever he wanted. Wyatt wasn’t completely sure what that was.
They initially assumed it was the ID and the reverse Defender, although Wyatt didn’t expect them to hand over either of those items. Wyatt planned to take his shot before they ever got to the trading part. Once he saw Valene was safe and had a shot that wouldn’t come near her, he’d take it.
The other interesting part of this ingenious and intricate criminal plot involved a bunch of gold ingots currently residing in five prisoner cryo-pods aboard the gulag ship. No one knew how Indigo—what a stupid name—planned to get all those stacked gold ingots out of the pods. Diesel reasoned that maybe the ingots were unrelated and completely separate from Indigo’s escape plan. Was a guard involved in this interesting turn of events? Was the gold something not included with the alleged genius criminal’s escape plans? Somehow Wyatt doubted it.
More likely it was how Indigo planned to finance his whirlwind trip across Earth. They’d spent the whole evening shooting down various plans, but the only thing Wyatt cared about was getting Valene back safely.
Diesel agreed, but he wanted to ensure Indigo was captured, knocked out and stuffed back into his cryo-pod headed out of the galaxy tomorrow morning as planned. Whatever it took.
A car approached. In the earbud specially fixed for this meeting, he heard Diesel say, “Get ready, everyone.”
Wyatt peered through his scope, trying to get a look at who was driving. As the vehicle got closer, he got a surprise.
In his ear, someone said, “Is anyone else seeing what I’m seeing?”
“I see her,” Wyatt said. “Daphne Charlene is driving and Valene is right beside her. I don’t see Indigo, but maybe he’s hunkered down in the back seat or stuffed in the trunk, waiting to make his move somewhere down the road.”
The vehicle stopped and Daphne Charlene jumped out of the driver’s seat, rounding the front of the car to the passenger side where Valene remained seated.
Wyatt was relieved to see her, but Valene’s expression looked dang near demonic. He’d never seen her display such a fierce frown. Daphne Charlene pulled Valene out of the car, forcing her to stumble to keep her balance. The frown worsened. Daphne Charlene pulled a gun out of her jacket pocket and pointed it at Valene’s side.
“Don’t do anything stupid!” she said harshly, slamming the door closed with one foot. “I don’t want to accidentally kill your sister.”
Daphne Charlene grabbed a still wobbly-footed Valene and put the gun barrel to her head.
Wyatt focused his attention on Valene. He’d been grateful to see her alive when they drove in.
He’d never seen such a harsh expression on her face, not even when she was at her angriest. Then again, the worst frown he’d ever seen before today had also been in the presence of Daphne Charlene.
Valene’s hands were zip-tied in front of her. She scowled when the other woman pushed her toward Diesel, who waited ten feet away next to his large SUV.
The love of Wyatt’s life fairly sneered as she was pushed along. He figured she had every right to. Not only was Daphne Charlene here, a crazed criminal had kidnapped her. She had a right to look her angriest.
He looked around at the forest edge and along the path their vehicle had come from, searching for the third party in this exchange. Unfortunately, Wyatt didn’t have a target yet. Where was Indigo Smith?
“I don’t see Indigo anywhere. He must be well hidden. Now what?” Wyatt whispered. “Want me to shoot Daphne Charlene?”
Diesel shook his head slightly, not taking his eyes off Valene.
Daphne Charlene said, “Whoever is out in the woods ready to shoot Indigo better just come out. He knows you set someone up. He won’t show himself until he feels safe.”
