“Gee, thanks,” Jameson muttered.
“Matthew, I want you to go East along the old cornfield. Rebecca, take the West side, here.” Julio pointed to a spot on the map. “Jameson will hang out at the bar, and you’ll go in with me, here,” Julio told Garrett. “We’ll breach from the back. Once Jameson gives us the location of the woman, we’ll breach and get her out.”
“I can locate her but can’t find Caroline,” Jameson sighed. “It’s not fair.”
Rebecca rose and placed a hand on his back. “I promise you, we’re close. Don’t give up hope.”
“Thanks, Rebecca,” Jameson said, yet his expression appeared grim.
Garrett watched the interaction between the team members, and his chest filled with the familiar nostalgia of belonging to a team. He missed it more than he thought. As he watched them, his gut told him he was onto something when he believed they did more than ranching.
They didn’t include him, but Mac mentioned something about pondering the ranch’s name. Once they rescued Riley, he’d make a point of discovering their little secret. Matthew didn’t want the police involved, yet Julio called Riley’s rescue a mission. Did they run black ops? Or did they participate in something illegal? He’d soon find out. In the meantime, he planned to save Riley.
CHAPTER TEN
Riley moaned as she rolled over and held her throbbing arm. Tears stung her eyes as she thought of Tara and hoped she escaped. The dark room added to her misery. The light turned on from outside the door, alerting her to when someone planned to enter. She desperately needed to pee and wondered if they planned to kill her.
The light flickered on, and Kenny entered the room. Riley scanned the area, hoping to find something. She only noticed a bucket in the corner of the room. At least she could relieve her bladder after he left.
“Do you want to talk now? Little girl, you have no idea who you’re dealing with. I told you to get close to him and find out about the money. Did you honestly believe I worried about ten grand?” he asked as he circled her.
“I don’t know the man. How did you expect me to know how much money he has? He works as a ranch hand.” she said, defending herself.
“Oh, he’s worth a lot more. What do you say about us striking up a deal?” Kenny hunched down and moved thehair away from her face. “Maybe we can come to a compromise. After all, I let your sister go.”
“You didn’t let her go. She got away. There’s a big difference,” Riley spat.
Kenny gripped her hair tighter as Bernice called out from the other side of the door. “Kenny, what are you doing?” she whined. “She’s worthless. We need to figure out how to get Garrett’s money.”
“I’ll be out in a minute,” he yelled. “Pack your bags. We’re leaving as soon as I’m done here.”
“Let me in,” she begged, scratching at the door.
The woman sounded utterly pathetic. Riley rolled her eyes as Kenny rose and opened the door. “What the hell do you want?”
Bernice walked up to Riley and kicked her hard in the thigh. “That’s for screwing things up. If you did what we wanted, Kenny wouldn’t have to keep you here, and we’d have our money.”
Riley sucked in a breath as her leg throbbed to a different beat than her arm.
“Listen, bitch,” she seethed. “I don’t know the man. You said to find out where he kept the money. I told you the bank’s name and gave you the ten grand he gave me. If you don’t remember, he hit me with his truck, and I still gave you the money.”
“We told you to get close to him,” Bernice screeched. “Did he say if he invested it?”
“I didn’t ask him because he hit me, we outran a tornado, and he gave me compensation. You said you kept my sister here because she scratched a bike. The funds will pay for it. There’s no reason for you to keep me here,” Riley shouted, earning another kick to her thigh.
“He probably gave you more. Did you hide it?” Berniceaccused her as she wedged herself between Riley and Kenny.
“If he did, I wouldn’t tell you. I’ll need it for my medical bills. You broke my arm,” Riley sneered.
Kenny reared back and kicked her hard and then stomped on the lower part of her leg. “You’ll give me whatever you have,” he ordered.
Riley whimpered as she curled into a ball. Nausea rose in her throat as she cried out in unbearable pain. It felt like he shattered the bone into tiny pieces.
“Where’s the rest of the money?” Kenny roared.
“Fuck you,” she shouted. A hard slap across the face made her head roll. Darkness descended in the corners of her eyes, as the pain radiated from her head to her toes.
“Maybe you need a little more time in here. I’ll tell Stitch you asked for him. He’s on a run for me and when he returns, I’m sure he’ll be happy to check on you.”
