“Listen to me,” he said, forcing steel into his voice. “Don’t stop at the cabin. Keep driving. Once Alena and I are in place, then you can lure him there. Not before.”
There was a pause, then Melissa’s breathless, “All right. I’ll keep driving.”
“Good. We’ll handle the rest.” Cal ended the call and looked at Alena.
Her face mirrored his own frustration, but the determination in her eyes told him what he already knew. They had no choice but to see this through.
Cal and Alena geared up fast, strapping on vests, checking their weapons, and loading extra mags into their pockets. He shoved another gun into the holster at his ankle and handed Alena a spare before they bolted for the SUV that Noah had sent over to replace the one from the shooting and fire earlier.
The night air was thick, the hum of cicadas filling the silence between them as they climbed in. Cal started the engine, gravel spitting under the tires as he tore out onto the road.
“Text Raines,” Alena said.
Cal used the voice command, rattling off the details of Melissa’s insane plan. The response came almost at once, Raines’ voice tight in his earpiece. “I’ll head to the cabin. Be careful.”
“You, too,” Cal muttered, ending the call.
The road stretched out in front of them, a silver ribbon under the full moon. Its glow bled through the treetops, giving the landscape a ghostly light, but Cal knew once they reached the cabin, it’d be a whole different story. Shadows would swallow everything out there. Woods thick enough to hide a hundred men, much less one determined killer.
His grip tightened on the wheel. Dexter could be anywhere, crouched in the brush or tucked behind a tree, watching, waiting. Plenty of places to set up an ambush. Plenty of cover for the bastard to make his move.
Beside him, Alena stayed silent, but her jaw was clenched, her eyes on the dark road ahead. She knew it, too. This was the perfect ground for Dexter to hunt them.
The tires hummed over the narrow road, the shadows closing in tighter the farther they drove into the woods. Cal’s eyes kept flicking between the road and the trees, every shift of darkness pulling at his nerves.
Beside him, Alena finally broke the silence. “Do you trust her? Melissa, I mean. Do you really believe she’s telling the truth?” Her voice was low, weighted. “We still don’t know if she hired those men to grab her.”
Cal let out a rough breath, his jaw tightening. “I don’t know what I believe about her.” He gave her a quick glance before turning back to the road. “At this point, the only people I’m trusting are Raines and you.”
Alena’s hand tightened on her gun resting in her lap. She gave a small nod, but he caught the flicker in her eyes, the same mix of doubt and determination riding him hard.
They were heading into a trap, no matter how this played out.
The road narrowed the closer they got, branches arching overhead like a tunnel. The full moon leaked through the trees in jagged streaks, throwing shadows across the ground that looked too much like figures crouching to strike. Cal kept his hands tight on the wheel, every nerve on edge.
The last turn came, the one that dipped toward the creek. He slowed, headlights sweeping over a stretch of brush and gravel before he killed them. The cabin sat in darkness just beyond the tree line, its roofline barely visible against the sky.No vehicles out front. No movement. Just the hum of crickets and the steady rush of the creek nearby.
He pulled off onto a faint trail, tires crunching softly until they came to a stop. Cal grabbed his phone and typed a quick message to Melissa.We’re here. Don’t move until we tell you.
Sliding the phone away, he glanced at Alena. “Be careful,” he said, his voice low, the weight of it more than just habit. He meant every word.
They stepped out, the night wrapping around them like a cloak. Cal pulled the heat-sensing binoculars from his bag, pressing them to his eyes. Nothing in the immediate scan but trees and cold stone. No glow of a body near the cabin. That didn’t ease him.
Dexter knew how to stay invisible.
They moved in silence, their boots finding the softest patches of ground. The creek glimmered under the moonlight, silver streaks racing past the bank. Cal’s gaze caught the far side, scanning for a boat. Nothing. No easy escape route this time.
That only meant Dexter had something else planned.
Cal kept his gun steady as he and Alena pushed through the brush, branches snapping softly underfoot. The smell of damp earth and pine clung to the air, every sound amplified in the stillness. He couldn’t shake the thought of another ambush, another masked gunman waiting for them to step into the open. Or worse, a rattlesnake coiled in the weeds, ready to strike.
They slowed when the cabin came into view, its outline dark against the lighter strip of sky. Cal raised the heat-sensing binoculars, scanning the edges. A faint shape glowed near the back corner, low and moving carefully. His pulse spiked.
“There,” he whispered.
Alena leaned closer, her breath warm against his cheek, and he nodded toward the glow. They moved as one, using the trees for cover as they closed in. The dirt and gravel drivewaystretched ahead, pale under the moon, leading straight to the cabin. Cal crouched low, heart thudding, eyes locked on the movement.
Then she shifted just enough into the moonlight. A sweep of hair. A slight frame. Melissa.
