Page 79 of Riptide

“Pigs.”

“Puaʻa? Maybe.” Kaimana looked to her phone, hoping for a text from Evan and Seth.

“Look there.” Marcus pointed to the screen and flashed from the thermal to night vision. Two men led five girls out of the forest down a path to the main house.

“They have them somewhere else. It’s not in the house.” She studied the scene. “All the obvious places. Pool house. Garage. Shed. No. They’re in the woods somewhere.”

“It didn’t show anything on thermal. It’s like they appeared out of nowhere. See, that’s woods.” Marcus opened a map into a shared screen. “There’s no structures out there.”

It struck Kaimana like a lightning bolt. “It’s a basement. An underground holding center of some kind.”

“I guess that could be,” Marcus agreed.

Kaimana sent Seth and Evan a text.

Girls are underground.

She impatiently tapped her foot waiting for the ‘read’ status to show but instead it stayed on ‘delivered.’ “I think we should call Seth, because—"

A deafening shot sounded in the car. Kaimana released a guttural scream as Marcus slumped over into her lap, a single bullet in his forehead, his blood sprayed all over her. Shaking and crying she managed to tap on her cell text to Seth.

Help.

Chapter Eleven

Seth, Garrett, and Evan sat in the helicopter in silence. Hidden in a field a few miles from the target, they stared at the night vision feed, watching a group of men leading women across the yard. Seth’s phone buzzed and he looked down to read the message.

Girls are underground.

“Kai thinks the girls are underground somewhere off the main house,” Seth told them.

“Makes sense. They came out of the woods over here.” Evan pointed to the screen. “I don’t know. What could be out there? I think she’s right though. I don’t see any standing structures.”

“Maybe it’s an old root cellar,” Seth guessed.

“That would make a good place to stow people,” Garrett said.

“Yeah, that’d explain why it’s not on the thermal. Looks like they’re paranoid about having too many of the girls located in the main house.”

“I don’t like being so far away.” Seth stared into the darkness, an ominous feeling washing over him. “Marcus wants us to stay grounded until they start the bust. I want to go now.”

“We gotta wait,” Garrett warned.

“You always follow the rules?” Evan asked.

“No, my friend. No, I don’t.” Seth adjusted his headset and fired up the blades.

“You’re reading my mind.” Evan held up his fist and grinned.

“Here we fucking go.” Garrett shook his head.

Seth’s phone buzzed and he tapped its screen. Both shock and anger tore through him as he read it.

Help

“Kaimana said they need help.” He tapped the glass, calling her but the call went immediately to voicemail.

“Where the fuck are they again?” Seth lifted the helicopter into the air.