CHAPTER TWENTY

Rob pulled his car between two monster trucks and parked. He wasn"t nervous about what he planned to do today. Yesterday, after being saved with free gas on the road, he"d come to Blackstone Ranch, flashed his stolen credentials, and spent a couple of hours familiarizing himself with the place and where the camp kids were being housed and the areas they used.

Today, he showed up just as the final day was kicking off. Other reporters and people from the surrounding area were present. Today, the event was free and welcome to everyone. Folks could come and enjoy the food and the music and watch the performances by the kids in the arena.

It was the perfect setup for Rob"s revenge to be set into motion. He made his way to the barn, where the kids had set up tables with displays, photos, drawings, and interesting facts on posters to show what they"d learned.

Because everyone inside was so busy with the setup, he managed to mill around without notice. Andy"s table was near the rear, close to a window. He made a note of it and then slipped outside. He made sure the back door was barred by the sturdy wooden rail that rested in the heavy barricade brackets on each door and kept it securely closed.

He then made his way to the front door and did the same. Miraculously, no one noticed. No one noticed when he snagged two propane tanks, which he had spotted yesterday near a massive outdoor grill.

Rob snuck to the rear of the barn, put the tanks about halfway down the side, then hurried to the adjacent barn, one obviously used for storage, slid open the door, and slipped inside.

He closed that door all but a crack and looked out to make sure no one was around. Now he"d show Clayton Blackstone who had the power.

He pulled out a handgun he"d brought from a drunk in a bar two nights ago, took aim at one of the propane tanks, and fired.

The explosion was far bigger than he imagined, and fire almost immediately spread on the side of the barn. Now was his chance.

He went to the window near Andy"s display, used the gun to knock out the glass, reached in to unlock it, pushed it open, and climbed in.

"Hey, kid!" he called to Andy, who stood at his table, watching as most kids were already running for or at the door, pounding and screaming.

Andy looked around and saw Rob. "Are you here to help?"

"I am. Come with me and help me open the door."

Andy didn"t hesitate; he just followed Rob to the window, climbed out, and took the hand Rob offered. Rob smiled and pulled Andy away from the barn.

"I thought we were—"

That"s when Rob grabbed the syringe from his shirt pocket. He grinned then stuck it in his mouth and bit the plastic cover protecting the needle. One tug and the needle was freed.

"No!" Andy struggled to break free, kicking and hitting at Rob. One stab in the kid"s neck, and Rob pressed the syringe"s plunger. According to the nurse, he"d seduced a few days ago, it was enough to render a sixty-pound kid unconscious for several hours.

Rob didn"t know how much this kid weighed, but he wasn"t big, so he might stay unconscious longer. There was no way to know and Rob didn't care, as long as the kid stayed out as long as Rob needed.

Andy had tears in his eyes and threw a hand over his neck when he"d been punctured. "How come you did that?"

"Shut up and come with me," Rob ordered, and when Andy refused to budge, he added. "If you don"t, I promise you, your mother will die."

That was all it took. Within minutes, the kid was in the trunk of his car, and he was headed for the ranch exit.

Like taking candy from a baby.

*****

Hope felt like someone waiting for the sky to fall or a diagnosis to come back with bad news. No matter what she did, she couldn"t shake the feeling that something terrible was going to happen.

"Hope?"

She turned at the sound of her mother"s voice. Audrey wrapped her arms around Hope. "There are close to fifty men guarding this place, along with the wranglers and ranch hands, all being on alert if Rob should show up. It will be okay."

"You can"t know that." Hope argued, and when Audrey opened her mouth to argue, she hurried to add, "I know it, Mom. In here." She touched her abdomen and then her head. "I can feel it."

"I don"t discount your feelings or instincts, and you know that, but how could anyone possibly sneak by all these vigilant people watching over things?"

"Like you always said, where there"s a will, there"s a way."

"For once, I wish I hadn"t taught you something."

Hope walked out onto the porch of the main lodge where the women of the family were gathered. All conversation stopped when she walked out.

"It"s okay. I"m not going to fall apart or run screaming across the yard," she said in a voice that sounded pithy even to her own ears.

"Sorry," she immediately apologized.

"Don"t be," Grace immediately spoke up. "If it were my child, I"d be frantic. I think you"re doing great to hold it together."

"And you know the men will be—" Eli"s words were cut short by what sounded like a gunshot, followed by an explosion.

"Andy!" Hope screamed and tore off across the porch, down the steps, and into the yard, headed for the barn.

"Oh, my God, the barn"s on fire!"

Her scream brought all of the women running. She could see people running around, including attendees and employees. It was mayhem.

The barn where the presentations were due to take place was on fire. That sight prompted Hope"s legs to move faster. How many children were in that barn?

It scared her into feeling nauseous to contemplate the danger the people in that barn were in, and she ran faster, panting and stumbling over the uneven ground.

Ranch hands had the barn"s front door open by the time she arrived, and she raced in, yelling for Andy as the children and adults trapped inside were ushered out.

There was no answer. She ran over to one of the kids Andy hung out with, who was being led out by a ranch hand. "Where"s Andy?"

"I don"t know."

Hope"s heart lurched hard in her chest, and she ran for the door, searching the landscape as soon as she was outside. There were so many people running and screaming. It was chaos. She stopped and looked around.

That"s when she spotted Brady. At the exact moment, he saw her. They both broke into a run. "I can"t find him!" she screamed as she drew near. "I can"t find Andy!"

"Someone has to have seen him." Brady looked around and spotted one of the volunteers who"d been helping with the setup in the barn. "Have you seen Andy Evans?"

"Yes," the woman said. "He was with a man. A reporter, I think. He was here yesterday."

"A reporter?" Hope asked. "What did he look like."

"Just a regular guy," the woman replied. "He was handsome, about six feet tall, with a kind of a Brad Pitt look."

"Oh, God," Hope reached for Brady. "He has Andy, Brady." She looked up at him. "He has Andy. He has my—"

She didn"t get to finish the sentence. While speaking, her face went white, her eyes rounded, and with one exhale, her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed.

Brady caught her before she hit the ground and headed for the lodge with her in his arms. He should have listened to her last night when she tried to convince him that Wingate would try and take Andy from her.

It took hours to put out the fire, do a head count to see how many campers and their parents were accounted for, and then get everyone settled and back to their quarters. The celebration was over before it began.

By the time Brady returned to the main lodge, he was tired, worried, and dreaded what he might encounter when he arrived. Hope was bound to be in bad shape, and he felt guilty that he hadn"t been able to devote his full attention to her. However, the danger to everyone on the ranch had to be addressed first.

Once the fire was out and a head count was completed, they knew several things. One: everyone but Andy was accounted for. Two: There were no injuries, just property damage, and Three: Andy was seen with a man some of the people had noticed the day before. It was thought the man was a reporter, but no one knew his name.

As Brady walked to the lodge, he thought about what he could say to Hope.

He could kick himself for not listening to her this morning at breakfast when she tried to tell them. Instead, everyone wanted to soothe her with assurances that everything would be okay and that Andy was perfectly safe.

They"d made it possible for that bastard to take her child. Brady"s anger grew with every step. His rage was at full throttle when he reached the lodge.

Grace ran out the door, with Clay and Audrey on her heels as he neared the house. "Do you know any more?"

"I know we should have listened to her," Brady snapped at Grace.

"It doesn"t matter now." Clay stepped up beside Grace, defending her physically and verbally. "And we don"t know that he was taken."

"Well, I"d bet my commission that he didn"t run off," Brady snapped and marched past them. "Where"s Hope?"

"In the family room with her mother, Ivy, and Sadie," Grace answered.

Brady didn"t slow. He went straight to the family room. The moment he walked in, Hope jumped up and ran to him. "He has Andy." Hope"s voice sounded so fragile that he pulled her to him and hugged her.

"You don"t know that," Audrey argued from where she sat on the window seat, overlooking the landscape.

"Yes, Mom. I do."

"Hope—" Audrey started to argue, but Brady interrupted her. It wasn"t out of disrespect but a need for everyone to understand that whatever made such things possible, Hope"s gifts included being precognitive. She knew Andy would be taken. She"d already felt the initial stab of pain and panic before it happened. So, when anyone said she couldn"t know, he"d defend her because she did know, and that couldn"t be discounted.

"I agree—" he held up one hand as Hope pulled away from him and started to speak. "With you. Hear me out. Please. I don"t doubt that he may have taken Andy or at least tried to. We still need to finish conducting a thorough search just to make sure Andy didn"t hide somewhere. We have to know that he is not on this ranch.

"If he"s not, then I think the way to begin is this. Can you tell me if there"s anything we can do to contact or connect with Andy? Outside of the standard law enforcement measures. Could Grace possibly dreamwalk into his mind? Or maybe Eliana, whoever feels they"d have the better chance of finding him."

He could see how hard it was for Hope to try and make a decision and understood. Some experiences seem to have the power to stop time, to freeze you in a moment, be it bliss or terror. For Hope, this was a time of terror.

"Hope?"

"I—yes, yes, okay. He"s spent a lot of time with Grace, asking about the First People, and I think he"d be receptive to her presence in his dream or mind – I don"t really know how it works, but if Grace is willing…" she trailed off and looked at Grace.

"Of course, I am."

"Good." Brady took control again and addressed Hope. He needed to keep her focused on affirmative action rather than being bound by fear. "If we"re lucky, Grace will connect with Andy, and he"ll be able to tell us where he is. But, we should use everything we have to ensure we find him and do it quickly, so I need to know if you have any ability that would help us pinpoint his location."

Hope shook her head, swiped at the tears on her face, and choked out one word. "No."

Brady didn"t want to argue, but he had to get her to see that she was overlooking the one thing that could give her back some measure of control by virtue of being able to contribute. She needed to know that she did possess a skill that might prove invaluable.

But perhaps addressing it directly was the wrong path, so he adjusted course. " think it"s worth a shot to let Grace dreamwalk. Maybe she can connect with him. If not, then at least we tried. What do you think?"

She wouldn"t look at him, and he didn"t understand her resistance. "Hope, look at me. Just me."

She did, and damn if it didn"t deliver a punch to the gut he never expected. He could feel great waves of fear pushing her ever closer to that cliff dive into unending panic. Hope was just barely hanging on. Right now, she was the one who needed rescuing, and he didn"t hesitate. Hoping he was not going about it all wrong, he moved close enough to speak in an intimate tone. "That"s good, sweetheart; just keep looking at me. Forget about everyone else. It"s just us—you and me. We"re doing this together, and Andy is counting on us. We need to save him. Our lives would be painfully diminished without him in it.

"I know what it"s like to lose a brother and saw what losing a son did to my father, and there"s no way I"m going to let you suffer that if it"s in my power to prevent it."

He saw that his words carried weight by her expression and the way she was zeroed in on him, as if they were, in fact, the only people present. "I need you to help me find him, Hope," he played his card. "If you do that, I promise I"ll save him or die trying. Will you help me?"

She nodded despite the way she trembled and clung to him as if he was all that kept her upright. "I"d give my life for him, Brady, but what can I do?"

Brady leaned in closer, "Call down the birds to find our boy."