Chapter 9

Shane Wolfe followed Blackhawk’s truck along the backroad and parked behind him at the sight of Jenna waving frantically on the side of the road. If Kane had been kidnapped, it was a serious issue and would mean his cover as Dave Kane had been compromised. It had been over five years since Kane had arrived in Black Rock Falls and all had been well. Even with the media blasting his face all over, neither Kane nor Jenna would be recognized by anyone from their pasts, so the idea that anyone had kidnapped Kane for the bounty on his head seemed remote. He’d hold off before notifying POTUS but he could bring in Carter, not by giving him any of Kane’s secrets, but for a simple kidnapping for whatever other reason someone might have for taking Kane, Carter would be a great help.

He climbed from his van and went to Jenna. “Let Blackhawk take a look around. He’ll see things we can’t.”

“What happened?” Blackhawk walked toward them and stared at the helmet in Jenna’s hand. “Did he wreck his Harley?”

“It’s not that simple.” Jenna’s face had drained of color and she was shivering. “There’s blood on the road and Duke can’t find him.”

“I’ll go and see.” Blackhawk turned to Tauri and held out his hand. “Come with me. We’ll go and look for signs.”

As Blackhawk moved out of earshot, Wolfe bent to speak to Jenna. “If there was any noise mentioning Kane, I’d have heard something. If anyone had kidnapped him for the bounty, they’d be crowing all over the media. I’ll need to be sure this isn’t a local incident before I call in the big guns, and once we do that, your life here is over. If Kane is rescued, he’ll be shipped out and you’ll never see him again. They’ll give him a new handler and nothing I say or do will prevent this from happening. POTUS will protect his asset no matter the cost.”

“What the hell do you plan to do? Nothing?” Jenna let out a sob. “I can’t just carry on as if nothing has happened. Dave could be dying or being tortured. I’m not sitting around and hoping he’ll be able to get himself out of the situation.”

Wolfe took her by the arms and gave her a little shake. “Right now, you have no choice. If I report it, all they’ll do is wait and listen to the scuttlebutt. They’ll never admit he is one of ours. Dave knows this and is prepared for the outcome. There might be a demand for his release, as in money or an exchange of political prisoners. In the meantime, if the bad guys have him, y’all know Dave will be tortured. He’s taken down more sadistic regime leaders than I can risk telling you about. Many people want a piece of him. You must prepare yourself for the worst-case scenario.” He stared into her tear-filled eyes. “God willing, this is a local matter and someone from his past here in Black Rock Falls is seeking revenge. If it is, then they’ll soon discover messing with him is a big mistake.”

“If he’s badly injured, he won’t be able to escape or fight them, Shane.” Jenna stared at the helmet. “Look at this, he’s hit his head on the same side as the metal plate. It must be killing him. We must find him.” She looked over one shoulder as Blackhawk came out of the forest leading Tauri by the hand.

“There’s something here you need to see.” Blackhawk pointed to a tree.

Wolfe squeezed Jenna’s arm and they went to peer at the trunk of a thick pine. “What have you found?”

“A metal cable was tied around this tree and the one opposite. It broke.” He pointed to the shredded wire. “Someone knew Kane rode here at this time and stretched it across the road. When Kane drove by at high speed, the cable would have lifted him off his motorcycle. I’d say the blood is where he hit the road, maybe he rolled a few times before hitting a tree. I found evidence that his helmet struck a tree. There’s paint on the trunk and wood scraping.”

“If he was alive, he wouldn’t have removed his helmet.” Jenna stared at Wolfe and then examined the helmet. “The strap is fine and it’s not damaged inside. He’d have kept it on to keep his head warm. He never goes out in cold weather without covering the plate in his head.”

“Duke, as you said, stopped searching in the middle of the road.” Blackhawk walked along the blacktop and stopped. He pointed at a chalk mark circle. “This is where Duke stopped and there is a drop of blood here. So Dave isn’t bleeding heavily.”

Wolfe bent to examine the spot and straightened. He looked at Jenna. “There’s no evidence Dave braked hard or swerved to avoid a collision before the wire and there’s no trail of him past this point. Someone lifted him into a vehicle, which means he’s been abducted.” He looked at Blackhawk. “Can we push the Harley onto the back of your truck? You have ramps, right?”

“Yes, but we’ll need to collect the parts as well.” Blackhawk frowned. “Do you have an evidence bag I can put them in?”

Wolfe returned to his truck and handed the bags to Jenna, along with a few swab kits. “I’ll help Atohi move the Harley. Take a sample of the blood on the blacktop and collect any parts you can find. When Dave comes back, he’ll want to see if he can salvage anything.” He leaned closer. “Right now, we play this as a local matter. You’ll need to get into the office and hunt down any cases where he was involved and the perpetrator is due for parole or release. I figure this is payback.”

“Shane.” Jenna’s grip on his arm was so tight he winced. “I’m not convinced. I’d rather never see him again than have him tortured by terrorists. We must do something now.”

Shaking his head, Wolfe looked at her. “You have no idea what you married, have you? Even after all this time and what you’ve seen with your own eyes, you still don’t understand what he is capable of doing. He is a weapon, so highly prized by POTUS he is protected as an asset. If this is a local group of thugs or anyone else we’ve discussed, Kane will drop into combat mode and use all his skills to escape. Even if it means taking down every last one of them. He’ll be in full control unless they try to harm you or Tauri, then without me in his ear issuing orders, he’ll kill them all.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Find out who might have done this and we’ll hunt them down before this happens. Some things I can’t clean up, Jenna. In this town, he’s just a deputy.”

“I’ll need help and Kalo is on vacation.” Jenna blew out a sigh. “He’d find a connection in seconds. I’ll get Rio and Rowley to search the database as well. I can access Dave’s case files but as far as I know, we were both involved in just about all of them. If he’s been abducted, he could be anywhere. We’ll need help. I can only search to the county line.”

Taking in her ashen face, Wolfe nodded. “Why don’t you head back to the ranch? I’ll see if I can locate Carter. If not, I’ll call the Rattlesnake Creek field office and ask Dax Styles to assist on your behalf. We need a military man to help out, one that works well under fire and I know Styles is like Carter—bombproof.”

“Don’t call in someone I don’t know just yet.” Jenna shook her head. “I need to check out a few things first.”