Chapter 49

FORTY-NINE

After leaving Cash and TJ parked on the road to prevent Shoebridge from escaping, Beth followed behind Styles, Carter, and Jo on foot along a dirt road. The house where they expected to find the man they knew as Shoebridge was two hundred yards or so ahead. A scream echoed through the forest, sending an icy chill walking up her spine. She tapped her comm. "That must be one of the girls. Something is going down."

Beth's night-vision goggles made the forest glow an eerie green and her team resembled aliens from outer space with big green eyes. Styles and Carter dived into the forest with the dogs, and she followed with Jo close behind. When Styles' hand came up, they stopped running and went to his side. A lump lying between the trees looked like a body. In her earbud she could hear Styles' voice.

"Keep to the trees. I'm going to see what that is across the trail." Styles moved toward the lump and dropped to his knees. "Female, approximately sixteen, head injuries but alive."

The sound of someone yelling obscenities came on the wind. Beth tapped her comm. "There's someone up ahead running through the forest and yelling."

" Yeah, I can hear him." Carter moved to her side, his voice loud in her comm. "Stay here with the girl. We'll go after Shoebridge. It has to be him."

Shaking her head, Beth went to Styles' side. She bent and felt for a pulse. "Take off her backpack and roll her into the recovery position." She grabbed the backpack and placed it under the girl's head.

Beside her, Jo had removed her backpack and was kneeling beside her, pulling out a first aid kit. She turned to her. "Can you stay with her? Listen to that maniac. He's hunting someone. I bet it's Shiloh. We need to stop him. Will you call Cash? He'll get the paramedics rolling. They'll be a while."

"Yeah, I'm fine and armed." Jo covered the girl with a foil blanket. "Anyone who comes through that forest who isn't wearing an FBI jacket is going down."

Relieved, Beth stood and tugged at Styles' arm. "He's getting away. Let's get this SOB."

With a nod, Styles pushed his way through the forest, cutting a path. The pace of the men was frantic and Beth's ribs still ached. Sucking in freezing air didn't help, but she kept running and jumping over obstacles along the way. To her surprise, Bear ran along beside her as if he sensed her injuries and was watching out for her. Ahead, she made out a bright LED flashlight and Styles' voice came through her comm.

"Carter, the missing girl must be ahead. The river is through those trees. Go around and see if you can come in upstream. She'll see your FBI jacket and know you're a friendly. We'll take down Shoebridge. The girl's safety is our priority."

"Copy that." Carter ran parallel to the river, weaving in and out of trees.

Beth turned off her comm and pulled on Styles' arm. His big green luminous eyes turned slowly to look down at her. She lifted her chin. "Don't throw your life away on this scum, Styles."

Why she'd become Mother Teresa, she had no idea. She wanted the monster dead, but she figured Styles was a better person than she'd ever be. He needed to be on the right side of the law. If anyone was going to kill Shoebridge, it would be her. When he shrugged and took off running toward the screams of a madman, Beth ran after him. It was difficult to see the way ahead behind Styles' large frame, but the sound of the angry man was getting closer. Suddenly without warning, Styles took off running so fast Beth had no chance of keeping up with him.

As the river came into view, Styles flew through the air, tackling the man with the flashlight. They rolled across the ground. Bear's barks echoed through the forest along with thumps and punches. Tree branches cracked as both men struggled on the forest floor. She arrived and gasped as Shoebridge swung the flashlight down hard on Styles' head. The man rose slowly and came straight for Beth. Her hand went to her weapon.

"Don't shoot him." Styles' voice came through her comm as he staggered to his feet. "I haven't finished with him yet." He was on his feet running toward him.

The man was bigger than Beth had expected and she ducked behind a tree. As he ran past, she stuck out her boot and he crashed to the floor, the flashlight spilling from his hands. Styles was on him in seconds, dragging him up and tossing him into a tree. Beth ran toward him. "That's enough."

"Do you forget what he did to my sister?" Styles waited for the man to stagger to his feet and punched him in the stomach. "Men like you don't deserve to exist in our world."

"Sweet girl, your sister. She'll never tell you about me or my friends." Shoebridge grinned through bloody teeth. "You can't kill me, Mister FBI. I'm home free. You have nothing on me." He laughed. "You wanna fight me for her? I might be older than you, but I took you down. How you gonna live that down, Mister FBI?"

Shocked when Styles removed his jacket and unbuckled his holster, tossing them to one side, she stared at him.

"Hold these for me." Styles removed his goggles and handed them to her. "Keep out of the way. Don't draw down on him. Give me your word he's mine. I'm taking him in." He turned to Bear. "Stay."

Beth swallowed hard at the sight of his grim expression. She wished Carter was close by and the need to call him over was eating at her. She wanted to say something but stepped back beside Bear and placed the goggles next to a tree. In the dark, the men danced around each other trading blows. Styles had Shoebridge's measure and could have hurt him, but reason was slowly taking hold. His anger was ebbing, and he grabbed Shoebridge's arm, ready to cuff him, when the man pulled a knife. Styles twisted out of the way, lunged forward to grab Shoebridge's wrist, but tripped over an exposed tree root. She gasped in horror as he staggered back, smacking his head hard against a pine tree before sliding to the ground. Panic gripped her. Styles wasn't getting up and Shoebridge was advancing, knife raised. In a split-second decision, rather than draw her weapon, Beth bent and picked up a broken branch and ran into the fray. "Hey, you."

As Shoebridge turned to look at her, she swung the log like a baseball bat, striking him across the front of his skull. The impact shot up Beth's arms and she dropped the log. Suddenly afraid, she stared at him, one hand going to her weapon. Shoebridge stood very still and then fell straight back like a felled tree, crashing into the dead underbrush and not moving. Bear whined and shot past her to lick his owner's face and Beth ran to Styles. Her partner was staring straight ahead into the darkness. She sighed with relief when he moaned and pushed Bear away. "Are you okay?" She indicated to Shoebridge. "He's down."

"Just a lump. I tripped when I avoided the knife and hit my head. I figure I blacked out for a time." He staggered to his feet, rubbing the back of his head, and went with her to look at Shoebridge. The front of the man's head was embedded with bark fragments. He felt for a pulse and then turned slowly to her. "He's dead." He shook his head and found the log she'd used. It had been torn from a tree during the fight. "It looks like he broke this branch clean off the tree when he ran into it."

Trembling, Beth stared at him. Could the incorruptible Styles be covering for her or had he really blacked out? Either was possible and she sure as heck wouldn't be confessing. She shrugged. "Best get your weapon and jacket before Carter gets back. He doesn't need to know, you two got into a fight." She gave him a long look. "I witnessed him resisting arrest and threatening you with a knife before he ran into that branch."

They both stopped talking when Carter's voice came through their comms.

"Do you copy? I've found two very terrified girls. Have you found Shoebridge?" Carter sounded annoyed.

Beth tapped her comm. "Yeah, we've been kind of busy. We tried to take him down alive, but he fought like a bear."

"You've been offline for a time. Is he dead?"

"Yeah." Styles rubbed his head and looked at a smear of blood on his hand. "He knocked me into a tree, took off, and then ran into a low branch. Killed him outright."

Beth looked at him. Not one trace of guile showed on his face. She stared at the ground, unable to believe her luck. Maybe Styles had blacked out, maybe not. She guessed she'd never know.