Chapter Seven

Well, hell. This was a development that Presley hadn't seen coming.

Though he should have.

After all, the kidnappers had involved Billie and him right from the start so it was obvious they were going to be key players in this. He just hadn't known it was all about them. He was betting Victoria had only been a pawn to draw them out.

But for what?

And why?

He was certain they would soon find out.

Presley did a U-turn, heading to the location the kidnapper had given him, and it didn't surprise him when he got a call from Ruby.

"The call couldn't be traced," she let them know right off. "And I've sent out a drone to the Comanche Creek Bridge. Are you familiar with the area? Is there a reason the kidnappers chose it?"

"Not familiar," Presley said, and Billie echoed the same.

"But it's near where my boss lives," Billie added, and she put the map of the site onto his dash screen.

"Yes," Ruby muttered, the disapproval coating her voice. "Owen might be a part of this. Not as a kidnapper," she was quick to say when Billie made a sharp sound of disagreement. "But if this goes back to Sandy's murder, then the killer could blame Owen and me since you work for us." She paused. "A few minutes ago, I got a text from the kidnapper, ordering me to the ransom drop. I'm on my way."

Presley cursed again. This definitely couldn't be good, and he suspected they'd all be walking into an ambush.

So, what were their options?

They couldn't refuse to go. That would surely get Victoria murdered, especially if that theory about her being a pawn was true.

"Angel is en route to the sight as well," Ruby went on, and in the background, Presley could hear not only the engine of Ruby's vehicle but also the sound of an incoming text. "And apparently so is someone from Strike Force. Hayes Brodie. Billie, do you know him?"

"Yes," she verified. "I guess you could say he's Owen's right-hand man. They served together as Delta Force officers. A little rough around the edges, but I'd trust him with my life."

"Good. Because that's exactly what you'll be doing," Ruby responded. There was another text ding. "We all will be. And if there are any differences between Strike Force and Maverick Ops, that gets put aside now. Understand?"

"Understood," Billie and Presley agreed.

Presley couldn't help but think though that any beef with Strike Force wasn't between the operatives of the groups but rather between the leaders. He didn't know what had caused that and now wasn't the time to find out.

"The kidnapper knew the diamonds were fake," Presley reminded his boss. "That info had to have come from an insider at the family business. What can we do about that?"

"Hold off on your meeting with Olivia and Ari. Warrants are in the works to get phone and financial records from Jesep and them. And from anyone who works closely with them. I've asked for Hattie's records, too, of course. I want to see who they've been communicating with for the past couple of days."

That was a good start, but unless they were idiots or overly cocky, they must have known this could happen. If one of them was the kidnapper, they had probably covered their tracks by using burner phones.

"Owen was just at Hattie's vacation cabin," Billie relayed to Ruby. She was working with the map, moving it to what was essentially a street view. Or rather a road view, anyway.

"Yes, one of those texts you heard was from Owen," Ruby verified. "He left Hattie's place after she spoke with the two of you. In fact, she immediately told him to get out."

So, in other words, Hattie could have been the one to make the latest call from the kidnapper.

"Owen has someone watching Hattie," Ruby went on, "and she hasn't left the cabin. That doesn't mean she's not pulling the strings."

Ruby was right about that. Of all their suspects, Hattie had the strongest motive for wanting Billie, Ruby, Owen, and him dead. But how the hell had the woman learned about the fake diamonds?

A guess, maybe?

Because she had some kind of insight or knowledge from the family?

Either of those could be true, but getting those answers would have to wait since there was a more immediate question that needed answering.

How were Billie and he going to approach this ransom drop?

Presley looked at the dash screen. At the bridge. And at the thick trees that lined both sides of the small creek. There were dozens of places for the kidnappers to hide and lie in wait. He didn't like any of the options he saw, but he was going to treat this as an extraction. A rescue.

Hopefully, this time, a woman wouldn't be murdered before they could get to her and stop it.

"I think our best bet is for Billie and me to park about a quarter of a mile up from the bridge," he explained to Ruby. "Not in that small clearing just off the road. Too obvious. They'd expect us to park there." He tapped the spot on the map. "But right before that, where there's a rock pile."

It was out in the open. A serious downside for Billie and him having cover, but the upside was that the kidnappers couldn't lie in wait. What they could do, however, was climb one of the nearby trees and shoot them with a rifle.

Presley silently cursed having Billie walk into something like that. But then he reminded himself that she was in the same line of work as he was. She knew the risks. Knew how to take out the enemy, too.

"We can leave the SUV there by that rock pile and get down into the ditch," he continued. "From there, we can make our way to the drop sight."

Ruby stayed quiet a moment. "Yes, I see the spot you mean. Billie, are you on board with that?"

"I am," she said without hesitation while she took out the fake diamonds from her pocket and put them in the glove compartment. "You have protective gear in the SUV?" she asked him.

"Plenty," he assured her. Of course, no amount of gear could prevent them from being killed, but they could make it harder for a sniper to land a fatal shot.

"Your ETA?" Ruby asked.

He checked the GPS. "About thirty minutes."

Which meant after they parked, it would give Billie and him about twenty minutes to thread their way through that ditch and then the trees to get to Victoria so they could meet the kidnappers' deadline.

But it was possible that Victoria might not even be there.

Presley had to shove that aside, too. This was a step in getting her back safely. And that meant trying to keep at least one of the kidnappers alive, so he or she could be questioned. If these were hired thugs, then Presley needed to know the identity of their boss. He always carried some zip ties in his pocket that he could use to restrain one of these SOBs if necessary.

"Drone feed coming in," Ruby said. "I'll send it to your monitor."

That happened in a blink, and Presley saw the drone skimming over the treetops. Of course, in that part of central Texas, there wasn't much of anything else.

The aerial view gave him a good indication of just how thick the woods were, and where there weren't trees, there was dense underbrush. This wasn't a place for a leisurely stroll. It was a remote part of the rugged Hill Country with steep limestone bluffs hidden in the woods. A fall from one of those would be deadly.

They continued to drive, and in the background, Presley could hear Ruby continuing to field calls and texts. She was a general readying her troops for battle. Except there'd be another general on this particular field, and Presley had to wonder if that was meant to add some chaos for the bosses to be on scene. Maybe the killer thought Owen and Ruby would butt heads and lose focus on the mission.

But that would never happen.

Not for Ruby, anyway. And he couldn't imagine the DV Whisperer falling for it either.

He continued to drive, the minutes seemingly in hyper speed since both time and the landscape were flying by. The drone was continuing to do its thing, too, giving them views of the area. What Presley wasn't seeing though were any signs of the kidnappers or Victoria.

No surprise there.

The kidnappers would have had everything in place before the ransom demand call had even been made. Their vehicle was likely tucked away somewhere out of view from the drone.

"This could be another wild goose chase," Billie muttered, voicing the concern that was racing through his head.

It's what they'd done at his childhood home. Billie and he had rushed there only to find Victoria's finger. Was there another part of her waiting at this location?

Presley had to shove that possibility aside.

Victoria was his mother in only DNA, but it twisted at him to think of her being tortured. And for what? So that some sick SOB could get revenge or eliminate her so there'd be no competition for their daddy's money?

"Someone's there," Presley blurted when he saw the motorcycle pull to a stop off the side of the road about a half mile from the creek.

Billie zoomed in on the drone feed to show a heavily muscled, dark-haired man in camo pants and a black tee. He looked like a bouncer you wouldn't want to cross paths with.

"That's Hayes Brodie," Billie said.

"Yes," Ruby verified. "He'll be approaching the site from the south of the creek. Owen from the east. Angel, from the north. That leaves the west side for Billie and you. I'll be coming in behind you once I arrive. Obviously, friendly fire rules are in effect."

Again, that was no surprise. Not with six operatives in the vicinity. That meant even if he had a kidnapper in his line of sight, Presley would have to wait to make sure he had a clean shot.

The kidnapper had probably planned it that way to stop Maverick Ops and Strike Force from coming in with guns blazing. Not that they would have since the person most likely to be in the middle of this was Victoria.

Presley continued to drive, and he soon passed the motorcycle. No sign of Hayes though, which was probably a good thing. It wasn't a smart idea to be out in the open for long.

When he reached the rock cluster, Presley pulled off the side of the road, and he reached into the back of the SUV to bring out two Kevlar vests, complete with bullet-resistant neck guards. They were a pisser to wear since they were damn uncomfortable, like wearing a thick dog collar, but the guards could save them from a neck shot. The vest would do the same for their chests.

Presley pulled out leg guards next. Again, they were uncomfortable, but Billie and he put them on, along with helmets. The final step was to grab some extra weapons and ammo.

Billie already had a primary and backup weapon, but she took a sheathed Bowie knife and shoved it into the waist of her pants. Presley did the same, and he grabbed a third gun for himself, along with a pair of tiny binoculars that he knew had thermal capabilities. If the kidnappers had Victoria hidden in the trees, he might be able to use the binoculars to spot her.

He grabbed his phone, inserting it into a slot on the sleeve of his shirt. The position would allow him to keep watch of the screen for the drone feed. That could come in handy if for some reason they had to detour off the projected course.

"Earbuds going in now," he told Ruby as Billie and he inserted them. That would keep them in constant voice contact with Ruby.

Presley didn't waste any time saying things like be careful to Billie. Neither did she. Once they were fully armed and geared up, they bolted from the SUV, both of them hurrying to the ditch. Presley had braced himself for gunfire, but it didn't come.

Thankfully, it hadn't rained in a while, and the ditch was not only empty, the mud had dried to a hard rock-like surface. Also, it was deep enough that they didn't have to commando crawl for the quarter of a mile. They were able to crouch down and move fairly fast.

The helmets had a huge disadvantage of blocking out some sounds so Presley had to stay vigilant. He knew that Billie was doing the same behind him. They kept watching, kept moving while Presley also made glances at his phone screen. He didn't see anyone.

"Angel and Owen are at the location," he heard Ruby say through the earbud. "They'll be in place in ten minutes."

Presley figured Billie and he would beat them there. Then they could hunker down and try to spot the kidnappers or Victoria.

Their luck didn't hold out with the ditch, and they lost some of the depth. So much so that they did indeed have to resort to a commando crawl. That added an extra minute or two to their arrival, but they soon reached a thick cluster of trees that overlooked the creek, the bridge, and the road itself. It was such a good spot, and Presley had thought the kidnappers might be there, but then he realized there were many spots just like these all around him.

And the kidnappers could be in one of them.

Billie and he dropped belly down onto the ground, and while she kept watch around them, Presley used the binoculars. Like the rest of the Maverick Ops' gear, these were definitely advanced technology. They fit in the palm of his hand, but he expanded them to view the woods. And he saw plenty of small heat sources.

Wildlife. Probably squirrels or rabbits.

He continued to pan around the woods, but the panning came to a screeching halt when he looked not at the woods but at the creek itself. It was shallow, only about a foot deep, and thick trees with low branches canopied the spot. In the center of that, he saw something.

The woman.

She was on her knees, her hands tied behind her back, and even though he couldn't see her feet, he was betting they were tied too. She had on both a gag and a blindfold, but he still recognized her.

Victoria.

Presley hadn't known what his reaction would be, but it was a fierce one. It felt as if a Mack truck had slammed into him.

"Hostage in sight," he whispered so that Ruby would know.

"I don't have a visual on her," Ruby was quick to say.

"At my eleven o'clock. The trees might be obscuring the drone feed."

Which he figured wasn't by accident. No. This spot had likely been chosen with that in mind.

Presley was about to tell Ruby that Victoria was alive and there were no signs of the kidnappers, but the sound of the voice stopped him.

"Billie and Presley, you came," the cartoon voice boomed. The SOB must have had it on a loudspeaker. "Good. You followed the rules."

Presley waited for the dick to spell out how this exchange would take place. But that didn't happen.

Because all hell broke loose.