Chapter Eleven

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Kit didn't get a chance to say anything else to Brandon because the call ended, and she looked at Jace, already knowing what she was going to see on his face.

An argument.

He wouldn't want her to go to the ransom drop. She totally understood that. She didn't want to go, but she couldn't see another way around that.

"How safe can you make this?" Kit asked, and she watched some of the fight drain from his expression.

Oh, the arguments were still there. Mercy, were they, but she could see him already moving on to accept that there was no way around this. She had to get to his gate. Had to transfer the rest of the money and then hopefully get Brandon away from the kidnapper.

Even if that kidnapper was someone that Brandon's own father had hired.

"Your SUV is bullet resistant," Ruby pointed out.

With her mind whirling, Kit had actually forgotten that Jace's boss was still on the monitor.

"That includes the doors and the windows," Ruby went on.

Jace nodded and scrubbed his hand over his face. "We drive to the gate, and Kit and I can get out, using the doors and glass for cover."

Ruby made a sound of agreement. "And by the time you get there, Angel should be in place, hidden away somewhere so he can give you backup. I've already texted him. I've deployed a drone, too, so we can get a visual on what you're up against. If there's more than one vehicle, or if the situation looks like a trap, don't go through the gate. We'll figure out another way to get Brandon."

Kit hoped it wasn't a trap, that it was an actual attempt for the kidnapper to get his ramson, release Brandon, and then try to get the heck out of there. Maybe Angel would be able to stop that. Because if they got the kidnapper, then they might be able to learn who'd hired him.

"Kevlar vests," Jace said, going to a closet and pulling out two. He handed one to Kit and put the other one on. "And carry your gun."

Kit vested up, too, and silently groaned at the pressure it immediately put on her chest. Her breath was already way too short, and her lungs felt as if they were being vised. Still, the Kevlar could save her life.

Once she'd finished with the vest, she hurried to the desk to put on her shoulder holster and weapon. And grab her inhaler in case her chest vised too much from the vest. She'd had a lot of firearms training, but she'd never been involved in a gunfight. Maybe it wouldn't come down to that today.

"Both of you should use communication earbuds," Ruby said, and Jace went to the supply closet to get two of those.

They were tiny, even smaller than her regular pods. She slipped it into her ear and immediately heard Ruby speaking through it.

"Go ahead to the SUV," Ruby instructed. "The drone feed is coming in now, and I'll put it on your dash monitor."

Jace motioned for Kit to get moving, and she did. She didn't want to waste any second getting to Brandon. They jumped into the SUV, and Jace turned on the monitor before he even started the engine.

Ruby's image was in a small box in the upper right-hand corner of the screen, and the drone feed took up the rest of the space. The incoming feed showed an aerial view of a single vehicle, a beat-up van that had likely once been blue but it had now faded to gray, and the paint was scabbed in places.

"No sign of Brandon," Kit muttered.

"No," Jace agreed as he opened the garage and backed out. "Watch the drone feed but also keep checking around us." He paused only a second. "Ruby, is Angel in place?"

"Not yet, but he should be in less than a minute," Ruby supplied. "I'm using the tracker on his vest to keep an eye on his movements. He's on foot and plans to duck down into a cluster of trees at what will be your three o'clock when you reach the gate."

Jace wasn't exactly speeding, but he slowed down even more, no doubt to give Angel time to arrive and get in place. She wasn't sure what kind of visual Angel would have on that van, but maybe if it came down to it, he would be able to protect Brandon.

"The drone is checking the area to make sure no one is hiding and lying in wait," Ruby added. "Of course, with all the trees and shrubs, it's possible the kidnapper brought someone with him and the person could be in the van," she tacked onto that. "The drone is running an infrared scan now."

"Infrared?" Kit repeated.

"It'll detect heat sources in the van," Jace let her know. "We can see how many we're up against."

That made her chest tighten even more, and Kit forced herself to try to level her breathing. She had to stay calm and focused. She had to do everything right to save her nephew.

When Jace reached the gate, she saw the van. Not parked directly in front but off to the side. Jace opened the gate and inched through, staying close to the steel post that anchored the gate in place.

"Two heat sources in the van," Ruby relayed just as Kit's phone rang.

Unknown Number popped on the screen.

"Probably the kidnapper," Kit said which meant the person had seen them as well.

"Take the call on speaker," Ruby instructed.

Kit did, and like before, it didn't take long for Brandon to speak.

"He wants to know if you're ready to transfer the rest of the money?" Brandon asked.

"I am after you're out of the van and walking toward me," Kit answered.

"All right. So, open the SUV door and step out. I'll do the same."

Kit put her phone in her left hand and drew her gun with her right. She glanced at Jace, who gave her a nod.

"If anything goes wrong, get back in the SUV," he insisted.

"You do the same," she insisted right back.

She wanted to say more. A whole lot more. But anything she said right now would feel like a goodbye, and she didn't want that weighing either of them down. They stepped out together, both of them staying behind the cover of their respective doors.

From her phone, Kit heard what appeared to be a muffled conversation, and the alarm shot through her when she heard what she thought was even more alarm in Brandon's voice.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Brandon didn't answer, but the door opened on the driver's side, and a man wearing a ski mask hurled out a burlap sack. It landed with a thud on the road halfway between the van and Jace's SUV.

Her first thought, a horrible one, was that this was some body part that the kidnapper had taken from Brandon. But then the bag began to move.

And rattle.

Oh, God.

Rattlesnakes began slithering out. They were clearly agitated, coiling and striking at each other, before several of them started crawling away.

One was coming in their direction.

That sent her body into a tailspin, and she had to fight hard to stand her ground. And worse, her attention was now on the snakes instead of on the kidnapper and any possible hired guns that were hiding in the bushes.

"The rattlers are insurance," the man called out from the van. "I don't want y'all charging over here toward me."

Kit mentally replayed his voice, but she was certain she didn't recognize it. Still, with the snakes, she had to believe this was Rattler, AKA Arnold Cassaine.

"Now, transfer the money," he yelled just as the passenger's side door of the van opened.

Kit saw Brandon step out. Saw that he, too, was keeping a close eye on those snakes, and he looked just as horrified as she was at them moving around so close to him.

"Do the money now," the man shouted.

Kit's hands were trembling, and since her breath was way too short, she took a moment to use her inhaler. That steadied her some, and she managed to keep a grip on her gun while she went to the banking app and hit the transfer that had already been set up.

"Done," she announced.

There was another murmured conversation that she couldn't hear, and Brandon froze. Probably because that's what the kidnapper had instructed him to do though there was a rattler only about ten feet away from him. The snake had coiled and seemed ready to strike.

"Checking the account now," the kidnapper yelled back. "If it's there, then Brandon can start walking again. Tread careful though, boy. That rattler's mighty pissed off."

Kit hated the flippant tone. Hated every second of this. And had time stopped? It certainly felt that way. How long did it take for this SOB to confirm that he now had the money?

Or rather his boss did.

She had to believe someone like Rattler hadn't come up with this plan alone. Then again, he had a connection to Marvin so maybe the two were in on this together. Marvin's share of a million dollars could pay for a team of lawyers.

Or be used to help him flee the country.

"Incoming," Ruby said through the earpiece. That came a split-second before Kit heard the sound of a car engine. "Shit," Ruby added. "It's Ramsey, Trevor, and Deanna."

"Damn it. What are they doing here?" Kit asked, but there was no time for Ruby to attempt to answer her question.

Her father's sleek black Jaguar flew up the road, braking to a noisy stop right behind the van.

Her father bolted out from the driver's side. Trevor came out the passenger's. Deanna was in the backseat, and she got out as well, but then Trevor shouted for her to get back in. She did, but Deanna kept her gaze pinned to the window while she frantically shook her head. There wasn't a drop of color in her face, and she looked horrified.

With good reason.

Trevor and Ramsey both had guns, and they hurried to the back of the Jag. Like Jace and her, the pair used their vehicle for cover.

"Brandon, get down," Trevor shouted.

Her nephew dropped to the ground but immediately started scrambling away from the rattler. He hurried to the far right of the road, and she was about to call out to him.

But then all hell broke loose.

Trevor started firing into the van, and her father followed suit. Both of them sent double rounds into the vehicle.

Ramsey's third shot, however, came at Kit, slamming onto the roof of the SUV. What the heck? Had he done that on purpose? Maybe. But if he had, his next shot didn't come her way but rather into the van.

"Hold your fire," Jace called out.

Kit wanted to yell the same thing. Their shots could ricochet or just plain miss and hit Brandon, Angel or them. But Trevor and Ramsey didn't listen. They kept shooting.

The kidnapper slammed his door, threw the van into reverse and hit the accelerator, ramming into the Jag. Since the van was heavier, it shoved the Jag directly at Trevor and Ramsey so that they had to jump out of the way.

But they still kept firing.

Ramsey's shot went past the van and into the roof of the SUV again.

"Are you trying to kill me?" Kit shouted.

"Wouldn't be much of a loss if you were dead," her father yelled back.

So, maybe those two shots had been intentional, and the level of his venom toward her didn't surprise Kit. She figured Ramsey just might continue to try to kill her, but he obviously had a more pressing problem on his hands.

Because the kidnapper was trying to kill Trevor and him.

"Stop this," Deanna shouted, and Kit realized the woman had opened the door and had stuck her head out of the car. Not a good idea since she could easily be shot.

The kidnapper drove forward and then reversed into them again. Kit preferred him doing that than trying to run over Brandon. Something he just might do if he got desperate or pissed off enough.

"County deputies are on the way to block the road in case the kidnapper gets away," Ruby let them know.

Good. But at the moment Kit's main priority was Brandon. He was right there in the gunfire, and the snake was still coiled in front of him. Her nephew had nowhere to go.

"Stop," Deanna yelled again.

No one listened to her.

Another shot rang out, and for a moment Kit thought the kidnapper had fired, but then she realized it'd come from Jace. He hadn't shot at the van. But rather at the snake. He'd killed it to clear the way for Brandon.

"Get in the SUV," Jace told her. "I'll drive closer so we can get Brandon. He'll have to get in on the passenger's side."

She couldn't move fast enough, and even though the SUV was at risk of being hit from more gunfire, that was better than just staying put and having Brandon killed by those shots.

They got in, and Jace didn't waste a second. He drove the SUV to the left of where Brandon was lying. Kit kept watch, looking for both Angel and possibly an accomplice. She saw Angel. He had leaned out from one of the trees, but she didn't see anyone else.

The moment Jace had the SUV level with Brandon, she turned in the seat so she could throw open the back door for him. Brandon moved.

But so did a rattler.

It was behind Brandon, and it'd been coiled next to a large rock. The sound of the SUV and Brandon's movement must have alarmed it because it struck out.

A shot stopped it.

Not gunfire from Jace this time but rather from Angel.

Kit turned in the seat again, holding the back door open for Brandon. He stayed low and crawled his way to them. He didn't lever himself up until he reached the SUV.

From the corner of her eye, Kit saw the blur of motion. Heard the revving of an engine. She whipped her head around and saw the van. Not going in reverse this time. The driver was coming straight at them, ready to collide right into them.

He didn't make it.

Angel fired directly into the van's windshield, the bullets crashing through the glass.

And straight into the kidnapper.

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