Beau Read online

  But not predators like him. What he didn’t want to do was get into the wrong building and end up with people who were part of the cult and who wanted to be here. Somehow Beau had to find the prisoners.

  He saw something flash, a reflection on the ground. It almost looked like metal. He found it again, using his infrared binoculars, and what he was looking at made even less sense. This area wasn’t known for heavy rains. He could see a half-dozen metal panels—or gates or grates—in the ground. That meant something was underneath. It could be for water collection, although that didn’t make much sense. It could be for animals, but they needed to be outside in the fresh air and amid the greenery, so what would you keep underground?

  His mind immediately knew.

  Prisoners. That’s what you’d keep underground. Somebody you needed to teach a lesson to. Prisoners whose welfare you didn’t give a shit about. He immediately scaled down this lookout tower, sent a message to Asher, and took a circular route toward the first of the grates. He came up on the left and could see at least six, possibly more, but they were stretched out across a couple hundred feet. He dropped to the ground and held his ear to the first one.

  There wasn’t a sound beneath, neither was there any movement of any kind. His nostrils flared, and what he sensed more than anything were fear, urine, fecal matter, and more fear. Hating to do so, but knowing he had to find out for sure, he quickly turned on his flashlight, shone it down below and found a bed but no prisoner.

  Grateful for that, he raced to the second one and did the same thing. When he approached the third, he thought he heard a sound. He listened and could hear somebody breathing, apparently murmuring and whimpering in their sleep. Using the flashlight, he quickly took a look.

  There was a woman, long and lean, with black hair, tied up, lying on the bed.

  She didn’t move or appear to notice him at all. While he was on the ground, he quickly tapped out a message to Asher to send for the authorities. He gave a GPS location for the grate she was beneath, and then he moved to the fourth and then the fifth.

  At the sixth, as he laid down, the grate shifted. He stilled and lifted a corner, easily picking up part of it. Shining his flashlight downward, he saw the bed on its side underneath the open grate, and he grinned. Now that was his kind of prisoner. One who took every opportunity to escape what she could. Sending a message to Asher, Beau quickly moved on to another and then another.

  He had now found five women, plus the two empty cells where the women appeared to escape the same way. From that, he would surmise that one had helped the other, but he didn’t know that for sure. From where he lay, he could see tracks, the long grass trampled, and he realized just how fresh the escapees really were. Tapping out yet another message to Asher, he sent: Two women on the loose. Recent escapees. Don’t scare them. Need to be quiet.

  Asher came back with Is it Danica?

  He tapped back: No way to know. Five women still imprisoned.

  He carefully picked up the pace and scuttled all the way across into the trees. If he was a woman trying to get away, he’d be bolting as far and as fast in the opposite direction as he could go. He followed the tracks, and, sure enough, they came to the trees, but it wasn’t hard to follow where they went next. They had come up against the fence and had no place to go. They were moving along the fence, looking for a way out.

  At least they hadn’t tried to go over the fence. If they weren’t prepared for it, their skin would be ripped to shreds, and they’d end up bleeding to death at the top. He wondered just what kind of desperation it would take for somebody to go through that and realized that being imprisoned in one of these underground cells would do it.

  Giving his location to Asher, he said he was going after them. He moved quietly along the fence line and then suddenly stopped, his nostrils flaring. He knew they were just ahead, but they also knew they were being followed. He sank to the ground, considering his options.

  He didn’t want to scare them, but it was too late for that. He needed them to know that he was a friend, and that wouldn’t be so easy. He picked up a rock and threw it ahead of them. He heard their gasps and then silence. At a low volume, he whistled but got no response. He frowned and then threw another rock. He took five steps forward and then another five. He could see them huddled against the brush, blending into the background.

  Just as he was about to call out, one of the women gave a startled cry and bolted. She headed back, running toward the compound, away from where he stood. He stared in dismay as she raced across, not showing any signs of slowing down until somebody rose up from the ground and tackled her. His heart hardened as he realized that they did have sentries on duty, and somebody had just taken out one escapee.

  Instantly he was at the side of the other one. He clapped a hand over her mouth and whispered against her ear, “I’m a friend. But whoever was just with you has been recaptured.”

  The woman shook so badly that he was afraid she couldn’t walk much less run.

  “We have to go, and we have to go now,” he snapped. “They saw where she came from, and they’ll be here in no time.” Not giving her a chance to argue, he kept his hand over her mouth. He picked her up like he would a child and immediately melted into the darkness, moving as far and as fast away from where the other woman had been.

  He knew all kinds of people would descend on that corner now. Whether the cult had found out they still had an escapee or not, they were now doing a full-on search, and Beau wanted to make sure he and the escapee were a hell of a long way away by the time the cult got there.

  Just when Beau reached the far lookout tower, at the southwest corner, where the rest of his gear was stowed, he heard his comm tapping in his ear. It was Asher.

  Looks like the cavalry are coming out of the buildings to help fight the enemy.

  Beau swore at that, but he didn’t have a free hand to respond. He shuffled her in his arms, quickly pressed the button, and whispered, “I’ve got one. The other one ran back in. She was taken.”

  “I’m staying hidden,” Asher muttered. “I see at least six coming. Get your ass out of there.”

  “On the way,” he said. He quickly grabbed his duffel bag and threw it over his back, and, with the woman still in his arms, her feet now wrapped around his hips, and her face buried against his chest, he quickly climbed the lookout tower, where he dumped her inside. As soon as he was clear, and she was on the ground with her fists stuffed into her mouth, he held up a warning hand. He stood silently in the darkness and whispered to Asher, “I’m in the southwest corner sentry post.”

  “Good,” Asher said. “Find out who you’ve got.”

  He crouched in front of her and asked, “What’s your name?”

  She shook her head, trembling.

  He held her arms and whispered, “I need a name.”

  “I’m Danica,” she whispered.

  The damn name nearly broke his heart when he heard it, but it was the one that he desperately needed to hear.

  “And that was Nania who was just retaken.”

  In his ear, Asher’s voice whispered, “Perfect. That’s the one we want.”

  “Then get over here,” Beau said, “so we can get the hell out of here.”

  Immediately the woman gripped him hard and shook her head. Her voice harsh but still quiet, she whispered, “We can’t. A lot of women are held here. Once they get shipped out at daybreak, it’ll be damn hard to get them back.”

  He stared at her, hating the truth of her words, and yet, knowing this directly contrasted what he was supposed to do. But this was one of those ops where he got to make the decisions.

  Asher’s voice in Beau’s ear whispered, “What do you want to do?”

  He stared down from the tower and saw men moving along the fence and said, “I’ve got to move her right now. They’re coming my way.” He quickly threw her back on his shoulder, grabbed his duffel, and clambered down as quietly as he could on the far side. He ran into the brush, whe
re they were completely covered, a good 150 meters from the tower. Instantly he put his rifle together, leaving her on the ground beside him to catch her breath. He whispered to Asher, “How far out?”

  “I’m heading to the northwest corner,” he said, “almost there.”

  “Okay, the men are about two hundred yards away from me.”

  “Are you under cover?”

  “Under cover and armed,” he said, his voice hard. “If they come this way, I’m taking them out.”

  “Okay,” Asher said. “I can create a diversion from here. I’m about twelve minutes away from you.”

  “As long as she stays quiet,” Beau whispered, studying the woman beside him.

  Danica stared at him, then nodded.

  “Tap if you need me to head toward you,” he said. “Otherwise let’s engage in some heavy warfare.”

  “Not heavy,” Asher whispered. “Not for us. Not with them. They aren’t even mosquitoes. Let’s crush the gnats like they deserve to be crushed.” And he went silent.

  Chapter 6

  Danica had no idea who this man was who had picked her up and carried her like she was nothing more than a two-year-old. Not only had he carried her most of the way with one arm but he’d also thrown her on his back as if she were a toddler, then scurried up and down a wall that she couldn’t have climbed solo in a million years. She didn’t know what government or what group he belonged to, but, as long as he was on her side, she was desperate to believe that she was safe.

  Yet Danica knew she couldn’t leave—not with all those women still out there.

  Nania had whispered the truth to Danica. Listening to her had broken Danica’s heart as Nania had recounted the events she had witnessed. She’d seen several women disappear, taken and crying, some drugged, others tied up and completely unconscious. This cult was making a lot of money by selling these women into slavery, and everybody was complicit. Everyone had to keep silent because they couldn’t trust anyone else.

  Nania herself had been a cult member until she’d gotten on their wrong side—when she’d ended up as a prisoner herself. They had told her that she would be shipped out the next day, very early in the morning, along with everybody else in that group.

  Danica shifted uneasily as she watched this man pulling out weapon after weapon after weapon. Her gaze widened as she studied the array of firepower he laid out in front of him. He glanced at her with what was supposed to be a reassuring smile and said, “It’s okay. We’re the good guys.”

  “But where are the other good guys?” she asked. “You can’t handle this alone. The entire cult’s involved.”

  His gaze narrowed as he studied her. She could only see the whites of his eyes. He lowered his head and moved closer to her, even as he kept his eyes on the men nearing them. “Tell me what you know.”

  “Almost nothing,” she said, but she quickly explained what had happened to her and how she’d woken up in a plane before being knocked out again and coming around in a car, then her prison cell. She also told him what Nania had said to her. “She was part of the cult originally.”

  “So she’s somebody we need for evidence,” he said. He studied Danica for a long moment, then said, “Are you sure she was a prisoner and not just a mole to make sure that all of you got away, and then she could tattle?”

  Danica had to think about it. Then she shook her head. “When I saw her, she was bawling her eyes out. She was tied up, and she was suffering. Her face had been bruised pretty good too. I couldn’t see much more in the dark.”

  “Damaged goods won’t sell for as much,” the big man said.

  She nodded. “I know,” she said, “but I don’t think they cared at that point. I think those of us in better shape bring more money, but they’re all still worth some money, so the kidnappers don’t care.”

  “Possibly,” he said.

  “Who told you that I was here?” she asked.

  He slid his gaze her way. “Who said we were looking for you?”

  “I heard your partner,” she said.

  He nodded. “Your father raised the alarm, but it took us a while to find out what happened to you and where you ended up.”

  She closed her eyes, giving thanks to her father, even though he wasn’t here. There wasn’t a whole lot in her life she had to thank him for, but, if this went well, he’d now earned a lifetime of forgiveness. “Can we rescue those other women?”

  “We can try,” he said. “How many are being moved?”

  “I think at least six, but I’m not sure.”

  “And how many men will it take to move them?”

  “They go by truck for the first part, Nania said. So they have a plane here too.”

  “A bush plane on the water or out in the fields?”

  “I don’t know,” she said, “but the pilot is a crazy old guy who lands wherever the hell he needs to.”

  “Bush pilots are like that,” the big man said.

  “What’s your name?” she asked quietly. “I feel strange not knowing who you are.”

  “I’m Beau,” he said. “Asher’s at the other end of my comm.”

  She nodded slowly. “You carried me like I was a child.”

  “There’s not much to you.”

  “I’m a whole 125 pounds,” she gasped.

  He held up a finger.

  Immediately she fell silent, turning once again to study the men in the distance, but nobody came closer. “Do you think they’ll find us?”

  “I hope not,” he said, “but another part of me hopes so because I’ll take out all six of them in a heartbeat.”

  She looked at them, at him, and then back at the men hunting them. “Do you think they’re armed?”

  “I don’t think they’re expecting to come up against any real firepower,” Beau said. “Not if they’ve been intimidating women, beating them up, and keeping them prisoners. You guys don’t offer much of a fight against a man bigger and stronger than you are. But, if they’re smart, they would be armed out here because there’ll be bears and wolves up in this part of the country.”

  At that, she stopped, stared at him, and asked, “Where am I?”

  He spun, looked at her in surprise, leaned closer, and whispered, “Just a little outside Anchorage, Alaska.”

  She was totally stunned and kept staring at the hard ground in front of him. “Wow,” she finally whispered, “I had no idea.”

  “I think they kept you partially unconscious and partially drugged while they brought you up here to hide your destination from you.”

  “But why me?” she asked. “Jesus, there must be people a whole lot closer to steal.”

  “Their victims are probably randomly picked across the country.”

  “That’s even more depressing,” she said. “How will we ever know how many women they’ve sold?”

  “Do you know where they’re being sold?”

  She shook her head. “No, but Nania said something about a ship.”

  “Right,” he said. “Well, the sex-slave industry is still alive and doing well. Young pretty white women fetch premium money.”

  “I think it was more than that,” she said, “but Nania didn’t really know.”

  “Interesting,” Beau said but stayed quiet, leaving her to ponder the horrible outcome if she were to be taken again.

  “I was in Oregon,” she said. “Why would they have come so far away?”

  “You can’t hunt in your own backyard for very long without being noticed,” he said quietly. “And, although they have probably taken some from Canada, and possibly Mexico too, I’m wondering if they didn’t have a wish list.”

  “A wish list?” she whispered and groaned in horror. “You mean, like, blonde, blue-eyed, and five foot tall?”

  “Or,” he said, turning to look at her, “daughters of very wealthy parents.”

  She sagged in place. “But why? Unless they plan to blackmail my father?”

  “Maybe they plan to do both.”

  She s
hook her head. “I don’t know that my father would pay,” she said. “He’s always been adamant about things like that.”

  “Doesn’t matter to them though, does it?” he asked. “If your father doesn’t pay, you get shipped off, and the cult gets their money anyway. It’s a win-win for them. It’s just a matter of the size of the paycheck.”

  Beau shifted his position, keeping an eye on the men still hunting them. He’d counted seven now, but they’d spread out, and keeping track of seven individuals in the dark wasn’t quite so easy. He wished he was still at the lookout tower. He studied her, looked at the tower, and realized he didn’t dare take a chance. So far, she’d been very good at following orders, but the other woman had bolted, and he wouldn’t forget that easily. If he’d been just a few minutes earlier, he might have kept her close.

  It also made him worry that Nania was a trap. Although Danica had said no, what were the chances that maybe Nania had gone back, knowing that the other men were there, and had reported Danica missing? If that was the case, the men wouldn’t let up anytime soon. It also meant that Beau had made the right decision by not getting to both escapees earlier because, if Nania didn’t know about his presence, the cult men would think they were just looking for Danica. And that was a whole different story.

  Beau could see one of the men coming closer, but the guy moved as if he wasn’t expecting to see somebody out here. He strolled along, casually looking to see if somebody was here. As he swept past the fence about fifty feet in front of them, he didn’t even scan the bushes where they hid. That was good for Beau’s sake but not so good for the quality of sentries that the cult used. But then they probably had no idea of true security.

  Everybody liked to think that they were completely safe, but they really didn’t understand how easy it was to penetrate even the most secured compounds. Especially now Beau appreciated how he’d come with such a small team. Every time you added another person, the risks went up exponentially.