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If I comply and the judge holds me in jail for contempt, the cartel will attempt to murder me. Kane understood the implications of dealing with a cartel. No one lived to threaten their existence. It was a kill-or-be-killed situation. The moment the door closed and a key turned, Kane tugged at the chain. Freeing himself was a priority. He didn’t appreciate threats to his family and they’d need to kill him to stop him escaping now. The faces of Jenna and Tauri tormented his mind, but right now they were safe. Mateo wouldn’t get past the security system, and he and his men couldn’t exploit anyone if they were dead.
SEVENTEEN
SUNDAY
Unable to sleep, Jenna headed to the barn before daybreak to tend the horses. Nothing had happened overnight. Not one whisper about Kane and she had no idea where to start looking for him. Surely after this long, he’d have managed to escape and call her, unless he was injured. Horrified at the thought, she tried to concentrate on her chores. The horses needed tending and she must keep placing one foot in front of the other. Allowing the panic to engulf her wouldn’t find Kane. She tried to plan what to do next, but without any clues it was useless. Rowley and Rio would be heading to the office too. Right now, it was all hands on deck until they solved the cases and found Kane. Exhaustion tugged at her. She’d spent the evening with Tauri, reading him stories and sitting with him until he’d fallen asleep. They’d made his room special and filled it with things he liked. Posters of horses and a toy box overflowing with his favorite toys. Drawings he had done with Kane covered the walls, each one a special memory of their time together. Once Tauri had fallen asleep, she’d worked until late and had tracked down the biker gang to its new clubhouse in Blackwater. She’d contacted the local sheriff, and although he hadn’t noticed any unusual behavior in his town, he did know a few buildings frequented by the gang and would check them out. Only one of the gang owned a truck. He doubted they’d abducted Kane. The five men who’d attacked Jenna had been released on parole a few weeks previously. All had reported to their parole officers and gained employment in town. The chances of them holding a vendetta, breaking their parole, and going back to jail was remote.
After repeated calls to Carter without any response, she’d called Blackhawk. He’d left a note on the door of Carter’s cabin but hadn’t noticed any recent signs of life. Perhaps Carter had gone to another town for a few days? With regret, she’d called Agent Styles. He’d be arriving at the ranch early to assist with finding Kane. Bringing in a stranger and not relying on her own skills weighed heavy on her but with Kane missing and two homicide cases, she had no choice. The sound of a chopper high overhead caught her attention. She hadn’t expected Agent Styles to arrive so early. She hurried to finish her chores and pushed the loaded wheelbarrow out the back door of the barn to the manure pile. The sound of the chopper increased and she shook her head. No matter how early he’d arrived, she’d still need to get breakfast for Tauri. A rush of wind hit the barn door, sending a whirlwind of dust pinging against it. Adding feed to the mangers as fast as possible, she turned at the running of feet. Concern gripped her stomach. Had something happened to Kane? She ran to the barn door and hit the button to open it. It seemed to take forever for the door to slide open and she dashed outside in time to see two men on her porch. One carried a battering ram and smashed through the front door. The other ran inside. Beside her, Duke let out a howl of anguish. Horrified, Jenna ran toward the house when rapid gunfire burst into the air. A man dressed in black combat gear aimed an automatic assault rifle at her from the chopper. The sound of Tauri’s screams tore at her heart as one man ran out the door with him wrapped in blankets. They’d dragged him sleeping from his bed. In panic, she ran toward him with Duke barking madly beside her. Shots cut up the ground at her feet, showering her with dirt. Duke veered away, barely missing the hail of bullets. Jenna stretched out her hands as if trying to reach her son as they handed Tauri screaming and fighting into the chopper. More bullets pounded the soil at her feet. She gaped in terror. “Leave him alone. What do you want?”
The men said nothing but, aiming the rifles at her, climbed into the chopper and it rose into the air. Screaming in terror, Jenna could only stare after them, trying to absorb as much information as possible. Shaking all over, she stumbled into the house and called Wolfe. Trying to control her sobs, she explained, giving as clear a description of the chopper and men as possible, plus the direction they were heading. “They have taken my son, Shane, and I was powerless to stop them. What am I going to do now?”
“I’m on it.” Wolfe’s footsteps echoed as he ran through the house to his private office. “Explain everything to Styles and ask him to contact me. I’ll get onto a satellite feed and see what I can find.” He disconnected.
Trembling, Jenna called Agent Styles and was surprised to find her call diverted to his partner, Beth Katz. Trying to keep calm, she explained the situation. “Is there any way of contacting him?”
“He left thirty minutes ago. He’s in the air. That’s why you were diverted to my phone.” Beth let out a long sigh. “I’ll see if I can get patched through to him. He’s not far from you. He might see the other chopper and be able to follow it. If you need me to run any info through the databases, call me. I’m in the office today.”
Glad of the support, Jenna sucked in a deep breath. “Thank you. I’d appreciate any assistance you could offer.”
“That’s what we’re here for.” Beth disconnected.
Unable to do anything but wait, Jenna notified Rio and told him to bring Rowley up to date. Forcing her mind to stop creating horrific images, she removed her dung-covered boots and took them to the mudroom. Needing to calm her racing heart, she straightened and took long deep breaths. Falling apart right now wouldn’t help anyone. As she moved into the bathroom to take a shower and gather herself, the terrible realization of what had happened slammed into her. Wolfe had said Kane could endure torture but his Achilles’ heel, the crack in his armor, would be her and Tauri. She slumped against the tile and shook with sobs. They’d taken Tauri to force Kane to do something. Her little boy’s life was in danger and Kane would give his life to protect him. She could lose both of them.
Numb, Jenna sat at the kitchen table with Duke leaning against her leg. When the sound of a chopper came overhead, she went to her destroyed front door and stood waiting for it to land. The FBI chopper dropped into her front yard and she wished it were Carter climbing out, but it was Agent Dax Styles. She’d met him briefly in the hallway outside an examination room in the morgue some time ago. She had no idea what he was like, but she relied on Wolfe’s recommendation. Remaining on the porch, she waited for Styles to climb down from the chopper, surprised to see him accompanied by a dog. When he walked onto the porch, Duke moved in front of her, barked, and showed his teeth. For Duke that was very brave as the FBI K-9 was twice his size but seemingly placid and under control. “Agent Styles. Thank you for coming. Did you see the chopper that kidnapped my son?”
“I’m afraid not or I’d have followed it.” Styles removed his brown Stetson and frowned. “There was no sign of it on my radar, so they have either landed or headed in the opposite direction. May I come inside so you can bring me up to date?” He turned and gave a few commands to his dog. “This is Bear. He won’t fight with your dog. He is ex-military.”
Reluctant not to be going to find Tauri this second, Jenna nodded and led the way to the kitchen. She dropped into a seat and explained everything from the time Kane went missing.
“I believe I know what this is about.” Styles fingered the rim of his hat. “It will take time to explain. Have you eaten today? I’ll need you to be alert. Can I pour you a cup of coffee?”
Bursting into tears, Jenna shook her head. “You know? How can you possibly know? There’s no possible local threat. I’ve been hunting down anyone who could possibly have a beef against Kane.”
“First, take a breath.” Styles stood and poured two cups of coffee. Without asking her, he added cream and sugar to both cups and pushed one in front of her. “Drink and I’ll make you some toast.” He pulled open the refrigerator. “No arguments. I can talk and cook at the same time. I know you’re a tough sheriff, so don’t fall to pieces on me.”
Forcing her hands around the cup, Jenna nodded. “I don’t fall to pieces. Spit it out. What do you know?”
“I know this isn’t a local matter. This can only be about the weapons deal takedown your husband was involved in. He is due to give evidence soon and the cartel will do everything it can to stop him.” Styles pushed bread into the toaster.
Unable to make sense of what he was saying, Jenna stared at him. She didn’t appreciate his laid-back attitude when Kane and Tauri were missing. “That’s impossible. Carter said they arrested the entire family and they’re in remand.”
“It’s obvious we didn’t arrest every member of the cartel. They have family members all over and they’ll risk everything to prevent their hierarchy from being compromised. They probably believe they can make Kane recant his statement and refuse to take the witness stand. They’ll use your son to force him into submission. This is crazy talk, but they can’t murder Kane because his statement and the tapes will stand up in court. This is a last-ditch grasp at attempting to get a mistrial. Whoever told them it could possibly work is giving them bad advice.”
Angry at his nonchalance, Jenna glared at him. “Bad advice won’t prevent my son and husband from being murdered by them. I know about cartels and how ruthless they are. They’ll stop at nothing to get their own way.”
“I know about cartels too. Time is of the essence and discovering where they’re holding Kane and your son is my top priority. We have two choppers at our disposal. I’ll find them but I’ll need your assistance. I know you have urgent homicide cases to solve, but you’ll need to organize your deputies to handle them in your absence. I’m sure this early in the investigation they’ll be doing grunt work and won’t need you to supervise them.” He buttered the toast. “Eat the toast. We might need to leave in a hurry, and I’ll need you alert and on your game if my plan is going to work.” Styles slid the plate toward her and sat at the table opposite her. “My partner is a cybercrime expert and I gave her the approximate coordinates of the chopper. She is currently speaking with Wolfe and they’re attempting to find a location. It might not be an exact match, but we’ll have a few possibilities. It’s hard to hide a chopper in this county. They can’t land in the forest, so it has to be an open area. Wolfe and Beth have a good chance of finding it.” His large hands closed around a coffee cup. “I’m not telling you to stop worrying, Sheriff, but rest assured everything possible is being done. Beth is one of the best and you’ve known Wolfe for years. They’ll move heaven and earth to find them.”
Taking a breath, Jenna looked at the handsome man opposite. His expression was sincere and not arrogant. He reminded her of Carter in his casual approach, but then this was a mountain man and they had a relaxed way about them. She could see the concern in his eyes. He hadn’t tried to shield his feelings. “And when we locate them? What’s your plan? If it’s just you, me, and Wolfe, do you figure we can take down a cartel?”
“If you’re as good as your reputation, yeah.” Styles smiled. “They won’t know we’re coming, will they? And Kane is on the inside. Wolfe tells me he can take care of himself.”
Swallowing the lump in her throat, Jenna nodded. “Yeah, and if we’re going to risk our lives, Agent Styles, call me Jenna.”
“Styles.” Styles smiled at her. “While we’re waiting, it’s best to keep busy. Give me a rundown on the current homicides. I checked out what you uploaded to the server last night.” He ran a hand through his collar-length light brown hair and turned his gaze on her. “If Carter is electrocuting women, I’ll eat my hat.” He leaned back in his chair and shook his head. “Although, considering the serial killers we’ve dealt with lately, anything is possible. I’m getting to the point where I don’t trust anyone anymore. What you see is not what you get when it comes to psychopaths, is it?”
Calmed by his positive presence, Jenna nibbled at the toast. “No, we could be sitting opposite one right now and wouldn’t know until it was too late.”
“Ain’t that the truth.” Styles gave her a long look. “I hope not. My visit to Black Rock Falls is complicated enough right now.”
