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Somewhere in Black Rock Falls
Watery sunlight peeked through the boards over the barred window, marking the floor with bands of gold dancing with sparkling dust motes. Jenna always referred to the shimmering particles as fairies. They swirled around, tossed by the wind for a few seconds before a cloud hid them from sight. Where was she? Free and searching for him and Tauri or tied up somewhere to use as leverage. As there’d been no mention of her by any of the men, and Kane had understood every word they’d uttered, even though they’d changed from their initial Spanish tongue to Portuguese in an attempt to outwit him. If they had Jenna, one of them would have mentioned her as they had often mentioned Tauri. At only five, his son, although strong and very smart, would be terrified. He wished he could reach out to him and tell him all would be well. He drank water and got slowly to his feet, stretching a little and then relaxing at the sound of footsteps and grunts in what he imagined was a small passageway outside the metal door.
The door swung open and the rusty hinges complained with a high-pitched whine. Kane’s attention moved to them. A well-placed kick might break the bottom hinge and make it easier for him to escape. The door opened to reveal two men carrying a heavy metal table. Red-faced with effort, they fought to guide it through the door and once inside they pushed it into a corner. Amused, Kane bit back a smile as they bent over breathing heavily, with their rifles swung over their backs. They were prime for the taking and, muscles bunched in anticipation of lethal action, his hands closed around the chains. He froze at the sound of Tauri’s protests from the passageway. The next second, Mateo walked in dragging his son.
“Daddy.” Tauri wild-eyed and frantic turned and bit down hard on Mateo’s hand. The man released him in a string of curses and Tauri ran to Kane and wrapped around his legs. “Daddy, Daddy.” His face crumpled and tears flowed down his cheeks.
Kane had seconds to react, he assumed all the players were in the room with him. Taking in the position of the men and the actions required to take them down, he scanned the room. His main objective was to protect his son. Using the chains was his only option. His gaze rested for a split second on the heavy metal table against the wall and his plan slid into place. Holding up a hand to Mateo, Kane gripped Tauri close to him. “If you want my cooperation, give me some time with my son.”
“Ah, at last you are taking me seriously.” Mateo shook his injured hand. “Think long and hard about what might happen to the kid because he won’t be leaving my side until you’ve testified in our favor.”
Any moment, Kane could attack but he needed precious seconds to get Tauri to safety. He allowed his combat face to fall into place and raised his chin. “You think long and hard about touching my son, because if you do, you’d better kill me now because one thing is for darn sure, I’ll hunt you down and tear you apart. Nothing or no one will be able to stop me. I’ll never give up and you will die slowly and in agony.”
“This is trash-talking. You’re my prisoner and I’m no fool. I know you’re a law-abiding deputy and must play by the rules of the law or you’ll go to jail.” Mateo stared at him. “You do know what happens to cops in jail, right?”
After seeing the sudden shift from bravado to uncertainty, Kane needed to even out the odds. The cartel knew little about him and these people lived in a world of uncertainty and violence where threats had substance if used in the right way. Not wanting to alarm Tauri he slipped into Spanish and smiled at Mateo. “You see what I want you to see. You have no idea who I am or what I’m capable of doing. I ripped the head off the last man who touched my family and fed him to the pigs. I’d be a hero in jail, but they’ll never catch me. I’ll be too busy hunting down your family and killing each one of them.”
Bending, Kane pulled Tauri close and spoke to him in his native tongue. “I’ve got you. Everything will be okay, but I need to get free. When I say ‘go,’ hide under the table, against the wall. Curl up like a little mouse. Close your eyes and cover your ears until I come and get you. Be brave, my little eagle.”
“Okay.” Tauri nodded like an automaton and wiped his eyes on a shirt two sizes too big for him. His feet were bare and dirty.
Anger shivered through Kane. It was something that rarely happened to him. With one hand on Tauri’s shoulder, he straightened and relaxed, combat ready. He’d get Tauri out of this situation or die trying.
TWENTY-THREE
Kane stared at Mateo, waiting for his next move, but a man walked into the room interrupting any further conversation. With a nod from Mateo, the man lined up instruments on the metal table. He gave Kane a satanic smile and held up a scalpel before adding it to the line.
Kane glared at Mateo. “There’s no place you or your goons can hide from me. Each time you threaten my son, your time left on earth is growing shorter.”
“Wait outside.” Mateo turned to the man. “I’m sure Deputy Kane understands why you are here.” He rubbed his knuckle where bite marks stood out sore and swollen. “If he denies my request, I will get much pleasure in watching you use your skills on the boy.”
Rolling his shoulders, Kane moved his attention back to Mateo. “I don’t lie and the bit about feeding you to the pigs is a promise.”
Time was running out and he needed all the players in the room. He couldn’t risk leaving anyone behind who might hurt Jenna before he could get home. Eyes fixed on Mateo, Kane took a step back and wrapped the chains around his hands. Beside him Tauri trembled but his grip had lessened and he’d turned ready to run to safety. He sucked in a breath. “Go.”
Without a second’s delay, Tauri ran past Mateo dodged out of the grasps of the other men and slid under the table. He pushed himself so tight against the wall that in the shadows he’d become almost invisible. In the distraction the armed men turned their backs on Kane. It was a fatal mistake and one he’d counted on. He had a split second to react before the men reached for their rifles. Timing now was everything. The move must work or Tauri would become a target of Mateo’s twisted mind. He could never allow that to happen. Bunching his muscles, he pulled down hard on the manacles, testing the resistance. He gathered his strength and roared.
In a controlled burst of rage, Kane ripped out the bolts in a shower of broken bricks. Armed with two lengths of chain, he spun one of them around his head like a lasso. Time spent on Rowley’s ranch lassoing cattle quickly became an asset as he wrapped it around the neck of the closest man. Dancing forward, he wrenched down hard, dragging the gasping man toward him. The rifle clattered to the floor as the man, eyes bulging, raked at his throat, gasping for air. Kane tightened his grip, squeezing the life from him until he fell limp in his arms. One down.
Free to move, Kane held the man before him as Mateo reacted first, drawing his weapon and firing. His shots slammed into his guard’s vest, protecting Kane as Mateo emptied the clip. Before Mateo could reload, Kane tossed the body at him, knocking the gun from his hand. He spun around using the chain to take out the second man before he had the chance to pull his rifle from his shoulder. As the life drained from the man, he ripped the chains from his inert body. Two down.
He turned. He wanted his prize, the man who dared to kidnap his son. He would make him pay. He stalked calmly toward the unarmed man, fingers flexing. “Now it’s your turn.”
“I don’t think it’s my day to die.” Mateo pulled a hand grenade from his pocket, backed away, and pulled open the door. He stepped into the doorway, grinning.
Fear for Tauri’s safety gripped Kane and he froze on the spot. If he attacked Mateo now, it was instant death for both of them.
“You’ve made a big mistake, Deputy. This could have been easy, a small retraction of a statement and everyone would have been happy. I never lose and now there won’t be enough of you left to testify. I would have killed you before, but we needed to be sure my family would be set free. Now I know you’ll never cooperate we’ll take our chances in court.” As he backed out, he laughed. “I would have taken much pleasure in killing the boy and will enjoy watching my men with your wife. Think about that in your last seconds on this earth. I’m going to get her now and I promise her death will be slow.” Mateo ran along the passageway.
As Mateo disappeared, Kane heard the familiar bounce and roll of a tossed grenade on cement. The brown ball of destruction rolled toward the entrance to the room. With seconds to live, survival instinct took over. He ran at the doorway, kicked the metal door shut and chains trailing behind him, dived beneath the table. Gathering Tauri in his arms he wrapped his body around him. “It’s going to be okay, cover your ears. There’s going to be a loud bang.”
In his arms, Tauri sobbed and trembled. Pain of deep loss rammed through him. He’d let his family down. His mind counted down the seconds before the explosion would change the world forever. He tightened his grip around Tauri, using his body to protect him the best he could. Maybe one of them would survive, but alone, Jenna would be in a fight for her life because of him. He’d been such a fool to risk everything and to trust the FBI had planned everything down to the last second. The takedown should have worked out fine, the cartel arrested, and his name suppressed for the trial. No one outside a small circle should have known his identity. The time counted down, one second left to live or die. He tensed for impact. I’m so sorry, Jenna.
TWENTY-FOUR
Craggy Rock
Rio fiddled with Johanna Worth’s phone as they followed Wolfe’s van back to Black Rock Falls. He’d never found it too difficult to access someone’s phone—most who used fingerprints or facial recognition left the numeral password intact and those people usually used a very simple four-digit code. The most popular was the year of the person’s birth. The three phones he’d examined belonging to the victims he’d opened in the same way. He scrolled through the calls. Recently she’d called the pizzeria, made a call that had the ID tag of Mom, one was to the beauty parlor, and that was just about it. He accessed her social media via the phone and the passwords popped up on their own. After scrolling through her twenty or so social media friends, he found one of the suspects, Chase Holden. Johanna had followed a page for his business, Living Things, a woodcarving store in town. Rio followed this with a background check but no red flags went up. Chase Holden had arrived in Black Rock Falls in summer to open a store to sell his artwork. He carved animals from wood using a chainsaw. Rio found reels on his page demonstrating his ability.
