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The sound of the revolver boomed and the men’s chopper exploded into a fireball. More gunshots hit the ground around Jenna, but pinned beneath Wolfe, she couldn’t move. Sobbing, she tugged at his arm. “Fire back, for heaven’s sake. They’ll get away.”
Two more booms came from Styles’ 351 Magnum and his face poked through the long grass in front of her. “Both men are down.”
As the ringing in her ears lessened, an eerie silence descended on the quiet landscape. Beside her, Duke trembled and she rubbed his ears. “It’s okay, Duke.”
Desperate to look for Kane and Tauri, Jenna wriggled to get free. “Let me up, Shane. Duke, seek. Find Kane, find Tauri.” Duke took off toward the pile of rubble.
“Let me go in first.” Wolfe’s hand closed around her arm. “Please, Jenna.”
She stared into Wolfe’s concerned face and dragged her arm free. “No. Look at Duke. He hears something.”
Before he had the chance to argue with her, Jenna pushed to her feet and ran, tripping over pieces of broken bricks and dodging smoldering pieces of wood. She stopped on the edge of the blacktop and stared in horror at the pile of smoking rubble. Refusing to believe the inevitable, she ran across the road. “Dave, Dave. Where are you?”
Behind her, Wolfe grabbed her around the waist and she hammered at his arms. “Let me go. I must go to them.”
One corner of the building remained standing, the jagged broken bricks and blackened walls the only sign a building had once stood there. The rest was little more than a pile of rubble. Two bodies with parts missing had been tossed around like rag dolls. She moved closer with shaking legs and stared at them. She choked back a sob. Neither was Kane. Shocked to her core, Jenna pointed a trembling finger toward the remaining wall and pile of broken bricks. “Something moved. I saw it. Look there.” She raised her voice. “Dave, we’re here. Call out.”
Duke took off with Bear at his heels. Both dogs stopped and barked at the pile of rubble. Duke made a mournful whining sound and started to dig furiously at the smoldering pile of debris.
Running, Jenna stared at Styles. “They’re under the rubble. Help me.”
The bricks slid, tumbling away from the pile, and a metal plate sparkled in the watery sunlight. Wolfe and Styles ran across the road and plunged into the smoldering ruins, tossing bricks in all directions with their bare hands. Duke was going crazy, barking and trying to move mountains. The metal plate moved again and then slowly rose spilling bricks in all directions. Jenna ran toward the shaking pile as the top of a metal table speared up through the bricks. Styles and Wolfe ran forward, pushed away bricks, grabbed it, and tossed it aside. Jenna gaped in disbelief as Kane, dust-covered and hardly recognizable, uncurled and straightened, lifting Tauri into his arms. The little boy was liberally coated in red dust, but waved at her. Stumbling through the rubble, she fell against Kane and wrapped her arms around them. “Oh, thank you, Lord.”
“We’re okay.” Kane kissed Jenna and then shifted Tauri onto one hip to hold her against him, but the long chains attached to his manacles were pinned under the rubble, preventing him from moving far. “A few bruises maybe and my ears are ringing some, but the metal table protected us and they’d locked us in a room with a metal door. That wall took most of the impact. The door flew straight past us and then the roof caved in.” He looked at Styles. “Thanks for coming. Can you get me out of these things?” He passed Tauri to Jenna.
“Yeah, sure.” Styles pulled out a small leather kit from his pocket and went to work on the locks.
Unable to stop the tears from flowing, Jenna checked Tauri all over. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”
“Daddy saved us from the baddy man.” Tauri snuggled against Jenna. “I bit that man hard.”
Jenna brushed the dust from his head and shoulders. “You were very brave. I’m so proud of you.” She looked at Kane. “And Daddy too.”
TWENTY-SIX
Shaking the dust from his hair, Kane looked at Jenna’s tear-streaked face and his stomach twisted. Thankful she had eluded Mateo’s clutches, now all he wanted was to hold her close and convince her all was well, but Wolfe was busy wiping the dirt from his eyes. He blinked away the dust. “I figured you’d find us.” He smiled at Duke. “I heard Duke barking and whistled. The table was so darn heavy, but I pushed up on it and hoped you’d see the bricks moving.”
“I’d never give up.” Jenna took bottles of water from her backpack and gave Tauri a drink and handed one to Kane. “It was fortunate that Styles arrived to help out, as Carter is still MIA.”
“Did you recognize any of them?” Wolfe was in doctor mode and checking Tauri for injuries and then flicked a light over Kane’s eyes.
Trying to put Wolfe at ease about his abductors, Kane gave him a meaningful stare and a slight shake of his head. “It was the cartel, and Mateo got away. He’s the one who threw the grenade. I’ll need time to hunt him down. He should be in jail. Carter assured me he’d put him on the bus to County personally.”
“No need, they’re all deactivated.” Styles flicked a glance at Tauri and smiled as he dropped the manacles to the ground. “No more baddy men. They’ve all run away.” He raised both eyebrows and much to his surprise spoke to Kane in Arabic. “I know you understand me. Wolfe mentioned you speak many languages. There are bodies in pieces all over. You’ll need to leave before the little one sees anything. Maybe cover him with your jacket? There are two trucks outside. Give me five to see if I can get them started. It would be easier to drive back to the choppers. They used some type of signal-blocking device and I’m hoping it’s in one of the trucks. If not, I’ll call in a cleanup crew when I get back to the chopper. I put my bird down out of range.”
Kane nodded and indicated to Jenna and Tauri with his chin. “Thanks, can you fly us back to the ranch? I need to get my family home.”
“That’s the plan.” Styles glanced at Wolfe, who was listening with interest. “Are you staying to supervise the cleanup?”
“Yeah, for the time being, but the bodies will need to be taken to California for identification.” Wolfe scratched his cheek. “These men were part of a federal investigation, and a California medical examiner will need to be handling the case. Plus, right now we have two ongoing homicide cases. I’ll call in the Helena team and they can hand over to the team in LA.”
Concerned about sensitive information getting into the wrong hands, Kane swung his attention back to Wolfe. “I hope they left my weapon and phone in one of the trucks.” He turned to Styles. “The second explosion I heard. Please tell me you took out Mateo’s chopper?”
“Yeah. I hit the gas tank.” Styles’ mouth twitched into a smile as he reverted to English. He pushed his hat firmly on his head and climbed over the mounds of debris. He looked over one shoulder. “Stay there, I’ll bring a truck closer. Best you cover Tauri’s head against the dust on your way out.” He climbed over the rubble and headed along the sidewalk.
Nodding, Kane sipped the water. His throat was parched. He looked at Jenna’s sheet-white face. “A signal blocker, huh? No wonder you couldn’t find me.” He held out his hand to her.
“We did it old-style.” Jenna slid under one of his arms and a tremble went through her. “Shane and Styles worked a grid across the lowlands. We figured they’d need space to land a chopper, so we discounted the forest or wooded areas.”
