Finding Amy (19 page)

Chapter
29

“You don’t know that, Carson. How would he get her away from here without someone seeing them?”

Carson continued to search the area for any sign of recent tracks. He followed the drag marks in the hay to the back of the barn. “Look at this.” There on the ground were marks that a four-wheeler had spun out.

“He set it up. The shoot
ers were a decoy so he could take Jamie but he got Amy instead.” Carson stepped away from the barn and whistled. The black stallion grazing in the back pasture raised his head and bolted for the barn; Moonbeam followed right behind him.

“Where are you going?”

“To find Amy. The tracks show the four-wheeler went toward the back gate. I’m going to follow them to see where they lead.” Carson retrieved his bridle and saddle and had it ready when his stallion entered the barn.

“I’m coming with you
. I’ll get your truck. That way if he has a get-a-way vehicle somewhere, we can still catch him.” Rex turned to leave.

“Wait,
” Carson yelled. “My truck’s in Colorado. Take the SUV.”

He made quick work of saddling Thunder and raced from the barn, dust flying. Leaning low over the horse’s n
eck, he gave the horse full reign to run the flat land of the pasture. The rest of the herd stampeded toward the barn and out of powerful stallion’s way.

When he approached the back gate it stood wi
de open and the four-wheeler tracks led through the opening. He reached for his phone and remembered he had dropped it. Damn. Slowing Thunder, he rode through the gate then grabbed the top and shoved it closed; trapping Moonbeam in the pasture. His heels pressed into the horse and they were at a full run in seconds.

He followed the tracks that
took the same trail he and Amy had taken Trish earlier today. The horse climbed the hill as if he were on flat ground. The animal’s instincts were in tune with the rider and the importance of this mission. When Carson reached the lake, he stopped long enough to let Thunder drink. A low flying helicopter overhead drew his attention. The East Texas Medical Center air flight chopper took this route when transporting injured patients from Tyler to Dallas, he had never seen it fly that low before. He squinted to see if he recognized the markings but it dipped behind the trees before he could get a clear view. He’d check it out later.

Mounting Thunder,
he followed the tracks around the lake and picked up the trail on the other side. The four-wheeler was headed to the cabin. Carson leaned low to avoid the low hanging branches. Blood ran down the side of his face from the briars earlier. He wouldn’t stop. Not until he arrived at the cabin. The nervous sweat trickled down his temple and mixed with the blood. His hands gripped the reigns so tight, his knuckles stung from lack of circulation. He had to get there before Martin harmed her. If anything happened to Amy, he didn’t think he would survive.

Approaching
the opening where the cabin sat, he slowed Thunder. “Shh,” he whispered and the horse stopped and stood statue still. Carson eased off the stallion and pulled his gun. Making his way through the trees, he spotted smoke curling out of the stone chimney and dissipated into the air. A black Corvette convertible sat next to the front porch. But no ATV.

Carson
drew back into the trees when he heard vehicles approaching. He waited, crouching in the forest and listened. When the vehicles cut their engines some distance from the cabin, Carson knew the good guys had arrived. He continued to ease toward the house, hiding behind large trees. Running out of cover, he bolted and squatted down next to the house, under a window. The screen door squeaked and Carson scurried around the side of the house out of site. Peeking around the corner, he jumped back when Martin stepped out onto the covered porch. Could it be this easy?

“You may as well come on out Garrett. I know you’re out here, somewhere.” Kenner took out a cigarette and casually lit it.

Carson stepped around the house, gun posed for any sign of trouble. “Then you must know the cabin is surrounded and all the exit roads blocked. You may as well give up, Kenner.”

Martin sat in the rocker on the porch and puffed on his cigarette. Exhaling a stream of smoke, he looked at Carson. “I’m a dead man any way I go. If you don’t kill me then t
he Columbians will. All I want is the money back. It belongs to some very bad people and they’ll stop at nothing to get it.”

“Where’s Amy?” Carson’s patience teeter
ed on a thin line and his trigger finger itched. Is she safe or had this monster already hurt her?

Martin’s
eyes widened as his hand fanned out against his chest. “I don’t have her. You think I have her?”

Carson called himself good at reading body language and Kenner’s attitude had thrown him off. “You kidnapped her and brought her here on a four-wheeler.” He st
epped forward. “Where is she?” he asked through gritted teeth.

Out of t
he corner of his eye, Carson caught a glimpse of Rex and four deputies moving closer to the cabin. He didn’t take his eyes off of Kenner when he rose and walked to the edge of the porch and watched the men approaching. Carson used the opportunity to jump onto the porch and jerk the screen door open. Aiming his gun, he crouched and searched the living room and the rest of the tiny house. He didn’t find her.

Carson stormed out the front door causing the screen to slam against the wall. He shoved his gun in its holster and with one long stride
, spun Martin around, grabbed the front of his shirt, and jerked him close so their faces were nose to nose. “I’m tired, hadn’t eaten all day and I want Amy. Now if you don’t tell me where she is, Kenner, so help me my gun will accidently go off. You’ll be limping for a while after losing a toe, or two.”

Rex
stepped to the foot of the stairs and kept his gun pointed at Martin. “You might want to consider his threat seriously, Kenner. I’ve seen him put a man in the hospital for months.”

Carson didn’t waver with his glare
on Martin. “If you didn’t take her, I want to know who did and where they took her.” He shook the man in his grip. “Last chance, Kenner, talk.”

Martin tried to shrug his shoulders but Car
son had such a tight grip on him, he could only muster a sneer. “Honestly, Garrett, I don’t know.” He turned and stared at the group of deputes scattered around his front yard and frowned. “Did all of the deputies come with you? Didn’t you leave some to protect the women?”

Realization dawned on Carson and he loosened his grip. Without brea
king eye contact, Carson yelled, “You son-of-a-bitch.” He shoved Kenner down the steps. Martin stumbled and fell, landing face first. “One of you deputies handcuff this scum and put him in the car.” Carson jumped off the porch and followed Rex who had started running back to the SUV.

Carson
yelled over his shoulder, “Thunder is tied in the trees over there.” He pointed toward the dense forest. “Someone untie him and he’ll come home by himself. Then call for back-up and follow us back to the ranch.”

Rex reached the truck, jumped in and had it
started when Carson hopped in the passenger seat. “Go,” Carson ordered even though Rex had already thrown the vehicle in gear and pressed the accelerator to the floor. The truck spun on the loose dirt as Rex turned around to head in the right direction.

“Sorry
, brother. I thought we had rounded all of them up. I never dreamed there would be more. I should have anticipated Kenner would do something,” Rex explained while maneuvering through the winding dirt road.

“Don’t beat yourself up over it, Rex. I’m
as much to blame as anyone. Its sloppy police work and I know better.”

“Stop blaming yourself for the past
, Carson. There isn’t anything you could have done to save that witness. We’ve got the two men responsible for that and now you can close the case even though they won’t be charged for your witness’ murder.”

The image of the witness’ widow flashed befo
re Carson’s eyes. He had been the one to let her know her husband had been killed. She screamed and beat his chest with her fist, before collapsing into his arms. He had spent over three hours consoling the woman and even helped her explain to her two small children.

Carson sighed
, shaking the memory. “Yeah. I know. Try telling that to his family. God I hope Kenner was bluffing and there aren’t any major problems at the ranch.”

“
If there is, it won’t be anything we can’t handle.”

Rounding the lake, Rex took the road south to connect with the driveway to Garrett Quarter Horse Ranch. The
metallic sign announcing the entrance was a welcomed site. He drove the three quarters of a mile down the drive and rounded the barn. Carson could see the three houses in the distance.

The sound of a steady whop, whop, whop, drew
their attention. “Do you see that?” Carson pointed to an open field in front of his mother’s house.

Rex
spotted the helicopter. “Oh crap. What the hell is going on?”

Carson shook his head. “I don’t know. It’s unmarked. Not one of the local hospitals choppers.”

A shot rang out and hit the side of the SUV. Rex did a quick wheelie and drove into the barn. Hitting his radio button, he alerted the deputies behind them, “shots fired. Caution is advised.”

“Roger,” t
he deputy replied.

Carson
exited the truck and shoved hay off of a trap door hidden in one of the stalls. He climbed down into the hole and passed the scoped high powered rifles up to Rex along with additional ammo. The deputies pulled up behind the barn and were running forward when Carson climbed out of the hole.

“What’s going on? I thought we had
‘em all,” Deputy Daniels said.

“Me, too,” Rex replied while loading one of the
rifles.

“I don’t know which way the shot came from but I’m guessing they have the women as hostages. There’s no reason to be in the other two houses. So
we’re going to assume they’re at moms. Back-up should be here shortly. You two go around the barn and come up behind the houses. Radio Rex when you’re in place.” The deputies didn’t wait for further instructions.

“You,” Carson pointed to a tall young man who had been with them throughout the whole ordeal, “stay with Kenner. He’s tricky
so be careful. Daniels, come with us.”

****

Amy strained to loosen the duct tape binding her. Her fingers had gone numb and her legs needed to stretch out. When Martin had abducted her, she knew it wouldn’t be hard to get away from him. The man hadn’t seen a day of exercise in his life. But he had stopped in the woods and turned her over to someone else. With the tape over her eyes, she couldn’t see the man but he didn’t speak English. She cursed herself for taking four years of French instead of Spanish in college. She knew a little of the language but not enough to understand. She caught parts of the conversation recognizing money, hostages and kill.

They had tied her to the four-wheeler
so she couldn’t move. The Spanish man took Martins place and brought her to some sort of storage building that smelled of gasoline. The cramped space left little room for her to move. Her head ached and if she had anything on her stomach, it would come up. She hadn’t heard any movement outside other than the whoop, whoop, whoop. It reminded her of the noise the helicopters made when they were delivering a patient to the hospital in Galveston. She had to wait.
Wait for what? For the Spanish man to come and kill her or for Carson to rescue her?

Amy twisted her wrist again and gasped with pain but the tape seemed to be loosening a bit. She endured the discomfort a
nd twisted them the opposite direction trying to free her hands. The tape held. Shooting started and every time a shot rang out close by, she jumped. She struggled with her bindings again, but halted when another shot shattered a glass nearby. Amy hated being helpless.

She
sat still and listened. She couldn’t hear anything over the gunfire and the continued whooping noise. Working her wrist, a warm liquid ran down her palm. Her wrists were bleeding. Amy gave up and slumped against something hard behind her.

Rap
id fire started and she thought someone had run behind the building. Amy made the only noise she could through her nose and rocked from side to side, bumping into things. The shots continued and someone screamed. The shots increased. A bullet hit the metal building, causing her ears to ring and she jerked backwards. She jarred something loose and it scrapped across metal before hitting her in the back, knocking her over on her side and pinning her underneath. A pungent odor assaulted her nose and started running down her arm and over her chest. As it seeped through her clothing it burned everywhere it touched. Amy could barely move but she knew she had to get out of the burning liquid. With her injured arm she shoved on the wood floor and cried out when the pain shot up her arm. Her sprain hadn’t healed. But she wouldn’t give up. Amy shoved again until the object moved and she could sit upright. The liquid continued to spill. It seeped onto the floor and ran under her butt and legs soaking her jeans and burning her skin. Gripping an object behind her, she pulled herself up. A loud clang and another object fell but she had succeeded in standing.