Simon: Le Beau Brothers: New Orleans Billionaire Shifters with BBW mates Series (Le Beau Series) (21 page)

It looked solid enough, and in the back of her mind was the thought that if she could just make it to the door the person inside might help her.

As soon as she reached the door she new it was abandoned,
I have all the luck
.
At least I’ll be safe from gators and snakes in there.
She pushed open the swollen door to find a one-room, bare bones hunting shack. Nothing fancy but she didn’t have the luxury of pickiness.

Pushing the door until she managed to squeeze it back into its frame, she felt a little safer. She turned her efforts to searching what the little cabin may have to offer and clear it of any creepy crawlers. There were only two cabinets in the makeshift kitchen, opening the first she squealed with delight,
canned goods!
She would dine on baked beans and peaches tonight. The single drawer below produced a can opener, spoon, and a large roll of trail marking ribbon like they use on Swamp People.
YAHTZEE!

She
feasted on the beans and then relished the peaches. There was no drinking water available so she drank the juice from the can. She didn’t want to dehydrate if she could help it.

The beat up single mattress sagging against the wall looked nasty so she made due with the floor. At least she was fed and ha
d a roof over her head. The cans of beans and peaches were all the cabin had to offer and they were gone. She would have to keep moving and try to find another cabin or if she was really lucky, people. Tomorrow she would get an early start and stick close to the water. With any luck, a boat might come by.

The swamp came alive after dark. As she lay awake listening she shot off the floor.
I can speak with Simon with telepathy! Simon? Can you hear me?
She heard only silence.
He must be too far away.
She sighed.
Simon, please find me. Soon.

She was on the verge of sleep when voices came from the forest near the cabin.
Quietly she slid into a shadow along one wall.

“God dammit. Travis must have blocked her scent, she could be anywhere.”

“He told us to leave her be. Claimed she was his mate now. Crazy mutt has totally lost it this time.”

“We’re not going to find her this way, check that cabin then we head back.”

Twigs snapped below the single window and a shadow leaned toward the grimy glass. “She’s not here, let’s go. She’ll have to come back sooner or later or starve. Unless a gator gets her.”

She tried to sleep but she was terrified they would come back.
Exhausted with tears rolling down her cheeks she finally dozed off.

Anna pressed the speed dial on her phone.

“Hello?”

“Hi
, baby, it’s Mom.”

“Hey
, Mom, what’s up?” John asked.

“Is Thomas with you?”

“Yeah…..what’s wrong, Mom? I hear it in your voice so don’t deny it.”

She hear
d him yelling for his brother to pick up the extension.

“Mom? What’s wrong?” Thomas asked breathing hard. He must have run for the phone.

“Rose is missing, we think a crazed shifter has her.” The stress had her chest feeling like it was squeezed in a vice and tears streamed down her face. “Awww!”

“Mom! Mom, what happened! Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she breathed through the pain. “I think I might have just had a contraction.”

“Anna! What’s wrong
?” Cade ran into the room.

She was weeping and holding her stomach, “Cade, it
’s too early, he won’t make it.”

Cade swept her into
his arms and ran to his parents’ house, Anna needed his mother’s healing abilities. NOW!

The phone and her son
s were forgotten, as she was rushed from the house.

“I’ll call Jack, you call Michael,” Thomas directed John. “We’re out of here in forty five minutes. If they can’t be here, they’ll have to follow after.
” He jammed what he would need into a duffle bag. “We’re not waiting.”

Thirty minutes later
all four men were loaded into the Suburban speeding down Highway 87. Nineteen hours and they would be there, eighteen or less if they pushed it hard, and they were pushing it. They received hourly updates on their mother and the baby, she was stable and Emma had been able to stop the contractions. They needed to find Rose for both her safety and Anna’s health, the stress was having detrimental effects on the pregnancy.

They drove straight through, and with the help of some old police academy buddies leading the way
, it had only taken fifteen hours. Cops all along the route chaperoned the boys in their race to save Rose.

Thomas gave his brother a determined look then pulled his pistol from the glove box and exited the black Suburban.
Just in case,
he thought. He had no desire to get up close and personal with a gator.  John, Michael, and Jack were gearing up as well. Their luggage would have to wait, Rose was in danger and nothing else mattered.

Glancing toward the river, male voices caught his attention as he began to arm himself. Bowie knife secured in its hip sheath, he holster
ed his weapon before he grabbed his rifle for good measure and struck out to join them.

The night breeze was heavy with humidity, the moonlight bright and eerie as it reflected off the black water. Simon and the men turned at the sound of boots on dock planks. A quick round of welcome
s and it was back to business.

Each just over six feet in height, Thomas and the men from Denver were on the short side in this crowd. At twenty-four, most people underestimated Thomas’s knowledge and experience due
to his youth. Most people were wrong. He was intelligent, cunning, and deadly. He may be human but he could hold his own against even these men.

He went strai
ght to Simon and gave him a back pounding hug. “Simon, these are Rose’s foster brothers Jack and Michael,” Thomas said. The men shook hands. Then Simon turned and introduced them to his brothers and father.

“Thank you for coming, I’m sure once we find her
she’ll be happy to see you,” Simon said to Jack and Michael. He was holding it together but just barely, it had been a day since she went missing and he was sick with worry.

Jack looked Simon in the eye
. “If Rose needs us, we come, plain and simple.”

He nodded his acceptance of that
, glad to have these capable men in the crew.

Simon broke them into teams. “Thomas and Jack I want you with Stefan and Isaac,
you’ll be on point. John and Michael, you’re with Cade at my flank. Etienne and Marcus, you’re with me. Keep your eyes on the banks, watch for signs of her passage. I’ll direct us using hand signals, speak as little as possible, silence is essential.”

The boats went upstream, they had searched down stream yesterday finding no sign of Rose. They moved slowly searching for the slightest sign of her passing. When they came to a split in the channel the boats each took a branch. Eight hours later they returned to the doc
k without Rose.

As the boats were secured
Isaac watched Simon closely. He was worried about his son’s state of mind. It had been two days of searching with no sign of Rose. If it were Emma missing he’d be hysterical with worry.

He knocked
on Simon’s front door out of courtesy before he walked in. “Simon?”

“I’m in here
,” he called from the bedroom.

Isaac found Simon hugging Rose
’s pillow, with his nose buried in it. “How are you holding up?”

“I can’t live without her
, Dad.” He raised his gaze. “If she isn’t found, I don’t want to live either.”

Isaac nodded, he understood a mate’s need. If he were in Simon’s position he would feel the same. “Promise me you won’t do anything drastic until you give us enough time to actually find her.”

“I’ll hold on as long as I can, but I can’t hear her. I try continuously but I can’t speak with her. I can’t sense her, Dad. It feels like she’s already gone.” Tears streamed down his face as his heart shattered.

Isaac gathered his son in his arms and held him until his sobs subsided. “I can’t promise we’ll find her, but I can promise we’ll keep searching. Just hold on a little longer
, Simon.” He gently wiped his son’s face, kissed the top of his head and gave him some privacy.

As the team gathered at the boats the next morning
, Simon announced, “I received word of a possible sighting yesterday five miles northeast of here.”

The men exchanged glances but remained silent.

“I have reason to believe she wasn’t kidnapped but is being chased or hunted.”

Gasps raced through the boats. “What makes you suspect that?” Stefan asked
.

“I was told she was seen running and looking behind herself, they said she looked terrified and thought they glimpsed a wolf stalking her. Before they could help her, she disappeared and they were unable to relocate her. They also said that while searching, a trail marked by
ribbon on trees was found. They followed it to an abandoned cabin. I believe the trail was marked by Rose.”

“
We’ll have to search in a completely different fashion than we normally would, instead of searching for a specific scent you are searching for a complete lack of scent.” He looked to Thomas. “You have the right idea, we’ll need to use brute force, guns, and knives initially to subdue him and shut down his gift. Our powers won’t work against him until he is unconscious or dead.”

Chapter 14

Rescue

Sweat beaded her brow in the Louisiana early morning sun.
Without taking her gaze from the surrounding swamp, she wiped away the perspiration. Every second counted, and she had to stay ready. Rose scanned her surroundings, she needed to hide and catch her breath. Crouched in a thicket, she held her position, watching, listening. All she heard were birds chirping, the light patter of raindrops on the leaves, and a distant roll of thunder. A reassuring thought crossed her mind, she could gage if danger was close to her through insect and bird reactions.
I must be safe for the moment or the birds would be silent. And, they haven’t been spooked away, that’s a good sign too.

She was on the move again. She
tiptoed across a spongy patch of ground as fast as she could while avoiding noisy twigs and debris. Out of the corner of her eye, something large and solid caught her attention.
Could I really be this lucky
? An abandoned cabin appeared as she parted the tall grass she had been using as cover. It looked like it had been more than a hunting shack in is heyday.

Using any cover available and staying to the shadows she made her way to the door and slipped through. Cobwebs covered the cabinets and dust layered every surface. Quietly, she closed the door and barred it as best she could.

My kingdom for a meal and a bed
she thought as she leaned against the door, hardly able to stand. She was pretty sure it had been three days since she had been drawn into the woods and kidnapped by Travis. Two of those days without food and with little sleep to speak of.

Why was Travis
protecting her from the others? Was he really crazy enough to think he could force her to be his mate? From what she knew it didn’t work that way. She was trying in vain to find her way back to Simon. Hanging her head, she admitted to herself she was hopelessly lost. Unlike the hunting shack, there wasn’t a stitch of food in this cabin but it did provide shelter. She decided to explore more and if she didn’t find help or another cabin by the time it got dark she would follow her ribbons back to this one.

Simon directed the team to avoid the pier and instead dock
ed the boats at a hidden strip of trail that led to the center of the island.

“Stefan, direct the alligators and snakes into the river and away from us. I don’t want anyone bit.”

“Got it, bro.”

They eased the boats into a small inlet one hundred feet from the dock and around a bend, out of sight. The men slipped into the knee-deep water, pulling the boats behind them to tie to a tree or shrub. It was a painstakingly slow process, taking care not to splash as they struggled through the mire until they could reach higher ground. Like all bogs, grass grew wild and tall and a multitude of shrubbery and flowers filled in spaces
between trees.

The team moved in silence. Simon directed them to avoid dry twigs and leaves, and with Stefan’s animal communication abilities, they were able to keep the remaining wildlife from giving away their presence.

“He’s here,” Simon said as he eyed fresh paw prints on the muddy riverbank with malice.

“
How do you know it's him?” Cade asked.