Delores Fossen - Sawyer

For now anyway.

Cassidy must have heard the sound, too, because she nudged him to get moving again. Sawyer did, maneuvering from beneath the mesquite and to some thick underbrush that would hopefully give them enough cover if those kidnappers started shooting at them.

There was a small clearing ahead, and because there were no trees, the rain was soaking the ground, making it hard to tell if anyone had gone that way. If the kidnappers had learned their way around these woods, and Sawyer had to assume that they had, they would know there were two ways out.

Doubling back to Miller’s Road.

Or continuing through the woods about a mile until they reached an old farm road.

Since he hadn’t seen another vehicle, it was possible the kidnappers had parked on that farm road. Of course, it was risky to be so far away from transportation in case something went wrong.

And something obviously had.

They likely hadn’t wanted to shoot at a hostage when they were so close to getting their hands on the entire chunk of ransom money.

“Bennie and the woman have to be alive,” Cassidy mumbled, and her breathing got even faster.

Mercy. She was on the verge of hyperventilating now, and Sawyer reached behind him and touched his fingers to her lips. Cassidy jerked back as if he’d burnt her. Their gazes met. Not one of those ordinary meets, either. This was one of blasted nonverbal connections between a man and a woman.

Who’d once been lovers.

Not a good time to remember that. Never a good time, actually. And he scowled to let her know that.

She scowled, too, her eyes narrowing a bit, and just like that, he’d cured her panic attack and hyperventilating.

“Let’s find him,” Cassidy snarled, and considering she’d just whispered it, she’d done a thorough job in conveying that snarl.

Her gaze fired around. “I have the picture,” Cassidy shouted without warning.

Sawyer reeled to her so fast that his neck popped. “What the heck are you doing?” he mouthed.

“Giving them what they want,” she mouthed back, her teeth clenched.

“If they’d wanted the photo bad enough, the kidnappers would have hung around.” And maybe they had. If so, Cassidy had just given away their position.

So, Sawyer moved again, trying hard not to let his anger turn what should be quiet footsteps into stomps. They’d only made it a few feet when he heard another moan. It was weak, barely audible, but it had come from a clump of cedars about fifteen yards away.

But that wasn’t the only sound.

There were footsteps that even the rain couldn’t conceal. Sawyer froze, holding back Cassidy again, but he didn’t have to hold her for long. There was a blur of motion, and Sawyer automatically took aim.

It was someone running.

Someone dressed all in dark clothes who quickly darted out of sight. In the video, Bennie had been wearing a light colored T-shirt similar to the one Cassidy had on.

The runner had to be one of the kidnappers.

There were more footsteps. Not from the same direction where the runner had disappeared to, but on the opposite side of the clearing. It wasn’t the running pace of an injured man who was hurt enough to moan. This was another runner.

And likely the second kidnapper.

Sawyer cursed himself for bringing Cassidy into this. Of course, if he’d left her to wait for Grayson, she would have no doubt been another set of those fast-moving footsteps trudging around in the rainy woods.

The seconds crawled by while he waited and tried to figure out what the heck was going on. He certainly couldn’t just start shooting with Bennie out there.

Behind him, he heard more footsteps. Not a runner this time, but the slow, cautious steps of a lawman. Sawyer glanced over his shoulder and spotted Grayson.

He motioned to the clearing so that Grayson would know what he was about to do.

“Stay here,” he warned Cassidy, and Grayson moved closer to her.

Good. If bullets started flying, Grayson would be able to pull her to the ground.

Sawyer tightened his grip on his gun and stepped out, making a beeline toward the cedars where he’d heard the moaning. No moans now, which might mean the kidnappers had moved their injured hostage.

When he reached the cedars, Sawyer used his elbow to push aside some of the branches. The first thing he saw was more blood.

And lots of it.

It had mixed with rainwater, making it impossible to tell just how much, but the bleeder had left a trail for him to follow.

No more footsteps. Just the sound of his own heartbeat crashing in his ears.

Sawyer pushed back another cedar branch, and he cursed when he saw the lifeless body on the ground in front of him.

Chapter Four

“No!” Cassidy blurted out. Nothing could have stopped her from running to Sawyer.

And toward the person lying on the ground.

Sawyer stooped down, touched his fingers to the person’s neck and shook his head. “Dead.”

Her heart was practically beating out of her chest by the time she made it there, and she tried to brace herself for the worst. Unfortunately, she wasn’t sure she could handle the worst.

Sawyer took hold of her to stop her from going closer, but she still got a good look at the person lying on the ground.

Not Bennie.

The victim was a woman with jaggedly chopped hair, black with streaks of blue. Cassidy had no idea who she was, but she had no trouble seeing the bullet wound on the side of her head.

Despite the gruesome scene, the relief was instant and overwhelming. It robbed her of what little breath she had left. But the relief was also short lived. It wasn’t Bennie. But where was he?

“Bennie?” she yelled.

No answer. Nothing.

Cassidy would have bolted again to go look for him, but Sawyer stopped her. “Who is she?” He tipped his head to the woman on the ground.

“I don’t know.” Again, she tried to leave, and Sawyer stopped her.

“You’re not going anywhere,” he insisted. “The kidnappers have already killed one woman. You want to make it two?”

“I want to find my brother,” she insisted right back.

“We’ll do that. Come on. This is a crime scene now, and it needs to be processed. That’s our best bet at finding Bennie.”

Maybe. But everything inside her was screaming for her to run and find her brother. Even if she knew it wasn’t the logical thing to do.

“Something obviously went wrong here,” Sawyer said as he led her away from the body. “But the kidnappers will contact you again. They’ll keep Bennie alive because they want to get that ransom.”

That made it through the panic and the haze in her head. Yes, the kidnappers wanted the money. She had to believe that, hold on to it. Because it was the only way to keep herself sane.

Sawyer and she approached Sheriff Grayson Ryland, and he handed Sawyer a set of keys. “Use my truck and get her to the hospital so she can be checked out. I already have an ambulance and CSI team on the way.”

“The woman’s dead,” Sawyer told him.

The sheriff looked as if he wanted to curse, and he made another call. This time to the medical examiner.

“Please let me know if the men come back with Bennie,” she said to the sheriff.

He nodded, continued his call, and Sawyer got her moving toward a silver pickup parked just up the road. Not a slow pace, either. They were practically jogging, and he kept watch, his gaze firing all around.

Cassidy doubted the kidnappers would kill her. But she rethought that. She’d broken their rules by not returning with the photo in time.

Was that the reason they’d killed the woman?

The emotion was already high, boiling through her, and that caused her to gasp. “Did the kidnappers kill her to punish me?” she managed to ask.