Sawyer

“Where’s this place?” He sounded like the tough FBI agent that he was.

“Just off Miller’s Road.” She checked the time on the dash clock. “And I have less than ten minutes to get there.”

“Where on Miller’s Road?” Sawyer didn’t address that time was ticking away, either.

“It’s an abandoned building.” Now she was the one to get in his face. For a brief glare, anyway. “Don’t you dare make me regret telling you.”

“Abandoned,” he repeated. “The Tumbleweed? It used to be a bar.”

She nodded. The sign had been rusted and battered, but the name was still partially visible. “You know the place?”

“Yeah.” And that one word held a lot of emotion. Or something. “I was raised in Silver Creek. The Tumbleweed used to belong to my grandfather.”

Oh, mercy. Cassidy doubted that was a coincidence. “So, what does Bennie’s kidnapping have to do with you?”

Sawyer lifted his shoulder. “Like I said, that’s what I intend to find out. Take that next left.”

“That’s not Miller’s Road.”

“I know. And that’s why we’re taking it. Turn!” he growled.

It was the second time in the past few moments that she’d hoped she didn’t regret this, but Cassidy took the turn. It wasn’t a road but an old ranch trail with thick underbrush on both sides. Not exactly a good driving surface with the rain, and the first pothole she hit made the truck bounce, and their heads struck the ceiling.

“Slow down and stop up there,” Sawyer instructed, and he pointed to a pile of limestone boulders.

Again, she did as he said, but the moment she stopped, Cassidy took hold of his jacket and forced eye contact. “I know you think Bennie doesn’t deserve to live, but swear to me that you won’t do anything to make this worse.”

His eyes narrowed. “I’m an FBI agent, sworn to uphold the law. That includes upholding it for people who don’t deserve it. Like your brother. Now, kill the engine and wait here.”

As if she would take that order as gospel, which she did, Sawyer stepped from the truck, his gun ready, and he climbed to the top of the boulders.

Cassidy couldn’t be sure, but she thought that Miller’s Road might be just on the other side. She’d been so frantic when she’d driven out of there earlier with the baby, that the only thing she had paid attention to was the GPS that the kidnappers had programmed with the directions to the Ryland family’s Silver Creek ranch.

What the two men hadn’t told her was there would be a wedding reception going on and that she’d have to get that photo with dozens of witnesses milling around. But certainly the kidnappers must have known because they’d told her that’s where she would find Sawyer.

So, why take the photo there?

Too many things about this didn’t make sense, and that was yet more reason to get Bennie away from these men.

“I have less than five minutes now,” she reminded him in a whisper.

Sawyer didn’t respond to that, fired off another text, and then without warning, he scrambled over the rocks, out of sight. That got Cassidy moving from the truck, and she hurried to the boulders to see where he’d gone.

She didn’t have to look far.

He was there, just on the other side, crouched down by yet another heap of boulders. Beyond that was the road.

Then, the Tumbleweed bar about fifty yards away.

It wasn’t much of a place. Rust-streaked tin roof. Weathered clapboards. Eye-socket windows with vines coiling in and out of them. What was left of the neon sign was connected by a single electrical wire, and it creaked back and forth with each gust of wind.

Sawyer gave her a stare down even though he was looking up at her. “Think hard. Do you remember me telling you to wait in the truck?” He didn’t give her a chance to respond. “Because that’s exactly what you’re going to do. My cousin Grayson will be here soon to watch you.”

She huffed. “I don’t want a babysitter. I want to help.”

“And you’ll do that by waiting here.” He tipped his head to the building. “No vehicles. Were there any when you left?”

“No. They brought me here in the truck. They already had Bennie tied up inside.”

It hurt just to think of seeing him that way. To see the terror on his face. To know that he’d seen the same on hers. She was the big sister. Had always taken care of him just as she’d promised.

This time, she’d failed.

Sawyer started to move but then stopped and caught her gaze. “If you follow me, it could get all of us killed. Nod so I know you understand.”

Her stomach twisted, the acid rising to her throat. But she nodded. “Please, hurry,” she begged. “Save him.”

Sawyer scowled as if insulted that she had to ask, and he put his hand on the top of the boulders to lever himself up. However, he didn’t make it an inch before they heard the sound. A sound that Cassidy definitely didn’t want to hear.

A bloodcurdling scream.

Chapter Three

Sawyer had to take hold of Cassidy to keep her from bolting toward the building. He had to fight his own instincts, too, because that scream was the sound of someone terrified.

Maybe even dying.

“We have to help him,” Cassidy insisted.

And there was another scream. Like the first one, it didn’t sound like a man’s, either.

“Who else was in that building?” Sawyer demanded, and because she was still in fight mode, he had to snap her to him so that her face was just a few inches from his.

Cassidy was breathing through her mouth now, her chest pumping, and she shook her head. “No one that I saw.”

The third scream got to him. Since Grayson wasn’t there yet and because he knew for a fact that Cassidy wouldn’t stay put, Sawyer shoved her behind him. “If I tell you to get down, you’ll do it,” he barked.

Whether she would was anyone’s guess, but he couldn’t wait while a woman was murdered. Heck, it could be the baby’s mother.

Sawyer didn’t waste any time getting Cassidy across the narrow dirt road. The mud caked on the soles of his boots, but he forced himself to run. Cassidy ran, too, despite the flimsy flip-flops she was wearing. They darted behind some trees, using them for cover so he could make his way to the Tumbleweed.

He knew every inch of the place and thought back to the video he’d seen of Bennie. It had been dark, but the only part of the building with beams like the ones he’d seen were in the main bar. Or rather what was left of it. Time and vandals had taken their toll.

Cassidy tapped her phone screen where the time was displayed. Yeah, he knew they were down to seconds now, but they couldn’t just go charging in there.

He led her to the side of the building and to what had once been the private entrance to his grandfather’s office. There was no door now, just a dark hole of a room. Sawyer stepped inside, pulled Cassidy in behind him and listened.

No more screams.