Sheriff

Once Brody was assured that they had everything they needed to parachute successfully into the Dupree compound, Max spread out a topographical map on the hood of his SUV so he could outline the plan.

“According to Dylan’s estimate, this is where the house is.” He drew the outline with a felt tip marker. “To the southwest, there’s a small clearing, here.” He made additional marks on the map, then glanced up at them. “This is our target landing zone.”

“Looks like there are a lot of trees.” Julianne kept her tone matter-of-fact. “How big is the landing area?”

“Roughly twenty by twenty.”

“That’s feet, not yards,” Brody pointed out. “Y’all know it won’t be easy, but it’s doable. Are you sure we all need to do this? Do you need anyone to stay behind?”

“The four of us are going,” Max said, gesturing to include Julianne, Zeke and Brody. “And the three dogs. That’s nonnegotiable.”

“Okay, I’ll have my deputies on the ground, surrounding the area as backup. You, Zeke and Julianne will have to drop in carrying your dogs.” Brody flashed a reassuring smile at Max. “I’m sure we’ll be fine, especially since your team has done this before.”

“We have.” Julianne glanced down at Thunder, glad to have him as her partner. She depended on the animal to back her up, sensing danger the way he had outside of Rusty’s. Besides, she needed Thunder’s evidence-retrieving expertise in following Jake’s scent so they could find him. She’d stuffed the bag containing Jake’s shirt into her small backpack so they’d have it within the compound.

“When are we going airborne? Soon?” Zeke was clearly anxious to get going.

“Yeah.” Max nodded, glancing up at the sky. “Dusk isn’t as good as going in at night, but since we have everything ready to go, I don’t want to wait any longer.”

“Good.” Julianne was relieved, she didn’t particularly want to wait, either.

Time was their enemy.

* * *

Brody helped Julianne into the chopper, wishing there was a way to convince her to stay behind, far away from the heart of danger. Logically, he knew she was a well-trained, capable FBI agent, but on a personal level, he couldn’t stand the idea of anything happening to her.

The only good part of this entire scenario was that he’d be down there, with her. Close at hand if she needed backup.

If he were honest, he’d admit that she was the main reason he’d insisted on coming along in the first place. He figured between him and Thunder, they’d keep her safe.

He assisted Julianne with her harness. Thunder was remarkably calm despite being airborne in a noisy chopper. Clearly they had done this before.

For the first time since seeing Julianne again, he wondered what it would be like to have a K-9 partner. He’d always thought the animals were a bit overrated, but after the way Thunder had alerted them to the impending danger, he realized he hadn’t given the four-legged officers enough credit.

Their skills were amazing.

Clearly, Julianne had done well for herself. It hurt to realize that leaving him had been the right thing for her to do, in so many ways.

And he only had himself to blame.

At the time, he’d been determined to keep searching for Lilly, not just because Nate asked him to, but because he wanted to prove to Julianne that she was wrong.

He hadn’t anticipated she’d turn her back on him and walk away.

He shook off the troublesome thoughts. Glancing at Julianne, he gave her a thumbs-up. The rotors of the chopper were too loud to allow conversation, although they could communicate through their headsets. The only problem was that everyone on board could hear what they said to each other.

Maybe once this was over, they’d have time to speak privately and finally put the past to rest.

“ETA five minutes.” The pilot’s voice came through the intercom.

Their mission was a go. Brody edged over to the door, filled with a sense of urgency fueled by adrenaline. This was it. They’d be jumping two at a time. He and Julianne would go first, followed by Max and Zeke.

Julianne bent down and lifted Thunder into her arms. The dog’s front paws went over her shoulders and she held his hindquarters firmly against her. Brody secured the strap, holding the dog in place. With a brief nod, he pushed the door open. Holding up his hand he counted down from five.

Four. Three. Two. One.

Julianne and Thunder went first; he jumped shortly thereafter.

The most difficult part of the mission was to make sure they landed in the appropriate spot. Getting their chute tangled up in the trees would be catastrophic.

Brody concentrated on steering his parachute in the appropriate direction. Julianne was directly in front of him. Thunder didn’t bark or growl during the parachute ride, which was reassuring.

The ground rushed up to meet them and when a gust of wind hit hard, he cranked on the leads to stay on course.

His heart thundered in his chest. What if Julianne didn’t have the strength to make the adjustment?

He dropped onto the twenty-by-twenty landing spot, his left knee jarring a bit from the force of his feet meeting the earth. He didn’t waste a second, but quickly gathered the parachute into a ball, ducking out of the way to make more room as Julianne and Thunder descended, landing a few feet away.

He found himself thanking God for their safety, despite the fact that he hadn’t prayed in a long time.

Without speaking, he shucked his harness. Then he stepped forward to assist Julianne and Thunder. Holding his weapon ready, he led the way to the side of the clearing and took shelter behind the largest tree. There was a faint path through the woods, leading to what he assumed must be the house.

The structure wasn’t easy to see because the dark wood blended in with the surrounding foliage.

“Do you think they heard the chopper?” Julianne asked, coming up to stand beside him.

“Probably. I’m hoping whoever is here assumes that the chopper belongs to the Red River Army Base. It’s roughly sixty miles to the east and it’s not uncommon for choppers to come and go.” Brody returned his gaze to the path. “How many guards do you expect?”

Julianne shrugged. “Four or five on the outside, but I’m sure there are a lot more inside.”

He scowled, realizing he should have asked more questions about the Duprees and what they were capable of. He didn’t like being outnumbered.

Having deputies surrounding the compound wouldn’t be very helpful if they couldn’t get inside.

Soft thuds signaled the arrival of Max, Opal, Zeke and Cheetah. Five minutes later, they came over to join them.

“We’ll split up,” Max directed. “Julianne, I want you and Kenner to go in from the right. Zeke and I will cross over to cover the other side.”

It was on the tip of Brody’s tongue to ask that Julianne stay back with Zeke while he and Max went in first, but he managed to hold back.

With four to five outside guards, it probably didn’t matter one way or the other.

He and Julianne gave Zeke and Max time to make their way around the property so they could approach the house from the other side. After an excruciating ten minutes, he nodded at Julianne.

“Our turn.”

He crept along the path, moving silently through the brush. Julianne and Thunder covered his back.