Finding Home (28 page)

Sarah’s eyes fluttered open and she
could just barely make him out against the pain that was shooting through her
eyes from the light and the pounding pain in her skull.  Her entire body
ached and throbbed like she’d ever felt before.  He was holding a towel to
her head, a deep scowl on his features.

“What happened?” she asked hoarsely.

“You ran.  We got you back,” he
said simply.

It all came rushing back to her
then.  Her escape.  Flagging down the trucker.  Talking to Colt
on the phone.  Getting shot at.  The accident.

“The truck driver?” she whispered.

“Dead,” he snapped.

“Oh, God!” she gasped.

“You’re damn lucky you aren’t dead,
too.  What were you thinking?  I told you, all we want is our
money.  Once we got that we would let you go.”

“And I’m supposed to believe that?!”
she cried.  “You people destroyed my life!” she yelled, then winced
because of the pain it caused her head.

“Just take it easy, we’ve got to stop
the bleeding.  Are you feeling dizzy at all?”

“I don’t know, I guess.  I’m
just so mad and I hurt all over.  Why couldn’t you just let me go? 
Why does everything have to revolve around money?  I grew up with
none.  It’s not the end all, be all, you know!”

“Stop yelling, you’re just causing
yourself unnecessary pain.”  He looked up when the bedroom door
opened.  “I can’t stop the bleeding.”

“Carl and Sammy went into town for
medical supplies and to scope out what’s happening.  Thanks to your
stupidity, no funds have been transferred.  Bainbridge is expected back in
town within the hour.  Rumor is that she called Harris from the trucker’s
phone.  As you’ve heard, there have already been helicopters swarming the
area.  I imagine it’s only a matter of time before a door-to-door search
is underway.”

“Why don’t you just let me go?” Sarah
asked.  “If the police are looking for me, and it is like you say, only a
matter of time before they come knocking, why not just walk away?  Is the
money more important than your life?  Colt is a former Army Ranger. 
His friends are Rangers and SEALs and Green Berets, and FBI agents and
cops.  Do you really want them to come down on you?  Just let me go,
please.”

“Can’t do that,” he told her, then
looked back out at whoever was talking out in the hall. “Send them in here when
they have the supplies.”

“What is your name?” Sarah asked,
trying to focus on his face.

“Wayne,” he replied.

“Please let me go,” she pleaded.

“I can’t.  Are you hurting
anywhere else?”

“I’m sore all over but nothing bad,
just my head.”

He nodded.  “Any trouble with
double vision?”

“Some,” she admitted.

His behavior toward her was
baffling.  He’d kidnapped her, actively came after her to bring her back,
yet he was kind and gentle, almost fatherly toward her.  When she’d heard
him talking to the other man in the hall, he’d defended her, but she reminded
herself not to forget that he came after her.  As nice as he was being to
her, she was still a means to an end for him and she told herself she would do
well to remember that.

The door opened and another man came
in.  He was a big man, and reminded her of the classic movie-mob muscle
guys. 

“We got all kinds of bandages and
liquid stitches and all of that,” he said, his voice rough, dumping a shopping
bag on the bed.

“Great.  Thanks.”

The big man grunted and then
left.  Wayne sorted through the supplies and began doctoring and bandaging
the cut.  Sarah could tell from the look on his face that the wasn’t happy
with the results.

“It’ll have to do.  You understand
now, I gotta keep you tied tight,” he said, binding her wrists and ankles
again.

“Do what you have to, it doesn’t
matter,” she said, resigned.

He secured her to the bed then left
her alone.  She hoped and prayed that Colt would find her soon.  She
knew now that he was hot on her trail; it would only be a matter of time.

Colt and his team hit the ground
running once they reached Wyoming.  From the airport, they loaded into
SUVs that Buck had waiting for them and sped to Torrington.  Once there,
they met with the local officials, going over the accident photos and getting
brought up-to-date on the search progress.  Fortunately, there had been a
couple of witnesses who saw Sarah being loaded into a black van and they now
knew a general area in which to search.  From that data, Mike and Gib
began planning their mission.  Colt knew now it would only be a matter of
time before Sarah was safely back with him.

“Colt,” Gib said, placing his hand on
Colt’s shoulder, “you need to stay in the truck and provide intel from your
computer.”

“Bullshit,” Colt spat out.

“Listen to me.  You are too
close to this.  We need to get in and get her out as cleanly as
possible.  Your emotions are barely in check.  You know I’m right on
this.”

Colt’s eye shifted from Gib to
Mike.  “I can’t sit on the sidelines for this one, Boss.”

“You’re barely hanging on by a
thread,” Mike said.  “Let us go get her for you.  You can’t think of
this as any different than any other mission we’ve done.  We all do our
part and play to our strengths.  Yours is busting down doors and providing
tactical intel.  We don’t want to bust in the door.  We want to get
in and make a clean extraction.  That’s not going to happen with you out
for blood.”

Colt didn’t like it.  It went
against everything that was in him but he knew Mike was right.  Gib had
managed to secure satellite infrared access for them.  Colt was the only
one of the team who knew how to tap into those signals and direct them for
their purposes.  As much as it stung, he knew he would better serve Sarah
by directing them from the tac-com. 

“Fine.  Let’s do this.”

“Can we come?” Tag asked.

“You and Buck,” Colt said, “Charlotte
and Vivian need to stay here at the police station with Claire.”

They loaded up into several vehicles
and moved out to the general area the police had narrowed down.  Colt
accessed infrared and began his search of the cabins in the wooded areas along
the river.  It only took a matter of minutes to find the small cabin with
three men and a woman obviously tied to a bed.

“That’s it,” he told Mike.  They
quietly moved the vehicles as close as they dared and then Mike, Gib, Riley,
Whit and Coop geared up and made their way to the cabin.  “She’s in the
room on the north side of the cabin, looks like hands and feet are bound. 
There are three men in the great room area.  All appear to be armed.”

“Moving in,” Mike reported.

Colt, Buck and Tag watched the
infrared images.  Two men approached the outside near where Sarah was,
while the other three headed to the front where the men were.  Colt had
directed his team hundreds of times in scenarios much similar to this but he’d
never felt this apprehensive before.  It had always been just another
job.  This was different, however.  This was his world on the line.

He watched the two on Sarah move
closer, watched one climb in through the window, then the other.  He knew
that was Mike and Riley.  He watched Sarah sit up, then watched as either
Mike or Riley moved to the bed and cut her free, then lifted her into his
arms.  The other man slipped out the window, took possession of Sarah and
then began a retreat from the cabin.

“I’ve got her,” Mike said, “secure
the others,” he told the rest of the team and Colt watched as Riley and the
others moved on the house.  One man surrendered immediately.  The
other two put up a fight.  There was a brief gunfire exchange.  Riley
reported that Coop had been hit but was fine and that the two who shot at them
were deceased and they had one man in custody.  Colt took a deep breath
and let it out slowly.  Just like that, it was over.

Sarah gasped but wisely held silent
when an armed man, dressed all in black combat gear slipped through the window,
holding a finger to his lips.  He came toward her as another man slipped
silently through the window, holding an assault rifle trained on her
door.  These had to be friends of Colt’s, she thought, watching the first
man cut through the ropes tying her to the bed.  He didn’t bother with the
ropes on her hands and ankles, just scooped her up into his arms and carried
her to the window.  The other man slipped through the window and then she
was transferred from the first man to the second, who took off running with her
the minute she touched his arms.

“I’ve got her,” he reported, “secure
the others.”

No sooner had those words left his
lips than she heard gunfire erupt behind them.  It was dark out so she
couldn’t really tell much about the man carrying her, other than that he was
strong and silent and determined.  He had a way about him that was cold
and ruthless and even though she knew he was a friend of Colt’s, she couldn’t
help being a little frightened of this man. 

“Coming to you,” she heard him
say.  They neared a clearing in the trees and she saw two black SUVs and
two police vehicles parked there.  The door to one of the SUVs opened and
then Colt was running toward her, taking her from the other man.

“Colt!” she cried.

“I’ve got you, baby, you’re safe
now.”

She glanced back over her shoulder
only to see that the other man had disappeared into the trees yet again. 
She shivered and buried her face against Colt’s chest as he carried her to the
SUV.  He took a large knife and cut the ropes away from her hands and feet
and then she threw her arms around his neck, clinging to him.  She didn’t
cry, but she couldn’t stop herself from trembling.  Colt was holding her
tight, one hand in her hair, the other rubbing her back.  They stayed that
way for several long moments, her cradled in his lap in the backseat of the SUV
until he finally pulled back to cup her face in his hands and look into her
eyes.

“You’re OK?  You aren’t hurt
more than the cut on your head?”

“I’m fine,” she said, her hands
clutching his shirt.

He nodded, kissing her forehead, her
cheek and then finally, her lips.  She could feel the tension in his
muscles under her hands and knew he was wired and barely holding himself
together.  When he pulled back she buried her face in his neck a moment,
taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, then pulled back to look at him.

“I missed you,” she whispered.

“I missed you, too,” he told
her.  “Stay here with Buck and Tag, I gotta help the guys out,” he said
when he noticed the team approaching with the surviving suspect.

Sarah glanced out the window as he
started to scoot her off his lap, then tightened her hold on him.

“Be nice to him, Colt.  He was
good to me.”

He held her gaze a moment then kissed
her forehead and left the vehicle.  The suspect was escorted by two
Torrington police officers, hands cuffed in front of him.  Colt came to a
stop in front of the older man, glaring at him.  He’d just opened his
mouth to speak when he heard Buck’s voice from behind him.

“Wayne?  You did this?”

Colt looked over his shoulder at
Buck.  “You know him?”

“He worked for me all those years
ago.  I fired him because he came to work stoned half the time.  It
had to have been him who came into the house and took Christine from her
crib.  He knew exactly which window was hers.”

Colt looked back at the older man,
rage filling him.  He stepped closer to him, stopped only when Mike, who
was standing at his side, reached out and put a restraining arm against his
chest.  Colt ignored Mike, leaning in close to the older and smaller man.

“You’re damn lucky Sarah asked me to
be nice to you, because after what you put her and the Bainbridges through, I
would like nothing better than to beat the shit out of you.”

Wayne just looked at him but wisely
kept his mouth shut.  The officers took him on to a squad car and loaded
him inside, with Colt and Buck glaring at him the entire time.

“We need to get Sarah to a hospital,”
Tag said, turning Colt’s attention.  “the cut on her head is starting to
bleed through the bandage.”

“Yeah, OK.  Let’s go,” Colt
said, heading back to Sarah’s side.

He gathered her close to him when he
got back in, holding her tight and listening to Buck call Charlotte and let her
know that Sarah was safe with them now.

“Did they get all of them?” Sarah
asked him.

“Two were killed in the fight with
the guys.  One in custody.”

She pulled back to meet his
gaze.  “There were four, Colt.  I only saw two of them, but there
were four distinct voices.”

“You’re sure?” 

“Yes.  There was Wayne and Sammy
and Carl and another man who they never called by name.” 

He nodded, “I’ll let them know.”

At the hospital, Sarah was greeted by
Charlotte and Vivian who both were emotional wrecks and were hugging and
kissing her to the point that the doctors had to remind them that Sarah needed
treatment.  Colt stayed by her side the entire time, even refusing to
leave her when she was taken in for x-rays.  Sarah was thankful for his
presence.  She kept a tight grip on his hand whenever she could, afraid to
let him out of her sight, for several reasons, not the least of which was her
own peace of mind.  But, the main reason was that she knew his control was
getting ready to snap.  He was a man of action who had been kept on the
sidelines and he was not handling it well, that was evident in the brisk,
abrupt way he addressed doctors and nurses.