Madly scrambling to another mound of dirt that seemed higher than the rest, she started digging, her hands already tiring; she had to reach the gun first. The key would be useless without the gun ….
She had to find the gun, Lena told herself over and over as she dug. She had to find the gun … before he did.
* * *
Reaper gunned the motor of the truck on the empty interstate, satisfied he would make it back to Treepoint before the time he was scheduled to drop the truck off with Rider. The plan the evening before had come off without a hitch, or would have if he made it back before Silas or Ginny awoke and realized he was missing. He had been showering as Silas and Ginny were readying the firepit to cook the steaks for dinner. Getting out of the shower, he returned Viper’s call.
“I received a reply to one of the ads you posted.”
“Which one?” Reaper stood on the bath mat, dripping wet, making no effort to reach for a towel.
“Make Me,” Viper replied sardonically.
“They send pictures?”
“Sending. Hammer believes it’s one of the couples you had interactions with.”
Interactions isn’t what I would call their raping and torture of me, he thought to himself as he moved the phone from his ear.
The picture was low quality, but he recognized the couple instantly as he hadn’t been drugged when they had first come down to the basement. That was what happened when their faces and what they had done to him had been burned into his mind.
“Reaper? Do you recognize them?”
He put the phone back to his ear. “I recognize them. Slate called them Brad and Cami.”
“They replied as Bob and Abby.”
“At least one of them has an imagination.” Reaching for a towel, he began drying off. “Have you responded back?”
“Not yet. I was waiting for you to confirm they were one of the couples you were searching for.”
“Send me the link to my burner phone.”
“You’re not thinking of going out, are you?”
“Just send me the link.”
Getting dressed, he went to his room to take out the burner phone that Viper had packed for him. He heard the front door open and close, then light footsteps going up the steps. Ginny had said that she was going to take her shower once Silas put the steaks on.
Turning the phone on, he pulled up Viper’s text messages, then pressed the link.
Reaper still felt the rush of adrenaline when he realized, if he planned it right, the Coleman’s wouldn’t even know he had left. Brad and Cami deserved his personal good-bye.
Responding to the request, Reaper then turned the burner phone off. He wouldn’t turn it back on until he was well away from Treepoint.
Calling Viper back, he set his plan in motion. “I need wheels.”
“You’re going to leave the Colemans? Let one of the brothers handle it … We can keep them on ice for you.”
“I’m doing it tonight, with or without your help. I’ll be coming back here. I don’t have to get close to them to do what I want.”
“What do you need?”
“Wheels.”
“What type?”
“Big, with a lot of horsepower.”
“When?”
“Nine. I plan to have an early night. Park it at the Colemans’ turn-off. Make sure it’s spic and span. I don’t want to carry any germs back here. Pick up in the morning by 0600 hours. I’ll make sure it’s just as clean for whoever does the pickup.”
“Have you gotten the test kits from Arin?”
“Hennessey delivered them an hour ago.
“Going to need a couple of brothers who won’t mind being up close and personal with Brad and Cami. They’re going to text me a video of them taking their temperatures, but I can vouch for how good they lie. If none of the brothers want to go, then I can go on my own. Just find someone to take over for me here.”
“Already have two volunteers. Moon and Jesus can stay at Jesus’s sister’s rental house. Make sure you keep your distance from them to keep the Colemans safe.”
“To save time and so I don’t have to listen to you bitching, I didn’t plan on getting close to either of them, or Cami and Brad.”
“You need anything else? I’ll put a box of the test kits for you and the Colemans in the truck for you. Arin’s lab doesn’t have approval for the tests yet. She’s giving them to us as research subjects. If they work, it’ll take at least one worry off our minds.”
“They’ll work. Arin has the best private lab in the nation.”
“Don’t forget to take them when you drop the truck off.”
“I won’t.”
“Be careful. I hope you get them. May the motherfuckers rest in hell.”
“Resting will be the last thing they’ll be doing when I’m done with them.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
“I haven’t seen him this happy since he’s been here.”