Page 113 of Solid as Steele
“Got Leach in sight in my binoculars. We’re hidden in the trees. I don’t see you yet. How far out are you?”
“It’s hard to tell without any real landmarks until the bridge, but based on time, I’d say about five minutes away.”
“Do you want us to apprehend Leach or tail him?”
She knew what she wanted Ryan to do, but that didn’t mean Owen didn’t want to be the one to stop Leach. She turned to ask Owen that same question.
He waffled for a moment, looking up and then down. “Apprehend.”
She relayed the answer to Ryan.
“Roger that. Will call back when we have him in custody.”
Liking the certainty in his tone, she stowed the phone and pocketed it in her jacket then resumed watching in the binoculars. The bridge soon came into view.
“Landing area just ahead on the left.” She scanned the bank. “I see Leach’s kayak, but I don’t see Leach or the Maddox brothers.”
Owen opened the throttle, and they churned faster toward the rocky landing.
She scanned further up the bank to the hillside covered in fir trees. Nothing. No one.
“Maybe they’ve apprehended Leach and took him to their truck,” she said, though that made no sense. Ryan would’ve called to tell her.
Owen angled their boat toward the shore, fighting the current that tossed the boat in mighty jolts. The rough ride made it difficult to keep the binoculars to her eyes. She ignored the bouncing and focused higher up the incline.
Movement caught her eye. A person was charging down the bank toward the water but she couldn’t make out his ID.
“Someone running toward the water,” she reported to Owen.
He gunned the boat, and they glided toward the shoreline. He lifted the motor. Began rowing. Frantically. Furiously. Slapping the oars into the water and jerking them out in even strokes, until they hit the rocks.
A man wearing camo like Leach had on cleared the trees. He backed toward them. He held a rifle in his hands. At the edge of the outcropping and surrounded by brush, he skidded to a halt and took a wide stance for support.
She scanned the horizon to locate the Maddox brothers. They’d broken cover, and she spotted them at a distance. They were no longer hidden from Leach’s viewpoint, and he faced them, so had to see them too. Seemed by Leach’s lack of checking to his rear that he hadn’t seen her and Owen arrive. He could be blind to their movements. A perfect scenario for them.
“It’s Leach,” she said to Owen. “On his own.”
Owen didn’t wait for her to get out of the boat but bailed from the back. Sloshed into the water. Grabbed the tow line and tugged the boat deeper onto the shore.
The SAT phone rang. She grabbed it and answered.
“I see you,” Ryan said, sounding out of breath. “We’re closing in on Leach. We’ll cut him off and herd him in your direction.”
“Got it.” She ended the call and relayed the message to Owen, who had drawn his sidearm.
He signaled that he planned to move ahead, which he did. Taking slow, silent steps.
Deadly steps.
She wanted to shout at him to stop. All Leach had to do was spin, raise that rifle, fire one shot, and Owen could be dead. She had no doubt that Leach was a fine marksman and would hit his target if he tried.
Thankfully, Ryan eased closer, keeping Leach’s attention. Ryan dropped down behind a large boulder and pointed his rifle at Leach. “We have you cut off, Leach. Put down your gun.”
She followed behind Owen, her sidearm raised. Inching toward the unmoving suspect, as if he were frozen and didn’t know what to do.
The Maddox brothers, rifles raised, slowly closed in from the top of the hill.
Fifty feet from Leach, she stopped and took a stand behind a boulder. Owen continued on. One foot in front of the other, surprisingly graceful for his size. He inched closer. Foot by silent foot. Moment by moment.
