Page 84 of Lost Lake
“What about tailing you?” Jude asked. “Couldn’t we both follow close enough to see what’s going on, but not close enough to be in the fray should something go down?”
El didn’t have time to sit and ponder his request. Not when time ticked down to finding this man and child still on the trail. “Ride with me. I’ll call Mina on the way, and she can decide.”
“Fair enough.” Gabe jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Let us grab our vests, and we’ll meet you at the car.”
“Sounds good.”
As observers, they wouldn’t need their vests, but if it made Gabe feel better to put one on as if he was in the rescue and take-down, she wouldn’t stop him. They all needed to do whatever they needed to do to find this child alive.
Gabe and Jude made their way past the witness sitting and bobbing her knee, a uniform deputy seated at her side. Gabe started down the unlit trail behind the SWAT team made up of six additional deputies including Mina, El, and Ulrich in the mix. The trail wasn’t an official one like he’d expected to find as part of this highly groomed park. It was nothing more than a dirtpath packed down hard in a hilly forested area, really only wide enough for two people to walk at a time.
But deputies hauling gear, their rifles at the ready as they advanced on the trail, had to move single file. Gabe and Jude, packing only their handguns, took the rear. Gabe wished he was carrying his semi-automatic rifle, but he wouldn’t be allowed to use it even if he did have it.
Their restrictions could discourage him, but he wouldn’t let them. Not after Mina had cleared him and Jude to participate, but only by taking up the rear. If the suspect and Lucy were found, they would stand back while law enforcement rescued her. The most important point was rescuing Lucy. Secondary, making sure the charges held against the creep who had taken her.
“I feel naked with only my sidearm,” Jude whispered.
That got him a sharp look from Deputy Price. Mina had instructed everyone to use hand signals only, but Jude was ever the maverick. Marched to the beat of his own drum. That only worked in a law enforcement environment if you were an exceptional officer, which he’d been at the FBI.
They continued to move silently up and down the dark trail. An owl hooted in the distance, wind rushed through the trees, but otherwise they were surrounded by silence. The moon hung behind heavy clouds, the morning sun just thinking about rising above the horizon. It would be helpful if they could turn on their headlamps, but they couldn’t alert the suspect to their approach.
The leaders rounded a curve and disappeared. Price suddenly flipped up his arm like a stop sign.
Gabe and Jude came to a stop. Had they spotted something? Was it go-time? Time for him to hold Lucy again?
His body flushed with a heavy emotion he’d never experienced. Fear for Lucy? Thankfulness for finally findingher? He didn’t know what it was, but he didn’t like it. Not when it weakened his knees, and collapse seemed imminent.
El appeared at the curve and made her way back to Gabe. “Abandoned cabin ahead,” she said, her voice low. “Could be where they have Lucy. Mina is taking a close-up look now, and we’ll breach the building, but this is as far as you go until we clear it. Understood?”
Gone was the woman he’d come to love, replaced by the strong detective. In control and in charge. Expecting agreement and cooperation. Nothing else would do.
He gave a sharp nod, and honoring the directive to be quiet, he hopefully transmitted his respect for her in his expression.
“I’ll come back for you when you can join us.”
He nodded again.
She looked at Jude. “This goes for you, too. No cowboy moves. Lucy’s life could depend on you following directions.”
Jude gave her a salute. He didn’t do it in sarcasm, but respect.
“After Mina formulates a plan, we’ll go in as soon as everyone’s been instructed. The path ahead doesn’t have any cover. If you want to keep tabs on the op, you can slip into the underbrush on the south side, but make sure you aren’t seen.”
Gabe nodded again.
Surprisingly, she squeezed his arm. “If Lucy is here, we’ll bring her home alive. I promise.”
Gabe’s knees weakened more, but he forced his shoulders back in an attempt to look like he was in control. No way he wanted her to send him packing. He gave a thumbs-up.
She released his arm and spun, then disappeared once again around the curve.
Gabe leaned close to Jude. “We wait until they move, and then we get that better look.”
“You know it.” Jude gave one of his mischievous grins that he always had when they were about to see action. As an FBI agent and profiler, he hadn’t often had the need to draw his weapon. As much as he appreciated the gravity of finding someone like Lucy, he also liked the adrenaline rush that came with rescuing them.
The deputies moved ahead and rounded the curve. Gabe quickly slipped into the trees and underbrush. He wanted to plunge in and forge ahead, but he couldn’t risk being seen and ruining the op.
He moved cautiously; branches scraped at his arms and face. So what? Minor compared to what Lucy had suffered. He kept going until he reached a place where he could see ahead but not be seen. He lifted the night vision binoculars hanging around his neck and zoomed in on the structure huddling in a small stand of trees.
