Serena’s heart nearly beat out of her chest, and she gulped massive amounts of air. Her feet seemed to be flying easily across the rocks and crevices. She knew what was at stake—her life.
I’m not about to hand it over to these assholes. Regardless of how messed up my life is right now, it’s my life, and I plan on living it for a good long time
. She took a quick look behind her to see if anyone had followed and, to her dismay, she saw one of them wincing. Barefooted, he made a great attempt to close the gap between them. Something snapped in her mind, and she finally recognized the jerk—Steve.
If only I could have remembered him earlier
!
She turned back around and forged ahead, more determined than ever to lose him. She weaved through the forest in a dizzying path strewn with underbrush and rocks, crevices and cacti.
I’m not about to make this easy on good ol’ Steve
. He’d have to bail soon. She quickly glanced back only to find that Steve had found another way through, and had gained a lot of ground.
Damn it
!
What the hell is it going to take to shake this asshole
?
“You might as well give up, Serena,” he taunted. “You know I’m gonna getcha in the end anyway.”
She had run out of options, out of forest, and out of breath. Her energy level plummeted, as the initial adrenaline rush faded.
This is not good. Not good at all
. Steve’s words weren’t helping at all, either.
A sense of hopelessness invaded her thoughts until suddenly, Serena saw a way out. A clump of trees sat off to the right of her path about a hundred yards. She could hide within them if she could make it there without him seeing. She’d have to drop to the forest floor on all fours and crawl her way there. So she did, and prayed that he was too preoccupied with his predicament of being barefooted throughout this chase to notice her dropping out of sight. She knew she wouldn’t come away from this without a scratch. Her feet were well protected, but not her legs, arms, or hands. But all the nicks, scrapes, and bruises she would collect would be worth it if she lost him.
After what seemed like hours scrambling over rock and forest debris, Serena made it to the cluster of trees. In this particular instance, her size certainly gave her the upper hand, as she curled into a tight ball at the base of those trees and became virtually invisible. Then the hard part began. She had to wait.
Did he see me
?
Did I actually lose him
?
***
“Hey guys, wait!” Raphael called out to Gabriel and Kemuel. They stopped in their tracks.
“What is it?” Gabriel asked.
“Something’s changed. It feels as though Serena’s on the move again. Her heart rate is increasing dramatically and there’s fear and anger. Shit! I hope Chappo’s guys haven’t found her. I don’t sense a struggle.” He closed his eyes, trying hard to see where she went in his mind. “No, it’s more like running. Damn it! Where the hell is she? She’s in the mountains, but
which
freakin’ mountains?”
Raphael quickly became unglued. “This is all my fault, all of it! She’d be safe right now if I’d come clean from the beginning. Shit, what are we going to do? We’ve got to find her. We’ve got to get to her before that madman does!”
“All right, Raphael, calm down, brother. You need a clear head for this. Now I suggest we get over to her shop right now and see if anyone there has seen her and knows where she went.” Gabriel pushed him toward his car. Flying would be faster, but during the day, a bad choice for staying inconspicuous.
“Yeah, yeah, you’re right.” Raphael’s mind cleared from the initial shock. “Someone there has to know where she went. They must keep a log of some kind as a safeguard, you would think.”
Gabriel drove as quickly as traffic would allow, and in a matter of minutes, they were pulling into the Sikes and Sounds of Sedona parking lot. Doors flung open and the three mammoth men burst into the shop.
“Callie! Callie!” Raphael called out, looking around the front office area. A woman he didn’t know walked by and he grabbed her by the arm. “Hey, do you know where Serena is?”
“No, she hasn’t been here for a long while. Would you mind taking your paws off me, man, before I have to scream for security?”
“I’m sorry…I’m sorry,” Raphael grumbled, releasing her at once, and softening his voice continued. “We’re actually security, Brethren Security of Sedona. We work for Serena. Do you know where Callie is? We must speak with her. It’s urgent.”
“She should be coming back from a tour any minute. You can wait for her over there.” She pointed to the few chairs that were set up against the far left wall and made a quick exit.
“Damn it, I hate waiting,” he muttered as he chose to pace the floor instead. “And the longer we wait the less chance we have of saving Serena.”
“If Serena was here,” Gabriel pondered, “why didn’t that woman know it?”
“Maybe she wanted to keep it secret for some reason,” offered Kemuel.
“Callie would know…. Oh! Here she is! She’s just pulling up!”
Raphael raced outside.
“Thanks for using Sikes and Sounds of Sedona. I hope to see you back for more!” she said as she stepped out of her Jeep and slammed straight into Raphael. “Oof! Oh, hi Raphael! What are you doing here? Hi, Kemuel. Long time, no see.” She gave him a wink.
“Too long, I’d say,” Kemuel replied with a wicked grin. Raphael whacked him in the gut and he immediately turned serious.
“Callie, I don’t mean to be abrupt, but we’ve got to know if Serena showed up here today and where she went afterwards.”
She hesitated. He could tell she knew something.
“I believe something terrible is happening to her.” Raphael squeezed her arm and stared deeply into her eyes. “Now please, if you know anything, please tell me.”
“Well, she was here for quite a while, hiding in her office, catching up on work. Nobody knew but me. Then she left. That’s all I know, I swear.”
“Can I have a look in her office? Maybe she left some clue as to where she planned on going.”
“Sure, right this way.” Callie ushered the three men into Serena’s office. Raphael went straight to her desk littered with maps and other assorted papers. Callie leaned around his shoulder. “Huh, looks like she’s working on a new route to take tourists. But this one here, this is an old route.” Callie had picked up a brochure from on top of a file folder.
“This is one nice hike, challenging but on the shorter side. Beautiful vistas and places to stop along the way. I had this filed away in the cabinet. I wonder why she took it out. Unless….”
“Unless she decided to go on a short jaunt before nightfall. You’re amazing, Callie!” He kissed her soundly on the cheek. “Thanks a million! Gabriel, Kemuel, let’s go!”
***
This is ‘do or die’ time. There’s no place left for me to run, no other place to hide. If Steve finds me, it’s all over
.Heat poured off her in waves while all around, she heard twigs snapping underfoot. But she couldn’t tell if it were an animal stalking about or the bastard himself, nor did she know how much more of this cat and mouse game she could stand. The crackling and crunching grew louder, and she stayed perfectly still.
“Finders, keepers!” he whispered wickedly, and Serena tore away from her hiding spot by the roots of a Juniper tree.
“No!” Serena shrieked in utter terror when he grabbed her, and she fought to free herself from his clutches with all her might.
But he was much stronger than Wheezer had been and wrestled her to the ground. Her nose twitched as a sweet-smelling rag closed in over her nose and mouth.
“Nighty-night, bitch.”
She struggled, twisting her head back and forth to free herself. For a moment Raphael’s face flashed through her mind. She blacked out.
***
“Serena!” Raphael wailed, stopping Gabriel and Kemuel in their tracks.
“What the hell?” Kemuel muttered as he turned around to find Raphael on his knees by the curb, holding onto a parking meter. He ran to his side, with Gabriel close behind to help him up. “Raphael, what’s the matter?”
“It’s Serena! I can’t feel her! I just felt this stabbing fear, terror, and then nothing. Absolutely nothing! Something’s happened to her. I know it. I have this awful feeling they got to her, man. And now we don’t have a freakin’ clue where she is. Or if she’s even alive.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Jared jumped madly on Serena’s bed. “Get up! Get up! It’s time for school! Get up!” If he jumped any harder, she’d bounce right out of her bed. As it stood, her entire body felt like a tossed salad, and her mouth as dry as the desert itself. She groaned something inaudible and tried opening her eyes a crack. Everything blurred and colors swam dizzily before her, so she immediately closed her eyes again.
Completely disoriented, Serena stirred. She heard men’s voices, but what they were saying she couldn’t decipher.
This isn’t my bed, and Jared hasn’t jostled me about
. It had only been a damned dream. She lay on the back seat of a car that had to be going over rough terrain. Something stuffed her mouth making it impossible for her to swallow or speak, and her hands and feet were bound. She tried once more to open her eyes for a look around, but waves of nausea took over as soon as she lifted her head but an inch. Blackness swamped her again.
***
Serena had gone to the Cookstove Trail. This much they knew, and going there could be their best shot at finding her. All three Brethren ran to Gabriel’s car, and as fast as lightning, they were off. The sun had begun setting already, and precious light faded rapidly, just like Raphael’s patience.
“Can’t this thing go any faster, Gabe? I’m nearly out of my mind here!”
“I’m already going ninety, brother. You know, it’s dim enough. Get out and fly the rest of the way. We’ll meet you there, all right?”
“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Raphael tore off his shirt to expose his wings, rolled down his window, and climbed out onto the roof of the car. Standing briefly, he shot up like a shooting star and was gone.
He arrived at mile marker 387, precisely where the brochure tells tourists to stop and park. Precisely where Serena’s Jeep now sat, empty. He could see on his descent that her backpack still sat in the back seat, which meant she had come out of the forest, and probably looked to leave when something happened. He could also see tire tracks left behind about fifty feet from her Jeep and again around it leading back onto the road.
Serena had been taken.
Gabriel pulled his car up behind the Jeep. Its bright headlights failed to stir Raphael, sitting on the back bumper, head slumped in his hands.
“Well, what did you find, Raf?” asked Kemuel.
“Not her,” he answered numbly.
“But this is her vehicle, right? And that’s her backpack?”
He nodded. “She’s been taken. If my hunch is correct, to Dr. Chappo. They had to have done something to her, maybe knocked her out, for me not to be able to sense her at all. Gabriel, you mentioned he lives somewhere near Tortilla Flat, right?”
“Yes, he’s got acres and acres of land out that way.”
“That’s where we go next.” Raphael stood and made ready for flight. Gabriel quickly reached out and held him down.
“Now wait a second. We can’t go in there half-cocked. You know that. SOP says we call in everyone and make a plan to penetrate and extract.”
“Every minute we spend talking and planning is another minute she’s with a mad man!”
“So you’d rather go in blind and risk her life than go in with a solid plan? Come on, brother, you’re not thinking clearly. Do I have to knock you out, too, so you don’t do anything stupid?” Kemuel stepped right up into Raphael’s space and looked him square in the eyes.
“Aaahh!” Raphael pushed Kemuel back, roared with frustration, and slammed his fist into the side of the Jeep, causing it to flip over. He shook out his battered hand and watched as it healed instantly.
“Feel better?” Kemuel righted the Jeep back onto all four tires.
“Yes, I do!”
“Come on, let’s gather up the team. We got some breaking and entering to plan. I’m sure Michael and Emma will let us meet at their place. They’re a lot closer to Chappo’s territory. Why don’t you call them Raf?”
“Yeah, sure,” he answered absently. The others walked back to the car in silence. Raphael caught up with them a few moments later.
“Hey, Michael said of course come down. If you don’t mind, I’m gonna fly. I don’t think I can stand being cooped up in a car for three hours. Not that I don’t love your company and all….”
“By all means fly, brother, fly! There are too many of us to fly together right now, so I’ll ditch the car when it’s fully dark. By the time we meet you at Michael’s, make sure your head’s on straight. Got it?” Gabriel demanded.
“Got it, head on straight, ready for battle,” Raphael promised.
And let just one of Chappo’s assholes try to stand in my way of getting Serena back safely.
They’ll be wishing for death
.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“You’ve done very well, men, very well indeed,” Dr. Chappo gushed as Steve limped into the foyer, followed by Wheezer, who now carried Serena. “When you called me, I couldn’t believe it, wouldn’t believe it until I saw her myself. Come, come. Bring her through this way to the new suite. You can rest her on the bed in there for now. I’ll have my nurse take care of everything else.” He led them through a dizzying maze of hallways. There were no pictures hanging on the wall, nothing to help a person find his way or to orient himself to a particular direction.
“Uh, Dr. Chappo, sir. Are we near this suite yet?” Steve struggled for air. “We’ve been walking for like five minutes at least already.”
“My apologies. I forget sometimes that others are not as fortunate as I am,” he mocked. “Having this electric wheelchair has its advantages. Yes, her suite is over here on the left. Let me open the door for you.” A soft clicking sounded as he pushed a button, and the door to the suite slid open. “Wheezer, if you would…?” He directed, pointing to the bed centered against the longest wall of the room. The exhausted thug laid Serena’s unconscious body down.