Page 23 of Landon

Landon walked to the kitchen table and opened the bag that he had brought with him. Inside was the money.

He pulled on a waterproof jacket, then slipped on the holster that would hold the two weapons he was taking with him. He hoped he wouldn’t need them but wasn’t sure about anything at this point.

“We’re leaving now,” Landon said. He had asked the police commissioner to keep a police officer there to watch Pamela, Horticia, Mike, and Roger, but with the worsening weather, he had a feeling that wouldn’t happen. Looking around at the four, he was glad Noel was going with him—he didn’t trust any of them.

Noel stood at the front door, her jacket on and a determined gleam in her eye. When he lifted a brow, she nodded.

With his hand on her back, they walked outside and over to the SUV Pamela had rented. Once inside and buckled, he looked over at Noel. “Ready?”

“Yeah, I’m ready.”

Landon couldn’t stop his lips from spreading into a grin. “All right. Let’s get the kids.”

11

As soon as Landon drove onto the highway and turned to the east, civilization fell away. The farther they traveled, the more the jungle pressed in close on either side, its thick, tangled greenery a stark contrast to the neatly manicured resort grounds. He talked to the Keepers with his ear radio, and Noel stayed quiet in the passenger seat. She could only hear his side, and that was very little as he listened to the intel coming in.

“The buildings they called from are a group of old, abandoned houses. I’ve gone back to look at the CCTV and can only see the closest camera that’s on the main road. I went back over the past day, not just the past hours.”

Landon knew it was crucial to know if others were around where the kids had been taken. “What are we facing?”

“There have been no vehicles on that lane other than an older SUV. It came out and headed west about four hours ago and returned about two hours ago.”

“Gotta be them. The question is how many are in that house. Just the three who came to the beach or more.”

“Working on it, Landon,” Dalton assured. “We’re combing through the back calls of Roger, Horticia, and Pamela.”

“It’s not Pamela,” Landon said, glancing over at Noel. Her head jerked around, her mouth open slightly. She waited, then nodded encouragingly.

“We’re working on who was on the inside,” Logan said. “But first, we’ve got to get you safely in and out with the kids.”

The wind had picked up, whipping through the towering palms. Their sturdy trunks stood resilient, but the fronds above danced wildly, thrashing and swaying in the growing storm. The earlier drizzle had turned into a steady rain, droplets pinging sharply against the windshield, blurring the view ahead.

Landon’s grip on the wheel tightened as he asked, “How long before the storm hits directly?”

Sadie’s voice crackled through the comms. “You’ve got a reprieve for a bit. While the storm is almost upon you, it has been downgraded to a tropical storm for Jamaica. It’s also on track to turn north and skirt by Florida. It’ll cause storm surges along the Florida coast, but Cole should be able to get down to you the day after tomorrow at the latest.”

Landon nodded, eyes fixed on the road. “We’ll be fine. Once we get the kids, we’ll head back to the resort and ride it out from there.”

“I have the area on satellite,” Sadie said. “It’s difficult to see due to the weather and the jungle overgrowth, but there are four buildings. Two appear to have no roof. But there are two, side by side, where they must be. Sending pictures now.”

While driving, he handed his tablet to Noel. “Hit the tab at the top. What do you see?”

She did as he asked with no questions, then reported, “It’s an aerial view of some buildings that are partially hidden by the trees. Their colors are faded, and two of them look very dark.”

“Those are the two missing their roofs.”

“Okay.” She nodded. “The one closest to the road in front is smaller. I have no idea how big they are.”

“That’s okay. I’ll do reconnaissance once we get there.”

“What if there are other people around? Oh God,” she moaned. “I didn’t even think of that. I was just thinking of three people, and I thought that with your former FBI skills and security company skills, you could just go in guns blazing.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle. “Believe me, Noel… going in guns blazing is the last thing I want to do.”

“Since we know where the call came from, could the police have assisted?”

“Under normal circumstances? Yes. But you saw that only two policemen were spared to come out and do a report on the kidnapping. One of those left, and even though the chief wanted one to stay to keep an eye on our three inside suspects, there’s no way to believe that he would do so. Catching a kidnapper would be good for the police here, but with the storm bearing down, they’ll have their hands full just trying to keep looters out of the shops.”

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