Page 35 of Gone
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“They burned the cash,” said Miller, staring at the fire. “Why the fuck would they burn the cash, bags and all?”
“They didn’t,” said Trak. He held the flashlight to the dirt floor of the cave. “Two men here and here. Back, closer to the fire, are three sets of prints. A woman and two children.”
“Shit,” muttered Nine. “They didn’t know what they were burning.”
“The triggers must have been turned off,” frowned Jean. “If they weren’t hit by the chemicals, the remote detonation of those was turned off by someone. Sly? Code? We need to find out if one of these men has a relative, girlfriend, something that might have worked for Grizzly Security.”
“On it.”
“Zeke? Let’s go,” said Trak, heading to the front of the cave.
“Where are you two going?” asked Gaspar.
“We’re going to get ahead of the convicts and create a wall between them and the girls,” said Trak.
“I’m going with you,” said Clay. “I can keep up. You know I can.” Trak and Zeke nodded at him as they left the others inside the cave.
“We have to get to those men before they find that woman and her nieces. Code? Can we use drones to search the area ahead of us?”
“We’re trying to get them off the ground, but we’re getting a lot of interference. As soon as I can, I’ll send a few up and see what we can find.”
“Shit, this place is working against us at every turn,” frowned Gaspar.
“We have to get moving. If Trak, Zeke, and Clay find the girls before them, I’ll feel better. But until we hear that, we have to find those men.”
“We’ve got an idea,” said Kane, walking toward the seniors with Dex and Spook. “In the drop from the team yesterday was a small raft. The three of us can set off on the river, get ahead of the group, and hopefully view from below to see if we can find them.”
“That river is out of control,” frowned Nine. “If you guys flip…”
“We won’t,” said Kane. “We’re all trained, we know what to do. We’ve got small life vests. Look, we have to get ahead of those men and hopefully find the woman and kids. If we see them, we can let you know how far up they are and where the woman is. Trak, Zeke, and Clay can get to the woman and kids. You guys can close in on the men.”
“Kane, it’s fucking dangerous, dude,” said Ghost.
“I know, but that woman and those little girls have no idea who’s coming for them. They won’t hesitate to kill them, you know that. Frank and Tommy are going to be pissed off that they burned their money. Now, there may have been some left, but it doesn’t look like much. They’ll be carrying whatever was left. That should slow them down enough for you guys to get to them.”
Nine looked at Gaspar, Ghost, and Ian, the concern on his face saying that this was a stupid idea. But he also knew they had no choice. The priority was now saving that woman and her nieces.
“Okay. Alright,” he nodded. “Let’s lower you guys down the ledge, and you can pull the release cord on the raft. I sure hope you know what you’re doing. This is crazy. Will you three even fit inside?”
“The raft is a new model,”said Sly.“Sorry, we should have told you that. It’s reinforced by a high-tenacity, synthetic fabric base coated with durable, airtight rubber or plastic. The base fabric allows it to stretch to unreasonable lengths, and the coating offers protection against rocks, waves, and other things in the environment.”
“English, please,” frowned Ghost.
“It’s strong. Geez, weren’t you a SEAL?”
“A SEAL, yes. A geek, no.”
“We can do this, Ghost,” said Kane, looking at Ghost, then the others. Nine nodded at the men.
“Let’s go. Get them into the raft, and we need to get moving. So help me if anything happens to you guys, I will never forgive you.” Kane laughed.
“Neither will our wives,” he grinned. He slapped Nine’s back, giving a head nod. “Don’t worry. We can do this.”
With the rain stopped and the river running full, it would be easy to get downriver. The trick was lowering the men with the raft into the water. Finding a place where they could safely go down on ropes, pull the cord on the raft, and then hold steady until they boarded was the real trick.
With Kane down first, he pulled the cord, and the raft inflated.
