Page 41 of Kent's Watch
“Okay, and thanks for putting that tracker on your body, and not your pack,” Mason said, and the two of them were able to make a sling for Mason to carry Zeke in front of him withoutdisturbing the knife sticking out. As Mason started to leave the area, Kent called to him. Mason scowled after he said what he did.
“Tell Marvin that Zeke is his number one priority. I know he’s going to want to join you in coming back to help look for Rita. If he gives you any hassle, then ask him what Rita would say or do if she found out he didn’t take care of her dog.”
“Shit, you know how to turn the knife, don’t you!” Mason shook his head and looked down at the dog. “No pun attended,” he told the animal, then shook his head. “Be careful and let us know if you find anything.”
“I will.” Kent stood there and watched as Mason started to leave again, but paused when the communications in their ear sprang to life.
“Guys, we hear you,” Asher said. “From what I heard, I agree, get the dog here, then we can go help Kent look for Rita. Marvin doesn’t have our communications, so he doesn’t know yet. We found Russell two minutes ago. It’s going to take a few minutes to get to him. Bishop is on the way, Mason, by the time you get here, we can load you guys up. Kent, you be careful. There’s a storm front coming in and should hit the area around two in the morning. You’ll want to do your best to get a bead on any tracks.”
“Thanks, Asher,” Kent said.
“Oh, and I have cell service here, I stepped away from Marvin and called Sheriff Jim to see about Vickers’s whereabouts. He’ll get back to me, then I’ll let you know when I can.”
“Thanks.” Kent nodded and watched as Mason quickly left the small clearing. After picking up the dish he’d set down for Tate to get a drink, he picked up Rita’s pack and strapped it to his chest. Loaded with both packs, he took Tate to the area where the drag marks started and told him to pick up the scent. It didn’t take more than fifteen seconds before Tate looked at Kent with his entire body wiggling. “Go,” Kent said, and they were offto look for Rita. He made sure the leash was extended for Tate to get several yards ahead of him on the trail as he kept to the tracks.
“I’m coming, Rita. I won’t let anything happen to you on my watch,” he whispered, and hoped like hell she was still alive and could hear his voice over the communications in her ear. He was glad the others remained silent. Well, not so silent, he was able to hear what they were saying as they worked to get Russell out of the situation he had gotten himself in. Hearing his buddies in his ear was like old times, and it kept him grounded as he went looking for his woman. During his trek, he imagined all sorts of torture he could give to Vickers when he found him. In his mind, it couldn’t be anyone except for Vickers who had harmed Rita.
CHAPTER 18
Rita awoke with a moan,but quickly squashed it when she felt the hard, uncomfortable ground beneath her, and her throbbing head. She couldn’t remember if she had ever had such a headache before. It took several minutes before she realized what had happened. She popped her eyes open looking for Zeke, and had to quickly shut them when it felt like she was going to lose the contents of her stomach. Before she could really look around to see where she was, and who had abducted her, she passed out again.
“Umph,” Rita muffled when she felt someone kick her feet. It felt like she could barely open her eyes when she felt it again. It took everything she had to pry them open, and when she did, she curled her lip at the man standing over her.
“Vickers.”
“Yep, bitch. Time to wake up.”
Rita struggled to sit up and realized her hands were tied behind her back. It took a lot of effort to get into a sitting position and Vickers was no help. She had to close her eyes several times to try to ward off the nausea when she moved. She cried out when her hair was pulled, and Vickers screamed in her face for her to move faster. Unable to help it, she leaned over andlost what little contents there were in her stomach. Who cared that it landed on his shoes!
“You fucking bitch!” Vickers screamed and slapped her across the face. The pain radiated from that impact to where she had been hit earlier. She threw up again, then slumped to the side, unconscious. She had no idea how long she was like that before she heard someone talking in her ear. It took a long time, at least five minutes to realize she heard Kent’s voice, but she couldn’t see him. That was when she realized she still had the communication device she’d been given before leaving to look for Russell, the missing hiker. She lay there with her eyes shut and listened to Kent as he talked. He told her he was coming for her, that Zeke was going to be okay, and why he knew that. It was a pleasant drone in her ear. The sound of his voice made her feel safe. She passed out again, and woke to being slapped in the face. This time there was nothing in her stomach to cause her to lose its contents, but she did end up dry heaving. She stared blurry-eyed at Vickers as he stood above her. With Kent’s voice in her ear, she wasn’t afraid.
“What do you want, Vickers?” she asked, and knew when Kent stopped talking that he had heard her. She didn’t know if he could hear her captor, but she wanted to get as much information to him as possible so he could find her. She also didn’t know what the range was on the unit. She figured the best thing would be was to get Vickers to talking. She cringed at his next statement.
“I’m going to end you, Bitch. I already killed your fucking dog, you are next.”
“W-w-what? What did I-I-I ever d-d-do to you? The first t-t-time I ever met you was the f-f-first day of training. I k-k-kicked you out of the p-p-program because you abused your d-d-dog.”
“Yeah, all that, but you owe me.”
“What t-t-the hell f-f-for?”
Kent stoppedin the middle of the trail Tate had led him on and had his dog pause. He stood there and listened to what Rita said, and swore. He immediately pulled his phone, sighing in relief when he was able to get a signal. He quickly dialed.
“Yo,” Darius said as he answered on the second ring.
“It’s Kent. I can hear Rita in my ear comms. Can you try to get my location from my tracker?”
“Okay, but what are you worried about?”
“She’s slurring her words, with the amount of blood at the scene of her abduction, I’m fearing she may have a concussion.”
“Got it,” Darius said, and Kent told him to halt. He had heard over the communication device in Rita’s ear that Vickers told her no one was looking for her.
“I don’t know for sure, but it sounds like Vickers has been monitoring our communications through the search and rescue radio. Based on what I just heard, I think he might have a police radio. Are the others still there with you?”
“No, only Sheriff Jim and Sparrow are here. Wait, Jake and Stone just pulled in.”
“Tell them to avoid using the police scanner as much as possible, I want to see if I can hear what he has to say, I can call you back with whatever information he imparts. Maybe it will help Jim out.”
