Page 46 of Lone Star Wanted
Kincade already had his phone out, thumbs flying to compose the text. “Jericho’s on it,” he relayed. “Told him to get to Marlene. He won’t go in alone. He’ll bring backup.”
Cassidy nodded, adrenaline still humming in her veins. “Let’s get Ginny to the hospital. We can get there faster than any ambulance would make it out here.”
Kincade moved to Ginny’s side and gently lifted her from the chair. She leaned into him, unsteady but conscious, her legs clearly weak from however long she’d been bound.
“We’ll make sure your daughter is safe,” he said, steadying her. “And we’ll figure out who’s behind this.”
Cassidy opened the door, eyes sweeping the area again as they stepped outside. She didn’t see anyone, but she kept her gun drawn. Kept watch around them. The last thing they needed was to be ambushed.
Kincade carried Ginny carefully, cradling her against him while he, too, fired glances around them. Cassidy opened the SUV’s rear door, and he laid the woman across the back seat. Ginny winced but didn’t cry out. She looked pale, exhausted, but conscious—and determined to stay that way.
Cassidy got into the passenger seat as Kincade climbed behind the wheel and started the engine. Gravel crunched under the tires as they pulled away from the trailer and headed toward the highway.
“This will get back to the cops,” Kincade said after a beat, keeping his eyes on the road. “I don’t see a way around it. She’ll need a full medical workup, and someone’s going to ask questions.”
Cassidy sighed. “Yeah. I know.”
She didn’t like the idea of Becker or Moran getting their hands on Ginny, not after everything they’d learned. But Ginny needed care, and they needed answers. They were out of time for secrets.
Cassidy turned in her seat to face the woman stretched out behind her. “Ginny… do you know who took you?”
Ginny shook her head slowly. “No. I never saw a face. I was leaving the diner… back parking lot. Late. Someone came up behind me and hit me with a stun gun. Next thing I knew, I was in a vehicle, hands and feet tied, hood over my head.” Her voice cracked. “I didn’t know where I was until I woke up in that trailer.”
Cassidy reached back, gently touching Ginny’s arm. “You’re safe now.”
Ginny’s voice broke again, soft and ragged. “But is Marlene okay?”
“I’m sure she is,” Cassidy murmured, but it was lip service, something meant to keep Ginny calm. She had no idea if Marlene was all right, and she needed to find out.
Cassidy pulled out her phone and tapped Marlene’s contact, holding it to her ear as the line rang once… twice… three times.
No answer.
She tried again. Nothing.
“Come on, Marlene,” she whispered under her breath. “Pick up.” But Marlene didn’t.
She ended the call with her jaw clenching even more than it already had been. Cassidy didn’t want to think the worst had happened, didn’t want to believe the warning Ginny had given them had come too late. But her gut twisted with dread.
Kincade’s voice cut into her thoughts. “Ginny… was anything familiar about the man guarding you? A voice, a tattoo, the way he walked?”
Ginny lay still, her eyes fluttering open again. “No,” she replied after several moments. “I didn’t get a good look at him until you took the tape off. Before that, I only saw shadows. Heard his voice a few times, but it was rough. Angry.”
Cassidy didn’t respond, but the frustration rolled through her. They needed a lead. A name. Something.
But Ginny didn’t have it.
And the trailer? That might have been their best shot at finding some kind of link to the person or persons behind this. Now that the police would be crawling all over it though, she had a bad feeling about how much possible evidence would actually make it to the right people. Or if it would even survive the chain of custody.
She stared out the windshield, her mind racing, when she caught Kincade out of the corner of her eye. He was already whispering a voice text into his phone.
A moment later, he glanced at her. “I just sent word to Ruby. Told her to get a team out to the trailer before the cops do.”
Cassidy felt a rush of relief. “Good.”
If anyone could preserve what mattered and uncover what others might try to hide, it was Ruby Maverick’s people.
The hospital came into view just as the sky dipped into the first shades of dusk, the sun stretching golden-orange across the Hill Country horizon. Kincade pulled into the emergency drive and stopped near the sliding entrance doors. The automatic lights buzzed on overhead, casting the SUV in a sterile white glow.
