Page 16 of Covert Obsession

She was quite familiar with his handbook and would not be moved by his pleas to protect her, or insist he was her only hope at saving Lydia. No one on her team got to be a loner. The reason they had succeeded at so many missions was because of their connection with each other. Each of them had a specialty, and together, they were nearly invincible.

None of them could see their own blind spots, though, including her. There were things she and Moe needed to work out, and this was the tip of the iceberg. She was committed to doing that, and once they resolved this operation, she was all in. Moe Bouchard wasn’t going to know what hit him when she was done.

They secured the horses in a small clearing a hundred yards from the entrance to the rear of the central mineshaft. They needed to cross an open expanse of ground to access it, the hillside having been excavated by strip mining, and leaving layers of steps around the central pit where the mine lay deep underground. The ramp to and from it, where carts of rocks had been hauled out and up to dump trucks to haul them to a processing facility was still intact but sported huge ruts and potholes. The opening to the mine had been boarded up, but several loose strips of wood had become dislodged and left gaps large enough to crawl through.

Because it had been abandoned for so long, Mother Nature had reclaimed most of the space. Trees and brush created hiding places for them and a change came over Moe as they crept forward, taking care to stay hidden. Every few feet he held up his fist to make her stop. Before they entered the clearing, he used binoculars to scan the area for security. They were a hundred yards higher than the mine, and another west of the entrance.

“No guards or cameras,” he murmured.

He swept the entire area, raising the binoculars to scan the sky as well. The entrance led to deep holes and tunnels and was centered inside the quarry, which hugged three sides of it like a horseshoe.

Shifting to ease the weight on her knees, she stilled when he grabbed her hand. With a finger, he pointed to the northwest and handed her the binoculars. Bringing them to her face, she adjusted the viewfinder, searching, but couldn’t find what he was worried about. “What? I don’t see anything,” she whispered.

He gestured for her to look again, keeping his voice low. “Dump truck.”

Adjusting the viewfinder, she zeroed in on a huge monstrosity with a flat tire. As she watched, she saw the slightest movement near the rear tailgate. A man in a gray jacket leaned against the edge of it, nearly invisible in the lingering shadows.

Her nose caught the faintest smell of cigarette smoke, too, and he must have been wearing a ring, because the barely there sun caught on it as he pulled the stick from his mouth and tossed it to the ground. She heard his boot on the gravel, smashing out the tip.

He strode toward a trailer in the distance, and she got a better peek at him. Flak vest over a thermal shirt, combat boots, and camo pants. Slung across his shoulder was an M4, and he scanned the area as he walked.

She logged every detail. The way he carried the weapon at the ready, along with his general height and width, suggested he was over six foot and well-trained in combat. His face was harsh, a scar ran down the side of his left cheek. She caught a glimpse of what appeared to be tattoos on his neck.

The crackle of his walkie-talkie filtered up to them. He checked his watch and replied to the caller. “This is Killjoy, over. All is quiet.”

Someone responded on the other end, but he was already moving away and too far for her to hear. When he got to the trailer, he marched around the entire building before taking up his spot in front of the steps.

She handed back the binoculars, and they stayed silent, crouching along the edge of the woods for another few minutes. Moe scanned the place again and again, always coming back to the guard. Once satisfied, he drew Parker deep into the bushes away from the path. “We can’t risk crossing that open ground. He’ll see us for sure.”

“Lydia could be in that trailer.”

Moe shook his head. “Nah.”

“How do you know?”

“Did you see any vehicles near it?”

“No.”

“If they stashed her in there, the van or another escape vehicle would be close in case law enforcement, or someone like us, shows up. My guess is, they’ve hidden the van inside the caves, and another at the exit of one of the tunnels. She’s in there.” He pointed to the mine. “I bet my last pound on it.”

“So what do you want to do?”

He began pulling off his right boot. “My original plan.”

“You’re not going in alone. I thought we established that.”

He dropped the boot and wiggled his socked foot, then tugged off the other. “We did.”

“What are you doing?”

“Your boots will make too much noise on that gravel. You have to ditch them.”

“What about snakes? What about what’s inside the cave? You can’t be serious.”

He shrugged. “If you want to come, you’re going to have to risk it. It’s dangerous enough for us to get to that entrance without making unnecessary noise.”

Was he playing her again? True, she’d heard the guard crunching rocks as he’d returned to the trailer. Sighing, she jammed her toes against the heel of the opposite foot, working at removing her boot. In the past few hours, on the back of Yandi, her feet had swollen enough that it seemed impossible. She had to resort to bending down to yank the first off.

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