Chapter 9

I sat down beside Meg who I notice already seems different after her time with Mark. While she nibbled at a slice of pizza I asked how she felt about helping to house the overflow crowd until we can make more practical arrangements. Before she could respond it occurred to me to ask, “Do any of the new girls know you?”

She blushed and nodded. She said, “Two of them ... well, maybe three of them. Do you see that redhead over there?”

I looked where she indicated. It was hard to miss the redhead. She’s really hot. She’s sitting slightly away from everyone, listening but not joining in the conversations.”

I nodded and replied, “Yes. She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”

Meg lowered her voice and said, “I think she’s one of them, one of the criminals. I’ve seen her before. She was with some bigwig from the organization at a gathering Carter took me to in Charlotte. It’s possible she was there because she’s a slave and couldn’t say no. But that wasn’t the impression I got from her. I don’t know if she saw me there. She hasn’t seemed to look directly at me, just a passing glance as she looks around. But she doesn’t seem to recognize me. You better watch her, and don’t let her near a phone.”

I put my arm around her shoulders and gave her a big squeeze. I can tell by the look on her face she’s surprise and she appreciates the small token of affection. I resolved to try and pay more attention to her from now on. She needs it.

I’m starting to get concerned. It seems like the guys should have shown up by now. Or maybe time is just passing very, very slowly. I went over and asked Lee if he’s getting concerned. He put his hand on my shoulder and said, “I know it won’t do any good to tell you not to worry. But you really don’t need to. If they’re taking longer to get the job done that just means it took longer to get the job done. They had to look around when they got to the site. They probably had to neutralize some guards. They had to work out a plan on the spot to get those women out of there safely. I expect if they ran into a problem they’d have called you for back up.”

I chuckled and shot him the bird. But then something occurred to me. They might need a vehicle to transport the women!

Lee rolled his eyes and said, “You’re just dying to go over there. Don’t. You can’t go barging in on something like that without screwing it up. And I suppose the bastards holding them have something to transport the women in. Stop worrying. If they need anything they know our numbers.”

All I could do was tilt my head back and growl helplessly. Then I remembered something else. I said, “Don’t look at her, but there’s a very hot redhead sitting over there by Tawney. Meg recognizes her and thinks she’s one of them. Should we just watch her or do you think it would be a good idea to drug her and try to learn something from her?”

Lee glanced around the patio without seeming to look at anyone in particular and said, “Wow! She is hot! And she doesn’t look nearly as traumatized as the others, does she?”

“I don’t think so, either. The problem with just keeping an eye on her is there are so many of us now it would be easy to lose track. I don’t want to just grab her in front of everyone. These girls are upset enough now. How about if you go in like you’re going to get a beer or something. I’ll see if I can get her to help get some more wine. If she doesn’t get suspicious she might see it as a good way to get access to a phone. What do you think?”

He shrugged and said, “As good a plan as any. Let’s do it.”

Lee picked up an empty beer bottle and casually walked inside. I started circulating until I got to the redhead. I asked her how she’s doing and made small talk for a minute or two before asking if she’d mind helping me get a few more bottles of wine. She said she’d be happy to help and she needs to go inside to use the bathroom anyway.”

I gathered up several empty wine bottles and she grabbed a few more. I led the way to the kitchen, talking about all the excitement around here lately and how crowded the house is getting. We set our empty bottles on the counter and that was when Lee moved in behind her and grabbed her, pulling her arms behind her back. I noticed he was ready with a zip tie in his back pocket but she was really putting up a fight and he couldn’t reach it.

I took the zip tie from his pocket, smiled sweetly and asked, “Would you like a little help?”

He chuckled and growled, “Smart ass. Yeah. Do you know how to work a piece of plastic?”

He held her wrists together while I secured them with the zip tie. She stopped struggling and sounded all weepy when she asked, “Why are you doing this?! I thought you set us free!”

Lee checked to make certain the zip tie was tight and pushed her down into a chair. I asked her name. She responded, “Bonney. Please, what’s going on?”

I smiled at Lee and said, “Bonney. I think that’s a great name for a redhead! Do you know where Perry has the stuff?”

“Yeah. I’ll get it. Watch her. She’s a lot stronger than she looks.”

Bonney kept up the victim act until Lee returned with the medicine bottle and the shot glass. While he poured out a shot she said, “You don’t need that. I’ll answer your questions.”

I smiled and said, “Yeah. But with this stuff you’ll answer them honestly.”

With a great deal of difficulty, Lee managed to get two shots down her throat.

Lee and I each took one of her arms, lifted her out of the chair and took her to the small den off of the foyer. I haven’t been in this room since this whole thing started. I didn’t realize the guys have been storing some of their gear in here. Lee went through one of the bags and pulled out some kind of electronic wand thingy. He turned it on and slowly scanned Bonney’s body. In response to the curious look on my face he explained, “It detects any electronic device emitting a signal. If she’s wearing a tracker or has any kind of communication device, it will detect it.”

It was a huge relief when the scanner didn’t detect anything. But I smiled and asked, Don’t you think you should do a good, thorough search to make sure?”

Lee laughed and said, “I can’t say that doesn’t sound like a good idea. And you know I’d enjoy it. But I guess we can wait fifteen minutes or so. We’ll learn more that way and I won’t end up with a hard on.”

I shook my head and said, “You’re just too nice a guy. On the other hand, she might have enjoyed a thorough hand search.”

“Maybe after we find out what she’s really doing here.”

Lee secured Bonney to the chair with a piece of rope. As soon as he finished I said, “I think I’m going to go for a ride. I don’t like the idea of riding around town with those bales in the back of the van but it’s just been too long. I can’t hang around here and make believe everything’s alright any longer.”

“Don’t do it, Jenna. If they need us they’ll call us. You never want anyone barging into the middle of an operation. Things tend to get confusing enough without that.”

I glared at Lee and growled, “I hate you!!!”

He laughed and suggested we get comfortable until the drug kicks in. I was just about to sit down when I had a sudden scary thought. I said, “Lee! If those assholes were devious enough to use a plant, they might have thought to put a locater device on one of the other girls without her even knowing it!”

Lee suddenly looked a lot less cool, calm and collected. She exclaimed, “Shit! I should have thought of that! We need to separate them out and scan them all.”

I looked down at just the right time to see the smug look on Bonney’s face. I nodded at her and said, “Maybe we should put a bullet in her before we leave the room. I think she’s trouble.”

With a straight face, Lee looked down at her and said, “I think you’re right. Watch her while I get my gun and put the silencer on it.”

That wiped the smug grin off of her face. She exclaimed, “No! Please. It’s on Rachel. She doesn’t know it. It’s sewn into her collar.”

Lee asked, “What’s the range and who has the detector?”

“A guy named Wright has it. I don’t know the range but they seemed confident they could locate you.”

I murmured, “And that fucking van is sitting right out front!”

I turned back to Bonney and asked, “Wright and how many men?”

“Just Wright and one other man, a driver. They’re job is to find you and send for reinforcements.”

I told Lee I was going to get Rachel and hurried back out to the patio. I stepped outside and called out, “Rachel! Which of you lovely young ladies is Rachel?”

A young woman standing right beside me turned, smiled and said, “You startled the hell out of me. I’m Rachel.”

“Can I talk to you inside for a minute, please.”

“Sure.”

We went in and I led her to the den. She took a step back when she saw Bonney and asked, “What’s going on. I thought you said...”

“I’m sorry but we’re in a hurry. One of my friends recognized Bonney and said she’s is probably a plant. She has admitted it and she said there’s a tracking device in your collar. We need to get that out. Do you mind?” Not that it matters.

I went behind Rachel and lifted her collar while Lee crossed the room with the scanner. Before he got there I said, “I think I found it but bring your doohickey over and let’s make sure.”

A quick scan verified that the weird looking button under her collar is a tracker. Lee handed me his pocket knife and I removed it. I returned the knife and thanked Rachel for cooperating. I asked her to go back out with the others but to please not say anything for now. No sense upsetting a lot of already traumatized women. She nodded and left the room. As soon as she was gone I said, “I can’t back up a car worth a damn. Would you put that fucking van in the garage?”

He nodded and said, “Good idea. I don’t suppose you have any plans for the tracker?”

I started to say no but before the word left my mouth something occurred to me. I smiled and said, “I just might. There’s an empty house just down the street. How about if we take the tracker down there and put it somewhere they can find it. When they show up we introduce ourselves and ask them not to let anyone know where we are ... or something like that.”

Lee laughed and said, “I love your devious mind. No wonder Perry fell in love with you.”

I smiled and said, “I don’t know for sure it’s my mind he has the hots for. I think he’s aiming lower.”

Lee stopped smiling and said, “No, sweetheart. You’re certainly a hottie. But it would take more than that to draw his interest. I’ve been on his team for over three years and I’ve never seen him let anyone go along on a mission. And not to sound sexist or anything, but I would have bet everything I’ll ever own he wouldn’t let a woman, a totally untrained woman, go along on a mission. It just wouldn’t happen! More to the point, in all that time I’ve never seen him fall for a girl before; but sweetheart, he has it bad for you!”

I tried not to let him see how happy that makes me. I got serious and said, “Let’s get something to shoot with and get out there. Much as I like that little revolver, I don’t think we should be using an unsilenced weapon in the neighborhood. You don’t suppose you could find another one of those silenced ones in here do you?”

He went to an overnight bag on the floor and pulled one out. He checked to make sure it’s loaded, pulled out a spare magazine and handed them to me. As I took it from his hand he smiled and said, “From what I hear, you need to aim slightly to the left.” Then he went into the garage to move the van inside.

It’s silly. But that little joke kind of relieved the tension. Lee dug his weapon out of his pack while I went to the patio door and waved Penney inside. She didn’t see the gun in my hand until she stepped inside. She gasped, stepped back and asked, “What’s going on?”

“Come with me.”

I led her to the den and said, “She’s a plant. And Rachel had a locator under her collar. I need you to stay in here and watch her. We’re going to see if we can’t lead them off down the road and ask them to kindly leave us alone.”

“Damn, Jenna! Life with you certainly is interesting!”

Lee came back inside and I asked if he had a weapon Penney can hold onto to give her some confidence. Penney tried to beg off but I said, “You probably won’t need it. But I find that if you need a gun it’s a lot better to actually have one than to stand there wishing you did.”

She sighed and muttered, “Fuck me in the ass!”

Lee replied, “Thanks for the offer. Maybe later.”

She smiled and said, “Not unless you both come back. If you leave her out there I’ll be very upset.”

“I don’t blame you. But I’m very glad she’s coming with me. I can’t wait to see the female Rambo in action.”

Lee and I went out and hurried down the street being careful to avoid any lights. We apparently timed it just right. We were just entering the front yard of the empty house when we saw a car driving very slowly down the street. I asked Lee, “Do you think they’ll get out of the car to verify this is the place?”