Samantha nods. “The only problem is that she lives in Connecticut, and we need to bring the video to her.”
I open my mouth, but Samantha holds up her hand. “Before you ask, no, I won’t send it via email or the cloud. That’s illegal.”
Oh, I think she might be right. Not that I’m an expert on this sort of thing. “No problem. Connecticut isn’t far from New York. I guess this means we should pack up and fly home.”
She stares out the window. “I guess we should. I wish we could have convinced the police here to do something.”
“You heard the officer. They can’t do anything until one of these women comes forward.”
She sighs. “You’re right. Let’s go pack up and check out.”
We are able to get on a flight that afternoon. Once we landed in New York, we dropped off our bags at the apartment and grabbed Samantha’s car.
Samantha watched a couple of movies on the flight. I couldn’t concentrate and spent the time wondering where Durango is right now. He could be anywhere in the world. If he were injured, I wouldn’t know. Those thoughts swirled in my mind on repeat for most of the flight. By the time we are ready to leave for Connecticut, I’m a mess.
“It’s going to be late when we get there,” I say. “Maybe we should go tomorrow.”
Samantha glances over at me from the driver’s seat. “It’s fine. She’s expecting us. It’s going to be light out for a few more hours, so we might even make it home before dark.”
She’s right. It’s summer, and with the late sunsets, everyone seems to be up and out later. Not everyone is in bed by nine at night. And I won’t be able to sleep until we’ve talked to her.
“Okay, you’re right. Let’s get this over with.”
“That’s the spirit,” she says as she pulls into traffic.
CHAPTER 13
Durango
Once the scheduledhour came and went with no notice from Harding to move forward, we knew what the guard said was true. And we’d need to wait here a little longer. The curtains were so dusty we finally had to step out from behind them. Now, we are both staring at the phones Harding gave us, waiting for the command to go.
“It’s time,” Moose says as Harding’s message comes through.
We walk to the other end of the building, where there is a door. It opens to a covered walkway that leads us to the next building. Before entering, we wait at the door. Moose is holding his phone, and my hand is on the doorknob.
Harding sends a text that’s our cue to count to five and then open the door.
“One, two, three, four, five,” Moose says quietly.
On five, I open the door, gun ready, as we are greeted by a wall. This building is not like the last one. Instead of being open, we are forced to go right or left upon entry. I motion for Moose to go to the right; I take the left.
At the corner, I carefully peer around. It’s another long corridor. Not well lit. As I make my way down, I hear steps of another person coming my way. I still. Harding’s jacket comes into view. She spots me and points to a door. It opens to the middle of the building.
Harding holds up three fingers and slowly lowers each one. As soon as she does, we both rush into the room, guns aimed. Seconds later, Moose and Davis do the same to another door on the opposite side of the room.
The room is one large, well-lit space. On one end of the room, there are three chairs, and in the middle chair is a man tied up. He has duct tape over his mouth. Harding goes to him.
“Damien?” she asks.
He nods.
“We are here to get you out. I’m going to take the tape off. Don’t scream.”
She rips the tape off, and the man makes a low guttural sound. He has a beard, and I imagine the tape must have taken some of it with it.
Davis unties Damien’s legs while Harding works to get his arms free. Moose and I are listening for anyone else who might be coming.
“Thank you,” Damien says. “They said they would kill my wife tonight if I didn’t give them the information they wanted. We must save her.”
