"Good odds," Nash said.
"Yeah. Knox pulled up North Point Beach on the GPS. Blue Road dead-ends at the beach. There's not another way in or out by road."
"So he expects to either take us out or escape by water. Or both."
"That's my guess," Jason said. "I'm not sure how smart this guy is, but he's gotten this far."
"True."
"I'm dropping you a pin. It's about a quarter mile from North Beach. We'll meet up there and come up with a plan. You okay?"
"I can be there in seven minutes."
He ended the call. He didn't want to answer the question. Because no, he was not okay.
Nash jogged to the garage, grabbed a set of keys, and hopped into Emil's Mercedes coupe.
Foot heavy on the gas, he sped toward the main road. The coupe ate up the distance in seconds, but as the headlights caught the metal of the frontgate, another glint of metal jerked his attention to the right. And he slammed on the brakes.
Emil's SUV. Upside down.
Nash's stomach followed suit.
He reminded the threatening nausea that Lena's father had seen Lena in the video minutes ago. And that he seemed to think she was unharmed. So far.
The wreck somewhat explained how Chester captured Lena and Cassidy.
Picturing Lena in the SUV when it flipped . . . was a mistake. He forced a deep breath while emotions he couldn't name burned in his veins.
Lena and Cassidy obviously survived the wreck, but they could be injured. Jason hadn't mentioned injuries, but maybe he didn't want Nash distracted by the information.
Cassidy escaped somehow. But not Lena. Maybe Lena couldn't get away because she was injured.
Worry—and a multitude of other feelings for Lena—clawed at his insides.
Dear God, please protect Lena. And show mehow to get to her. Fast.
It wasn't an elegant prayer. But it was the most desperate prayer he'd ever prayed.
He mashed the button for the front gate and slammed his foot on the gas.
When he arrived at the location Jason indicated, Jason and Allie stood near a black truck on the side of the road. He parked behind the truck and joined them.
"Knox is doing recon," Jason said, tossing his head toward North Beach. "He'll be back in a minute."
"What happened? How were you able to get Cassidy and not Lena?" Nash asked, regretting that it sounded like an accusation.
Jason didn't look offended. "Allie can fill you in. I'm going to get some more weapons out of the truck." He walked away.
Allie's face softened. "I'm sorry, Nash. We're going to get Lena back."
He let out a long breath. "What happened?"
"When we came up on the SUV, it already looked the way it does now. You probably saw it on the way over."
He nodded.
"We stopped and looked around to see if they were nearby, injured. While we were looking, we noticed motion outside the gate. It was Cassidy running toward us. She said after the accident she and Lena were dazed. And Chester and two other guys showed up and forced them into a vehicle at gunpoint. They took them down there to an old, rundown cottage"—she pointed toward the beach—"and locked them in a storage shed. She said Lena came up with a plan to distract the guards so that Cassidy could get away. And she pulled it off."
