Footfalls headed in her direction, and her heartbeat quickened. She hurried her pace, smelling for signs of where Grayson had gone.
She smelled where he had gone off trail and headed into the brush. Seeing Grayson in his beautiful bear coat, a growly expression on his face, warmed her. She smiled and hugged his furry neck. She instantly felt safer.
He nuzzled her with his head and nearly knocked her over.
The teen ran down the hiking trail past them, where they were hidden in the forest. The teen was oblivious to the fact that he had passed them.
“That was the boy in the car,” Kendra whispered.
Then the footfalls stopped. She figured he had been running after her and then stopped because he couldn’t catch up to Kendra.
The teen pulled out his phone and called someone. “I can’t find her. She must have really outdistanced me on the path. But there’s another lone woman I’m after now.” He paused. “Yeah, she’s younger. Got her.”
Grayson immediately rushed through the underbrush to the trail and headed for the teen and the woman he had targeted. The victim was already on the ground, unconscious, her mouth and wrists taped.
Kendra was right behind Grayson, though she couldn’t keep up with his fast pace. He struck the teen, knocking him out, then headed back into the woods so Kendra could take care of the woman. Once Grayson shifted and dressed, he would join her.
Kendra quickly pulled her phone out of her pocket and put it on mute in case someone called, alerting anyone to her presence on the trail. She wanted to check the woman’s pulse and found she was okay, but also noticed a strong smell of chloroform.
Kendra removed the tape from the woman’s mouth and wrists and tried to wake her, but she didn’t stir. Kendra checked the teen and handcuffed him.
She found he was armed with a gun and a knife. She wasn’t surprised. The teen would have needed something to make his potential victim compliant.
She pulled out her phone and texted Amy: Hey, we caught one of the kidnappers, the teen who probably tried to get Ivy to meet up with him. He came after me, lost me, and grabbed another woman.
Amy: Geez, Kendra.
Then Amy called her. “Call me when you’re safe.”
“I will. Grayson is joining me to help. I’ve got to go.” Kendra hung up on her friend, put her phone in her pocket, and saw Grayson coming.
The teen had come to, got to his feet, and plowed into the forest to get away from them, catching his pants on stinging nettle shrubs, cursing under his breath. Kendra had her taser in hand and shot him. The teen fell into the stinging nettles and pooped his pants. Great. They would have to take him in Grayson’s vehicle like that. She hoped Grayson had a towel to protect his seat. Then she had another thought. They would just call Rowland and have him pick up the teen for questioning.
“Okay, if whoever else is in the car, if there is someone, has seen you, you can’t return and lure him out. I’ll check out the car. You stay with Sleeping Beauty, and the young lady,” Grayson said.
“I agree.” She dug around in the teen’s backpack while Grayson checked the boy’s pockets. Inside his backpack, he had a taser, zip ties, and a roll of duct tape.
“He came prepared. But instead of him using this on me, I’ll use it on him.” She was furious with this little prick for being part of this dastardly business. She tore off a length of tape and covered his mouth.
Then Grayson yanked the unconscious teen out of the shrubs and placed the handcuffs on his wrists behind his body this time, which would make it safer for all concerned.
“I’m going to call Rowland, and he can pick him up so the teen doesn’t have to ride in your SUV because he’s pooped all over himself.” Kendra wrinkled her nose.
Grayson smiled. “Sounds like a plan.” Then he put the teen back in the brambles and zip-tied his ankles. “This way, he can’t leave if he comes to before I return.”
“Be careful.”
Grayson shoved the teen’s gun and switchblade into his jacket pocket and put his backpack on. He looked like just any other hiker on the trail. He gave Kendra a hug and a prolonged, searing kiss.
Ohmigod, no bear had ever kissed her like that. If Grayson hadn’t had an important mission to attend to, she would have pushed for a longer engagement.
Grayson smiled when Kendra looked a little dazed after he kissed her. “Tell Rowland we’ve got a guy who most likely intended you harm and definitely the other woman.”
“Calling him and telling him we need help for the woman also.”
They hadn’t connected the teen to Ivy yet, but the fact that he had a kidnapping kit in his backpack, a gun, and a switchblade, and that he’d stalked Kendra and had grabbed another woman, made her suspect he was the one who had solicited Ivy to join him.
Grayson headed back down the path toward the parking lot. He heard a phone ring behind him at the location where Kendra was, most likely the kid’s phone. She quickly silenced it, which was a good thing because they didn’t need anyone to go looking for a lost phone in the forest and come across someone who looked like he was a hostage, the victim, not the perpetrator.
