Reese said nothing.
He took the key from his pocket, unlocked the door, and stepped outside. This time, the padlock snapped into place behind him. His boots crossed the porch. Reese’s palms stung from the fall. Her knees throbbed. The baby moved under her bound hands.
Wade came back with an armload of wood. He set it by the fireplace and locked the door again. He then crouched at the hearth with his back to her.
Reese watched him build the fire. The same hands that had tied her wrists now stacked kindling, struck a match, and adjusted the wood. He was not out of control. That was the part that scared her most.
Wade didn’t love the baby. He wanted to own it. If she ran, he’d consider it theft. If she fought, he would call it danger. If he believed he was losing control, he would kill her before he let her leave with Elsie.
Chapter
Twenty-Four
Axel and Ryderwatched the drone feed under the Suburban’s raised hatch. The cabin window filled the controller screen. Inside, Wade sat at the kitchen table, and Reese sat across from him. She lifted her spoon and ate like she was starving.
Axel kept his eyes on the screen. The wolf had gone quiet in a dangerous way, no longer howling, no longer throwing itself against his skin. It waited now, focused on the cabin.
Ryder shifted beside him. “Battery’s getting low.”
“How low?”
“Low enough that I need to bring it back before we lose safe return.”
Axel looked at the window. Reese was hungrily filling her belly, like she hadn’t eaten all day.
“Do it,” he said.
Ryder pulled the drone back from the window. The cabin shrank on the screen. The lit square became smaller, then the clearing,then the pale line of gravel road between the black trees. Axel hated losing sight of Reese for even a moment.
The drone came back over the turnoff with its warning light blinking. Ryder caught it and powered it down. Axel already had the second case open.
Ryder pulled the fresh drone free, snapped the battery in, checked the rotors, and powered up the controller. His hands moved fast without getting careless. Axel stood beside him, watching the screen.
“Launching,” Ryder said.
The drone lifted from the gravel and climbed through the same break in the branches. Ryder sent it up. The pale line of gravel appeared on the screen. Then the trees. Then the cabin. Ryder slowed the drone and lowered it in the clearing.
Ryder found the same angle and eased the drone into place. At first the glass showed only glare and lamplight. Then the picture settled. The table had been cleared. Wade crouched near the stone fireplace with his back partly turned to the room. A stack of wood sat beside him.
Reese was on the couch with her wrists tied in front of her. The wolf slammed against Axel’s control.
“Ryder,” he said.
“I see it.”
Axel grabbed the sat phone from the gear case. Dom picked up before the first ring finished.
“Update,” Dom said.
“Reese is restrained.” Axel kept his eyes on the controller screen. His voice stayed level because he forced it to. “Wrists tied in front of her. She’s sitting in the main room. Wade is in the room with her.”
Axel’s grip tightened around the sat phone.
“We’re ten minutes out,” Dom said. “Hold position. Keep eyes on her. Do not move before we arrive.”
The wolf surged so hard Axel’s teeth hurt.
“Axel,” Dom said.
