Page 69 of Lion’s Den

“Copy that, sir.”

For the next several minutes, Rhys played the footage he’d cobbled together from security and traffic cams. The last recording showed an unconscious Julio being carried inside a home by The Collector with Sidekick on his heels. The recordings stopped with a picture of the house frozen on the screen.

“Is that all?” Maria demanded to know.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“What does that mean?” Sedona asked. “Is Julio still at that house?”

“I’ve tapped into the live security cam feed. What you’re seeing is live. To the best of my knowledge, Julio is inside that house.”

“Can you find the address?”

“I already have it.”

She and Maria stared at Rhys. “You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, but I am. I know where Julio is being held.”

Eddie wrapped his arm around his mother. “Then why are we just sitting here? Do something.”

“Whoa, Eddie.” Cam rested his hand on the teen’s shoulder. “We are doing something. For one thing, my teammates aren’t law enforcement, but I am. I have to secure permission from my boss for us to go after Julio and have the documents signed to give us legal clearance. Second, we need satellite images of the house and surrounding area to make a plan to get your brother out of there safely.”

“I’ll tell you how to keep him safe,” Eddie snapped. “You kick down the door, kill the creeps who took him, and bring Julio back to us. That’s how you keep him safe.”

Dario chuckled. “I say the kid has the right idea.”

“Let’s get the satellite images first, then we’ll make a plan.” And he’d wrangle permission from David Montgomery to take his team on another hunt.

“Orders, Cam?” Rhys asked.

“Send a copy of what you showed us to David, then give me that address. Do it fast, buddy, or Fortress Security will have all the fun.”

“You’ve got it.” Rhys grabbed the laptop, set it on his lap, and got to work.

Five minutes later, Cam’s phone rang. “How hard did giving me a copy of that footage hurt?”

“You don’t want to know, sir.”

The sheriff laughed. “I bet. Good work, whichever one of you is the computer geek.”

“That would be Rhys, sir.”

“So noted. I’ve worked with you long enough to know that’s not all. Tell me the rest of what you need.”

“Rhys will give us the address. Once we have that, I want to take my team into the field to rescue the boy.”

“I’m okay with it as long as your teammates know they’re bound by the same rules as we are. No Cowboy antics. I’m not military now, but I will nip in the bud anything which will mess up a case against Simpson and his buddy. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.” His boys wouldn’t be happy. That meant their freedom to act as they saw fit had been cut. He would hear about it, too.

“How is Sedona?”

“Better than I thought at this point.”

“You shouldn’t underestimate your woman. She will repay you for that.”

He froze. Uh oh. The sheriff had a point. “Noted, sir.”