Page 70 of Lion’s Den

“I want to know where you are at all times, Cam. We just brought you to Maple Valley. Losing you is not an option. We also want to provide backup in case you need us.”

This was why he loved working in a small town that valued its law enforcement. It all started with respect for the officers at the top of the food chain. At the top of his food chain was Sheriff David Montgomery. “I appreciate that, sir. Do you want a call every fifteen minutes?” Doing that would drive The Thunderhawks crazy, but he’d do it if that’s what it took to remain a Morgan County deputy sheriff.

“Nope. Call me before you infiltrate the perimeter, and shove the phone into your vest pocket. Leave the call live and take care of business the right way.”

“You ask little.”

The sheriff snorted. “You’re supposed to be the Army’s Cowboys. Now prove it by being creative. Whatever it takes legally to free the boy.”

Nope, not asking much at all. Just freeing a hostage with his hands tied behind his back. “Copy that, sir.”

A ding from Rhys’ laptop had the rest of The Thunderhawks turning to Rhys. “Well?” Dario asked. “Did you get it?”

“Of course.”

Of course. Cam blew out a breath. “Where is he?”

Rhys turned his computer around so they could all see the pin with the address on the screen.

Cam sucked in a breath. Man, this was not good news. Of all the places to hide the kid, this was one of the worst in the county.

“Hey,” David snapped. “Silence doesn’t help me. Where is Julio?”

“Rattlesnake Canyon.”

Silence, then, “Please tell me you’re joking.”

“Can’t. Sorry.”

David groaned. “We’ll all be sorry except for Elliot. For some strange reason, he says the place is an excellent challenge for his skills, and he enjoys it.”

“Respectfully, sir, your brother is weird.”

“You’ll get no argument from me on that score. Send me everything Rhys put together. You won’t see us, but we’ll be around to lend a hand if you need us, and we might bring a few friends to the party.”

“Fortress?”

“Who else?”

“How will we know they’re friendlies, sir?”

“They’ll be wearing all black with no reflection, plus tactical boots.”

That should do it, but he wanted to be sure they didn’t make a mistake. “How do we confirm in a split second? The Collector’s man at the hospital was wearing all black. What if he has friends who dress like he does?”

“Makes sense,” David admitted. “They’re going to a lot of trouble to grab a kid.” He thought for a minute. “All right. How about this? Each Fortress Security agent will wear an armband with the letters FS. We use them when we work security gigs.”

“That works.”

“Good. I’ll pass the word to our comms expert. He’ll pass the word to the backup team to wear the armbands.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“You can thank me when Julio is back with his mother. Any changes on that front?”

“No, sir.” Maria was still devastated and destroyed. The longer this kidnapping dragged on, the angrier and more confused Eddie became.

He frowned and glanced around the room. Where was Emily? She should be here with Eddie and her mother. None of the family should be home alone right now. “Where is Emily?”