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Their presence would definitely be discovered if anyone else showed up. Lennox saw the men look around, as if making sure they hadn’t been followed. Seemingly satisfied, they opened the back of the vans and pulled out--rather roughly--several girls. Nine in total. Four had been in one van and five in the other. Lennox also noticed a pickup truck parked nearby.
She glanced over at Roland when she heard him punch numbers in his phone. “Stonewall? We got them in our scope. Did you get in touch with law enforcement in the area?”
“Joy and I both did. According to them, they’re about an hour and a half away.”
As far as Lennox was concerned, that was too long. She didn’t like the way the men were handling the girls. When one girl began crying, one of the men slapped her and she fell to the ground. The other men standing around laughed, as if they’d found what he’d done amusing.
“That did it!” Roland said, ending the call with Stonewall. “I’m going down there.”
“I am, too,” she said, unbuckling her seatbelt.
Roland turned to her as he strapped an accessory weapons belt around his waist and placed a similar one over hisshoulder. “You need to stay put. There might be cameras around, and you’ll be seen.”
If he thought that would deter her, he was wrong. “You might be seen, too. Besides, I don’t want to be left here alone, if they’re expecting someone else.”
“Can you handle a gun?”
“Of course.”
When he lifted his brow, she added, “I was the daughter of an army ranger. So of course, I know how to use firearms. I’ve never used a gun on a human before, but I will if I have to.”
He nodded, then reached beneath the car seat and pulled out another gun--a Glock. He handed it to her. “Be careful and make sure each hit counts.”
Then he gave her a silencer. “Use this if we get the chance to pick them off without the others being any wiser. There are nine girls, and those bastards won’t hesitate to use them as a shield.”
Lennox drew in a deep breath. “And if others arrive?”
“We’ll deal with that possibility when the time comes. I just hope the authorities get here before anyone else does.” Turning off the ignition, he reached up to disengage the ceiling light so it wouldn’t come on when he opened the door. Then he glanced over at her. “What about your shoes? It’s dark out here and the path won’t be even.”
“I can probably move around in my heels just as well as you can in your boots,” she said.
He gave her a look that said he wasn’t so sure about that, but just said, “Okay, then. Let’s go. Keep low--we don’t want to become targets.”
• ••
Using the darkness of the night, the tall, dense bushes and huge trees as cover, Roland made his way to the cabin, with Lennox right behind him. He appreciated that she was following his orders and not making a sound.
The scent of her perfume though, was another matter. Despite the possible danger they were walking into, her scent was stirring parts of him he shouldn’t even be aware of at this moment. It had been that way since this morning. When she had walked out her bedroom, wearing a pair of jeans, a pretty light blue blouse and navy-blue stilettos, everything that was male in him appreciated her curvy figure.
And regardless of what she’d said about her shoes, wearing those heels on this rough patch of ground had to be uncomfortable. Parts of the path were uneven and there were ruts in several places. Yet she was holding her own as they crouched down, making their way toward the cabin.
As they got closer, they heard conversation. The girl who’d been struck was still on the ground, crying. Two of the men were egging on the one who’d struck her, pushing him to take her in the woods and teach her a lesson. Roland could just imagine what kind of lesson they had in mind.
The lone woman in the group began arguing with the men, telling them to leave the girl alone because they wouldn’t get paid as much for damaged goods. The three men just laughed at her. Still, obviously deciding not to take any chances, she gathered the other girls and pushed them toward the cabin.
When the crying girl tried to get up to follow, the man who’d struck her reached out and grabbed her hair, jerkingher off the ground. Then he started to drag her toward the darkened woods, evidently planning to do what his friends had suggested.
Roland growled and said through clenched teeth, “Stay right here, Lennox.”
“No. She might need me.”
Knowing she was right--the girl was already screaming, probably on the verge of hysteria--Roland put the silencer on his gun. “Okay, come on.”
They moved through the woods, quickly catching up with the man and the girl. He’d tossed her to the ground and had just unzipped his pants to relieve himself. The girl was still screaming, desperately trying to get away from him. He snatched her up and was about to rip off her dress when Roland grabbed him from behind and kicked his legs out from under him, sending him sprawling to the ground. The man released a groan, but then quickly turned on his side with a gun in his hand and took aim at Roland.
Roland fired first, hitting him right between the eyes and making him fall back on the ground. Thanks to his silencer, his shot had not been heard.
Then they heard others approaching. “Grab the girl and take cover,” Roland whispered as the men’s voices came closer.
