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“So is getting the proper permission to dig,” Isabel said. “You don’t have that.”
“Oh no?” Doctor Ward rifled through some papers on the table in front of him. He extracted one and held it up for Isabel to see. “That looks like the signature of one Eugene Perri, owner and operator of one Pine River Cottages, to me, doesn’t it?”
Isabel didn’t entertain looking at the signature. “You forced him to sign that.”
“Forced? No. Bargained? Yes.” Doctor Ward set the paper down on the table again.
“I don’t call what you’re doing bargaining,” Isabel said. “I call it abducting.”
“A difference of opinion then.”
“Where is my grandfather?”
Doctor Ward grinned and Isabel’s skin prickled though it was warm inside the tent. This guy was pure slime. “We’ll do one better than tell you where he is.” He motioned to the man and woman who had approached Isabel first.
Hands clamped painfully onto her biceps and Blaze instantly went feral, his barking vicious as he snapped at anyone getting within range. Isabel struggled against her attackers, but they were much stronger, easily lifting her off her feet. Blaze bit the man holding her on the arm, but another team member took a swing at the dog with a shovel. Dodging the blow, Blaze darted past the other team members who tried to hit him and slipped out of the tent, leaving Isabel alone.
“Not exactly woman’s best friend, is he?” Doctor Ward shook his head. “Pity you didn’t bring Doctor Henley with you instead. He’s always so chivalrous. I’m certain he wouldn’t have abandoned you here with us.” A few laughs filtered through the group. “He always comes off looking like a hero.” The man’s tone had gone from smug to downright pissed off.
“You’re here to take this site from Jackson because you don’t like him?”
“Indeed,” Doctor Ward said. “Doctor Henley was on to something big in Brazil. Until I got his funding cut. My team enjoyed finishing the dig for him and our findings are about to be published, but of course, Doctor Henley always lands on his feet.” He removed his glasses and rolled his eyes. “I thought his retreat to this insignificant town would keep him in the shadows for a while, but naturally, artifacts jump into his lap apparently.”
“So you’re going to steal his site?”
“That’s the general plan and it appears to be going quite well.” Doctor Ward motioned to the two who had a grip on Isabel. “She wants to see her grandfather. Go take her.”
Isabel was yanked away from Doctor Ward and paraded out of the tent. She did her best to not be easy cargo to tote, but her captors outmuscled and outweighed her.
And her dog had left her behind.
“What do we do when Henley shows up?” another team member asked as Isabel was hauled toward another tent.
Doctor Ward swatted at a fly, catching it in his palm, squeezing then letting the dead insect drop to the ground. “What we should have done already.”
****
Jackson jumped at the loud pop that echoed through the woods then wrestled with his jeep’s steering wheel as the vehicle skidded off the dirt road. Hopping out, he let loose a stream of foul words at the torn-to-shreds front driver’s side tire. What in the actual fuck had decimated the rubber like that?
Kneeling, Jackson inspected the wheel, groaning at the metal spike wedged into the rubber. This was no random accident. Someone had been planning for his arrival. They’d probably seen him tailing them earlier. Well, he was good and ready to crash Ward’s party.
He walked around the jeep, careful where he stepped and hoping there were no more metal spikes set to launch. He’d have to go the rest of the way on foot which would delay him, but he had no choice. Waiting for Donovan meant waiting to rescue Eugene and if that blood had been his back at the cottage, the man might need immediate attention.
Of all the times Ward could have chosen Jackson as a target, why the hell did it have to be this time, this place? Maplehaven shouldn’t have been on Ward’s radar.
And it probably hadn’t been. Not until that pissed off logger had talked to someone who had connections to Ward.
Now Eugene was in trouble. A trouble Jackson had brought right to the man’s freaking doorstep. He knew Ward was unscrupulous, having been involved in several controversies over the years, but abducting an innocent old man to steal a find was the lowest.
Scraping his shins on thorny brush, Jackson pressed onward. Every second he spent trying to get to the campsite was a second something bad could be happening to Eugene. He quickened his pace, then an auburn streak galloped into his path, making him stumble to a stop.
“Blaze!”
The dog barked and raced away from Jackson then back then away. He barked more, spit flying from his mouth.
His bloodied mouth.
“Fuck.” Jackson instantly knew Isabel was in trouble. If the dog was out here, so was Isabel. If the dog was alone out here, Isabel needed help. “Where is she, boy?”
