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“No,” Abe and I said at the same time.
“Not enough time for the bureaucratic debate they will want to have,” Abe said, still staring into my eyes. “We can’t afford the delays their pissing contests will cause. What was it Rigby said on Saturday night?”
“It’s better to beg for forgiveness than ask permission,” I replied.
I looked over at Alyssa, expecting the IA deputy chief to protest, but she nodded. “There’s no one I trust more than the four of us to get Alex back.”
Russ placed his hand on her shoulder. “Let’s make a plan and saddle up.”
“We need to get out of here before Rigby comes back and thwarts our plans.” It probably wasn’t cool to use her mantra against her, but at least she’d have plausible deniability if forgiveness wasn’t granted. “Let’s head over to your place,” I told Alyssa. “I can borrow dark clothes from Russ while we put our heads together.” They were dressed for a retirement party and could use an outfit change too. Abe already wore dark denim and a black and blue flannel shirt.
Getting out of the police station undetected proved to be more challenging than it sounded, considering so many people had shown up to support us, acts of kindness I wouldn’t forget and a reminder that opening myself up to others was sometimes worth the loss of privacy. We piled into Russ’s SUV, which was black to aid in stealth and big enough to haul us all home after we got Alex back.
And we would get him back. If Jeremy had wanted to hurt Alex, he would’ve done it. I was the one he wanted, so the logical conclusion was for me to trade myself for Alex, which turned out to be an unpopular opinion.
“Fuck that,” Abe snarled.
“Are you out of your mind?” Alyssa asked.
“Not your best idea,” Russ quipped. “We need to get eyes inside the cabin without tipping Jeremy off.”
Abe looked over at me and smiled. “I know the perfect thing.”
“His new drone!” I replied. “It has the night vision setting.” I’d questioned the necessity of the feature when Alex had excitedly read off the capabilities when we tested it out last weekend.
“Wait,” Abe said. “Is it at your house?”
“No, it’s at ours,” Alyssa said.
We swung by their house long enough for the three of us to change and grab the drone, flashlights, and weapons.
“Whoa,” Alyssa said when Russ punched a code into the safe. “We can’t go in like vigilantes.”
I took the rifle Russ handed me and faced my ex-wife. “I’m not taking a slingshot to a gunfight. We already know Jeremy has at least one rifle, but he’ll have knives and other hunting gear if he’s in survivalist mode.”
Russ turned to face his wife. “I’ll go to prison for the rest of my life if it means Alex is safe. You’ll come to visit me, right?”
Alyssa held Russ’s gaze for a few moments. “Every chance I get.” She held out her hand, and Russ passed her a gun too. Alyssa met my gaze and said, “Fuck the rules. But just this once.”
We decided Abe would fly the drone since he’d been the one to read the manual so he could teach Alex how to operate it. I downloaded the app to my phone on the drive to Trophy Lake so the rest of us could watch the feed. We spent the rest of the trip discussing where to park so we could hike to the cabin and the best place to launch the drone, considering its capabilities and the pitfalls and benefits of the wooded surroundings. Our options were to draw Jeremy out to us or go in to confront him. We wouldn’t know the best choice until we saw where Alex was and assessed which option was safest for him.
Silence fell over the SUV like a heavy blanket when a sign announced we’d entered the Trophy Lake region. Abe placed his hand on my knee and squeezed, and I laid mine on top. My nerves had acted like persistent little assholes, needling me and casting doubt, until Abe directed Russ where to park. This was the biggest mission of my life, and failure wasn’t an option. It was go time.
Abe knew the woods surrounding Trophy Lake like the back of his hand, and we easily navigated the thick trees and quickly covered a lot of ground. Leaves crunched beneath our feet, unseen critters skittered in the dark, and an owl hooted above us. A lone coyote cried in the night, sending a chill down my spine. Things got even creepier when we turned off our flashlights on the outskirts of the residential area. The community was already on alert due to previous break-ins and potential trespasser sightings. The last thing we needed was to trigger any of the security systems Abe had recommended they install. We stuck closer to the lake and the shoreline, which would’ve put us at a disadvantage if not for the heavy cloud cover shielding the moon.
Abe stopped as soon as we reentered the thick copse of trees. “We go in completely dark and quiet from here on out. I know the perfect spot to launch the drone. We’ll look around, then retreat back here to finalize our plan.”
He didn’t wait for confirmation. Abe set a slow but deliberate pace, clinging to the shadows. He stopped and kneeled when it was time to launch the drone. The rest of us crouched down beside him. Abe turned on the drone, and we verified the feed was working on my phone before he launched it into the air, carefully navigating through the trees and the clearing. The rear of the cabin came into view, and since there were lights on, Abe turned off the night vision feature. We could easily see Jeremy pacing in the living room. Alyssa and Russ crowded in on both sides so they could see the video on my phone. Abe moved the drone left and right, trying to see more of the room, and that’s when I realized a kitchen chair was missing. I didn’t try to get Abe’s attention because he had a display screen on the controller in his hand. We couldn’t see into the far corners on either side, but it wouldn’t have been logical to tuck Alex away in either place. The television was in one corner, and a large hutch sat in the other.
Abe guided the drone to the right past the bathroom window, which was dark, and around the corner. He paused at the window for the spare bedroom, where light spilled through a narrow gap in the curtains. Abe hovered the aircraft, and an image of Alex appeared on my phone. He was bound to the missing kitchen chair with duct tape. Alyssa released a soft gasp, and I squeezed her knee to reassure her. Alex had a slight bruise on his forehead but otherwise looked okay. His brow was furrowed and his eyes narrowed as he stared off into space. Abe shifted the drone slightly to the right, giving us a better view of Alex’s profile. He flew a little higher, changing the angle, which allowed us to see our son furiously working to free his hands from the duct tape. It was an odd moment for pride to surge through me, but it did. Alyssa sniffled, and Russ moved to comfort her silently.
Abe moved the drone past the two bedrooms and around the corner. He flew the aircraft high enough to avoid the flood lights with motion sensors and to stay out of Jeremy’s line of sight. The man paced furiously, his lips moving so fast I couldn’t discern what he might be saying. He had a wicked-looking knife strapped to his thigh, but his rifle wasn’t in sight. A bruise was forming under his left eye courtesy of Alex fighting back. Jeremy’s face and hair looked wet, so he’d either just gotten out of the shower or was sweating profusely. Option two seemed more realistic, but neither mattered except that it would make him slippery when I finished what my son had started.
After a quick scan of the entire property, Abe steered the drone back to us. We rose to our feet and headed back to the designated rendezvous spot.
“Do you want to draw him out or go in?” Abe asked. “I like our odds either way.”
“I didn’t see a gun, but we’re confident he has one,” Russ said. “It’s most likely by the front door, so I think we’re better off drawing him outside. He’ll pick up the gun and come looking for the trouble. Let’s get him farther away from Alex.”
