Colorado Abduction - By Cassie Miles & Marie Ferrarella Page 0,61
the man in the trailer so he couldn’t interfere with the hostage rescue.
“Three men in each truck,” Corelli said.
Burke did the math. Logan had told him there were thirteen men, counting himself. Tindall the sniper was already in custody. That made twelve.
In his surveillance, Corelli had only seen ten. Either Logan had a couple of defections or the notorious twosome of Thurgood and Richter weren’t on the compound. They could be somewhere else, holding Nicole.
Even though storming the SOF compound might not bring Nicole back, there were other reasons to close Logan down: the murder of Barbara Ayers and the smuggling network.
Burke returned his focus to the screens in front of Corelli. There were thirteen men less Tindall, Thurgood, Richter and the six men in the trucks. “Only four men left at the Circle M,” Burke said.
“Two at the gate. Two in the trailer, monitoring their surveillance cameras.” Corelli gave a short laugh. “They’re watching us watch them.”
“Not for long.”
Burke climbed out of the van and stretched. Even in body armor, he knew that he wasn’t invincible, but he liked his odds for getting through this operation without injury. He had seven men in body armor to deal with four cowboys.
He activated the microphone that allowed him to communicate with the rest of his team. “Let’s do it.”
WITH SHERIFF TRAINER and two deputies keeping watch on the porch, Carolyn was alone with her brother in the dining room. He’d taken Corelli’s position behind the computer monitors.
After all the activity of the past few days, it seemed strangely quiet. She drummed her fingers on the tabletop. Might as well tell Dylan now and get it over with. “I talked to Mom.”
“Why?”
“Because this is a time when we need to reach out to family. She’ll be here tomorrow around noon.”
His forehead puckered as he frowned. Dylan had a lot more issues with their mother than she did. “I can’t believe she agreed to come back to the ranch. When she left us, she couldn’t get away from here fast enough.”
“She came back for your wedding,” Carolyn reminded him.
“And she gave us a very nice gift. And Nicole wrote her a very nice thank-you card. That’s that.”
She didn’t mention her opinion that their father hadn’t been the easiest man in the world to live with. The portrait of their father, Sterling Carlisle, as a rough and rugged rancher who was building an empire and not paying much attention to his family might also apply to Dylan.
In the videotape, Nicole had been wearing her wedding ring on the wrong hand. That worried Carolyn. She feared that the problems between Dylan and his wife ran deeper than a single issue, and she hated to see their family history repeat in another broken marriage.
Were the Carlisles incapable of handling long-term relationships? She rose from the table and paced. She and Burke weren’t at the point where they were planning beyond tomorrow, but making a commitment didn’t scare her. And Burke was, as he’d said himself, afraid of nothing.
Suddenly, Dylan scrambled with the phones. “It’s the kidnapper. I recognize the phone number.”
“I’ll take the call,” she said. “You record it and start the trace.”
He nodded.
Carolyn tried not to show fear. “This is Carolyn.”
“It’s time,” said the whispery voice on speakerphone. “Bring the ransom to La Rana.”
Her instructions were to keep him talking. “That’s a big pasture. I’m not exactly sure where you want me to put it.”
“On the rocks. Go. Now.”
“It’s going to take a while to get saddled up and—”
“He hung up,” Dylan said.
Burke’s warning echoed in her head. He’d told them not to leave the house until he got back.
“Damn it,” Dylan said. “He’s calling back.”
He put the call through. This time the voice was Nicole’s. “Dylan, are you there?”
“Yes,” he said. “Where are you?”
“Meet me at the creek in half an hour. After the ransom is dropped off.”
“Are you all right?”
“Just be there.”
The phone went dead.
AS SOON AS BURKE AND SMITH were on Circle M land and within range of the surveillance cameras, they started running. A full-out sprint in body armor while carrying a heavy-duty repeating rifle wasn’t easy, but his adrenaline surged. Burke was flying.
He went first, since he’d actually been inside the compound and knew the layout of the buildings. The barn was in sight. He ran toward the trailer. His plan was to keep the men inside pinned down, unable to interfere in the rescue of the women and children.
Through his headset, he heard Corelli’s voice. “Keep going. They’re moving