I know the professor’s killers were part of those who breached Juan’s house. We don’t know where the other men went.”
Bob stopped where two highways crossed each other. “We should watch what they’re doing. We don’t have much else to go on. Just speculations.”
“Agreed. I wish there was cell reception where Tory and Juan were holed up.”
“We’ll check on them after we’ve seen what Lopez is doing.”
As Bob drove in the opposite direction from the shack, Guerrero couldn’t shake something wasn’t right. Maybe they should have followed Sauto.
“What about the professor’s office? Should we go there?”
Bob took his phone and made a call. Hanging up from the call, he shook his head. “My source tells me it’s been swarmed by the police.”
* * *
Three hours since Guerrero and Bob left, Tory had paced the inside perimeter of the shack countless times. She’d prayed to the Lord for answers to what was going on, but because there wasn’t any cell reception near here unless she walked about a mile south, her imagination of what could go wrong was working overtime.
She looked out the two windows and didn’t see Juan, who had said he wanted to check the area. Where had he gone? She glanced at her watch and realized he’d been gone forty-five minutes. What if something happened to him? She started for the door to see where he was.
She came to a stop, her hand on the knob. Don’t leave Ramon alone. Guerrero’s words to her before leaving with Bob made her pause. She glanced over her shoulder at Ramon. His dark eyes drilled into her, sending a chill down her spine. She put her hand on her gun in its holster. He shifted his attention to the far wall. He was secure in the chair by not only duct tape but rope too.
What should I do?
Get out of here.
The answer, as though God had whispered it in her ear, sent her into action. She opened the door and hurried from the shack. She remembered seeing Juan heading south maybe to get cell reception. If that was the case, then why didn’t he tell her? She hoped he was checking in with Guerrero. She peeked into the window on the south side of the cabin, noticed that Ramon was sitting still, and decided to see if she could find Juan and possibly call Guerrero.
After walking south twenty minutes through the jungle not too far from the road, she spied a vehicle like one she’d seen at Juan’s house earlier. She squatted in the midst of the vegetation but peeked out between a gap in the leaves to spy who was inside. As the car passed her going north, the tinted glass hindered her seeing clearly into the vehicle. She noted several men, one similar to Juan, but she couldn’t tell for sure.
Has Juan been captured? What do I do?
Go back and try to stop them from getting Ramon or tear through the rainforest as fast as she could and get to an area where there was cell reception? She couldn’t get to Ramon in time, but maybe if she called Guerrero and Bob, they could do something. She didn’t want the deaths of Juan and Ramon on her. She’d never forgive herself.
She sprinted a couple of hundred yards, branches slapping her, before she slowed and punched in Guerrero’s cell phone. Nothing.
She went further and then tried again. The call went through. She stopped, dragging in gulps of air.
“What’s wrong, Tory?”
“I think Juan might have been taken. The assailants from this morning are going to the cabin where Ramon is alone. Hurry.” Tory turned around and headed back toward the shack.
* * *
Guerrero’s heartbeat thudded against his chest. “Turn around. We need to get to Tory as quickly as possible. Floor it.”
While Bob drove as fast as he could in the middle of the traffic, Guerrero checked his weapons, making sure he had a full clip in them as well as a few backups in case he ran out of ammunition. When they turned onto the secondary, narrow highway where the cabin was, Bob had to slow his speed as he navigated the potholes that riddled the winding road. The only consolation was that the assailants had to go in the same direction because the road ended a mile past the shack.
Guerrero pictured the safe house. “When we reach the place, I’m going to go inside through the only door, but I want you to circle around it to make sure