Galen's Gemma - Dale Mayer Page 0,33

Maybe you’ll find somebody who’s worthy of you.”

“Maybe, but I’m not looking,” Zack said cheerfully.

Up ahead of them the vehicle slowed and nearly came to a stop, before it took a left-hand turn.

“I’ve got it up on GPS,” Galen said. “This is going back to Joe’s cabin, I think. Not too many driveways on this map. Hardly any side roads to choose from.”

They followed a few minutes behind, knowing if they got too close they’d be seen. The moonlight would reflect off their vehicle. As soon as they turned the corner up ahead, they could see the vehicle taking yet another turn.

“Interesting,” Zack murmured. “So they left Joe’s cabin with Rebecca and looped around back to it again? Was that supposed to get us off their trail? Like, if we had searched Joe’s cabin once already, we wouldn’t return?” He shook his head as he pulled off the side into the trees and parked the truck, as they watched as the line of vehicle lights headed down through the trees on the opposite side of the road.

“Like I said, going back to Joe’s cabin, just from the back way maybe.”

“What are you thinking?”

“We go on foot,” Galen said.

The two of them got out of the vehicle and quickly geared up. They raced down crosswise, intersecting the road. They didn’t say a word; they just picked up the pace. Using the moonlight to help guide them, they made their way through the trees.

When they finally came abreast of a road, Galen said, “It’s a dirt road and not very well traveled.”

“No, but they went down this way,” Zack said. He pointed up ahead where the lights had stopped moving, but they were still shining. Sticking to the trees, they came up behind the vehicle to see that somebody was at the front door of Joe’s small cabin, unlocking it.

They watched as the passenger door to the small truck opened, and Rebecca hopped out. “Hurry up,” she snapped.

One of the men looked at her and sneered.

She glared at him.

“What’s the matter?” he asked. “Are you missing your beauty sleep?”

“You guys didn’t have to force me to come here,” she said. “You don’t have any idea what kind of trouble you’ve got me into now.”

“You didn’t have to put out an SOS call to tell them we were kidnapping you. Just wait until they find out your involvement in this.”

“I didn’t have any involvement with this,” she snapped in a shout. “How many times do I have to tell you that!”

“Well, enough times until we believe you because we sure as hell don’t now.” The guy walked around the small truck, grabbed her arm roughly, and said, “Come on. Let’s go in.”

She shrugged him off and headed up the steps. When she got there, the door opened, and she was moved inside. The door shut behind them, and the guy who opened the door came back out to the vehicle, shut it off, and grabbed a bag from inside. He returned to the cabin.

In the darkness, Zack and Galen looked at each other.

“This is still so damn confusing,” Galen said with a frown.

“Isn’t it?” Zack said, his tone mystified. “And so typical of Rebecca that I’m afraid she’s playing one side against the other.”

“But you know what always happens to the person in the middle?” Galen said quietly. “They usually get snuffed out permanently.”

Chapter 11

Marshmallows consumed, Becky curled up in her bed—a very tired, almost teary, little girl—now sound asleep.

Gemma sat in the living room beside the fire with a cup of tea. When her phone buzzed, she lifted it to see it was Galen. She answered it. “Any luck?”

“We found your sister.”

“Oh, thank God,” she cried out softly. “Is she okay?”

“Well, that’s a good question,” he said. “We don’t have her yet, but she’s back in Joe’s cabin in the woods. We’ve just come upon it right now. She’s not necessarily been kidnapped, and they seem to think that she was involved. She says she’s not involved. We’re a little on the confused side.”

“And that sounds like Rebecca totally,” Gemma said, sighing heavily. “I would hope she had nothing to do with all this, but honestly, I’ve always been a little worried.”

“Well, she wasn’t forced into the cabin, but I don’t think they would have let her leave on her own.”

“That sounds confusing,” she said, reaching up to pinch her nose. Why was nothing easy with her sister?

He told her about the little bit of a conversation they had overheard.

She shook her