"So our quarry has probably flown." Mack stood up and studied the muddy driveway. "We'll go check, anyway."
"They might have left something for us." He rose to his feet, hoping like hell that that something was a ransom note and not a body. Either way, he had to know before he gave chase to Hank's car. "We'll have to walk, though. I doubt if the cars will make it up the hill in this rain."
Mack nodded in agreement and motioned for the local officers to follow them. Jon led the way, listening to the wind whistling through the dripping pines. There was no sign that Eleanor was still in the area.
The cabin came into sight. Mack pulled him to a halt, and Jon bit back his impatience. The man was only doing his job. He stood in the shadows of a pine and watched the cabin. There was no noise or movement to be heard. The place had to be empty—or at least empty of life.
His gut clenched painfully. Maddie had to be alive—surely Eleanor wasn't stupid enough to get rid of a potential hostage?
"Stay here," Mack ordered, checking his gun.
Jon nodded. Until he knew if Maddie was okay, he would obey. He watched the four men run across the clearing to the front of the cabin. Watched as they smashed the door open and tumbled inside. When no gunshots or snarls met their appearance, he walked down to join them.
Mack glanced up as he entered the cabin. "Our birds have flown, but they left us a note." He offered the sealed plastic bag to Jon.
He scanned it quickly and frowned They wanted an exchange—Maddie for Evan. But that didn't make sense. Why not just go find another kid if they needed two?
Why did they need Evan back?
At least it meant there was a chance that Maddie was still alive. At least she wasn't lying dead on the old worn floorboards. The relief he felt was frightening.
He handed back the note and tried to remind himself it didn't mean she was still alive. "Let's go find the bastards," he muttered and spun around. Mack caught up with him as he strode down the steps. "Leave this to the experts, Barnett."
He wrenched his arm from Mack's grip. "In this case, that's me. Eleanor is something you've never seen before, something you have no experience in handling."
"I wouldn't bet on it," Mack stated grimly. "I've seen a lot of strange things in my twenty years of service."
Jon smiled impatiently. He'd bet his life Mack had never seen the likes of Eleanor. Or him. He glanced at the sky.
In many ways, what he was about to do meant his life now rested in the FBI agent's enormous hands. At the very least, Mack could make his life hell with the knowledge he was about to give him.
"Maybe." He studied Mack a moment longer. Maddie and Seline were right. He couldn't handle Eleanor and Hank alone—at least when Maddie was around to get caught in the middle. "Have you got a spare cell phone handy?" Mack frowned, but dug a small phone out of his pocket. "You know my number." Jon nodded. He'd called Mack less than a handful of times in the ten years they'd known each other, but he knew the number by heart. Once it had even saved his life.
Maybe this time it would save Maddie's.
He shoved the phone into his pocket, knowing it would change when he did—
though the how and why of it escaped him. It was just a part of the magic that enabled him to shift shape. "I'll call when I find them," he said, and stepped away from him.
"Damn it, Barnett—"
The rest of Mack's comment was cut off as Jon made the change. With a flick of his wings, he flew skywards, ignoring the rain, the wind and Mack's startled curse as he began his
search for Maddie.
***
There was a madman inside her head, beating a thousand drums. Maddie groaned softly and wished he'd leave her alone. Though it wasn't only her head that felt ready to explode— her whole body ached, as if the madman had thrown her around like some rag-doll.
She opened her eyes. The light, though murky, made her eyes water. She blinked the tears away, and dark gray vinyl met her gaze. She frowned in confusion and blinked again. The stretch of gray vinyl became a seat—the back of a car seat.
She was in a car. Hank's car, she thought, suddenly smelling old sweat and dirt. And they were still moving.
She shifted slightly, struggling to look around without letting Hank know she was awake. She couldn't see the second teenager, but Eleanor and Hank were both in the front seat.
She tried to shift again, but a sharp twist of pain ran down her arms and stopped her. She bit back a yelp and tried to ease her arms forward. They wouldn't move. She pulled again, then realized they were tied—and so tightly that she was beginning to lose feeling in her fingers.
Cursing silently, she glanced up at the back window. Rain beat against it, a torrent that made it impossible to see anything. There was no hope of seeing where she was, or where they were going.