Mission: Without a Trace - Nicole Edwards Page 0,86

shade from the house would hopefully keep his shadow from being projected in when he leaned over.

He glanced left, then right, ensuring no one was coming his way. When he determined the coast was clear, Brantley leaned down for a peek.

His heart kicked hard when he saw Corinne Greenwood sitting on a cot, a dark blanket clutched to her chest. He pulled back, processed what he’d seen. Her back was bare, which he took to mean Dugan had taken her clothes. He hoped like hell that was all the bastard had taken.

Taking a deep breath, he leaned down once more, scanning the entire space.

No Dugan.

That meant the man was somewhere in the house.

Standing tall, Brantley headed around to the south side of the house where Reese was. He attempted to peek into windows on the way, came up empty at every turn. They were locked down tight, shades drawn, windows painted shut.

Wouldn’t be going in that way.

His phone buzzed in his pocket.

All clear on this side, was Baz’s message.

Stepping around to the back of the house, he nodded to Reese, who was standing on the other corner of the house. He made a mental note to get them some sort of comms. Would’ve worked a whole hell of a lot better if he had a way to communicate with them. As it was, Baz was basically going in blind at the front of the house.

Taking a second to text JJ, he let her know he had eyes on Corinne and that she needed to make that call to the woman’s parents. Once he was done, he tucked his phone back into his pocket.

Holding up three fingers, he nodded at Reese again.

Reese replied with a thumbs-up before leaning back, most likely relaying the information to Baz from a distance.

There was probably a better way to do this, but Brantley wasn’t worried about that right now. Corinne was down in the basement, and provided Dugan didn’t make a run for it, he wouldn’t be able to use her as a hostage.

He moved to the back door, gave it a quick assessment. Door looked new, but the knob did not. No deadbolt either, which would make it easier to kick in. Holding up three fingers, he counted down. On one, he kicked in the door with one well-placed boot near the knob. A second later, he heard the sound of the front door being kicked in.

Baz shouted something; a shot rang out. Brantley kept his cool, sighting with his gun as he moved through the kitchen, looking for the door leading to the basement. He located it, noticed it was closed up tight.

“Get on the ground!” Baz shouted.

Another shot rang out.

Brantley was about to come around the corner to assist when he heard the rack of a shotgun. Turning toward the mouth of the hallway, he came face-to-face with…

Son of a bitch.

***

When the gunshots rang out, Reese took off at a run for the door. No denying his heart was in his throat. The thought of Brantley having taken a bullet was nearly more than he could bear. Yet his feet continued to move, carrying him the distance, up the stairs, into the house.

He was just in time to hear the distinctive sound of a shotgun being cocked, to see Brantley turn, his attention directed down a narrow hallway.

Reese couldn’t see who was wielding the weapon, but based on Brantley’s expression, it was someone he hadn’t expected to see.

“Lauren?” Brantley said softly. “It’s okay. We’re not here to hurt you.”

Lauren? As in Lauren Tyler?

No fucking way.

In the other room, he heard Baz shouting for someone to get on the ground, assumed it was Dugan. Good news was, there were no more shots being fired. Bad news, Brantley was being held at gunpoint by a woman who’d been missing for nearly a decade.

Reese had heard about instances like this. Whoever that girl in there was, it wasn’t the same Lauren Tyler who’d gone missing all those years ago. More than likely, she’d been brainwashed and she was going to defend the man she believed was her savior because Dugan was all she had known.

Brantley backed up a couple of steps, coming out of the mouth of the hallway.

“Lauren, my name’s Brantley. Brantley Walker. I’ve been lookin’ for you.”

Reese saw him make an attempt at a smile.

“Your parents are lookin’ for you,” he continued. “A lot of people are.”

There was no response.

“I’m here to get Corinne,” Brantley explained. “You remember your friend, Corinne? Cori? That’s