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“I said no such thing.”

“Cate is in my guest house. She’s getting antsy about her cell phone not working, so she’s asking me to take her somewhere to make a call. If my wife finds out she’s here, there is going to be trouble.”

Cate had gone rogue, but it would work to his advantage in the end. “Drive her to our Central Pennsylvania location. Tell her you need her to go undercover, so you can rescue not only Emmaline, but any other girls we might be holding. Leave her there to make nice with the others. Warden will know what to do.”

“Warden? What are you running out there? A prison?”

“Mr. Warden James. He’s in charge of the women, but he does get a kick out of the double meaning.”

He smiled as he disconnected the call. The game was afoot, and he enjoyed the competition.

Samanthaascendedthestairsleading to Garrison Securities’ private jet. The opulence of the space shouldn’t have come as a shock. After all, she knew the brothers were wealthy, but it seemed more like a penthouse suite than an aircraft. Not that she knew much of about airplanes. This was her first time in one, and the prospect of lifting off the ground wasn’t appealing in the slightest.

Gavin smiled. “Like it? It’s not American Airlines, is it?”

“I wouldn’t know.” She lowered herself into one of the white leather seats. “This is my first time in a plane.”

“You’re kidding?”

“Do I look like I’m joking?” Her knuckles whitened on the arm of her chair.

“My apologies. I didn’t realize. It’s not as scary as you might think.”

She breathed in a calming breath and glanced over her shoulder at Grayson who was chatting with their pilot. “I’ll take your word for it.”

When the plane roared to life , she closed her eyes and dug her fingernails into her palms. Gavin who had taken the seat beside her, placed a hand on top of hers. His presence was a soothing balm.

“You okay?”

“I will be.”

Once they were in the air, she was able to breathe normally again.

“We’ll be in Benton in no time.”

“Then what?”

“I guess we investigate the area where the phone was found. See if we can spot a drone. If so, we keep it in our sights until someone brings it home. Then we’ll have a starting place on where to search for Emmaline.”

“Do you honestly think she’s alive?”

He shook his head. “I wish I did.”

Looking out the window, she took in the patchwork of fields and trees below. It was beautiful from above. Better than the view from the old fire tower at Ricketts. “What about Cate?” Her whispered questioned caused him to tense making her regret the words.

“She called yesterday. I have hope. And I keep praying.”

“God doesn’t always answer our prayers. At least not the way we want him to.”

“True. I’ve had more experience with His will over mine than I care to admit, but I’ve come to the conclusion that if God allows something in my life, I’ll learn something from it even if I hate the process.”

“Will you be able to keep saying that if we don’t find Cate?” she asked.

“Only if God gives me the grace to be able to do so.”

Chapter Seventeen

GavinstayedclosetoSamantha’s six as she led the way through the dense forest to the coordinates where the geocachers claimed they’d found Emmaline’s phone. He couldn’t imagine someone placing a geocache in the area, but maybe there were people out there who liked hiking through briars and marsh, being clawed by sticker bushes, and wearing hitchhikers on their hiking boots. Gavin was not one of those people. He liked well-worn trails. Sam’s GPS beeped indicating they were approaching the waypoint.