Page 34 of Deception and New Direction (Ranger Shield Security #3)

JACK

Archer and I had just finished up our recon job when we walked in to find Diego sitting at the front desk, covering for Ruthie .

“You hear from Ruthie about her grandfather yet?” Diego asked.

“No, but that man is as stubborn as she is, so I imagine the two of them will spend at least an hour bickering about whether he goes to the doctor or not,” I told him.

“Jack!” Cat hollered as the three of us walked in the door. “ Have you heard from Ruthie ?”

“No. I just told these guys…" I started to say, but I was cut off by Cat .

“Look, she promised me she would text me as soon as she got there, and that was an hour ago. Even with bad traffic, she should have been there by now. Plus , she hasn’t answered any of the three texts I sent her.

Maybe I’m just paranoid, but I always get worried about rideshare drivers with all the stories you see on the news. ”

“We put cameras up at Hank’s place,” Archer said. “ I’ll pull them up, and we can see if she made it and just forgot to text you, okay?”

Cat nodded emphatically. “ Yes , please.”

As Archer pulled up the cameras on the desktop in front of Diego , I pulled out my phone to make sure Ruthie hadn’t texted—nothing.

“Did Hank get a new car?” Archer asked.

“No, why?” I asked as he turned his phone to me to show another car parked in the driveway.

Wade and Ellie walked in the front entrance just as Diego spoke up. “ Hey Cat . Do you remember what kind of car Ruthie’s rideshare was?”

“Yes. It was a newer model merlot red Mazda four-door sedan with a standard back plate and a fancy front plate supporting sea turtles. Driver’s name was supposedly James , who had a full beard, medium brown hair, and looked to be in his early thirties.”

We all just stared at her for a moment, taking in the elaborate description she had just given us.

“What?” She shrugged. “ Years in WITSEC taught me to pay attention to details. Plus , I told you. I don’t like rideshares because of all the bad stories you hear.”

“Let me scroll back and see if she arrived,” Diego said.

The cameras we set up at Hank’s house would only save the most recent twenty-four hours, and then they would record over themselves at the start of the next day.

We all watched as he went back and saw a grey sedan exiting the driveway.

That car didn’t match the rideshare either.

As the camera backed up we watched in reverse as Ruthie went into a car with Ronald and another man after coming out of the house.

“Play that back in real time,” Archer said, likely seeing the same thing I had.

We all watched as the video showed Ruthie walking out the front door behind Ronald . Then another man appeared behind Ruthie —pointing a gun at her back.

Ellie’s gasp came from behind me.

Ruthie turned directly toward the camera and opened her mouth. There was no sound on these cameras, but we didn’t need it. It was very clear what she had said—or at least mouthed. Help .

We all watched as Ronald got into the driver’s seat of his car. A man about my age forcefully guided Ruthie into the back seat, and he slid in behind her.

“Are they kidnapping her?” my sister asked from behind me.

“I don’t know,” Cat responded. “ She doesn’t appear to be fighting them getting into the vehicle, but if she was going of her own free will, why would they have a gun on her?”

My thoughts exactly.

Then we watched the vehicle leave the property.

“Archer, she has her tracker on,” Ellie said semi-frantically behind me.

“I know,” he responded. “ I’m pulling it up on my phone now.”

“Diego,” I interrupted. “ While Archer does that, go back on those cameras and find out if you can see when they arrived at Hank’s house. Do you ever see Hank ? Can you see the other man’s face better? We can get Axel to run some facial recognition software on him.”

“On it,” Diego responded.

“I’ll text Axel and give him the heads-up,” Wade said.

Diego paused the cameras, showing Ronald’s vehicle arriving first. He walked up the porch to greet Hank just as the second vehicle came down the driveway.

Not one, but two gentlemen exited the car, Hank turned to go back into the house, but Ronald stopped him and pulled out a gun.

The other two men walked up the front porch steps and pushed Hank inside, and all four men disappeared from the camera view.

“Shit,” Archer mumbled. “ The extra man is Ruthie’s father.”

I felt dread creep through my body at his words. “ Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” he responded. “ He may have aged slightly, but that is the same man I interrogated. Which means, judging by the age, I’m guessing the younger guy is her brother. His hair is different and he has a mustache now, but as I look closer, I recognize him too.”

Shit. This was not a friendly family visit.

“So, four men go in the house, followed by Ruthie , but only two men come out with Ruthie ,” I assessed out loud.

“The question is whether the other two are still alive,” Wade noted.

“Here’s what we’re going to do,” Archer spoke up. “ Diego —get Axel and go over to Hank’s house. Keep in mind the third man is likely still there and may be armed. Get eyes on Hank and report back.”

Diego confirmed and then bolted to the stairwell to grab the other two and head out.

Archer held out his phone for Wade and me to see the screen showing Ruthie’s tracker app. They weren’t far from Hank’s house. They were stopped at what appeared to be a bank.

“They want the money,” I said to Archer .

“I thought you said they couldn’t get it, that the trust was ironclad,” Ellie said.

“That’s what the attorney told us, but that same attorney showed up with guns to Hank’s house and took her at gunpoint, so I think it’s safe to say we can’t believe anything he said,” I answered. “ I’m going to the bank. If her dot moves, call me.”

“Take Ellie with you,” Cat chimed in.

“Hell no,” Wade and I both argued.

“What? Why ?” Ellie asked, seeming curious as to why her name was mentioned.

I was leaving. I didn’t have time for this.

“Wait, Jack . Here me out,” Cat said, holding up her hands to all of us to let her speak.

“ When Val and I were in Witness Protection , the agents and marshals always used to say the most effective way to avoid a deadly turn of events during a rescue or recovery operation was through diversions and distractions.”

“I’m aware of that tactic—the military uses it as well—but my sister is not going in there,” I protested. “ It’s bad enough Ruthie is there and we have no idea what she’s up against.”

“Jack, these people know what you look like, and they may even know Archer since he was over there a lot,” Cat explained. “ I highly doubt they would recognize Wade and Ellie .”

She laid out her full idea for the plan, and I was torn.

It was a great plan and would certainly allow us the opportunity to get a better assessment of the situation with Ruthie .

But it also could potentially put my sister in danger.

I would have preferred to use Delia for this, since she was better trained, but she was out with Andre investigating another client case we had.

“Cat’s plan is good,” Archer said. “ Wade and Ellie will go to the bank with Jack as backup, but Jack , you cannot enter that bank until we get the info we need from Wade . Understood ?”

I cursed, but I knew he was right.

“Cat is also right about me,” Archer added. “ I may not have met Ronald in person, but both you and Ruthie said he brought up my name, which means he may know what I look like. Vince and I will stay here and monitor everything that’s going on.”

As a military man, I knew how important it was to cross your T’s and dot your I’s when it came to building and executing your plans. We didn’t have enough time to do that. So , we had to rely on the information we had and just hope the rest all worked out.

That left a very uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach.