Page 50 of Rescued By the Operative

“Ennis? Out with it,” I say.

“Please,” says Nelly.

“I know that because it was me. I took him out of the jail.”

We all look at each other, checking to make sure we all heard the same thing.

“I’m sorry, bro. All eyewitnesses we’ve talked to said a big crowd rushed the jail and busted the door down,” I say.

Ennis tosses another piece of popcorn into the air and catches it.

“Oh, they did rush the jail, alright,” Ennis says. “But there wasn’t any battering ram.”

“How did they get him out, then?” Nelly asks, deeply invested in the details.

“Most of the deputies were dealing with crowd control on the square, where people were protesting against the cult. Well, there was a group of about twenty at the back of the jail, just waiting for an opportunity. Some staff came out the back door, and the people rushed in. There was only one jailer left inside, and they weren’t about to risk their life to protect that inmate. Dani and I were in the thick of the anarchy, and we wrestled Moffatt into my truck and drove away.”

“You did what?!” I shout.

“We’re fucked,” Barrett says. “We don’t need this mess.”

Jefferson and Joaquin exclaim in shocked curses.

Nelly looks confused. “Who’s Dani?”

Curly rubs his temples.

“You guys said we needed a diversion,” Ennis says. “Well, can anyone think of a better one than sending the elders a video of their prophet in captivity?”

Curly growls, “Son, where is Orlyn Moffatt right now?”

Ennis shrugs. “I got him locked down in one of the cabins.”

“The cabins are not secure! Who is watching him?” I ask.

“Dani!”

“Will someone tell me who Dani is?” Nelly exclaims.

Wylie scrubs his face. “She works for me. One of my ranch hands. And now you’ve implicated her in a kidnapping, Ennis.”

Ennis shakes his head. “It’s not kidnapping if he’s already supposed to be in jail.”

“Son, that’s not how this works,” Curly says.

“Do any of you have a better idea?” Ennis asks the group.

We all look at one another, but nobody has any suggestions.

“If anyone asks,” Curly says to Nelly, “we didn’t know about that little detail.”

Nelly nods. “Good enough for me.”

I

Wylie and I follow Ennis out to the old ranch hand cabins on the property. I have to see this with my own eyes in order to believe it.

Nelly stays with Curly and the rest of the group at the main house. I don’t need them witnessing anything.