Page 34 of Secrets Beneath the Waves

The call ended.

Ramon climbed out of the car and jogged after Zeyla. “We need some kind of plan.”

“Agreed.” She drew a gun of her own, considerably larger caliber than his. “So the plan is to take down the bad guy and rescue the girl.”

“With the addition of going as long as possible without him even knowing we’re there.”

See? They could come up with a plan. They were practically partners at this point.

“I can be stealthy.” She glanced at him, suspicion in her gaze. “You don’t think I can be stealthy?”

Ramon ignored that comment and tipped his head to the side. “Let’s sneak into the neighbor’s yard and climb the fence so we can get a look from the rear. There might be a better way in back there.”

Zeyla led the way into the shadows.

The place they both knew best.

But this time, it was lit with the hope that together they would save a life tonight.

CHAPTER

FIFTEEN

The back doorto the house turned out to be a patio slider. Thankfully, it wasn’t locked, so Ramon eased it open slowly, praying it didn’t creak—and that there wasn’t a dog inside the house. He waited a couple of seconds, and nothing happened, so he stepped inside.

Zeyla entered right behind him, both of them with their weapons drawn.

Two against one were pretty good odds, as far as he was concerned.

The house had no furniture in the kitchen, but plenty of paper plates overflowed the trash, along with stacked pizza boxes. These guys hadn’t only been using this place since the night before. They had been here far longer. Perhaps even involved with this operation from the beginning. Or at least long enough for the garbage to start to stink.

The low drone of the TV came from the next room, the flicker of the image on-screen flashing lights against the wall. Ramon stopped at the entry between the kitchen and living room and tucked against the wall out of sight. He peered around the corner.

“Clear.” He spoke the word low, barely audible.

Zeyla tapped his shoulder.

Ramon stepped into the living room, looking around. Maybe the guy was in the bathroom. Or doing something he shouldn’t be doing with the victim.

He opened the first door in the hallway, but the tiny linen closet was empty. The third door had a padlock on it. Probably where they were holding the girl. Ramon eased open the second door and went in, gun first. In the center of a room was a hospital bed, the kind probably used when a patient came home for end-of-life hospice care. Beside it were several machines overlaid with a cover that suggested they were no longer required on a regular basis. Beside those was an ultrasound machine.

No kidnapper.

Ramon slid his gun into the holster on his hip. “I’ll pick the lock if you cover me.”

“I’d feel better if I knew where this guy was.” She glanced in both directions down the hallway. “And if I thought this house wasn’t going to blow up any second now.”

But was Miguel anywhere near this? Or involved?

Zeyla stood guard while he drew his lock-picking kit from his pocket. If the kidnapper was inside the room, then it wouldn’t have been padlocked. It was more likely that he had seen them coming and chosen to hide rather than face them down.

Maybe he had even run.

Ramon worked the pick around until the padlock keyhole clicked and the arm sprung free. He twisted the handle and eased the door open, checking all angles with his gun drawn before he even stepped inside. But the room was empty except for a single female, naked and huddled in the corner.

He turned back to Zeyla. “I need to get the blanket from the other room.”

Ramon didn’t waste any time stripping it from the bed. Halfway back to the door of the medical room, a dark figure rushed past the opening. Zeyla’s gun went off, and he heard her and the man crash to the ground.