Page 22 of Special Agent Raven
Once they had secured Palmer’s baby, they headed back the way they’d come. Keeping to the gravel road behind the house, they eventually reached Helen and Mac’s place. As isolated as it was, they’d done a wonderful job making it a paradise for a retired couple.
Raven pointed all that out to Cane. “See their greenhouses and gardens?”
He glanced to where she pointed and commented. “Pretty spectacular and immaculately taken care of. I see what you mean about their work habits.”
“Trust me, their gardens are unmatched because of their huge selection of fruit trees, vegetable plots, and thriving flowering sections. Everyone in town is impressed by this place.”
“I can see why.”
Raven shared in a whisper, “Every Saturday morning at the weekly farmer’s market both Helen and Mac oversee a large booth that features all kinds of produce that many of the townspeople look forward to. Trust me, they make a good living all summer long.”
While whispering, Raven bypassed those areas and led the way to the rear of the house where she knew they had a mud room and a summer kitchen that Helen used for canning. Careful not to make too much noise, they lingered a few moments before approaching. Cane’s authoritative tone caught her attention. “You stay here and let me take a look.”
“How about I take this side, you go the other way, and we’ll meet at the front?”
He hesitated until she opened her jacket to show him the badge she’d attached to the front pocket of her jeans. “Right. But in case you see something, don’t engage. We’ll discuss what to do next together.”
“Fine.” She bent low and headed to the left side of the property, staying under the window ledges until she was readyto take a peek inside. All four of her glimpses showed nothing out of the ordinary. No sign of life of any kind. But it could be because she’d chosen the laundry room, an office, and a bedroom where no activity could be expected at this time of the day.
When she reached the front of the house, she saw Cane signaling for her to retreat. His humorless expression told her he meant for her to pay attention. Taking it as a signal that he had something to share, she reversed her steps to where they’d stopped behind the place before and waited.
And waited.
Son of a bitch, he hadn’t followed. Where the hell was he?
Chapter Seventeen
Cane could see the scene in the living room through the side window and his blood ran cold at what he saw. Steve, and who he took to be Aggie, were sitting on chairs, secured back-to-back with zip ties. Both were obviously out of commission if their bowed heads and limp bodies were any indication.
Another old man sat alone also with plastic ties securing him to a third chair. Cane scanned the room for Helen and found her on the floor holding a small toddler, crooning to it like one would with a small child to keep it quiet.
Not willing to barge in until he scouted more to see what was going on, he moved to the next room’s window which happened to be the kitchen, and his blood ran cold. There was a tall man with a crewcut, a wide face full of acne and bushy eyebrows emphasizing his cold expression and hate-filled eyes.
The asshole held a gun which he waved loosely towards a pretty, young woman. Her dark hair piled on her head was held by a large clip, and her face, blotched from tears and swollen onone side from being slapped or punched, appeared terrified. One could see some deep cuts where her blood had dried and more bruises on her arms where her T-shirt had been torn away.
And from the marks on her throat and cheek, and the way she limped, one might wonder if she’d been sexually abused. Also, on the bottom of her legs that showed past her cutoffs more dried blood appeared, hopefully from the deep cuts and scrapes and not from being mauled by a madman. The scene made Cane’s blood run cold.
“Stop sniveling or I swear I’ll hurt that whiny kid of yours. Just cook the Goddamn lunch already. How hard can that be?”
The terrified girl dropped the pan she’d been fetching and crouched to retrieve it. “Look, I’m sorry. You-you’re scaring me on purpose, waving that stupid gun around like that. And can you please stop yelling? I’m working as fast as I can.”
Her eyes lifted in his direction and when she spotted Cane at the window, without thinking, she let out a shriek of surprise.
Catching on quickly, the gunman swiveled to see what had caught her eye and spoke commandingly. “Whoever’s out there, get in here now, or I’ll shoot the bitch.”
Cane had no intention of going to the back of the house to bring attention to Raven, and so he zipped up his jacket, lifted the old-fashioned window, and climbed in that way. “Cool your jets, man. I was just coming to see if I could borrow your boat.”
“Yeah, then why sneak around the place like a thief?”
Cane pretended to be caught off guard. Hesitating on purpose, pretending guilt, he whined, “Place looked deserted, man. Figured no one would miss anything if I helped myself. You know how it is. We gotta look after ourselves in a storm like we had.” His fake swagger got him further into the room.
The gunman stared at Cane, sizing him up before he broke into peals of laughter that sounded more like the grunting of a hog. “Fuck me, you’re a looter.”
Pretending to be mad for being accused of a crime, Cane pointed at the gun and sneered, “Yeah, so what? You doin’ worse, holding up these folks. Me, I was just gonna steal from ‘em… not hurt ‘em.” Pretending to be uneducated and down on his luck, he strutted over to the fridge and looked inside. “Bro, I’m starving.”
While staring at the food, Cane prayed that Raven would catch on that they had a problem when he didn’t appear. Even though he knew she held a badge, and knew how to deal with her weapon, he hoped she’d hold off doing anything until he’d had more time to stake out the situation.
By heading for the fridge, he’d meant to keep the gunman’s attention on him and not the window. Because he had no doubt, he’d be seeing movement there soon.