Derrick got up and began to pace. "How do you know all that?"
"Draco hired Asher to find you and bring you to him. Asher kidnapped me to find you, and he was supposed to turn us both over to Draco, but I made him a deal. Every time he made me scream his name, I would give him a location, and if I made him say my name, he wasn't allowed to turn me over."
"Are you fucking kidding me? You goddamn Whore!" He stood up and went to backhand her, but she just laughed.
"Go ahead, I belong to him, and he will come for me. When he does, he will remove an appendage for every mark on my body." Derrick was breathing heavily, but he slowly lowered his hand.
"How many locations did you give him?"
"All of them." Mina grinned. "And he negotiated my release in two days."
"So he's coming here."
"No, I didn't think you would take Jack. I figured you'd stick with your nieces."
Derrick sat back down. "So he's headed to Scobey." He slammed his hand down on the table. "Fuck. You Bitch. I should just kill you; you're useless."
"Go ahead." Mina shrugged. "He will not stop until he finds me; if he catches up to you - and he will - and I'm not with you. Let's just say you'll wish he'd kill you."
"Where's your car Jackie?"
"We sold my car; just have the truck." Jackalyn put a plate of sandwiches in the middle of the table and got a pitcher of lemonade from the fridge.
"Fuck!" He shouted. He pointed the gun at them. "Stand up." He grabbed a set of keys off a hook and gestured for them to go out the door. Outside, he directed them to the cellar door and threw the keys to Mina. "Unlock it." Mina unlocked the padlock and opened the door. "Get down there." Mina helped Liz, and Jackalyn followed them. She walked over and pulled a string, and a single bulb came on. Derrick shut the door, and they heard him lock them back up.
"Oh, thank god." Mina said quietly. She looked around. They were in a solitary room with shelving on one side, with canned goods and dry storage. A double bed in one corner was bolted to the floor. Liz and Jacklyn went to sit down on it.
Thank god?" Jackalyn glared at her. "My husband is up there, dead, and we're locked in the storm cellar with my insane brother, who's trying to sell us to a pimp."
"Human trafficker, actually." Mina murmured. "I'm so sorry about Matthew, Jackalyn. We tried to get here before him, but I got sick and slowed us down."
"We were about to leave. William called us and let us know what he'd done. We didn't think he'd come here, figured he'd go right to Hazel, but he called and said you guys were coming to visit. Matthew wanted to stay and confront him; I had just convinced him to leave when he pulled onto the property."
Mina nodded. "I ran away six months ago. Asher found me a little over a week ago."
"Did you really make that deal with him, or were you trying to piss Derrick off?"
"Made the deal. I wasn't lying about any of it. Asher will find us, don't worry."
"He's handsome." Liz grinned.
"Yeah. And he really did earn all those locations too." Mina pulled out her phone and moved over by the door so she had better service.
"You were always way too good to be wasted on Derrick." Jackalyn gave her a small smile.
Mina put her finger to her lips. "Is he trying to start the van?" Liz and Jackalyn came over and stood with her.
"No, that's the backhoe." Jackalyn said as the engine caught. "What's he doing?"
"He must be burying Matthew." Mina said. "Maybe he's planning to stay here? Or use it as a home base? He still needs two girls to get out of his trouble with Draco."
"Think he's gonna kidnap girls from town?" Liz said quietly.
"I have no idea." Mina sent Asher another text. Locked in the storm cellar.
Good, means you won't be caught in the crossfire. Waiting on Eric and Joe.
We think he's burying Matt. we can hear the backhoe. I told him I sent you on to Montana.
Good girl.
Asher looked up from his phone. "Looks like he's decided to use his sister's house as a home base. Mina told him she sent us to Montana, and he locked them in the storm cellar. When Greg and Eric pulled up, Greg brought out his laptop, and Asher called Lexi and put her on speakerphone. Greg let Lexi connect, and she brought up satellite photos of the Steffen property.
"There are several buildings on the property." She began circling them on the screen as she listed them off. "House, barn, shed, greenhouses, another shed, and a garage. There's a fence that runs around the entire property. I don't know how high it is, if it's electrified, or its condition.
Asher considered what he was being shown and looked at Greg and Eric. "What do you guys think?"
Greg and Eric studied everything and had a quiet conversation. "Okay." Greg nodded when they were done. "We think our best bet is to go in after dark, through the driveway, and split up to go along both sides in the trees to the back of the property and make our way back to the front, clearing the buildings as we go."
"Mina said he'd locked them in a storm cellar?" Ashton looked over the photo.
"Yeah, looks like the entrance to that is right here." Lexi circled it. "On the rear of the house."
"They'll be safe and out of the line of fire. So we should leave them there until we've subdued Derrick." Eric pointed out.
"When we've subdued him. Eric, Greg, and Les, go get them out. Eric, Greg, and Joe will return the niece and sister to Michigan and return the RV's to the nearest rental place. After you've dropped them off, go back to Albany and get the jet, then go back to the office; Lex will make sure you guys are paid. Les will bring Mina to me, and we'll do the meeting and hand-off tomorrow morning. Everyone good with that?" They all nodded. "Lex, make sure you all get paid according to their contracts for this job. Take it from operating."
"Yep."
"Actually, Joe and I were talking, and we're waiving our contracts for this job. Mina, Liz, and the sister's safety is more important than us getting paid." Eric spoke up while Joe nodded beside him. Greg and Les looked at each other and nodded.
"Yeah, us too."
"You guys sure?" Asher felt a little lightheaded at their generosity. They all nodded and smiled at him.
"We like her to Ash, and we like how happy you're with her." Les assured him.
"You guys are seriously choking me up here." Lexi said teasingly. "How about I make sure you all get your bonuses?"
"Yeah. Do that." Asher gave them all a rare smile. "Let's gear up."