The Wolf Code

Satisfied, Hannah sat back, but a moment later sat forward again. 

“Is that the highway?” she asked.

“Yes,” Ty said.

Hannah closed her eyes in frustration.

“If I had gone south instead of north, I would have been right by my friend’s house,” she said angrily.  “It was right there.  This place is right there.”

“Every time I’ve found these operations like this, it’s always been hiding in plain sight,” Senora offered.  “A lot of my kidnapping victims are victims of human trafficking, and I’m telling you, almost everyone within a mile of these places says the same thing.  It was right there and they never knew.”

“But I should have recognized the area.  I’ve been to my friend’s house a million times, and it’s so close.  Why didn’t I know that?”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Ty said.  “You were asleep, it was dark, and before you got a good look around, they zapped you.  You had the deck stacked against you, but you still stayed on your feet for six hours and found help.  That’s no small feat, and you should be proud of that.  Think of it like this: if you had gone to your friend’s house and the Sheriff had come after you there, you and your friend would be in that barn now.”

Hannah shuddered visibly, and Senora knew that Ty had gotten through to her.

“You did the right thing,” Ty continued.  “You found the best people to help keep you safe.  I think it worked out exactly how it should have worked out, and come night time, we’re going to make sure that the Sheriff never hurts anyone else ever again.  You’re going to be a big part in setting a lot of wrongs so that they’re right.  You should be proud.”

“All I did was get kidnapped,” she said.

“And instead of waiting for help, you saved yourself,” Senora said.  “I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve found a missing person dead, and if they had just taken some time to look around and calm down, they could have gotten out of the car trunk they were locked in, or they were within a dozen or so yards of freedom when they couldn’t go on anymore.  You did an amazing thing.  Don’t diminish that.”

Hannah smiled for the first time since she had seen the barn. 

“Thank you,” she said.

“Now, let’s get back home and make a plan.  This man isn’t going to go down easy, and we have a lot to cover with the others if we’re going to make this happen tonight.”

***

Dale was turning down off the highway toward the station when a call came over his work cell phone.  He checked the caller ID, relieved that it wasn’t his client, then intrigued when he realized he recognized the number.

“Sheriff,” he said by way of greeting.

“Hey, Dale.  It’s Steve.”

“Steve,” Dale said, his voice dripping with fake happiness. 

He didn’t have the time nor the energy to deal with the President of the wildlife center today.

“I could use your help, and I was hoping that you could come down personally and deal with this situation.  Just you.  I want to make an impression, but I don’t want to make a big deal out of it.”

Dale sighed, hand over the mouthpiece of his phone so Steve didn’t hear him.  It was the same thing he always called for.  Anytime a young child stole from the gift store, Steve would call the Sheriff to scare them straight, then send them off without much more than a stern look.  It wasn’t how Dale would handle all the entitled brats that came through the wildlife safari with their enabling parents, but Dale did get a cheap thrill out of making the little buggers cry.

Still, he didn’t have time today.  His client had given him an ultimatum: find Hannah and get him another treasure to sell by tomorrow morning, or Dale was as good as dead.

Dale didn’t feel like dying today, and he needed to find that girl.  She’d seen his face, knew who he was, and she had seen enough of the property to give a detailed account of where she’d been held.  In Texas, a horse farm down a long dirt road was a dime a dozen, but all it would take was one unique feature and they would know exactly where she’d been held.  Dale had most of the police force in Glen Rose under his thumb, but there were a few men that couldn’t be bought or beaten into submission, and he worried about them. 

Their self-righteous sense of justice could get him caught, and that wasn’t going to fit into his plan.  His only choice was to find Hannah or another girl like her and one more for good measure.  And now, Steve wanted him to drop everything to come scare the hell out of some wannabe thug kids.

“…so I don’t want these girls to have a record, but I want to make sure that they never do it again,” Steve said, breaking through Dale’s thoughts and catching his attention.

“How old are they again?” Dale asked, then added, “My phone cut out, and I missed it.”

“All eighteen, recent high school grads enjoying their first summer of freedom.  They came from out of state on a road trip.  I didn’t ask them where they were from.  There are three of them, and I think this is their first time going out of town by themselves.”

Dale felt giddy, flipping the car around in a quick U-turn but trying not to sound excited.

“So they decided to steal from the drive-thru safari?” Dale asked.

“No, man, you need to get a better phone.  I was telling you that they were parking and getting out to pet the animals.  Then, I caught them driving down one of the employee only roads, and they were trying to catch an Okapi baby.”

An o-what? Dale thought, annoyed, but he shoved the pedal down to the floorboards.  This was a sign that the Universe still loved him.  Forget Hannah; he was about to produce three teens for his clients, and he knew that the man would be thrilled.  Once he got them photographed and uploaded to the site, he would continue his search for Hannah.  If he found her dead and half-eaten, so be it.  He was about to get what he needed, and he didn’t care about that foolish girl and her escape.

“I’ll be there in a few minutes.  Can you take them to the back?  Where is their car?”

“It’s in the employee parking lot, and I have them in the holding room.”

“Perfect.  I’ll tow their car with me so they can leave from the station, and they don’t have to pay an impound fee.  But Steve, I need you to keep this between you and me.  I’ve gotten chewed out for doing this for you, and I’m not supposed to tow with my Sheriff truck unless they’re stranded.”