“Got it, boss. You be careful out there.”
“No need to worry, I’m with Decourdeau.”
“Ah, you’re with the demon. In that case, you rule the night.”
“Let’s go put those two out of their misery,” Logan said after hanging up the phone.
He and Andre tracked the cultists for about a half mile. Finally, Richard collapsed onto a rock.
“Hold up, Joe. I need to rest a minute.”
Joe came back and sat next to Richard. He took a canteen off his shoulder, opened it, and drank deep, then handed it to Richard. “You think Eli came this way?”
“Who knows with that boy,” Richard said, handing the canteen back.
Logan walked his fingers in the air, telling Andre to circle behind them, and then watched the Cajun fade away into the dark. Careful where he put his feet, Logan slipped close to the men, taking a position behind the trunk of a tree. When he heard the hoot of an owl, he lifted his gun and screwed a silencer to the end.
“If either one of you moves so much as a finger, you’re a dead man,” he said quietly.
The fools jumped up from the rock, grabbing for their rifles. Logan took aim and shot the barrel of Joe’s rifle, the silencer keeping the noise to a minimum. Both men froze. “Going on the assumption you’re both hard of hearing, I’ll say it one more time. You move, you die.”
“Who’s there?” Joe said, his voice trembling.
“Me, I’m the good guy. It’s the devil behind you that you need to worry about.”
Their heads swiveled. Logan sighed loud enough for them to hear. “Are you boys just stupid or what? My gun’s aimed right between the eyes of one of you. The question is, which of you is going to die first?” That had the desired effect. “Now, here’s how we’re going to do this. While you stand there all nice and quiet, my friend’s going to step up behind you. All you have to do is remember the rule. You move, you die.”
Decourdeau slid behind them like a thief in the night. Both men startled when he put a hand on each of their shoulders and gave them a demonic laugh. Richard peed in his pants. Andre confiscated the rifles and put them on the ground, then pulled plastic ties out of his pocket.
Once Joe and Richard were bound, gagged, and tied to separate trees, Logan called Buchanan, gave him the GPS coordinates, and told him to send two men to retrieve the dumbasses. Taking the rifles with them, he and Andre started up the mountain. When they were a short distance away from the prisoners, Logan pushed the busted rifle underneath a fallen tree.
“That was too easy, mon ami. You gotta let me have a little playtime before we’re done.”
“The night’s not over yet, my friend. Where do you think Eli’s headed?”
“Got no idea where the boy and your woman are. It’s the dogs I’m tracking.”
“I don’t follow.”
“The kid took his Dobies with him. Smart thinking on his part. If he’d left ’em behind, they would’ve led everyone right to Eli and your woman.”
What was Eli up to? He’d stolen Dani, and Logan wanted to hate him for it, but he was Evan’s twin, raised in a warped environment. Until he found out whether he had been brainwashed, he’d give Eli the benefit of a doubt. God help him if he so much as put a scratch on her.
“How do you track the dogs?” Logan ignored Decourdeau’s rolling eyes. It was a good question. He saw nothing that indicated the passing of any canines.
“I can smell ’em.”
“You’re shitting me.”
“I shit you not, and you take one more step, mon ami, you’re gonna smell ’em, too.”
Logan looked down at where his foot hovered. Right, dog shit. He stepped carefully around the pile. “Consider me a convert. Lead on, spooky man.”
Andre grunted and took point.
Dani tripped over a dead branch. “Sorry,” she said when Eli caught her arm, keeping her from falling on her face. She searched behind them, but all she saw was the outline of trees.
Eli had said the dogs were agitated, which meant someone was probably following them. She’d considered leaving a trail, breaking off branches, dragging her feet whenever they were on dirt, anything to make it easier for Logan to find her. That would also lead the men from the compound right to them, so she’d discarded the idea.
“I think it’s okay to rest for a minute,” Eli said.
Thank God. She started to lean back on a boulder, but he stopped her.
“Wait. Let me check for snakes.” He pulled a small flashlight out of his back pocket and holding his hand around the light, he squatted and surveyed the crevices of the rock.