What's at Steak 2
What's at Steak 2
Jennifer
My heart sank as Travis and Valkyrie came down the stairs half an hour later, “Anything?” I asked, but I already knew by the look on Travis’s face that the answer was no. Kevin and Kiera had searched downstairs, including the run which she has access to through a doggy door out the back of the house.
No signs were left behind, the door on the outside of the run was closed but not latched properly so the assumption is that that is how he took her. It’s a small solace that he wasn’t in my house.
Travis and Valkyrie went to question the assassin. It wasn’t likely that he would tell us anything since he hadn’t even given us his name yet, but it was worth a try. If he was going to say anything, those two would get it out of him.
Kevin, Kiera and I went to the cabin where fresh maps had been laid out for grid searches, Phantom and Pheonix having wasted no time whilst the others were searching the house.
Kiera headed straight to the surveillance screens, getting settled to stay and head the technical operations side, examining footage, monitoring and coordinating search areas.
Cieran and Connor were already setting up Kathy with a programmed flight path, her being longer range and a faster flyer meant they would be able to work from the cottage and liaise with Kiera to be on standby to rush to any particular areas of interest.
The wooded parts were trickier though as the drones couldn’t safely fly amongst the trees to get a good view and there were plenty of hiding places so Kevin, as the lead tracker, was looking at specific areas to focus on initially.
After deciding on an area to start with, me and Kevin headed for Blues. They wouldn’t leave me encase this was a distraction for something else they had planned. There was a shred of hope that if they wanted to harm Maya then they most likely would have without bothering to take her away.
It made me feel sick to think of anyone doing harm to my sweet girl. She is scared and alone somewhere though, and I had promised to keep her safe. I had no time to stop and think though, throwing a pity party wasn’t going to bring her home.
We were just pulling up to the yard at Blues side of the estate when Kevin turned to me. “Someone is approaching the gates, looks like it’s detective Ezekiel.” He reported, I guessed Kiera must have told him through his earpiece.
“Shit, shit, shit!” I exclaimed before rubbing a hand down my face. I turned the buggy and started heading back to the yard. I had totally forgotten about cooking steak for him tonight, fuck! I would have to explain to him and hope that he didn’t mind that I forgot to tell him before he drove all the way out here.
“Alright, do you have anything of hers?” He asked when I finished explaining. “Um, yeah? Why?” I asked in confusion. “Because I have a highly trained police dog in the car who was top of her class in tracking before her accident. She might be deaf, but her nose still works.” He said and my eyes twinkled, Daisy, of course!
I thought for a moment before opening my land rover door, which was parked just next to us, and pulling out Maya’s blanket from the passenger seat. “Will this do?” I asked as Bjorn nodded and headed towards his car to retrieve Daisy.
“Foot or hoof?” I asked and he looked at me confused. “I am going to go get Miss Holy so I can follow without this stupid cast getting in the way. Do you want me to saddle a horse for you too or would you prefer to stay on foot?” I elaborated.
“I’m fine on foot thanks, I don’t really know how to ride.” He admitted, nervously scratching the back of his neck. I was a bit surprised “You were so good with Theodore, I just assumed.” I trailed off.
“Well, never mind, I can teach you another day if you like. We don’t have time to waste now.” I said as we headed back to the buggy. Kevin had got out of the two-seater vehicle and gestured for Bjorn to take his seat.
“I can take the dog in the back with me?” He said as he opened the tail gate on the bed behind the cab. Bjorn nodded and lifted Daisy in next to him, handing him the lead which was now attached to a florescent harness.
“Some of the team are already at Blues, briefing some of the workers who wanted to help. We will set off from there when you’re ready Boss.” Kevin explained as I climbed into the cab next to Bjorn, who seemed to fill the space.
It was a short journey, less than five minutes on the dirt tracks between my house and Blues. It would have taken much longer for me to walk on my crutches but within minutes we were met by a very concerned Jackson in the yard.
“Detective?” He asked as he saw Bjorn climbing out the cab. “I brought reinforcements” he said as Kevin handed Daisys lead back to him. She quietly came to sit at Bjorn's feet, her eyes keenly trained on him, ready for any command. I guess her recovery time hadn’t affected her training too badly and she could sense that something was happening.
“I’m not going to ask any questions now; you can explain everything to me when we have Maya safely at home. Phantom and Pheonix already split us into teams and gave each of us areas to work on. I tacked up five horses for me, Emma, Will, Karren and Jemma to use. Miss Holy is waiting for you in the barn since we couldn’t use the stable just now.” He rushed out all the information at once.
“You already briefed them that she has had a fear of men in the past so to take extra caution when approaching her if they find her?” I asked. “Yep, I told them to only approach if she is in danger if they don’t and to wait for you otherwise.” He confirmed.
“Excellent, let's go.” I replied, starting towards the barn with Bjorn on one side and Kevin at the other. I led Miss Holy out towards the mounting block, before I could say a word, Bjorn was by my side, he held my waist as I threw my bad leg over Miss Holys back.
When he let go, I missed the warm feeling it gave me, being secure in his grip. I shook it off quickly though, Maya was alone and scared and possibly hurt. As the cold night air would be coming in and the daylight would be waning in a few hours, we had no time to lose.
Bjorn gave Daisy Maya’s blanket to sniff, and we set off quickly.