Page 75 of Beau
“Senator Anderson, Beau Boyette here.” He searched for words to reassure this man that his daughter would be okay. Unfortunately, he couldn’t guarantee the outcome. Not when they were working against the clock and the men who’d taken Aurelie were brutal killers. “We’ll find her.”
“Do it. She’s all I have.” The senator ended the call.
Beau unmuted the other two callers, who were on hold. “Ben?” he said.
“All boats are accounted for at the marina, but one,” Ben responded.
“Can we see the path it took through the bayou?” Beau held his breath, praying for the right answer.
“Yes,” Ben said. “I’ve been talking with Swede.”
Swede’s voice came on the line. “I can set it up for you to see what Ben sees on the tracker app.”
Beau’s heart swelled with even more hope. “The entire path?”
“Yes, sir,” Ben said. “From the moment the boat was rented at Thibodeaux Marina by a James Smith.”
“By the way,” Swede said. “I ran a check on the driver’s license the man used to rent the boat. The man on the license has been dead for a year. Murdered in New Orleans.”
“I need that map now,” Beau said, “or Miss Anderson will be the next murder victim.”
A message came across on Remy’s phone. Beau brought it up, clicked on the link and a map filled the screen. “We’re in business. Let’s find our girl.”
CHAPTER 15
Aurelie slumped against the ropes binding her to the tree. When they’d pulled her out of the water, she’d fought hard, kicking, biting and scratching until the big guy she recognized as the man who’d thrown her into the bayou backhanded her so hard she’d passed out. Not for long, but long enough to know she wasn’t strong enough to fight her way out of this predicament.
She had to come up with a better plan.
Though she’d regained consciousness, she pretended to still be out cold, using the guise to learn more about her capturers and their plan for her and to come up with her own escape.
When they’d tied her to the tree, she’d let her head loll and her body remain limp. As they’d pushed her back up against the tree, she’d arched it and puffed out her arms like a defensive lineman. They’d tied her body tightly, but when her captors weren’t looking, she’d relaxed, and the ropes around her slipped lower.
The men who’d plucked her out of the water stood near the boat they’d used to ram Pearson’s skiff.
Aurelie had been conscious when they’d pulled her out and when they’d fired rounds into the water at Beau. She hadn’t been able to see him, nor had she seen Lady. Since the men on the boat weren’t celebrating the kill, she hoped and prayed Beau and Lady had escaped.
The boat had zigzagged through the bayou, going deeper and deeper into the narrower channels. Trees had hung over the water, making it difficult to see past their branches.
Even if she did escape, Aurelie feared she’d get lost trying to find her way back. As far into the backwaters as they were, Beau and his team would never find her. The phone in her pocket had been submerged and probably wouldn’t work. Her prospects were looking grim.
If she weren’t her father’s daughter, she might’ve just given up. But she was made of sturdier stuff than that. She’d be damned if she went down without a fight. For the first time since her mother had died, she wasn’t weighed down by the guilt that she’d lived when her mother had died in that car wreck.
Being with Beau had been the catharsis she’d needed to shake free of the regret. Knowing he’d felt the same kind of survivor’s guilt had helped her see how foolish it was to wallow in the what-ifs. The people who’d died would have wanted them to live their lives to the fullest, not wish they’d died instead.
Since meeting Beau, Aurelie had discovered an unquenchable desire. For the man, yes. But more importantly...for life. Her guilt had held her back from dreaming of a future filled with hope for a man to love and who would love her. For children. She hadn’t allowed herself to consider children. She’d thought she didn’t deserve them. Didn’t deserve to be happy.
Beau...and Lady had awakened her happy gene, setting her on the path to a future where she could see herself living a full, joyful existence. No longer was she standing in her own way of that goal.
The only thing standing in her way now was the group of men plotting her demise.
Well, fuck them.
She relaxed back against the tree and used her fingers to move the rope around, searching for the knot. Moving her shoulders and her fingers, she worked the loops around until she could feel the knot the men had tied so tightly, now looser like the loops of rope around her.
Maintaining the appearance of being unconscious, she worked her fingers into the knot while listening to the conversation between the men.
The two biggest men had to be Slash and Lansky, the hit men. She didn’t understand why they hadn’t just shot her like they’d been shooting at Beau. Not that she was disappointed that she was still alive. It just didn’t make sense.