“Have you lost your damn mind?” Creed roared, shoving me against the patrol car. “You could have hit someone. You almost hit Sloan.”
I shoved him away, a jolt of guilt hitting me at his mention of Sloan. “Cadence is in trouble. Crew is with her,” I yelled, pushing him away when he went to grab my shoulder. “It could be a hostage situation.”
He tackled me, pinning me when I struggled. “Stop, you stupid son of a bitch,” he barked. “I’ll help you, but you can’t go in half-cocked.” I stopped fighting, both of us breathing hard as he rolled away from me. “You’re not thinking straight.” He rolled to his feet and offered me a hand. “How do you know?”
I was about to explain when Riley appeared out of the trees. “Shit,” Creed mumbled, stepping away from Riley. “Damn kid’s a ghost.”
“Nothing’s changed,” Riley told us earnestly. “I’ve been watching like you said.”
I nodded. “Good,” I answered, not wanting to admit Creed was right about Riley. I hadn’t realized the damn kid had been watching my house for a solid week without my knowledge. “Thank you,” I added belatedly.
“We need to know what’s going on inside before we bust in and make it worse,” Creed spat, wiping blood off his mouth where one of my punches had connected. “You got cameras?”
“Everywhere but inside,” I stated bitterly. “They’re inside the RV?” I confirmed and Riley nodded.
“Yes. The woman went inside while Crew changed a tire, then he went inside, and then the men in the SUVs showed up.” He paused to take a breath. “Then seven guys left, but there were eight guys originally. I counted.”
“Good work,” Creed muttered, impressed in spite of himself. “You think about joining the club?”
“No, I call dibs,” I grumbled, elbowing Creed. “Anything else?”
Riley thought for a moment, his forehead wrinkling. “A bird flew out the window,” he mentioned. “I thought it was weird, but didn’t think it mattered,” he added with a shrug.
“Nico,” Creed and I said simultaneously.
“It matters,” I told Riley. “No detail is too small so good job on noticing.” I glanced at Creed. “We have to find him. He may be the eyes we need.”
Creed gave me a questioning look, lifting his hands. “How do we find a bird in the forest? He’s not going to come to us.”
“He might,” I said slowly, an idea coming to me. “How’s your singing voice?”
***
“Never again,” Creed gritted out. “If I ever hear Hakuna Matata again I might lose my ever loving mind.”
“I can’t believe it worked,” Riley said in awe, staring at Nico on my shoulder. “That’s a smart bird.”
“Nico,” I corrected at the same time Nico said it. “He doesn’t like being called a bird.”
“You know what you need to do?” I asked Nico and he ruffled his wings. “I know you know, but I want to make sure you know.”
“Nico know,” Nico answered, giving me attitude.
“I just want to save Cadence,” I apologized and he nuzzled my cheek in forgiveness. “As it is, she’s going to kill me for putting you at risk.”
I looked back at Riley, putting a hell of a lot of faith in the kid. “You’re sure there’s only one guy in there?”
He nodded. “Swear it on my momma’s grave.”
“Okay,” I nodded at Nico. “Do your thing.”
He flew away and we positioned ourselves along the RV shed wall, out of sight of the RV windows. “You really think this is going to work?” Creed questioned out of the side of his mouth.
“It has to,” I answered tersely. “I don’t have a better idea.”
He gave me a flat stare. “A bird doing reconnaissance is our best hope,” he grumbled. “God help us.”
“I’m not making a move until I know where Cadence is,” I gritted out. “She could have a gun to her head.”
“I know,” Creed replied, shifting his weight as he glanced around the corner. “It’ll be a hell of a story if it works.”
“It’ll work,” I asserted, feigning a confidence I didn’t feel. “Nico will give us eyes inside.”
“What if he doesn’t see anything?” Riley questioned and we both looked at him.
“We’ll get to that bridge when we come to it,” I answered, my chest growing tight as the seconds ticked by and Nico still hadn’t returned. “How long does it take?” I mumbled.
“Easy, brother,” Creed murmured, “I don’t hear any squawking.”
“What if Nico’s dead?”
“Riley.” He looked at me. “Stop talking.”
Nico glided around the corner, landing on Creed’s shoulder. “Ow,” Creed barked, shrugging his shoulder, but Nico just dug his claws in deeper.
“Did you see Cadence?”
“No Cadence,” Nico cawed, his head bobbing. “Bad guy sleeping.”
We all looked at Nico in disbelief. “Sleeping?” Creed echoed.
“Where’s Cadence?”
“No Cadence,” Nico repeated.
I eyed Riley. “You didn’t see Cadence leave?”
He shook his head adamantly. “No. I swear.” He was sweating and looked as confused as I felt. “Maybe she’s hiding,” he added hopefully.