“You’re here regardless of what’s happening on the inside right now, Sunshine. Your girl would be proud of you because you’re doing what you need to do, even though you don’t know how many ways it could go bad and you’re scared. That’s brave and ballsy.” He sounded proud as well, which made me sit up a little straighter in the saddle.

“Aren’t you just a little bit scared, Cy?” I didn’t think he would admit to it if he was, but like always, he surprised me.

He turned his head to look at me and the silver shield that masked his gaze slipped away and the foggy color darkened with fear and uncertainty. “I’m scared out of my fucking mind.”

The fact that he trusted me enough to show me his vulnerability, his soft underside, made me slip a little closer to feeling like if circumstances were different I could love him forever. There was nothing Cy wanted to hide from me and the fact that he was so open with his strengths and weaknesses, made me feel like I had known him since the beginning of time.

The rumble of the four-wheeler suddenly died out and the ranger’s voice echoed to where we were trailing behind her in the trees.

“It’s going to be dark soon, so I say we camp here for the night and then head the rest of the way in on foot tomorrow. If we take the four-wheeler they might hear us coming since sound travels so far out here.” She hooked a thumb at Webb who was still holding onto her from behind. “City boy here says that it’s only about three miles in from where you first encountered the clearing.”

Cy shook his head. “More like five. Boss took off on Leo and bolted a few miles into the woods. It’ll be a long walk if you’re still losing blood.”

Webb let go of the pretty blonde after she gave him a look cold enough to leave frostbite and gave a lopsided grin. “I’ll be all right but if for some reason I slow everyone down, I’ll hang with the horses and the extra radio in case things go to hell and we need to call in the troops.”

The ranger rolled her very green eyes and started pulling things out of a big canvas knapsack that matched her drab uniform. “There is no calling in the troops this far out, and half the staff is searching for bodies in the river.”

The reminder that people had ended up dead, his brother possibly one of them, because of the goings on deep in these woods, was enough to sober Webb up and wipe the smile off his face. He gingerly climbed off of the four-wheeler and took the sleeping bag she shoved at him with a grunt, as she was a little too rough with his injury. He paled noticeably and the ranger looked like she was on the verge of apologizing but she quickly bit the words back and turned to Cy.

“We should come up with a plan before we trek toward their compound in the morning.” Cy nodded as the older man cleared his throat and held up a hand.

“Not to step on anyone’s toes here, but up until a few weeks ago I was a highly decorated agent with the Drug Enforcement Agency. I organized search and destroy operations all over the world. If anyone is going to come up with a plan to storm the castle, I think it should be me.”

Cy exchanged a look with the ranger and then shrugged. “Fine by me, as long as whatever plan you concoct ends with my brother and Emrys getting out of the compound unharmed, if they are in fact there.”

“I was a federal agent, Mr. Warner. It was my job to protect people, not to put them in danger.” The older man sounded a little put out and I couldn’t blame him. There was a lot of suspicion on Cy’s face and in his tone and the pretty forest ranger looked even less impressed by the man’s credentials.

“What do you suggest, Grady? I want someone up there to answer my questions about my brother and I doubt we make that happen if we roll in with guns blazing.” Webb maneuvered himself to the ground so that his back was resting against the muddy wheel of the four-wheeler—the wet ground and the soggy perch not seeming to bother him at all.

“Guns blazing is your style, not mine, Webb. I think we need to cause a distraction, then we need to get someone into the spot where the growers have to be camped out near the grow field in order to protect the crop. Once we have eyes on the inside we can find out for sure if Sutton and the girl are there. If they don’t have our people to use as leverage, then there is no need to risk our necks. If they do have our people, then after the initial distraction we need to create a second one, an even bigger one, so that we can smuggle them out in the chaos. Chances are they’ll have people watching Sutton and Emrys if they do have them, but if we make two messes for them to investigate, then they’ll have to have all hands on deck. It’s not a foolproof plan by any means, but I think it’s one that will get us the best results.”

Cy crossed his arms over his chest and exchanged a look with the ranger and then shifted his gaze to me. “What kind of distraction are you thinking?” His expression clearly stated that it better not involve my being in any kind of danger. “The crop in the field hasn’t come to the surface yet, so burning their drugs isn’t an option.”

I inclined my head toward Edgar who was packed with a mini arsenal. “There’s a flare gun in that stash you took from the cabin. That might work as the initial disruption but I don’t know what we have on hand for the second one, especially if it needs to be a bigger bang.”

Webb let his head fall forward so that he was looking at the ground between his feet. His voice was still a little weak but the determination in it was evident and unwavering. “You leave the second round of fucking shit up to me.” A smile that wasn’t nice at all twisted across his features.