Darke Heat by Nese Ellyson Page A

At a guess, she figured she was on one of the small islands in one of the lakes. If her dogs didn’t hear, maybe another dog would. It was a long shot at best, but it gave her a way of doing something to aid her being found and rescued.
    Using her chin, it seemed to take forever before she wiggled the whistle out from under the collar of her shirt. She moved her head, got behind the whistle, and breathed in and out next to the mouthpiece several times, hard through her nose, while trying not to hyperventilate. In the distance, she could hear dogs putting up a racket, but they weren’t her dogs. She continued breathing into the whistle, over and over again, until she had to pause and catch her breath. Then she started doing it again. Exhausted and light-headed from the effort of trying to breathe through her fear, Paige rested and promptly dozed off.
     
     
    There were a couple of paddles in the boat should it run out of gas. Bryce was thinking he might need them to sneak up on whoever had Paige. It was starting to get dark and it would be harder to navigate. He’d grown up on the Lockes and knew where every access and dam was, so he felt pretty confident he’d be able to continue well into the night if he needed to. His heart beat loudly in his ears. His only fear was that he’d be too late.
    After an hour of searching, the sun was low on the horizon, and he knew full dark was maybe fifteen minutes away. Thinking he’d get a better bearing if he could hear something, he killed the motor. Deeogee started barking and howling. The dog was responding to Paige. He wasn’t sure how the dog was able to find her, but that particular response was reserved for Paige.
    He hushed the dog, needing him to be quiet. Deeogee obeyed immediately. As if sensing the seriousness of what they were doing, the dog remained calm. Bryce’s heart, however, was racing so hard in his chest, he wasn’t sure if he would hear anything.
    The motor’s echo stilled and the cicadas took up their nightly chant in accompaniment with the mosquitoes and frogs. Pulling out the oars, he set them in the handles and began paddling. There was nothing coming in on his radio, so no one else had found her yet. Fear was a bitter taste in his mouth. There was a turn in the canal and up ahead he saw a distant glow. He knew it had to be the kidnappers. Very few people came this far out on the canal at night, except to do drugs and drink. But there was no sound of a party going on, so he knew that whoever it was, they were not wanting to be discovered.
    He paddled slowly closer, the oars making barely any sound as they cleaved through the water. Even the dog was quiet. Bryce was able to steer the boat right up to a small out cropping of land undetected. Through the trees and brush, he could see the light from their fire. He eased himself into the water and walked the boat silently up onto the bank next to the other boat, then stopped to listen.
    There were three men talking around the campfire, but no sign of Paige. He inched closer to overhear what they were saying. Deeogee looked at him with his ears back as if to question him if it was okay to make noise now. Bryce quietly shushed him to remain silent, so he could hear what was being said. The water conducted the sound of their voices clearly.
    “I say the boss should have put a bullet in the Agent. He’s been nothing but trouble. He isn’t going to turn him to our way of thinking, like he did the other cop. And taking his lady friend ain’t going to do it either.”
    “Shut up. You want to get a bullet to the forehead, you idiot?” The man with a shaved head was speaking to the one complaining.
    “I’m just saying. If his ex-wife couldn’t get him to turn, what does the boss think kidnapping the dog lady is going to do?”
    “The Agent ain’t ruled by his pecker is all,” said the other man who was stoking the fire.
    “I hope the boss lets us have a turn with her before he pimps her out.”
    “How