Erin felt herself growing more and more tense as James slowly started down the gravel drive that led to the cabin where she'd been held captive for so long. Grant seemed to notice her anxiety, since he slid his hand up between the seats to grip hers firmly, squeezing a few times in a show of solidarity. A part of her wished that she could speak, but she knew that if she tried to open her mouth, she could very well throw up, and she didn't want to ruin the interior of the vehicle, since that was their only way home. "Everything will be all right, Erin. You have the two of us to protect you and Alex, plus you have your gun, just in case things should get hairy."
"You think Erin needs to rely on men to protect her?" James teased as he drove, giving her a small wink. "No, I rather think that Erin will be the one protecting us, in the end. I've heard stories from Lex about how she can go for the head shot or the heart shot. About how she could have been a sniper, back in the day, if the FBI hadn't had some antiquated notions about what sex should fill that role. I know that Erin might not like the idea of shooting Dave, but I wouldn't mind seeing her skills in action."
"Oh, I've had the privilege of that! Granted, it was just with paper targets, since the shooting range discourages the use of live targets. I can understand that, since murder is generally frowned upon."
Erin burst out into her first true laugh in ages, and she marveled at how good it felt to release her emotions like that, though that feeling fast faded as she saw David's car parked near the cabin, next to Alex's. "Well, that answers that question," she murmured as she took a deep breath, wishing that her heart hadn't fallen into her stomach at the sight.
"Everything will be all right, Erin. They don't know we're here, and we'll have the element of surprise."
Even Grant didn't sound that optimistic, and she nodded slowly as James placed the car in park and turned it off. "All right, since you two are the trained FBI agents, I'm going to let you go in first, and I'll take up the rear. But before we head in, what can you tell us about the cabin, Erin?"
"There's only one entrance and exit, and that's the door we're looking at. There are huge windows at the back of the cabin that look into the woods, but there's no way to escape through them, unless you want to severely injure yourself while doing so. The upstairs is just a bedroom and bathroom, while the basement is where I was held. John built a room down there, with a steel door, to hold me captive. This is his second attempt, as I was held somewhere else before this, though I don't know where that was, so I'm assuming that it was built stronger as a result. There's only one way into the basement, and that's down a narrow set of wooden stairs. And now my mind is drawing a blank, of course. It's hard to try and focus on a place where you were traumatized."
"I understand, Erin. But we're going to end this here and now."
Both men nodded, and Erin gave them a tight smile before she pulled her gun from the holster and checked to make certain that it was ready to work, just in case she found it necessary to shoot either David or John. "Let's head in," Grant whispered and Erin took a deep breath as she nodded, opening the door as quietly as possible before slipping out and then closing the door just as softly. She knew that it was important to draw as little attention to them as possible, as they needed to keep the element of surprise in order to have the best chance at rescuing Alex. The men followed her lead and then she was leading them up to the door, almost unnecessarily placing her finger against her lips to tell them to be quiet as she turned the doorknob and slowly pushed the door inwards. Every hair on her arms was standing at attention as she pictured John or David seeing her and shooting Alex before killing them, but she tried to push past that feeling when she heard voices coming from somewhere in the cabin.
"Do you know where they're coming from?" Grant whispered in her ear, and she shook her head as she shooed them back onto the porch. "Regroup by the car?"
Erin nodded as they carefully crept back to the car and she took a few deep breaths in order to calm her quickly beating heart. Once they were safely crouching behind the trunk, she looked between Grant and James, taking more deep breaths in order to have a slight buffer before she spoke. "All right, I could clearly make out John and David arguing from somewhere in the house. At this point, James, I do not feel comfortable with you following us inside the house. Please, stay here while Grant and I clear the cabin. Once we're back inside, I'll need you to call Aaron and let him know what's going on up here, and that the team is needed as quickly as possible. I'm hoping the fact that David is not there today means that they've grounded the team whilst looking for him, so they should be able to get the jet to Wells in short order. There's a private airstrip nearby that they could land at."
"How…?"
"I was busy while Grant and you were driving. I needed to figure out a game plan, and this was the best that I could come up with. Grant, I don't suppose that you put vests in the trunk before we left?"
"Ma'am, do you have to doubt me that much? Of course I did. James, would you pop the trunk?" He nodded and went to the driver's side door, opening it before meeting Grant's eye. Erin watched them nod at each other, and in a fluid movement, James pressed the button to release the trunk while Grant smoothly guided it upwards so that it wouldn't make any noise that could possibly attract attention. Once it was up, he handed Erin two vests before just as quietly closing the trunk before giving her a small smile. "Everyone thinks that I can be looked over, because I'm unassuming. I've learned to use that to my advantage over the years."
"It's a good cover to have." She returned his smile as she handed over one of the vests before putting hers on and securing all the straps. The weight of it on her shoulders told her that this was very much real, and that she and Grant were going to be headed into the lion's den with no backup, but there was nothing to be done about that, since she didn't want to wait for Aaron and his team. Not when Alex's life was on the line. And she would do anything to keep her friend safe from those madmen currently holding her captive.