Rescue Operation

Richard Irons slid himself out from under his jeep, wiping his sweating brow with his forearm, and contently tossed a wrench into a nearby toolbox, "You're a pain in the ass old girl, but I still love you," The man muttered while patting the tire of the vehicle. With a short grunt, he got to his feet and brought himself into his house, making his way straight to the kitchen sink to wash his oily, greasy hands from the dirt and sludge that were now caked on them.

He covered his hands with some soap but just as he began to scrub at his palms the telephone rang, it echoed through the house a few times before he called out for his wife, "Mel, honey, can you get that?" He only received silence in response while the phone continued to go off, "Damn, must be at the store," Richard sighed while rushing to dry his hands off on a towel and making it to the phone just in time to answer, "Richard Irons," He firmly announced,

"Daddy? Daddy, I need your help," Zoey's hushed terrified voice fervently replied,

"Zoey?" Richard asked as he cupped the phone with his second hand, "Darling, what's going, what do you need?"

"Four men just broke into the ski lodge, they had guns, I don't know what they want but they want Brian and Rachel," Zoey whispered back as a distant thump of heavy footsteps could be heard over her line,

Richard felt a lump in his throat and his heart was slamming hard in his chest, his daughter was in danger and right now all he could do was listen. Richard squeezed his eyes shut, and his voice continued to remain strong and firm, "Okay, listen to me, can you hide?"

"No, No someone is searching all the rooms, I think he knows I'm here," Zoey answered with a sniffle,

"Don't worry, baby, everything is going to be okay. I'm going to take care of this, so you just need to listen to me and do exactly what I say. You need to stay calm, and listen to what these guys tell you to do, make sure your friends stay calm and don't take chances, it'll only make these men angrier," Richard said as he began to march towards his bedroom,

"Okay, okay, I can do that," Zoey softly said over the phone,

"Now when they take you and you're brought together with your friends, you all continue to listen but watch, watch their every move. See where they go, and if they don't leave you, see how they act around one another, it may give you an advantage." Richard rapidly continued as he heard heavy stomps in the distance on Zoey's end,

"Okay daddy, I hear you," Zoey whispered, "He's almost here..."

"Hang up darling, and know I'm on my way," Richard earnestly said before the line suddenly went dead. He hung his head in near defeat but only for a moment, in the next instant he took off to his bedroom and ripped open his closet, opening his gun safe and grabbing his service rifle along with his bulletproof vest. He tossed it on and grabbed a few loaded magazines, loading one into his rifle. With that, Richard took off to his garage jumping into his jeep and tearing out of his garage and up the road.

As he drove he pulled out his cellphone and made a call to the police, "Hello, 911, this is Richard Irons, my daughter called me and is reporting a home invasion and a probable kidnapping. They are located on top of Kastor Mountain, the White snow lodge." He immediately hung up the phone and shoved it back into his pocket. Even if the police were on the way he couldn't wait, those kids needed him...his daughter needed him. Richard clenched the wheel tighter and pushed his foot down on the accelerator.