by Jordan Dane
“If I have to get off the interstate, I’ll call you again and we can talk, but I gotta stick with this. That bag may be on the move. I don’t want to lose it.”
“Oh, I think you’ve already lost it. And I’m not talking about the laptop,” he said. “Is it raining where you are? I hear rain in the background.”
She ignored his question. A discussion about the weather would only make Seth worry more.
“Funny, Harper. You ever thought about taking your act on the road?” She smirked. “Hell, I guess you’re doing that right now.”
She heard him sigh.
“Come on. I’ve got a full tank of gas and I’m driving the interstate. What could possibly happen?” She cringed, hearing the jinx come out of her mouth.
“Okay, we’ll do it your way. But Jessie, you better stick to this. You call me once you leave the interstate and you stay put until I get there. You got it?”
Even through the rain pummeling her vehicle, she heard the concern in his voice. The worsening weather would only aggravate their situation.
“Yeah, Seth. I’ve got it. I’ll see you soon.” She took a deep breath. “And thanks.”
Payton Archer wasn’t the kind of man Sam had expected. After speaking to Jess and getting her take on him, she pictured of a loudmouthed jock whose favorite topic would be sports and himself—and not in that order. But Payton Archer had nothing on his mind except for his missing niece, a girl he loved without question.
No, Archer was quite different. And that distinction also reflected in his choice of friends. Even if she hadn’t learned about Joe Tanu’s law enforcement background with the Alaska State Troopers from their introduction, she would have sensed it. Tanu had the eyes of a cop.
Tanu carried a .45-caliber Glock 21 in a holster under his windbreaker and a .380 Walther PPK/S strapped to his ankle, along with a lawful affidavit giving him authorization to carry a concealed weapon in Illinois. The man had been up front about it, showing his authorization before she had to ask for his license. She had no objection. Having a retired state trooper along might prove useful.
After a quick meeting at Archer’s Oak Brook hotel suite, the men shared information on Nikki’s disappearance and, together, they had come up with a game plan. Their first stop had been O’Hare Airport. Although Archer’s niece had already arrived in Chicago, showing her photo to airport personnel might have turned up a clue, and they hit a solid lead when airport security played surveillance video taken outside, at the customer pickup area.
Sam was able to isolate an image of a man and a young woman who had picked up Archer’s niece. And although the young woman had not been identified, after Sam e-mailed the digital photo downtown for review, she learned that the man in the video had an extensive arrest record.
None of this bode well for Archer’s niece, and by the look on his face, the man knew it.
“So what now?” he asked.
He sat next to Sam in her front passenger seat, looking out his window, watching other airline passengers coming and going from her parked vehicle. She felt the weight of disappointment in his voice. A town as big as Chicago had plenty of places for a felon to hide a young girl.
“I’ve put out an APB on the guy. And I’ve got one of our detectives looking for his known hangouts. We’ll find him,” she replied as she pulled away from her parking space. “For now, we need more to go on.”
Although she was confident they’d eventually find the bastard, she had no idea when. And her gut told her something else—the longer the clock ticked on Nikki’s time with the man in the video, the worse her situation would become.
From the backseat, Joe Tanu made a suggestion.
“The Alaska State Troopers are analyzing Nikki’s online chats. They faxed prelim comments to our hotel earlier today and there were local Chicago references made. Maybe you can help us decipher the significance.”
“Good idea.” Sam merged with traffic heading out of the airport, hitting her wipers to clear the rain from her windshield. “You have them with you?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Great. Then let’s head downtown. Maybe we can—” The sound of an incoming call on her cell phone interrupted her.
Keeping an eye on the road, she pulled the phone from her belt and looked at the number displayed, not recognizing it. With all the strange things happening with Jessie, she decided to take the call.
“Excuse me. I should take this.” She held the phone to her ear. “Yeah, Cooper here.”
“Sam, it’s me. Seth Harper.” It took her a moment to register the name, but before she could respond, the guy got down to business. “Jess is tracking Baker’s missing laptop and I don’t have a good feeling about this. I think we’re gonna need your help.”
“What? Slow down, Harper. I think you’d better explain.”
Seth told her what had happened. At first Sam got angry at Jess for bending her “no secrets” agreement, but after she filtered her irritation through her friend’s warped version of logic, she realized Jess probably didn’t feel that she’d strayed from the concept. Thank God Seth had taken the initiative to call her, but even that was part of Jess’s plan, so again she couldn’t fault her friend.
“Give me her last location, Seth.” After he did, she said, “I’m heading there now, but don’t you make matters worse. Both of you sit tight until I get there. Tell her I may have to bring Detective Garza into this. She’s given me no choice. Jess will know what I’m talking about.”
After hanging up, she tried Jess’s cell. It displayed an out-of-service message. The weather probably didn’t help. She wasn’t sure it was any cause for alarm, but something in her gut told her Jess was onto something big. A cop’s instinct.
Payton Archer turned toward her, waiting to hear what had happened, though he had no idea that the laptop Jess was tracking might break a murder investigation—a case that could be linked to Nikki.
If Jessie had been right about that e-mail on Baker’s computer, Nikki Archer might have been the delivery from Anchorage. The coincidence was significant enough to make Sam a believer—enough to volunteer for the chief’s assignment with Archer and Tanu in the first place.
She knew she had to find Jess, and she had no time to take Archer and Tanu back to their hotel. A part of her wanted to give these men hope. They had a right to know what was going on.
“Change of plans, gentlemen.” Merging into heavier traffic, she hit the gas pedal, heading south. “And I’ve got a lot of explaining to do on the way.”
“Stas. We need you in the control room. Now.”
The urgent voice of Ethan O’Connell came over the intercom in Petrovin’s private quarters. The Russian reached to press the button to respond, heat rising to his cheeks.
“I will come…five minutes,” he panted.
Naked, he lay spread-eagle on his bed, gazing at the frightened young girl ministering to his need. She crouched between his legs, her soft pale body completely exposed to his ways. Her head bobbed up and down, her lips warm and moist. For an instant after he’d gotten O’Connell’s message, the girl had looked up with tears glistening in her eyes, still holding him in her mouth. Perhaps she had hoped he’d ask her to stop, saying he had to leave.
That never happened.
“Five minutes…plenty of time.” He reached for the whimpering girl, gripping tufts of her hair in both hands. She would need his help to finish.
By the time Petrovin got to the control room, O’Connell did not look pleased with his delay.
“You said you’d come in five minutes.”
“Yes, I am a man of my word.” The Russian smiled. “What is so urgent, Ethan?”
“Baker’s laptop. One of my men inspected it and found it had been tampered with. Keystroke-tracking software had been installed, the kind identity thieves use. That bounty hunter must have done it.”
Before he had a chance to explain more, Petrovin asked, “Did your man access sensitive areas that could be detecte
d with such software? Are we exposed?”
“No, thank God.”
The Russian almost laughed aloud at O’Connell’s reference to a higher power. With the storm outside, perhaps lightning would strike the man.
“You better hope there is no God, Ethan. For your sake…and mine.” He smirked. “I do not understand your urgency. Simply destroy the computer and be done with it. Very soon, this bounty hunter will no longer be a problem.”
“Not soon enough, I’m afraid.” O’Connell waved him over to the computer in question, lying on top of a desk. “Doing a thorough job, my analyst also found this.”
When O’Connell tore back an inside corner of the computer bag, Petrovin knew why the man had been concerned. The Russian recognized a transmitter when he saw it. Anger flushed through his system like a deadly toxin. If Lucas Baker were not already dead, he would do the honors again in a much more painful way. But since this would not be possible, he focused his anger where he could.
The bounty hunter had planted the transmitter, placing his entire organization at risk. And worse, the life he had cultivated in this country would come to an abrupt end at the order of his superior if this debacle compromised Bukulov’s grand design. Failure was not acceptable.
He clenched his jaw, seething with anger.
“I haven’t destroyed the transmitter yet, but I’m using a frequency counter to block it.” O’Connell said. “At a minimum, we need to get the word out to our key people. We’re in lock-down mode until further notice.”
“Yes, I agree. Do it now. But on my order, be prepared to evacuate. We can’t take chances. You know what to do.”
When Petrovin reached for the computer bag, O’Connell asked, “What are you doing with that?”
“Perhaps with the right bait, I learn to fish, no?”
With the computer bag in hand, Petrovin headed for the control room door. If the bounty hunter came looking for the computer, he would make sure she found it—and more.
“I need five of your best men. Now. Have them meet me…the weapons room.”
At the exit, the Russian looked over his shoulder at O’Connell.
“Tell your men…we are hunting.”
CHAPTER 15
Lightning split the night sky in frenzy. And with every crack of thunder, Jess tensed with her heart in her throat. Rain pelted her windshield, hard. She’d been tempted to pull under an overpass to wait the storm out, but that felt like a waste of time. With visibility poor, she had to lower her speed to a crawl.
She drove until the signal became faint. She turned around at an overpass and headed south again, but before too many miles realized it was time to divert off the interstate and head east. Rather than arbitrarily picking a route, she decided to drive the frontage road that paralleled I-57 to see where the signal was strongest. Soon it became clear that a farm road heading east, a route meant for local traffic, was the most promising. And she couldn’t see any lights in that direction, not even a farmhouse. Had they lost power in the area?
“Damn it.”
Any other time, she might have followed the road without hesitating, but she’d made a promise to Seth…and to Sam. She pulled into an abandoned gas station situated next to the turn off, with the interstate clearly in sight. Harper would see her headlights from the highway if he knew where to look. And the station’s overhang gave her a break from the steady rain. A good spot to wait. She took a deep breath, thankful for the relief.
“Okay, Seth. Let’s find out where you are.”
She tried his cell phone. With the bad weather, service was marginal. After a couple of tries she got his voice mail and left a message. In a few minutes she tried again and got through. When he answered, she didn’t bother with formalities.
“Hey, it’s me.”
“Where are you?”
She gave him her location, using exit numbers and estimated mileage. Although the old gas station wasn’t much, it made for a decent landmark.
“I’ll keep my car running and the headlights on. As you’re heading south, I’ll be on the frontage road to your left, the east side of the road. This place looks like one of those old funky gas stations from the fifties.”
“Looking at the mile markers, I’m only a few minutes away. That’s great.”
“Can you read the signal, Seth? You should pick it up, right?”
“Yeah, I’ve got it. You did good, Jessie.” He sounded relieved. “Stay put. I’m almost there.”
She ended the call, but had to admit it felt wonderful to hear his voice, and knowing he was minutes away felt good too. She kept her eyes on the interstate, looking for that damned blue van. The rain blurred everything, but she kept watch anyway. When he got there, she’d get them both suited up in Kevlar. No sense taking any risk. She had a couple of vests in the trunk.
But when the transmitter signal suddenly got stronger—out of the blue—it caught her by surprise. She shifted in her seat, focusing all her attention on the tracking gear.
“What the hell?”
Now the signal was steady and clear. If she didn’t know any better, she could swear she was right on top of the thing. Seth said that once they found the location, they’d know it, without a doubt.
But this? She was in the middle of nowhere. It made no sense.
“What’s happening?” Her hands groped the control panel in the dim light off her dashboard.
But a sharp tap on glass jolted her heart.
“Shit!”
She turned and the glare of a flashlight blinded her. She shielded her eyes. What was Harper doing? How did he…? It dawned on her too late. No way Seth could have gotten there so fast. A motion across the headlights caught her eye. And to her right, another flashlight invaded the darkness. A group of men surrounded her car. She couldn’t see how many.
They were dressed in black like a paramilitary unit, and their faces were covered. But one man approached from the shadows near her front door. In his hand he held something she recognized.
The black computer bag.
“Oh…my…God.” It was all she had time to say.
Jess reached for her Colt Python, but the man with the bag beat her to the punch. She stared down the barrel of his weapon, knowing she couldn’t beat the odds. For a heartbeat, she left her hand on the butt of her gun, but soon raised her hands. She swallowed, unsure she could even breathe. The man gestured for her to open the door.
Slowly, she looked down. Yes, her door was locked, but it went against all her survival instincts to give in. How could she help them? When the man decided she wasn’t moving fast enough, he took matters in his hands. He shouted an order.
Crack! The passenger window exploded.
Glass shattered across her face and hands. She felt the sting of cuts. In defense, Jess wrapped her arms over her head. From both sides her car doors flew open. They’d unlocked the doors. Hands groped her body, tugging at her. The men yanked her from the car, kicking and screaming. Like a pack of animals, they came at her, punishing her for resisting. They dragged her into the cold rain. And a fierce chill took over, making her teeth chatter out of control.
One of the men shoved her against a hard surface, an edge cutting across her back.
“Arrgghh.”
A sliver of hope. That’s all she had. If she held out long enough, Harper would see what was happening and call for help.
“Who are you?” She tried stalling. “What do you want? There’s been a mistake.”
The men circled her now. No one answered her questions. Their shadows eclipsed the light from her headlights. One man looked to be the leader. The tall one with long hair. When he stepped closer, she thought he might speak, but instead he reached out and gripped her by the throat with one hand, the move quick. With brutal force, he pressed hard and shoved her against a wall, smacking the back of her head. She nearly lost consciousness. Blood slithered down her neck.
She felt her body lift. Her feet no longer touched the ground. She couldn’t brea
the. Struggling for air, she clawed at his arms—punching and kicking him—but the others held her down. Stars burst like fireworks behind her eyes. And the blackness came. He was going to kill her…right here…right now.
And there was nothing she could do about it.
CHAPTER 16
The rain had finally tapered off, and Seth took the change to be a good sign. He dialed back his wiper blades to stop the annoying sound they made on high speed. Finding Jess had become his top priority, so when he noticed a change in the transmitter signal, the notion barely registered; he dismissed it.
Maybe the rain and the dark made him worry more than he should, but Jess had a way of attracting danger. Even in the short time he’d known her, he could tell that she lived on the edge. And something drove her from deep inside—something she held close.
Lucas Baker had been different from the other scumbags she hunted for bounty money, but there had been no time to talk about it, assuming she’d open up to him at all. He’d never met anyone like her.
A road sign caught his attention. This was it. According to Jess, at the next exit he would follow the frontage road to the overpass and hit the turnaround to catch her on the other side. She’d also told him her headlights would be on and he could spot her from the interstate.
Seth peered through the rain, finding the old gas station, as she’d described it. And he grinned when he saw her car with headlights blazing. But his smile quickly faded. In the dim light, off to the right, a group of men huddled—some kind of fight.
“Damn it!” He hit the accelerator, gripping the wheel with both hands.
His eyes searched the dark for the exit, then went back at the old gas station. He’d never make it in time. Jess needed him now. There was only one thing for him to do. He veered to the left lane, looking for a spot to cross. When he hit the median, his van almost bottomed out. He didn’t have time to search for level ground. And with the excessive rain, his tires hit mud and spun. A high whine mixed with the sound of heavy splatter.