Page 77 of Don't Let Go

I grinned. “Now, luv, don’t go stirring up trouble. I can rile the thief on my own.”

She laughed. “Fine, but you are getting closer.” Her tone went sober. “He’s not trying to throw off detection. The route he’s taking will get him to I-35 in no time, once he’s there, he can head directly north through San Antonio to Austin, and on up to Dallas and Fort Worth.”

Translation: we didn’t have a way of identifying his destination.

“Agreed,” I said. “That’s why I think there’s a more than fifty percent chance that this is a feint. He wants to pull our attention away. Use the time while I play his game, to dig in deeper there. What does henotwant us to find?”

“I’d say it’s a who, not a what. The who is whoever is working with him,” McQuade joined the call. “Stone’s got some crazy fucking ideas, but he’s not an administrator. Hell, he’s not a planner, not the way my father was. Stone is the guy you send in to wreck things. You give him orders. He likes to spout some crazy damn rhetoric, but he will get the job done.”

“If someone else gives him a map,” Fallon said slowly, her voice thoughtful.

“Yes,” McQuade answered and I could practically hear all of them thinking in the silence that followed.

“So,” Locke asked. “Who would he listen to?”

“We need to do some research. Keep your comm open for pinging so I can still track and lock in if you need me?” It was a request. One she didn’t usually have to make when we were on a job. After her reaction to McQuade cutting her out earlier, I understood why.

“I’ll keep it open.” I didn’t think it was a real problem. “I will cut it if I think they are using the signal to triangulate where you are.” Compromise offered, and it was as much as I was willing to concede.

“I can probably mask the transmission. Give me an hour and I’ll check in.” Compromise accepted.

“Be careful, luv.”

“You do the same,” she responded, the tart note punctuating the sentence made me smile. I was closing on the red dot. When I had him in visual range, I pegged my speed to his and settled in to follow.

Right on cue, my comm chimed. I tapped it to answer. “I’m here.”

“How is it going?”

“He’s going straight north. No stops. No pauses, no slowing down or speeding up. You?”

“I did a sweep of his car, and it’s definitely him. Apparently, whoever he works for keeps him under surveillance twenty-four seven.”

“Hmm. Sounds like someone doesn’t trust him.” I turned that nugget of information over in my head.

“It does, doesn’t it?” There was a hint of a smile in her voice. “Whoever they are, they might be a little smarter than me.”

“I find that difficult to believe,” I countered.

“Oh? I should warn you, Remy, flattery will not work on me.”

I grinned. “Then it doesn’t hurt either of us for me to offer it, does it?”

“Hmmph.” The little snort made me smile.

“What else did you find?”

Because despite her comment about them being a little smarter than her, she sounded quite pleased about something. To be fair, I would never begrudge her enjoying herself.

“Where he started his day. You see, keeping someone under surveillance with this tight of a leash means the log also keeps track of where it started and stopped each day.”

“GPS coordinates.”

Oh, that was priceless.

“Exactly. McQuade and Locke are on their way to do an inspection and sweep right now.”

I frowned. “One of them should have stayed with you. At least until we cover that this isn’t a blatant swap to pull us away.”

---