Page 64 of Silk and Steel

Not sure what else to do, I drive to the Platinum Security office. I find Ryker and Jax standing in the reception room, a Dragunov sniper rifle disassembled into a hundred parts on the coffee table between them. They’re in the middle of a discussion that has nothing to do with the breakdown of the powerful gun.

“I’m just saying, he’d be a perfect fit for the firm,” Ryker says.

“Yeah, but he keeps turning down a job here,” Jax replies. “I know Harlowe is worried about her big brother, but I can’t force Dane to take a job with us.”

I clear my throat. Jax looks up, and the second he gets a look at my expression his smile fades. He rises to his feet quickly, his face a mask of concern.

“What’s wrong?” he asks.

“Emory gave me the slip and now I can’t find her.”

Ryker and Jax exchange glances.

“What can we do to help?” Jax asks.

I show him the note Emory left for me. He scans it and then grabs his cell phone off the table.

“We’re calling in reinforcements. We can cover every single airport in the area if we spread ourselves out enough.”

Ryker jumps into action too.

“Let me call Avery. She still has some friends in the intelligence department. You might want to talk to Harlowe, too.”

“Right.”

While the two of them play phone tag, I venture into the darkness of Harlowe’s office at the Platinum Security office. The only light comes from her multiple screens.

“Harlowe, I need your help.”

She listens while I explain the situation. But she balks when I give her my idea.

“Hacking into the airlines to find out who’s bought a ticket is easier said than done, unless you want Homeland Security to throw you in a dark cell somewhere. Which I don’t. Besides, don’t you think Julian Lovejoy would buy the tickets under assumed names or something?”

I grimace, because I hadn’t thought of that. I am starting to lose my shit.

“I’ll try to work my magic, but figuring out where she’s gone seems like it’ll be a lot faster.”

Jax gets the boys to cover the airports, which makes me feel a little bit better. Ryker says Avery is trying to call in favors to help, but I’m going stir crazy. Jax seems to realize this and sends me out.

“You should head back to Emory’s place, just in case she shows up there.”

“Why would she do that?”

“She might grow common sense and change her mind. Or maybe you'll run into Lovejoy or one of his accomplices.”

I don’t have any better ideas. But fortunately, I get a lucky break. Diego calls me while I’m checking the house for any clues I missed.

“Hello, Cole,” he says. His voice sounds tight, unlike his usual jovial self.

“Diego. Tell me you have something for me.”

A long pause, and then he speaks, in the same tight voice.

“I have something for you. I’m sending you an address of a private airstrip outside of the Basin. There’s a ‘cargo’ plane there which I have good authority to believe Lovejoy has chartered.”

“It’s going to Colombia?”

A long pause, again.

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