Page 17 of Critical Strike

“A little.”

He turned onto a side road leading out of San Antonio. He wasn’t sure where they were headed yet; he just knew that they needed to get the hell out of Dodge.

“Want to tell me what’s going on?”

She continued staring out the window for a long minute before she finally spoke.

“I work—well,worked, past tense now, I guess—for Passage Digital.”

“The software and apps company. Yes, I did a little research on you this afternoon.”

She glanced over at him but didn’t look surprised. “I developed this business-to-customer mobile application with someone at work. Julia.” Her voice cracked on the name.

“Three days ago, Julia told me that our boss, Vance Ballard, had removed certain safety restrictions from our coding. Basically, he made it so that Gouda would illegally collect data from users. That data could eventually be used for financial and identity theft—bank account information, Social Security numbers...pretty much everything.”

Luke shook his head. “Hold on. Business-to-customer? And what was that about cheese? The only word I understood wasillegally.”

She gave him the tiniest smile. “Sorry. The program is called Gouda. It’s the app Julia and I developed.”

“Gouda. Catchy. Okay, keep going. What happened?” He wanted to understand the details more, but that wasn’t what was important here. What was important was that she was finally talking.

“Julia transferred Ballard’s files to me while we were at work. Evidence we would need to prove what he did. And then...” She lowered her face, nearly burying her nose in Khan’s fur. “And then they killed Julia right in front of me, while we were on video chat. They didn’t know I was at the other end or that I was watching. Vance Ballard ordered one of his guys to kill her and the guy just snapped her neck.”

He wanted to pull over and stop the truck. Haul Claire into his arms and just hold her.

He muttered a curse under his breath. He had witnessed death in the army, and it had been scarring enough. He couldn’t imagine what witnessing the brutal murder of a colleague would do to a person.

He reached over and took Claire’s hand where it was balled in Khan’s fur. It wasn’t enough, but it was all the comfort he could offer for now.

“I was lucky to get out of the building before they realized it was me. I’ve been on the run ever since. I can’t use my credit cards and I’m almost out of cash. Ballard seems to have people watching anywhere I might go to get help or rest.”

“Well, he doesn’t have anyone watching us now. You’re safe, and I’m not leaving you alone again.”

Claire nodded, then turned to stare blankly out the windshield. He didn’t press her for more info. Her blue eyes had such deep shadows under them that they looked like bruises. The latest adrenaline spike from being chased and almost caught was gone now, and she was bottoming out.

Her physical and emotional reserves were on empty. He’d seen it before in soldiers, and it was never pretty. He needed to get her somewhere immediately so she could rest before she completely broke down.

Going back to the office wasn’t an option, and neither was his house—both were probably being monitored.

Luke pulled out his phone and sent a quick text. He shouldn’t have been doing it while driving, but the current situation made stopping the vehicle for even a minute seem riskier.

Couldn’t find Claire, she ditched the hotel. I’m taking a few days and going fishing on Calaveras Lake.

“I’m texting my brothers. Telling them I’m off on a fishing trip for a few days.” He pocketed his phone. “They’ll know it means I’ll be off-grid and can’t contact them. I hate fishing.”

It would also have the people who were undoubtedly monitoring his phone going way out of town to search for him on a huge lake. Luke immediately powered his phone off and took out the battery so there was no way he could be traced.

“Okay,” she whispered.

They drove north, in the opposite direction of Calaveras Lake, in the dark. With every rotation of the truck’s tires, Luke’s mind turned over their predicament.

Where could they go and not be found? Ballard was a powerful man.

Outside of town, he stopped for gas and paid with cash. In case they had to make a quick run for it, having anything less than a full tank would be a dumb move. He grabbed a couple of candy bars while he was in there.

Claire was visibly shaking when he got back in his truck. He peeled open the chocolate bar.

“Here, eat this. Your blood sugar is bottoming out after the chase earlier.”

---