Page 80 of Wired Justice

Chapter Fifty-One

Jake satin the driver’s seat of the Jeep and took a moment to zoom in and study the satellite photo. The white dot of the van stood out in an ocean of green at the end of a thread of dirt track, but an inserted photo close-up showed the name of the turnoff from the main highway leading out of Hilo.

“I’m half an hour away, tops,” he muttered. He turned the key. The Jeep roared into life. He threw it in gear and pulled out, realizing for the first time that his shirt and hands were covered with Tank’s blood. Wiping his hands clumsily on a paper napkin as he drove one-handed, he voice-dialed Freitan. She didn’t pick up, but he left a message detailing the new info and took a moment to forward the satellite photo to her and Wong’s phone. “I need backup. Meet me at the location ASAP.”

Once on the highway, breaking speed limits to get out of town, Jake let himself wonder. “Who was that, Ginger? Who’s tracking Sophie’s phone? I’m going to find out no matter what happens today.”

The dog cocked her head and gave a woof, clearly as confused as he was.

Jake hit his horn, dodging through a red light at an intersection, weaving among other vehicles. Ginger gave an excited yap beside him, her front legs braced, her tongue hanging out like they were going on a Sunday drive. “I should put a seatbelt on you, girl.” He reached across and buckled the dog in place. On another day, the sight would have been amusing.

Jake voice-dialed Bix, and was relieved when his boss didn’t pick up. He left a brief message on the latest developments. A few minutes later, he spotted the small, bent road sign marked PRIVATE and naming the dirt turnoff outside of Hilo.

The Jeep took the turn too fast, tipping dangerously, as they barreled down a potholed road. They hit a bump, and Ginger yelped, scrambling out of the seatbelt to end up in the foot well. “Should have left you at the park, girl.”

His phone toned and he managed to pick up. “Jake Dunn.”

“What the hell, Jake? Who sent you this satellite photo?” Freitan’s voice was tight with tension. “We just got Terence Chang in the vehicle. He denies knowing where Akane takes his victims.”

“Bring him or cut him loose. I need backup. Now. There were at least two in that van, and they have a major head start.” Jake hit another bump and the Jeep levitated, out of control. He wrestled the bucking steering wheel and banged his head on the soft top. “Shit! Call an ambulance too. If anyone’s alive out here, they’re going to need medical attention.” He could feel Freitan’s indecision over the hissing phone line, and he snarled. “Get your butts out here, Detective Freitan, or you’re going to have so many bodies you’ll be buried in them!”

“All right, Soldier Boy. On our way. Wong’s radioing for backup and ambulance.” The detective ended the call, and the calm decisiveness of her reply centered him.

He wasn’t alone with the odds stacked against him. . . at least not entirely. He slowed the Jeep, trying to tamp down his fear for Sophie.

Whoever had taken her must know her value to the case, and other cases—it had to be Chang! And if he eliminated Sophie, Holly Rayme would be the only witness connecting him to his “side hustle” and his work for the Chang family. Guaranteed there was a contract out on the woman already. They had to get her into Witness Protection, but what about the leak in that program?

The white van appeared so unexpectedly that Jake almost slammed into it. The Jeep fishtailed, never the most stable vehicle with its rear wheel drive, and he pulled up against a dirt berm marking the end of the crude road.

Jake turned off the vehicle, palming his weapon and swiveling to check for anyone nearby. Nothing moved. “Stay, Ginger.”

The dog whined, but settled back in the foot well, clearly overwhelmed by all the stimulation of the last hour.

Jake opened his door cautiously.

If there was someone in the van, they’d already had plenty of time to draw a bead on him. He stuck his leg out, and, using the door for cover, looked the van over.

The side door was closed. The passenger door was closed. He was a little ahead of the vehicle, enough to peer through the windshield—and what he saw chilled him.

The driver was slumped against the door in the front seat, and a red spray of blood and brains decorated the window.

Not a good sign, but one less perp to deal with.

“Sophie?” Jake called.

A strange stillness lay over the jungle. Not even a bird call disturbed the silence.

Jake crouched, weapon in ready position, wishing he’d taken the extra few minutes to put on his tactical vest. He moved out from the cover of the Jeep’s door, closing it carefully to keep Ginger inside, and approached the van.

He moved around the vehicle and checked the interior through the back window.

Empty.

He opened the side door.

The stench of blood hit his nostrils with a coppery tang. His gaze fell on Sophie’s phone, lying crushed on the metal floor of the van beside her billed running hat.

“Sonofabitch.” Jake spun, searching around the vehicle. Which way had they gone? The jungle was thick, pressing in around the vehicles where they’d parked against the berm of bulldozed soil left over from the rough track’s construction.

Jake spotted a broken fern, a spot where someone had stepped—it would take him forever to track Sophie and her assailant through this jungle without a trail!

But he wasn’t the only one who wanted to find Sophie.

Jake reached into the van and grabbed Sophie’s hat off the floor. He ran back to wrench open the door of the Jeep. “Ginger! Find your mama, girl!” He held the hat out for the dog to sniff.

Ginger swarmed up off of the floor of the front seat with an excited bark. Jake was barely able to grab the dog’s leash as she leapt to the ground, sniffing around the side of the van and then taking off into the area of the broken ferns with a happy snort.

Jake clung to the leash like a lifeline as the dog plowed into the jungle.

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