Page 20 of Mountain Rescue
After another run, she showered, ate a late lunch, and then made a cup of tea to take out to the porch. This business with Robert needed to be over so she could get her life back. Her next movie started filming in three weeks, and surely the police or FBI would have found him by then. Actually, she needed to be back in LA by the end of next week as the stunt doubles had a meeting with their stunt coordinator to learn what stunts would be required. It was a meeting she couldn’t miss.
The movie was about a female FBI profiler targeted by a serial killer, and two of the biggest names in Hollywood were starring in it. She was doubling for the female lead, and there was already talk that the movie would be a blockbuster.
She’d just finished her tea when the Jeep came down the drive. Dallas was returning sooner than she’d expected, and when he parked and got out, her heart gave a little twitch of excitement at seeing him. That wasn’t good.
He came up the steps, stopping in front of her. “Soaking up some sun? That’s a very catlike thing to do.”
“Ha-ha. More like thinking.”
He settled in the rocker next to her. “About?”
“My life and how it pretty much sucks right now. I talked to the detective in charge of the case today. No trace of Robert so far, but Detective Diaz has brought in the FBI and I’m supposed to call them.”
“That’s good, right?”
“I hope so, but I’m nervous about them tracing the call. According to Henri, Robert has some police on the payroll. I’m not saying the detective or FBI are included in that, but I really don’t want them to know where I am.” She glanced over at him. “I’m not feeling very trusting these days. Can the FBI trace a burner phone?”
“Yes.” He stretched out his legs. “I’d say you could trust the FBI, but if you’re uncomfortable with them knowing where you are, let’s think of a way for you to make the call without them being able to locate you.”
“How?” Even if she used someone else’s phone, they’d still know she was in the Asheville area. “Who are you calling?” she said when he took out his phone.
“A friend.”
“I don’t want—”
“You can trust him.” He scrolled through his contacts, then put his finger on one. “I’ll put it on speaker so you can listen.”
“Well, if it ain’t a ghost calling me. Hell must’ve frozen over,” a male voice said.
Dallas rolled his eyes. “Boo!”
The man on the other end laughed.
“Listen, I’ve got someone here, and she needs some help that I think you can give her. I’ve got you on speaker. Rachel, this is Carter.”
“Hi.”
“Hello, Rachel. What can I do for you?”
“Um...” How much was she supposed to tell him?
“She needs to call the FBI, but she doesn’t want them to trace her phone,” Dallas said.
Okay, he didn’t need the whole story. That was good. “I have a burner phone, but Dallas said they could trace it.”
“They certainly can, but you’ve come to the right place. I can route you through so many countries they’ll never be able to track the call back to you.”
“Oh.” Who was this guy? “Okay, that’s good. I talked to a police detective this morning. Do you think they might have traced that call?” She hadn’t even thought about that when she’d talked to Detective Diaz.
“How long ago was that?”
She checked the time on her watch. “About three hours. The detective’s in LA, and I’m in...” She hesitated, but Dallas said she could trust this guy. “North Carolina.” He didn’t need to know exactly where.
Carter chuckled. “Sweetheart, you’re in Asheville. I’ve already traced your location.”
Her heart lurched, and panicking, she grabbed for Dallas’s phone to disconnect. He held it away from her.
“You scared her, TG.”
