Page 74 of Montana Rain

Dialing, I held the phone up to my ear, forcing myself to sit still and not tear out of here in a blind fury. The phone rang, and Jude picked up on the third ring. “Cole.”

“Please tell me you put something on the flash drive.” My voice sounded like it had been dragged over a hundred miles of gravel. “Something to trace it. Like a backward worm?”

“What happened?” Lucas’s voice sounded through the phone.

I told them, trying to contain my anger and fear, keeping my voice rational. It didn’t fool them.

Daniel cleared his throat. “How are you holding up?”

“I want to burn the fucking world down,” I growled.

Jude laughed once. “Sounds about right. To answer your question, yes, I did put a tracker in there. I got a ping when they looked at the drive. But I can’t give you a direction until the laptop is active again.”

My gut fell. “Shit.”

“But we can do you one better,” Lucas said.

“Tell me.”

“Our man who delivered the drive to you. His name is David. He hasn’t checked in yet, but we were waiting.”

I nodded, though they couldn’t see me. “I saw him outside the hotel when we left for the meet.”

“He was instructed to tail you and keep tailing in case anything happened. I’ll loop him in.”

“Jude—” I cut off. “All of you. Thank you.”

“We’ve all been through this,” Daniel said. “You saw it with me. All of us have had a moment like this. Rayne is part of the family. We’re not letting her go without a fight.”

A crackle came through on the line. “Hey, Resting Warrior.”

“David,” Jude said, and everyone on the call suddenly went silent and focused on the new element in the conversation. “Tell me.”

“They took the woman. Tossed her phone as soon as they left the initial site. They pulled a divide and conquer. I lost the car, but I’ll find it again.”

“You what?” I asked.

He went quiet, and I heard a shift in his tone. “Are you and the family secure?”

“The family is secure. Wherever you end up, that’s where I’ll be.”

“Not a good idea.”

Rage seethed beneath my skin. “I swear to god—”

“Cole,” Daniel said. “Stop. We didn’t have a chance to swap histories. David, Cole knows what he’s doing. Let us know when you find the location and you have an assessment.”

“Will do.” He hung up.

“I’m going.”

Lucas chuckled. “We know. David has equipment you’ll need. We’ll get whatever we can when he sends the address, and we can help try to guide you through it.”

“Do you trust this guy?” I asked. The fact that he was with them was a good endorsement, but I still didn’t know him.

“He was in my unit,” Lucas said. “He’s a good guy, Cole. He’ll help you get her back.”

I sighed. “Thanks.”

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