“Need help?” Elijah Grant, formerly with the Federal Protective Service and now part of the small team Graham headed in the county, asked as the headlights in Graham’s rearview mirror assured him the other man had turned around and was attempting to follow him.
With the motor Jed Booker had put in that truck, Elijah might just be able to keep up if Graham cooperated.
“I don’t have time to stop,” Graham stated. “If you can stay on my ass until we’re close, then I could use some cover.”
“You have to slow sometime,” Elijah told him. “I’ll be there and can slide in fast.”
“I’ll need the passenger seat. You’ll have to be able to keep up.” Hitting the interstate, Graham pushed the Viper faster. “If you can stay close, we’re not going far.”
“As long as we’re on the interstate I can keep up,” Elijah assured him as they roared up the ramp onto the all but deserted highway. “We hit more county roads and I’ll fall behind.”
The truck’s motor was strong as hell and the speeds the vehicle had been logged at amazed even Graham. It wasn’t nearly as steady on mountain curves as the low-built Viper, though, nor did it have the Viper’s full speed. But Elijah could at least keep him in sight on the interstate if Graham stayed at the speed he intended.
“You’ll be fine, then,” Graham promised. “Just follow me and keep my ass covered when I collect my package.”
“Got it,” Elijah promised. “Is there any chance of compromise?”
“Not short term.” The short call was safe, the security on the line still showing green rather than the yellow that would indicate possible encryption weakness. “Long term is iffy.”
“I’m on your ass, then, and prepped to cover.”
The line went silent, the call well within the limited parameter outside of which anyone could compromise it.
God, he hoped Lyrica was still safely tucked away at the last GPS pinpoint he had.
Glancing at the monitor, he tracked the destination and knew he was only minutes away from the exit leading to London.
She was only a few miles from the turn, on a little backstreet just behind one of the older, remodeled hotels that had been popular decades before. He knew the area and was fairly certain she’d found a way to push her slight body into one of the chimney alcoves that had mostly been boarded or bricked up once the fireplaces were removed.
She would be well hidden as long as no one managed to GPS her phone. Though tracking it and jamming it at the same time would be difficult. And tracking would be impossible once the battery was pulled.
Unless it was bugged.
But why bug it if they already had it jammed? And if it was bugged, they would have found Lyrica before Kye contacted her.
What the hell was going on?
Silently, he went over every piece of intel from the past few months and couldn’t find so much as a hint as to why Lyrica would be targeted. There were no current operations in the area. Graham and his team hadn’t been called out in months to provide backup or to cover any current investigations. And the Mackays weren’t even in the country . . .
The Mackays were on vacation overseas, out of reach of two of the young women who were well-known to be important to them and to Timothy Cranston. Could someone have decided to make a vengeance strike against Dawg Mackay while he was gone?
Hell, even that didn’t make sense. Dawg would return the second he knew one of his sisters was hurt or in trouble. If something happened to one of them, then he and his cousins would blow back into town like a vicious wind. There would be no hiding once Dawg began tracking the perpetrators. And once they were found, Natches Mackay would make sure a bullet found their brains, if Dawg didn’t beat him to it.
It didn’t make sense yet, but it would, soon.
Tires screamed but held as he hit the exit and shot through it, forced to lower his speed to make the tight turns that would lead into the backstreet he was looking for.
Elijah was all but on his bumper as Graham forced himself to slow to the legal speed limit. Whoever was looking for Lyrica would still be out there. There was no reason to make anyone suspicious before he managed to find her and get her out of town.
He wanted a chance to figure out what was going on and who’d decided to come after her with a gun before they had any more information other than the fact that she’d disappeared.
“Call Eli,” he ordered the computer.
“Yeah?” Elijah answered before the first ring finished.
“We’re close. Give me enough room to allow me to back into the alley. There’s no exit there.”
“Got it.” The truck immediately slowed. “I have cover ready. I’ll pull in behind you. Give me a second to check the rooftops before you move.”