It splintered into several big chunks.
“Like I said,” he muttered, “interference.”
She couldn’t pull in a deep enough breath. She was trying hard to stay calm, but the panic wanted to rise. Did Drew know? He’d heard her deep, heaving breaths back at the abandoned ranch. Did he realize just how much of a risk she posed to him?
Breathe. Relax. Picture the air sliding deep into your lungs.
“You think...they bought that?”
“If the chopper lands in front of us, then they didn’t.”
The chopper was about fifty yards away and it was—
Leaving.
Tina finally got that deep breath.
“Any signal on the cell?”
She glanced down. “Not yet.”
“When we get to Lightning, we’ll call in my backup. They can pick up the men we left back at the ranch, and they can get you out of here.”
“Lightning?”
“A speck on the map. One of the tiniest towns you’ve never seen.” His lips hitched as he glanced toward her. “As far as rest stops go, it’s the only option we have.”
“But...but won’t those men be looking for us there?”
“Yeah, they will be, and that’s why we have to make sure they don’t find us.” He gave a grim nod. “It’s also my backup plan.”
“Good to know you have a plan,” she said as her fingers curved around the cell phone.
“My team has eyes in that town. They’ll be able to back us up. Doc, you may even be on your way to your D.C. apartment by dawn.”
That sounded like heaven to her. Going to New Orleans had been such a horrible mistake. And to think, she’d originally believed it would be the perfect, easy assignment. A way to get out of D.C. for a while.
If only she’d known about the danger that awaited in the Big Easy.
But Drew was right. Soon she would be going home once more.
She just had to get through a few more hours of hell first.
* * *
DREW HAD BEEN RIGHT. The town of Lightning was so small that if she’d blinked, Tina was sure she would have missed the place. When they drove in, a rumble of thunder followed them.
They passed boarded-up buildings. Two empty gas stations. She saw a diner to the right that looked as though it hadn’t been open in years.
“Storms come in here like clockwork,” Drew told her as he fired a quick check into the rearview mirror. So far, there had been no sign of company. “Lightning messes up all the electrical equipment in town. Most folks don’t like the storms, so they don’t stay here long.”
Well, that would sure explain the town’s name.
He eased off the main road. Well, what passed for the main road anyway. He parked the vehicle behind the diner. “No sense leaving it too close,” he said as he took her hand. He’d taken the cowboy hat and a shirt from one of the thugs back at the old ranch. The shirt was a little too small and it stretched over his wide shoulders.
His fingers curled around hers. “Come on. Another storm will be hitting soon.”
The sky was pitch-black. More thunder rumbled. She’d just taken a few steps with Drew when the first raindrops hit her.