“Let’s hope you never need it, then.”
“Amen to that.”
CHAPTERTWELVE
Rider’s phone rang,and it took a second for the sound to register. He'd been in a deep sleep. A call at this late hour couldn’t be good news. Thinking maybe Paris needed something, he forced his senses to engage.
He grabbed his phone off the side table. “Yes?”
The light next to him clicked on. The noise had awoken Grayson.“Who is it?”he telepathed.
Rider took a second to look at the name.“It’s Liam.”
Grayson rolled over. Apparently, a call from Liam didn’t warrant losing sleep over.
“What’s up?” Rider asked.
“We spotted some interesting activity. Alex and I are up on Miller’s Ridge. We came back here because the camera picked up something.”
“What did you see?” Now Liam had Rider’s full attention.
“It looks like some smoke stacks jutting up from the ground, but we smelled chemicals, not smoke.”
Rider wasn’t awake enough to figure out what that could mean. “If I look at the computer monitors in your room, can I tell what’s happening?”
“No. I think you should see this for yourself.”
Liam wouldn’t ask unless it was important. “Be right there.”
Rider disconnected. “Grayson, wake up.”
“I’m awake.” Rider told him what Liam said, and Grayson instantly sat up. “We need to go.”
“No, you need to stay here to make sure Paris remains safe. I don’t trust anyone. For all we know, someone—possibly Doug—could be watching the motel, waiting for her to be alone.” That didn’t have a high probability, but it was possible.
“No problem. I’ll hear if anyone tries to enter her room.” A quick smile crossed his face. “Unless you think I should go over there to make sure she’s okay.”
Part of Rider wanted his friend and Paris to hook up. Then he wouldn’t have to think about making love to her. On the other hand, he feared he might be jealous if the two were together, and he wasn’t with them.
Don’t think like that. The best thing for him would be to put the woman out of his mind—assuming he could. He had tried, but so far, he’d failed.
“Whatever you do, behave. Paris has been through enough.”
Rider jumped out of bed, dressed quickly, and left. The trip to Miller’s Ridge didn’t take long. All the while, he tried to figure out what the smoke stacks could be? Were they underground air vents? Liam was right in asking him to see them for himself.
Once he arrived to the top of the ridge, Rider spotted his two men. He shut off the engine and slipped out. Liam waved him over.
“Show me what you found,” Rider said.
Liam handed him the binoculars and pointed him in the general direction of the problem. “I’d say the pipes are maybe three feet above the ground. They are surrounded by some bushes. Unless you’re looking down at it, you’d never see them.”
Rider located them. If he had to judge, they were ordinary air vents. When he inhaled, he detected a scent similar to a cleaning product though. “Kind of smells like bleach.”
“I thought more like kerosene,” Alex said.
Rider sighed. “I don’t know much about making legal drugs, but I don’t think those items are used for them.”
“Now what?” Liam said. “Even if we inform the police there might be a cocaine factory underneath the ground, how would they go about finding it?”