noted that his neck and face had reddened and he was breaking a sweat. “Who did you say sent you?”
“Um, Tech Sergeant Colson.”
“I see. You have written orders then?”
“No, ma’am. It’s just a ride.”
If the young airman hadn’t sounded so unsure and acted jittery, she might have got into the car without question. Looking around her, Zoe noted others passing by on the sidewalk and in the street. At least she and Freddy weren’t isolated there. Once she entered the vehicle, she’d be hidden behind its tinted windows and lose any advantage she had now.
Despite the fact that the driver opened the rear passenger door for her, Zoe didn’t get in. Instead, she slowly backed away. Her eyes narrowed, taking in everything about the airman and committing his features to memory. The trouble was, he looked a lot like every other immature green recruit. Acted it, too.
“You’ll—you’ll be late for church,” he said with a wheedling tone.
“If I am, I am.” Still balancing Freddy on her hip, Zoe took her cell phone out of her purse and quickly found the number Linc had entered the day she’d chased away the prowler. In seconds she had him on the line.
“Colson.”
“This is Zoe Sullivan. I want to thank you for sending a car for me, but it’s really not necessary.”
“What did you say?” His shout was loud enough that she eased the phone away from her ear. By the time Linc added, “I didn’t send anybody to get you,” his words were practically broadcast volume.
Zoe saw the driver’s face pale. “It—it was just...” he began before wheeling, jumping into the car and hitting the gas. The tires slipped and screeched on the pavement. Holding her son close, Zoe stepped up on the curb and melted into a small crowd of onlookers.
Her phone was still on, Linc’s voice strident. “Where are you now?”
“The street in front of my apartment. He drove off. I don’t know who he was. He said you sent him and I—”
“Stay there. I’m on my way,” Linc ordered. She heard the roar of a motor in the background as he added, “ETA less than five. Are you and the boy all right?”
“We’re fine. I didn’t fall for the trick.”
“Can you ID the vehicle or the driver?”
“It looked like one of your black SUVs. The driver was just a nervous kid.”
“The same one you caught in your apartment?”
“I don’t think so. This guy was shorter. And less belligerent.” She pulled Freddy closer and backed farther from the curb until she was partially standing behind the trunk of one of the cottonwoods lining the street. “How much longer before you get to me?”
“You should be able to hear my siren. I’m only a couple blocks away, turning off Canyon Drive and passing the Base Command Office.”
“Copy. We’ll wait right here.”
As the wailing of Linc’s siren grew louder, Zoe’s fear waned. She had thwarted an enemy once again, and her knight in shining armor was about to ride up on his prancing steed and protect her.
On second thought, she didn’t need any knight. She needed information, some of which her so-called knight might be withholding, she realized, because he didn’t trust her. Maybe now he’d open up more. As long as she was even partially in the dark about what was going on behind the scenes, she was more vulnerable.
A chill chased up her spine as she thought about their near abduction. Only common sense and a niggling warning in her subconscious had kept her from believing the clean-cut young airman and getting into that car. How many other traps were waiting? How many more dangers would she have to identify and avoid before this nightmare was over?
A black SUV that was the twin of the first one rounded the corner on to her block and skidded to a halt, its siren winding down like a balloon losing air. Zoe had no doubt who was behind the wheel of this one. The sight of Linc Colson leaping out and releasing his K-9 from the rear brought immense relief. It also brought unshed tears to her eyes, tears that were quite embarrassing.
She blinked them away before Linc got close enough to notice. Smiling, she looked up at him. “You made good time. Where were you?”
“Waiting at the church. What happened to your assigned guard?”
“Beats me.” She shrugged. “At first, I thought it was the kid who said he was here to pick me up. But when he got out, I could tell he wasn’t part of the security team.”
“Who was he?”
“I’ve never noticed him before. This is a big base. I could have walked right past him—and a hundred just like him.”
“I have my people looking into it,” Linc said. “Part of this is my fault. I thought your night guard would escort you as far as the church. He said when he saw the car pull over and park, he assumed I was picking you up and he left. That kind of mix-up won’t happen again.”
“I certainly hope not.” Zoe spoke from the heart. “I suspect the problem is that you people aren’t watching me for my sake. You’re here because you expect Boyd to show up.”
“Granted. That doesn’t mean I’m going to take your reports of trouble lightly.”
“Honest?”
“Honest,” Linc promised. “If we manage to apprehend the airman who was here this morning, will you be able to ID him?”
“Yes. As soon as he began acting suspicious, I paid special attention to his face. Trouble is, I couldn’t read his name tag and he resembles half the guys on base. How did he manage to get the keys to one of your SUVs?”
“That’s another very good question.”
Zoe sighed as she helped Freddy into the rear seat of Linc’s vehicle and, in the absence of a car seat, fastened his seat belt. “In retrospect, this guy seemed more scared than menacing, as if he knew he was in the wrong and didn’t want to be there.”
“Interesting. Do you think your brother would be capable of fooling a clueless recruit into doing his bidding?”
“My brother again? Why do you keep blaming everything on Boyd? I mean, if he wanted to talk to me, he could just call.”
“On the burner phone you smuggled to him in prison?”
Astounded, Zoe gaped at him. “What are you implying?”
“Master Sergeant James and I paid a visit to the prison and spoke with a cell mate of your brother’s. He told us Boyd had a burner phone in his possession before his escape.”
She stood tall, shoulders back, chin up, and faced him. “Well, he didn’t get it from me.”
Noting Linc’s sigh, she wondered if she might be getting through to him.
