turned on her left signal. “It’s safe to say that this SUV isn’t as reliable as we’d like.” They passed a gas station on the right. There was nothing but farmland on either side of the little-used highway. She tested the brakes again. Would the rest of the marshals think the whole event was the result of human error, as Bruce did? The vehicle jerked forward and a horrible grinding noise came from the hood. All the dials on the dashboard fell to zero as the motor went silent.
“The engine died?” Bruce shook his head. “Unbelievable. This isn’t stick shift, is it? You didn’t—” The rest of his words died on his lips.
Delaney followed his gaze, and her chest seized. A pickup truck full of masked men rounded the corner with guns pointed at their SUV.
“Get down!” Bruce gave her shoulder a push. While the gesture was noble, she was supposed to be the one protecting him. She turned her head to see he’d followed his own advice as she readied her gun. Rapid pings hit the windshield, side doors and side mirrors.
“You okay?” Bruce asked. He remained hunched over, his forehead touching the glove compartment.
While the SUV was supposed to be bulletproof, she didn’t want to take chances. “Yes. Stay down.” The shots had stopped so she jumped out and took aim at the retreating vehicle, trying to read the license plate, but, of course, there was none. Not another vehicle could be seen for a mile in either direction. Where was her team? She kicked at a rock on the road and climbed back into the SUV.
While Bruce’s face had lost its color, he didn’t look injured. His hand shook ever so slightly as he pointed to the GPS. The blue screen had a message in the middle. Final Warning. Open your mouth and your family dies.
Bruce placed a hand on either side of his face. “It’s been hacked.”
She looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. “What are you talking about?”
He blinked and tried to slow down the torrent of emotions and thoughts so he could communicate rationally. “This vehicle has been hacked. The brakes, the engine dying, the message on the GPS... Those things can be controlled remotely if someone knows our location. They were playing with us. My daughter—” He pulled in a shaky breath. They’d only been gone from the safe house for five minutes. If someone had been tracking them in the vehicle, then it was likely the hacker knew their point of origin.
Her eyes widened. “The safe house. You’re saying the attackers know where it is.” She picked up the handset. “We’ve been compromised. I need a new vehicle, stat. Where are you guys?”
The speakers crackled in response. “You’re not going to believe it. Our engines died the moment we got off the highway.”
“Both of them?” Delaney took a deep breath while she checked all three mirrors. Bruce followed her gaze. So far the gunmen hadn’t returned. “They set us up.” Delaney pulled out her cell phone and dialed the police for backup. After the call was completed, she sat back, shaking her head. “I don’t understand how this could be happening.”
“Newer cars have a few different ways hackers can access control. If this one has a tire sensor, that’s the simplest way to hack into the brakes and disable the engine.” He waved toward the hood of the car. Talking about practical matters wasn’t helping his heart rate. If he thought he could get back faster on his own, he’d try to run back to Winnie on foot. “I need to know Winnie is okay. I need to know now.”
“There are two deputy marshals watching over her. I’m sure Winnie is safer than we are at the moment. It’s safer if we don’t make direct contact.” She clicked the radio. “I need a status report from Deputy Marshal Jackson. Use back channels.”
They sat in tense silence for the longest thirty seconds of his life before the radio crackled. “No response as of yet,” the deputies from the other SUV answered. “Backup units on the way from Des Moines.”
Bruce tightened his fists. “From Des Moines?” He couldn’t wait an hour to find out if his daughter was safe or in the hands of dangerous criminals.
“Bruce, you’ve been great so far. Look at me.”
Bruce swiveled and stared into Delaney’s eyes, searching for answers.
She touched his arm. “We aren’t waiting around. The police will be here in one minute. Sometimes back channels take longer to get an answer. We can’t jump to conclusions.”
Bruce exhaled, but his insides wouldn’t stop vibrating. Winnie was his all, his everything. She had stolen his heart from the moment he held her tiny form in his arms.
As promised, a police cruiser pulled up, but Delaney wouldn’t let him step out of the SUV yet. She kept her hand on her weapon as she approached the vehicle, likely checking the officer’s identification. Every moment of procedural caution made him want to jump out of his skin, but if he complained or fought it, he would just cause more delay. Lord, please, just get me to Winnie. Keep her safe.
He opened his eyes as Delaney opened the door. “I’m afraid the back seat of a police car isn’t very comfortable.”
He grunted and walked behind her to the unit. He’d walk on glass if it’d get him to his daughter faster. Bruce slipped into the back seat. Delaney slammed the door and joined the cop in the front.
“No sirens, but get to this address as fast as possible,” Delaney said.
The officer didn’t hesitate to punch the gas. Bruce slid across the plastic bucket seats and grasped the seat belt with one hand during the U-turn. At least Delaney was taking the threat seriously. At this rate, they really would be back to the safe house quickly.
“Uh, how are you doing?” the policeman asked Delaney. “We’ve missed you on the force.”
Even from the back seat, the look Delaney shot the other officer seemed made of ice. “I’m fine.”
“We miss Raymond, too, you know,” the officer said.
She nodded but didn’t reply. Bruce wondered if the words that hinted at tragedy explained her aloof demeanor toward him and Winnie. Not that it really mattered. He didn’t need Delaney to care about him and his daughter—he just needed her to protect them, as she’d said she would. But was that a promise she’d keep? Words didn’t mean much compared to action.
His wife had promised so much, but she still left him and Winnie without a second glance. His stepbrother had written his company’s mission statement and promised to be his partner, but he’d quit and run to the Cayman Islands six months ago. No, promises really didn’t mean much.
Delaney turned in her seat to face him, an impressive feat given the high-speed turns. “The Marshals are alerting the Assistant US Attorney to what’s happened. The interview will be rescheduled.”
“I can’t even think of testifying at the moment.”
“So don’t think about it. For now.”
The radio crackled but Bruce couldn’t make out what was said.
“Did something happen?”
“Not
