long ago did Kincaid leave?”
“Just a few minutes.”
With a running leap, Alec hurtled the picket fence at 217 Hurley Street, dodged the garbage cans at 215 and raced through the lines of drying laundry behind 213.
“Did he read the letter before he left?”
“No.”
“Who delivered it? What did it say?”
Jumping the hedge between 211 and 209, he sprinted to the backyard of Erin’s next-door neighbor. From behind a giant shrub, he surveyed the scene at his old house.
“I don’t know. I s-swear. I d-don’t know anything.”
“We’ll see about that.”
He heard Erin yelp. In pain or fear? Adrenaline kicked in his chest. Needing to get a better fix on the situation, he calculated his best approach.
“Come on, sweetheart. You’re coming with us.”
What?
“What?” Erin’s terrified voice echoed Alec’s reaction. He pressed a hand to his ear, holding the tiny receiver closer.
“Kincaid couldn’t have gotten far. We’ll take you with us as a bargaining chip, offer you as trade. His girlfriend for the letter.”
Girlfriend? Alec cursed again under his breath. If they thought Erin meant something to him, her life was in even more danger.
“But I’m not—”
“Shut up, lady. Move it.”
“No, wait! I—”
Alec heard an oof, a grunt. The scuffle of feet. A crash.
From his hiding place at the side of the house, he heard the back door open. Muffled voices. He peered around the corner and saw them drag Erin at knifepoint toward a white SUV. The hair at Alec’s nape bristled. If they harmed so much as a hair on Erin’s head …
Guilt wrenched inside him. This was his fault. She was at risk because of him. Obviously, the thugs planned to use her as bait to draw him out. Therefore, freeing her, protecting her was his duty, his obligation.
Another man had joined the knife-wielding cretin and climbed behind the steering wheel. Alec didn’t recognize either of the men, but he memorized their faces now. As the guy manhandling Erin shoved her in the back seat, he snarled some kind of warning. Despite her obvious fear, Erin lifted her chin defiantly.
Alec’s lips twitched at her show of moxie. He’d found no shortage of things to admire about Erin Bauer. He couldn’t blame her for giving up the information about the letter so easily. She had no way to know what was at stake, no reason to do as he’d directed. Even he didn’t know what was at play or why. But now Erin was a part of it … which left him rescuing her. The old-fashioned way. The hard way.
He gritted his teeth, irritated by the diversion from his plans. He’d finally picked up Daniel’s trail. He needed to be studying the message his partner had sent, going underground, lying low until he lost the tail he’d picked up. But he wouldn’t, couldn’t abandon Erin to these men.
Like you abandoned Daniel.
The white SUV turned down Hurley Street, and Alec retraced his path, running through the neighbors’ yards, keeping the vehicle in sight. He kept pace with the SUV until it turned onto the main street leading to the interstate.
Time for wheels.
A pickup truck stopped at the intersection, and Alec snatched open the door. “Police! Follow that white SUV. Don’t lose them!”
The college-aged driver scowled his doubt. “Let’s see some I.D., bud.”
Alec pulled his SIG-Sauer from his shoulder holster. “Move it!”
The young man paled and raised his palms. “Easy, bro. I’m going!”
Alec pointed. “There! They just got on the interstate. Hurry!”
His driver punched the gas, wove through traffic like an expert, and merged onto the interstate doing close to eighty.
Alec spotted the SUV several cars ahead and calculated his best attack. He didn’t want Erin’s captors to see him and risk a car chase that put innocent lives at risk. An eighteen-wheeler occupied the next lane, and Alec sized up his options. Doable.
“Pull as close to the back of that truck as you can and hold it steady. Got it?”
The college kid looked at him and nodded. “Check.”
While his chauffeur aligned his pickup with the larger truck, Alec rolled down the passenger window and secured his SIG-Sauer in his holster.
“Thanks for the lift,” Alec said as he wedged his body through the window and hoisted himself out. While they rocketed down the interstate, Alec climbed into the pickup’s bed. Braced against the air current. Focused on his task, his mission.
The pickup moved beside the rear of the eighteen-wheeler, and Alec eyed the bar ladder on the back end of the truck. He prepared. Calculated. Jumped.
His foot slipped as the truck bounced over a pothole. Adrenaline spiking, he groped for a rung of the bar-ladder. The jolt as he caught himself tugged viciously on his shoulder. Pain slithered down his arm, but he held on, found a foothold.
Over the whoosh of air and rumble of engines, he heard the pickup’s driver whoop. He nodded to the young man as the pickup eased back into the correct lane.
“Kids, don’t try this at home.” Alec scaled the rungs on the back of the eighteen-wheeler and levered himself to the roof. The truck rocked and shimmied as it barreled down the road. The slipstream pushed and pulled at him as Alec found his footing. Like surfing in a hurricane.
Keeping his center of balance low, he edged along the roof of the truck’s trailer. Scanning the road in front of him, he spotted the SUV. The luggage rack on its roof. Target located.
The eighteen-wheeler changed lanes, easing forward. That’s it. A little further.
A passing car honked, and a passenger gestured wildly at the driver of the eighteen-wheeler.
Alec gritted his teeth. Damn it, he didn’t want attention drawn to him! But, realistically, he had to accept that his highway gymnastics would cause spectator concern. The sooner he acted, the better.
Alec edged into position. The SUV was still almost a car length away, but he couldn’t wait much longer, couldn’t risk Erin’s captors seeing him. He braced himself and judged the distance to the roof of the SUV.
A challenge. But doable.
What could she do? Erin squeezed the door handle and weighed her options. Jumping out of the car at highway speed would be suicide. But when they left the interstate, if they stopped for a traffic light …
She
