Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
“The last place her phone pinged a tower,” Seth said, pointing at the screen. “Scottsboro.”
“What about Ackerman?”
“Same. But they took a government vehicle today which means a tracker device.”
Government vehicles often had GPS trackers to monitor things like speed, location, and idle time.
It was ostensibly to track efficiency, but it also kept employees accountable.
You weren’t supposed to run personal errands in a government vehicle, and GPS meant people abusing the system would be caught and dealt with.
It also meant they could track Ackerman and Diana’s path.
Seth was busy typing commands, pulling up menus, and finding what he needed. Nobody said anything as they waited.
“Car’s currently in Scottsboro. At a motel,” Seth added.
Ghost felt like his chest was going to explode as emotion assailed him.
“No. It’s not right. She wouldn’t fucking send me a text if they were at a motel in Scottsboro.
If her phone was dead, she’d borrow a cord or buy one and she’d charge the damn thing.
Then she’d let me know she wasn’t going to make it back tonight with more than a stupid text.
And even if she borrowed Ackerman’s phone, she’d fucking call for two minutes to explain. That text isn’t even in our language.”
His men looked at him. “Uh, language?” Kane asked.
He swore. Turned around and punched the wall. He wanted to shout, but that wouldn’t help a damned thing. Wouldn’t find Diana and wouldn’t end this nightmare.
He spun back to find them still watching, eyes a little wider, sympathy writ large on their faces. He knew they all got it because they’d been in the same position he was in now. Jesus, he’d never anticipated this. Or how much it would fucking hurt.
“Yes, our language. You have a language as a couple, right? If Daphne texted and said she was looking forward to a quiet night in because she was tired of talking to people all day, would you believe it or would you think it sounded wrong?”
“It’d be wrong. She likes to talk.”
“Exactly. Diana doesn’t call her partner by his first name, even if it’s shorter to type, and she doesn’t say love you. We don’t—haven’t—fuck.” He drew in a breath, gathered his thoughts. “It’s not something we’ve ever said, and it’s not something she would say in a fucking text like that.”
“I believe you,” Seth replied. “But this is where the car and the phones are. Let me see if I can pull up any surveillance cameras.... Okay, yes, there are two in the parking lot and the motel has CCTV in the halls. I’ll get to work on it.”
He was about to lose his fucking mind. Every minute felt like a minute wasted when he should be on his way to wherever Diana was.
It was entirely possible he was wrong, that she really was in that hotel, sleeping after a long day, and he’d have to shift his beliefs about what he thought was going on between them.
Maybe he was the only one who wanted more out of this relationship, and she’d just been doing it to create the illusion they’d needed so they could work together to infiltrate the militia.
Fuck.
Twenty minutes later, Seth spoke. “Got something. Sending it to the overhead.” The video from one of the parking lot cameras appeared on the screen. It was a wide-angle view, but good enough to tell what was happening. “That’s the government vehicle.”
It was a basic white sedan that pulled into the lot and went around the back of the motel where the second camera picked it up.
“That’s Ackerman,” Ghost said as a man got out of the car. He was on his phone, gesturing as he talked. Diana didn’t emerge from the passenger seat. “Can you zoom in?”
“On it.”
A few seconds later, Diana came into view. Her head drooped to one side, her hair curtaining her face. She was very clearly asleep, but it didn’t seem quite right. She hadn’t shifted, and Ackerman hadn’t gone around to wake her. He also hadn’t walked inside the motel to check in.
A black Tahoe with tinted windows drove up a few moments later and pulled into the spot beside the govvie. It blocked the view of the sedan from the camera, but the sedan was still there when the Tahoe pulled out. Diana was no longer in the govvie, and Ackerman wasn’t there either.
“They would have crossed the field of view if they’d gone inside,” Ethan said.
“I’m looking for another camera on a nearby business,” Seth told them. “But I think we can confidently assume they got into that Tahoe.”
“Need that plate number,” Ghost growled.
Seth tapped the keys. “There’s a fast-food place with a camera, but it’s too far to get a good look.” He typed some more. “Come on, come on,” he muttered.
Ghost was practically holding his breath, his gut churning, fury burning behind his eyelids. He needed to do something. Needed to find her and tell her he’d been a fucking dumbass, that she’d done something to him and he needed her in his life however she’d have him.
“Got it. Running the plate. Thank fuck we have this system.”
Ghost knew what he meant. The SCIF and the access to government systems they had was due to the mission. If they didn’t have it, this entire thing would take a lot longer. Too long. Diana could be dead by the time they figured out where she’d been taken.
Had somebody followed her and Ackerman? Attacked them at the motel? Meth was big business, and some dealers took serious offense at attempts to eradicate their hold on an area.
But his gut told him no, that Ackerman was involved in whatever had gone down.
The man had been standing around like he was waiting for someone, talking on his phone and gesturing.
Then the Tahoe drove up and he was no longer there.
Neither was Diana. Had she gotten into that vehicle willingly, or was she drugged and they’d had to put her inside?
“It’s a rental,” Seth said.
For the first time since this nightmare began, hope started to blossom in his chest. “Please tell me it has GPS.”
Seth’s grin was shit-eating. “Hell, yeah, it sure does. Gonna call up a satellite and find out where that bitch went.”
If Washington noticed they were using NRO assets, he didn’t fucking care.
All that mattered was finding Diana so he could hold her tightly and tell her everything he felt.
Ask her to make a life with him. Because he wasn’t ever gonna tire of those clear blue eyes gazing up at him in wonder when he joined his body with hers.
It felt like nothing ever had in his life.
It felt right. More than that, being with her felt like home. His home.
Excruciating minutes passed before Seth had an update. “The Tahoe is sitting on Gunter Mountain at this address.”
He called up a Google Earth shot and zoomed down until they had a visual. It was a big house set on a bluff with a view of the Tennessee River and Guntersville Lake.
“Who owns it?”
“Checking now.”
“None of this makes sense,” Ethan gritted. “I thought Ackerman was a nice guy. Hell, spoke to him at the fall fest last weekend and he was just so friendly. Diana seemed to really like him. Only person who glared daggers at him was Colleen, but that’s because he was with Reba.”
“Diana does like him,” Ghost said, anger churning in his belly that she’d very likely been betrayed by a friend. But why? Fucking why?
“Whoa. That doesn’t make any sense at all,” Seth muttered, typing.
“What?”
“It’s a five-million-dollar estate. Bought with cash three months ago.” He hit enter, looked up. “By Brent Gannon.”
“There’s no way he has that kind of money,” Ghost said, thinking hard. “But he’s got his dirty fingers in the middle of this shit. Everywhere we turn, he’s there. He paid for it, his name’s on the deed. But there’s only one person with that kind of money who he’d be involved with.”
“Viktor Dashevsky,” Ethan breathed.
“Holy fuck,” Kane said.
“Damn,” Blaze added. The others looked pissed.
But Ghost was happier than he’d been in hours. He had a name, a target, and a mission. And he wasn’t waiting a moment longer.
“Suit up, men. We’re making a mountain assault.”
“Fuck yeah,” Blaze said. “Let’s go get our friend. Nobody takes one of our own and gets away with it.”
“A-fucking-men,” Seth growled. “We’ll get her back. Swear to God.”
They would get her back. The alternative was too bleak to contemplate.