Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Jax whipped the car around a tight corner.
Kenna held her breath, praying in her mind, which she hadn’t stopped doing since they left the ranch.
He had his phone in the dash clip, the screen open to the walkie-talkie app. If Zeyla and Maizie or Preston hit the talk button on their devices, it would immediately play—about as live as it could get.
She scanned the terrain where the dirt track wound through tall pine trees that disguised them from anyone behind them for a few seconds after every bend. The sky had no clouds, just a mass of bright blue that looked more pleasant than this day was turning out to be.
No one was visible in the side mirror; the view of the road behind them was empty. But did that mean they were going to get out of here without running into anyone?
Kenna laid her free hand over the baby.
“You both okay?” Jax gripped the wheel, all his attention on the road. But not all his focus.
“We’re fine,” Kenna said. “Do you think whoever planted these trees knew we’d be using them as cover for evasion?”
Jax hit the gas on a straight stretch of road.
“Preston told me the house was owned by a guy from Chicago. It’s the height of the Depression, and he leaves the city and settles in the middle of nowhere, Colorado?
The house has a load of secret cupboards behind panels in the walls, and he told me there’s a tunnel between the house and the barn.
But it collapsed years ago, so it’s unusable. ”
“A gangster from Chicago?” That sounded interesting. “He was probably fleeing the law or someone trying to kill him. Like a rival.”
“Turns out he single-handedly revived the local economy. Hired residents to help out around the house. Threw parties and gave gifts to local food banks. The church. The medical center. He kept the people in this area from starving.”
“Wow. A gangster Santa.”
Jax chuckled. “Something like that.”
“We should do that in Wyoming, where the cabin is. I mean, not the party stuff. The rest of it, though. Help people out if they need it. Give donations. That kind of thing.”
He reached over and squeezed her knee. “It’s a good idea, and a biblical concept. Providing for the poor, orphans, and widows.”
“And such were some of you?” That was a biblical concept as well. No one could claim the higher ground. Everyone was an equal in the eyes of the Lord. No one was a worse sinner than anyone else, and no one could say they were better than another. Or more holy.
He gave her knee another squeeze. “Something like that.” He flinched, his attention flicking to the rearview.
She looked at the side mirror. “I see them.”
Jax hit the talk button on his phone screen. “We have company.”
Kenna said, “One black SUV in pursuit,” then she tapped the screen to turn off the talk function.
Maizie came back. “We haven’t seen anyone yet. We’re almost to the top of the ridge.”
When she was done, Kenna responded, “Copy that. Stick to the plan.” Then she said, “Preston? How do things look from the air?”
His connection was a whole lot louder than theirs. “Coming your way now, Kenna.”
She held off replying and instead checked the progress of the SUV. “They’re coming up behind us fast.”
“We’re faster.”
“We’re probably heavier, too. With all the armor plating.”
“We’re more maneuverable because we have so much more power.”
She rolled her eyes. “Good, because they’re going to kill us to get what they want.”
Jax hit the gas, and they sped up. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you or Emma.”
“That isn’t her name.”
“Charlotte.”
“Nope.”
“Madrid. No, Barcelona.”
“Antigua is a cute name.” Kenna bit her lips together to keep from laughing. “I’m still thinking about it.”
“We should decide.”
“What if we choose a name and, when she’s born, she doesn’t look like that’s the right name for her?” Besides, it wasn’t like this was the time to choose a name.
Even though she’d sort of already chosen one, it wasn’t the time to tell him about that either.
Jax sighed loudly, but he seemed more amused than anything. “I hear the chopper.”
Kenna tried to see it but didn’t have much visibility out the windows, and there was no sunroof. “Probably above us.”
“There.” He pointed left, out the window beside him.
The chopper crested over the trees and passed above them, heading toward the SUV that was rapidly coming up behind them. She watched in the side mirror as whoever was on board opened fire at the SUV, spraying bullets at the hood, the windshield, and the roof of the vehicle.
After they’d gone overhead, someone leaned out the side window of the SUV with a rifle and opened fire on the helicopter. Return fire caught the guy, and he slumped down, still half out the window.
“That was close.” Kenna gasped. “Helicopters just seem like spinning death traps.”
Jax hurtled them around the corner in a spray of gravel that nearly sent them down an embankment. He corrected out of the skid. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. You’re doing better than I could.”
“Wanna take an advanced driving course to refresh your skills?”
“Not really.” She grinned. “Maybe it’s super sexist or something, but I prefer it when you drive.”
“Works for me.” He pressed down on the gas, and they sped up again.
The SUV nearly went over the same edge they almost had, but the driver obviously had similar skills to Jax.
“Come on, Preston.” She watched the rearview, giving her a limited scope of what was happening behind her.
There were more gunmen in that SUV, but they didn’t fire.
Maybe they knew her car had armor plating, so there was no point in firing at it and achieving nothing.
Along with run-flat tires, the kind usually found in cars in war zones—the ones driven by the warlord.
They weren’t perfectly safe in this car, but it was as close as they could get.
The chopper swung into view in the air above the road, rapidly approaching the back of the SUV. They sprayed the vehicle with bullets again, security guys on either side of the helicopter’s open doors—or windows. She couldn’t see from this distance.
The rear window shattered, and the car swerved.
“Keep going,” she urged Jax. “Don’t slow down.”
The SUV careened to the side and hit a tree.
One guy stumbled out, lifted his gun, and fired at the helicopter. It dipped in the air. Kenna gasped again. Please don’t let them shoot down the helicopter. She watched it regain altitude, expecting a fireball but not seeing one before her eyes started to burn, and she had to blink.
“We’re good,” Preston said through the phone app.
Kenna started to let go of the tension she’d been holding.
“We aren’t!” Maizie’s voice came through loudly. “We have a vehicle behind us now!”
Preston said, “On our way.”
The chopper banked and swung north, and she thanked God for paid security staff. And friends like Preston, who offered secret ranches. How these guys had found them, she didn’t know. Probably some kind of tracker, or computer virus.
Jax eased off the gas pedal, turning the next corner much slower. Thanks to a satellite internet connection, she saw on the dash screen that they weren’t far from the highway. Pretty soon, they’d be safe on the blacktop. Or as safe as they could be, she supposed.
For now.
The chopper flew over the treetops toward where the two women were in the RV, making their own way to the rendezvous. Kenna pressed her lips together and prayed for them in her mind, while Jax navigated to the highway.
About a quarter mile from the end of the dirt track, where it met the blacktop, her phone rang.
“It’s Ryson.” She put it on speaker. “You’ve got me and Jax.”
“Hey, guys.”
Jax said, “Everything okay?”
“I paid a visit to the Feathers family. Mom, name is Crystal, Ellayna, and her brother, Abe. They aren’t at home.”
Kenna frowned. “As in, she’s at work, Ellayna is at school, and Abe is at daycare?” It was early in the day still, but it was possible they got where they were going for the day soon after they woke.
“No signs of a break-in. So, there’s that.
” Ryson didn’t sound happy with the lack of results on this search.
“But I talked to the neighbor, and she said there was a van outside the house a few nights ago. She only saw that, though. Not that they got into it. But she hasn’t seen them since.
Doesn’t know why they wouldn’t be home lately. ”
“Maybe they went to stay with someone?” Crystal Feathers might have a boyfriend or someone she took the kids to see. Like her mother or the kids’ other grandma.
“The neighbor told me about Abe’s dad. I’m going to pay him a visit now. I just wanted to keep you updated.”
“Thanks.” Kenna didn’t like this. “What about phones? Any way to get the numbers so we can trace them?”
“Not without probable cause for a warrant. I’ll open a missing person case and see how far I get.”
“We appreciate it,” Jax said. “I’d hate to think that her going on that podcast put them in danger.”
Kenna nodded. “Me, too.”
“I’ll keep you updated.”
“Thanks.” Kenna looked at the screen, but Ryson had already ended the call. “He sounded exhausted.”
“Broken sleep and worry.”
She smiled. “I guess we have all kinds of fun to look forward to.”
“I can’t wait.” He reached over and held her hand, navigating the dirt road with one hand on the wheel.
“I want to go to Salt Lake City and help him look for them.”
Jax’s fingers flexed between hers. “They might not be missing, or unsafe. I’d rather chase down this podcaster.”
There was also the accomplice she might have missed all those years ago, in the previous case the podcaster had revisited. And the SUV guys on this stretch of dirt, trying to get the flash drive and port. The device was currently in a box on the back seat of this car, so they could drop it off.