Chapter 38
“It was filed IFR,” Quinn said.
Before he could ask, Colby heard Hayley explain it in her response.
“Instrument Flight Rules?” she asked. “But it’s severe clear out.”
Colby recognized the local term for this kind of day, when you could see from Mount Rainier to Canada. His brow furrowed as he studied the video feed from the cameras at Ali’s house.
“Exactly,” Quinn said. “Why not just Visual Flight Rules? So Liam kept digging. Turns out the only real weather anywhere close is some heavy clouds with potential snow later tonight hitting the Rockies, west of Denver.”
Colby tensed and his gaze snapped back to Quinn. “Her family has an office in Denver, and a house in Beaver Creek. Near Vail.”
Quinn looked at him. “Address of the house?”
Colby gave a disgusted shake of his head. “I don’t know. I’ve never been there. Grace either. I only know about it because I overheard her father bragging about it to someone. About how big the house is, and what big wheels they are around there.”
“Liam!” Quinn yelled toward the stairway.
“On it!” came a return yell from the second floor, reminding Colby all of this was going on live via those rather heavy-duty Foxworth phones.
Quinn looked back at Colby. “Her father bragged about it, but she never told you about it?”
“No.”
He didn’t even try to explain how typical that was, that once he’d refused to become part of their world, they shared nothing with him.
“So she has every reason to think you don’t know anything about it?”
“Yeah, I—” Belatedly it hit him. “So it’s the perfect place to hide Grace.”
Quinn nodded. “Liam,” he called out again, “you copy that part about her pulling Grace out of class?”
“Already called Ria,” came the answer.
Quinn turned back to Colby. “Ria is his wife. She’s also a local teacher, who knows several others who work at Grace’s school. She’s already reached out and they’re checking for us.”
Colby wondered if the Foxworth network had no end. Then Hayley’s voice came over the speaker.
“Ali and I could go over there, see if we can find out anything.”
“Put that on hold,” Quinn said. “We don’t know who that guy who arrived is yet.”
Hayley sounded tense. “We need to be sure before we commit. If we guess wrong…”
“Maybe Grace could help.” It was Ali, and Colby couldn’t help the little jump of his pulse when he heard her voice.
“How?” Quinn asked.
“Maybe she could get a look at what her mother is packing. If she’s taking heavy, winter-type clothes, or if she’s overheard anything…”
“Excellent idea. If she and Cutter can pull it off.”
They decided it was worth a try. Hayley had Ali write a quick note, then sent Cutter off to deliver it.
They watched on screen as the dog raced over to Grace’s window.
The child was there almost immediately, pushing the window open.
Then she vanished, but was back in under three minutes, wrestling with Cutter’s collar.
So they had an answer much more quickly than they’d expected. And with more than they’d asked for.
Ali read it out loud for them all.
She got out her big pink puffer coat. She called somebody and said to get the house ready. And I heard that nasty guy say something about mountains. We’re going now.
“It ends in a kind of scribble, like maybe she heard her mother coming and had to rush,” Ali said.
“That’s it, then,” Quinn said. He looked at Colby. “I really would like to hire that girl of yours when she’s a bit older.”
Colby let out a sharp laugh. “I have a feeling we may all be working for her.”
“Truer words,” Quinn agreed.
“Quinn! They’re leaving,” Hayley said urgently. “Shall we try and stop them?”
Colby held his breath, hoping Quinn would say yes, but when he said no, he sadly understood.
“We need a plan in place first. And I think getting away will lull her, put her off guard.”
Colby didn’t like it, but he knew Quinn was right. They both turned as Liam came running down the stairs. He rattled off information at a rapid clip.
“Ria says she pulled Grace out indefinitely. Got the address, and pulled some info. Big place—figures—overlooking the golf course at the resort. My guy over at the airport says they’re scheduled to take off in an hour. In this.”
He handed Quinn a scrap of paper with something scribbled on it. Colby could just make out the word Citation.
“Fast. So we can’t beat them in the air. Any idea if they’re flying into Denver and then driving?” Quinn asked. “There’s a county regional airport a lot closer, I think. With a nice long runway, because of the weather they have to deal with sometimes.”
“He’s checking,” Liam said.
Quinn looked at Colby, who had to shake his head. “Depends. They’ve got a fancy limo there in Denver, but if she’s in a hurry she might risk the short drive in a possibly grubby ride.”
“But if you had to guess?”
Colby knew the “had to” part was true. This was Grace. “I’d say the luxury limo. She avoids us peons whenever possible.”
“All right. Hayley, you get all that?”
“Copied. All of us?”
“I think so. We want max shock value.”
“Good idea,” Liam said. “I could—” He broke off as his phone chimed. He looked, sent a quick answer to a text, then looked at Quinn. “Denver.”
Quinn gave Colby a nod for his accurate guess. “Excellent. That’s at least a two-hour drive, maybe more this time of year.”
“Cutter, I assume?” Hayley asked.
“Of course.”
“Prepping now,” she said, and Colby could almost hear her smiling as she ended the call on her end.
Quinn went to the office in the corner of the building, which Colby now knew was his. He was on the computer there in seconds, and was quickly reading the screen and tapping a thumb on the desk.
When he saw Colby in the doorway, he glanced up and said, “Figuring timing.”
He went back to the screen.
“This model jet has a cruising speed of about three hundred twenty knots an hour.” He glanced again at Colby.
“Say three hundred seventy-five miles per hour. So an estimated three hours plus a bit flight time. It’s got just enough range without refueling, but only if they don’t have to dodge anything or wait in the air very long. Pretty risky.”
“I think they’ll stop,” Colby said hesitantly. “She’ll feel safe once they’re on their way. That jet makes her feel…”
“Privileged? Special?”
“Yes.”
“Then she has a surprise coming.” Quinn said it with such cool Colby felt that hope battering down his qualms. “They’re not leaving for an hour.
With driving time from Denver, that gives us roughly six hours, probably more when you add in delays and ground transit.
And a lot more if they do stop to refuel. ”
Colby stared at the man. “Why do I get the feeling I’m about to meet Wilbur?”
Quinn grinned, widely. “Won’t be as fast—it’ll take us two hours or so more flight time—but ol’ Wilbur’s steady. With a range of five hundred miles more than we need, and that’s with a nice fuel reserve left over.”
“And you can top the Rockies?”
“Max altitude is twenty-five thousand feet. Cabin’s pressurized, rare for a small turbo prop. We’re good.”
“What about that weather?”
“Always the X factor, but like I said, we’ve got the range to go around a bit if we need to. Especially since we’re not heading into Denver International’s traffic pattern.”
“So you think we can beat them there?”
“No, but we’ll be close on their tail. If Mother Nature cooperates and holds off until tonight.”
“You mean Foxworth doesn’t have any pull there?” Colby asked in mock shock.
Quinn laughed. “Good to see you’re able to joke.”
“Hope,” Colby said, solemnly now, “is a powerful thing.”
“Yes, it—” He broke off as another call came in. Quinn looked at the screen and then put it on speaker. “Gavin. Go.”
“Just saw the case update Liam sent. Thinking I should go along.”
“We’ve got room,” Quinn said. “You have a reason?”
“Two. I’ve got a former client in the area who happens to have some legal pull.”
Colby didn’t doubt that. Back in his headline days, Gavin de Marco handled nothing but people who had some pull. Or a lot of it.
“And reason two?” Quinn asked.
“If I was enough to scare her into running from here, imagine what me showing up there might do.”
Quinn laughed. “Our own personal boogeyman.”
“I’ve been called worse,” de Marco said with a chuckle. Colby was sure he probably had been, in those years when if there was a lawyer all over the news, chances were good it was him.
Liam appeared in the doorway. “ETA on Wilbur ready for takeoff is forty-five minutes.”
“Excellent. You copy that, Gavin?”
“I did. I’ll be there just about then. And I’ll have to play it by ear, but I may have something worth using.”
Quinn ended the call and turned to face Colby. “What did that mean, something worth using?” Colby asked.
“Knowing Gavin, it means something that could turn the tables completely. Just like he used to do at court. We’ll have to leave that to him,” Quinn said briskly. “It’ll probably be pushing an hour by the time everybody gets there and we get loaded up.”
“How many people can Wilbur carry?” Colby asked, trying not to leap on that bit about de Marco having something and chewing it to death.
“Five, plus the pilot.”
“Who I assume is you?”
“Yep,” Quinn said, looking nothing less than delighted at the fact. “So Hayley, Teague, Liam, Gavin, and you.”
“And Cutter?”
Quinn grinned at that. “Yeah, him too, but since he’s only about seventy pounds, we don’t worry about it.”
“That’d be one of Liz’s suitcases,” Colby said dryly.
Quinn laughed. “Hope you pack lighter.”
He did, grabbing up whatever clothes were clean, including some of his heavier work socks he was glad he’d grabbed, given the weather they were heading toward.
Quinn apparently had a go bag ready at all times, because the only thing he grabbed was his laptop with all the details he’d just researched and a couple of heavy jackets off the rack by the door.
Thanks to the fact that his stay here was temporary, he didn’t have a ton of things to include, so was able to be ready only a couple of minutes after Quinn.
“What about Hayley?”
“She’s got her go bag in the car. Along with Cutter’s.”
“The dog has a go bag?”
“He does. Food, water, collapsible bowls and some of Liam’s gear we sometimes use with him.” Quinn grinned again. He was obviously looking forward to flying. “He’s even got a coat and some traction boots, so if that snow hits, he’ll be ready.”
Colby was still marveling at it all as they drove south to the small local airport Wilbur was hangared at. And his first look at the sleek little airplane had him, oddly, thinking better this to tackle the Rockies than the helicopter, although he suspected Quinn wouldn’t cringe at that, either.
All those thoughts vanished when Hayley’s SUV pulled up and two women got out. And only one of them had a backpack slung over her shoulder, looking ready to get on that plane and fly.
Ali.