Chapter 11 #2
That was because they’d been kissing! If the officer had seen her face clearly, she knew this interlude would have ended with her in handcuffs.
Her hands began to shake, and she couldn’t speak as Micah quickly guided her outside.
She hurried to keep up with him as they made their way to the car.
Her fingers were still trembling as she struggled to latch the seat belt.
Finally, Micah was backing out of the parking space and getting back on the freeway.
Even then, she couldn’t relax. The near miss had knocked her off balance.
And worse, she grimly realized this was a preview of what their life would be like if they bought fake IDs and left town.
Flinching and hiding from every single police officer they ran across.
Until someone who was working undercover found and arrested her.
Nope. She couldn’t do it. No matter how much she abhorred the idea of going to jail, she didn’t think hopping on a plane and leaving the country was the answer. She lowered her chin to her chest and spent a moment drawing in deep cleansing breaths to calm her racing heart.
She opened her heart to God, begging for the wisdom to do the right thing.
Unfortunately, there was no response from the Almighty Father.
Micah couldn’t believe a state trooper had come into the rest stop when he and Bryn were there. He was glad their embrace had helped hide their features, yet he knew the close encounter had worked against him. Bryn had been badly shaken by the near miss.
And he was at a loss as to why she was loath to go along with him on this.
Micah’s phone rang, startling him. A sense of relief hit when Di’s name flashed on the screen. Bryn abruptly reached over to press the end call button.
“What are you doing?” Micah stared at her in confusion. “I need to talk to her about our plan.”
“That’s your plan, not mine.” She sighed.
“I think we need to check out the data center before we take the irrevocable step of buying fake identities.” He recognized the stubborn tilt to her chin.
“I know we’d hoped to get information from my coworkers, but we also planned to check out the data center, right? ”
He battled back a wave of frustration. It was hard not to take her reluctance to go along with his plan personally. “We did mention that, yeah, but things have changed.”
“Please, Micah. Let’s just check the place out before we do anything drastic.” He found it difficult to ignore her imploring gaze.
“And if we don’t find anything useful?” He searched her gaze. “Then what?”
She was quiet for a long, tense moment. “I’m not sure.” She looked away. “I need some time to think about it.”
“Okay.” He realized that continuing to argue wasn’t going to help. The next exit was two miles away. He took it so that he could turn around to head back to Madison.
Or more specifically to Wild Prairie where the partially constructed new data center was located.
The city was a few miles west of Madison.
It went against his instincts to return to the city where every cop was on high alert for Bryn, but maybe once she realized the data center wasn’t going to help them get to the truth, she’d be more amendable to the idea of leaving.
The phone rang again, and this time, he quickly answered. “Hey, Di, thanks for getting back to me.”
“Are you sure about the IDs and passports?” she asked. “You need to know they’re going to cost a pretty penny.”
“Put a hold on that for now,” he said, earning a sigh of relief from Bryn. “I still think we’re going to need them, and I’m happy to pay the going price, but we have something we need to check on first.”
Di was silent for a moment. “Okay, that’s fine. But the new documents are going to take time. It’s not like they can be turned around in a couple of hours.”
He should have anticipated that. “I understand. Hold tight until we get back in touch with you.”
“Understood. And, Mick, I hope you find another way out of the jam you’re in.” With that, Di ended the call.
A gnawing uncertainty grated on his nerves. Was he doing the right thing in sweeping Bryn away from all of this? It was certainly a better option than allowing her to go to jail for Richard’s crimes.
His nerves tightened with every mile that drew them closer to Madison.
Maybe he should have tried to alter their license plate?
He wouldn’t put it past Gwen to have called the police to report Bryn’s visit.
The only good news is that they’d parked far enough away that Gwen had no way of knowing what vehicle they were driving.
He’d rented the SUV under his own name, rather than Grayson’s Guardians. It was too late to go back and change that now.
“Do you know where the data center is located?” Bryn’s question broke the prolonged silence. “I don’t have the address memorized off the top of my head.”
“I’ll find it.” He tapped the map application on the console computer screen. Bringing up the search bar, he gestured to her. “Type the name in, would you?”
“Sure.” She did so, and a moment later, the screen zoomed in on the location of the data center. He was somewhat surprised it showed up as it was new construction, and that often took a while to make its way onto the various maps. “Wow, it looks like it’s out in the middle of nowhere.”
“Best place for a data center, right?” He tried to smile, but his face felt tight with fear and worry.
He tried to tell himself that going to the data center on a Sunday was better than trying this during the week.
Supposedly, the construction had been halted, but there was no guarantee the place would be deserted.
“Thank you for doing this,” Bryn said.
He nodded. “I want to do whatever is best for you.”
“I appreciate that.” She frowned a little, then glanced back out her window. “I feel like we at least need to try to find evidence against Richard.”
Evidence wasn’t likely to be sitting out in plain sight in the middle of a half-built data center, but he didn’t voice his dire thoughts. He’d promised to help her, so that’s exactly what he’d do.
Even if it killed him.
He took the Wild Prairie exit. Eyeing the map on the screen, he followed the path that was highlighted to reach their destination. When they were within a few miles, he could see the top of a tall crane.
“Looks like it’s to the right.” Bryn had her face near the passenger-side window. “I can see a huge building with mounds of dirt around it.
“Yeah. It looks exactly the way it did in the newspaper article.” He recalled the construction had been halted five weeks ago. “I’m going to drive past it first, make sure there aren’t any police nearby.”
“Good idea.” She glanced over at him, her expression grateful. “Not just the police, but the gunmen too.”
She had a point, the gunmen had been sitting and waiting for them outside the Madison North police precinct. If the data center was somehow involved, it would make sense they’d be out here too.
As he grew closer, he was surprised by how large and expansive the new building was.
Seeing it in a photo didn’t do it justice.
The size of the structure was close to a square mile in length and was only a single story high.
It was easy to imagine rows and rows of computers running throughout the massive structure.
There was a large parking lot out front, but he didn’t see any vehicles nearby. Still, he continued going all the way past the building until he reached the next intersection. Then he made a U-turn to go back the way they’d come.
“Do you think it’s locked?” She glanced at him. “It would be a shame to come all this way without getting inside.”
“I don’t think there are any doors yet to lock.” He slowed to make the turn into the parking lot. “I’m surprised there isn’t a wire mesh fence and a gate to keep people out. Maybe there isn’t much inside to see.”
“You might be right about that.” She frowned. “I was really hoping we’d find something to steer us in the right direction.”
Nothing was ever that easy. He drove up to the front of the building but then turned around to head back out.
“Wait!” Bryn reached over to grasp his arm. “We came all this way, aren’t we going to at least look around inside?”
“Yeah, but I don’t think it’s smart to park out front, do you?” He grimaced. “If we’re going to snoop on private property, we need to hide the SUV behind some of the large equipment and go exploring on foot.”
“Good idea.” Her grip relaxed on his arm.
He drove around the large crane, looking for a good place to park. He had to make a wide turn to avoid the large mounds of dirt and gravel that were haphazardly dumped around the building’s perimeter. He had to stop and back up to get around a particularly large dump pile, then he abruptly stopped.
“Are we leaving the car here?” Bryn asked.
“No, look over there.” He gestured to a narrow gap between the large dirt pile and the backhoe. “Is that a vehicle back there?”
“I don’t know. I can’t see anything.” Bryn straightened in her seat, craning her neck. “Why would someone be back there?”
“To stay out of sight, the same way we are.” He backed up and angled his SUV between the larger dirt pile and the crane, then he killed the engine. “You need to stay here while I go check it out.”
“I want to come with you.” She was already pushing her door open. He grabbed her arm to keep her from bailing out.
“Bryn, listen to me. If that vehicle belongs to the gunmen, the last thing we need is for them to see you.” He tugged her back into the seat. “I’m asking you to trust me. Let me get a little closer to check it out. It could be nothing, like a delivery of some sort.”
“On a Sunday?” She narrowed her gaze. “Fat chance.”
“Please.” He didn’t want her anywhere near the vehicle he’d spotted. Their current location of being crammed between the dirt pile and the crane would hide their car from anyone driving into the parking lot.
“Maybe it’s a security vehicle.” She sat back and closed her passenger-side door. “Since there aren’t any fences or gates to keep us out, it makes sense that they’d have a roving security guard on the premises.”
He was impressed she’d come up with that idea. “You’re probably right. Sit tight for a few minutes while I check it out.”
“Fine.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “But if you’re not back in fifteen minutes, I’m coming to find you.”
He paused, considering that. “If I’m not back in fifteen minutes, you need to drive out of here and call Di.
” He passed his phone to her, then dug the key fob from his pocket and dropped it into the center console.
“She’ll help you get in touch with Rex or someone else from the team.
” He didn’t add that none of the Grayson’s Guardians teammates were close by.
Rex was the closest, and he was in Chicago.
“Okay.” She reluctantly took his phone. “Come back soon, okay?”
“That’s the goal.” He slid out of the driver’s seat and softly closed the car door behind him. Then keeping his head low, he made his way around the dirt pile toward the location of the vehicle he’d spotted.
He wasn’t sure, but at first glance, he’d thought it might be a gray SUV. Yet he’d disabled the last steel-gray SUV that had come after them, and he thought it would be odd if the bad guys had gotten a replacement of the same make and model.
Unless it was a company type of car? Possibilities swirled in his mind as he quickly moved closer toward the back of the building.
When he was within fifty feet of the car, a chill snaked down his spine. The vehicle was a light-gray SUV, and it as empty.
Whoever had driven the car here was inside the building. He stared at it for a long moment, realized their theory about the data center was right. Somehow, Damien’s murder was connected to this data center.
Too bad he had no idea how or why this half-finished building had cost a man his life and Bryn to be framed for his murder.