“What the hell were you doing outside?” he asked.
“I…I needed to use the facilities. He came at me out of nowhere.” A shudder moved through her when she remembered how easily the man had overpowered her. “How did you know?”
“You shouting your head off was a dead giveaway.”
Leigh shook her head. “How did they find us?”
“They’ve been tracking us all along.”
“What?”
“They’re using a high-tech GPS device deployed via a special bullet designed to withstand high impact and attach itself to the target.”
“My God.” She listened, fear vibrating through her as he explained how the miniature GPS transmitters worked. “How did you figure that out?”
“I called a friend.”
“A friend at MIDNIGHT?”
“Zack Devlin knows electronics.”
“Does that mean Mike Madrid didn’t give us up?”
Jake grimaced. “Probably.”
She thought about that a moment. “Is Rasmussen still able to track us?”
“I removed all the transmitters I could find.” He sent her a dark look. “Let’s just hope I didn’t miss one.”
Sliding onto the seat, she pressed her hand against her stomach, feeling sick. “I thought they had hurt you. I thought they had—”
“They didn’t,” he said. “Don’t even go there.”
Fighting back tears, Leigh looked out at the vast darkness. What would she have done back there without Jake? “You saved my life,” she said.
“I did what I had to do to get us out of there.”
When she had her emotions under control, she turned to face him. “Rasmussen is not going to stop. He’s evil and obsessed and seems to have every resource at his fingertips.”
“Every federal and state law enforcement agency within a five-hundred-mile radius is looking for him, Leigh.”
“He’s too smart to get caught, Jake. You know that as well as I do.”
His jaw flexed. “He may be smart, but he’s not invincible.”
“Money and connections buy an awful lot of invincible.”
“Sooner or later his obsession with you will get the best of him. He’ll make a mistake. When he does, I’m going to make damn sure I’m there to take him down.”
As the dark landscape whizzed by, all Leigh could think was that she hoped they lived long enough to do just that.
AFTER THE AMBUSH back at the grain elevator, Jake hadn’t been able to take his eyes off the rearview mirror, certain he’d missed at least one of the GPS transmitters that had penetrated the body of the truck. But as the night wore on and Rasmussen’s thugs didn’t show, he began to think that perhaps he’d gotten them all.
He was working on forty-eight hours without sleep, and by noon he was feeling every minute of fatigue. They needed a place to rest and eat and sleep. Damn it, Leigh was right. They needed a plan. Desperate and exhausted, he decided to take her to the only place he could think of.
He hadn’t been to the Thunder Cove Marina for almost two months. It had been even longer since he’d sailed. But he’d kept the Stormy C. in the water, just in case.
It was nearly dusk and snowing in earnest when he parked the truck in a spot hidden from the street. On the seat next to him, Leigh thrashed in her sleep. She’d done that a lot since leaving the grain elevator. Jake set his hand on her shoulder. “Leigh.”
She sat up abruptly, her eyes wide with fear. Then she blinked at him, pulled herself together.
“You’re all right.” He touched her arm and was surprised to feel her trembling. “It was just a bad dream.”
Even tousled, exhausted and scared, she was beautiful.
“I can’t believe I fell asleep.” She looked around. “Where are we?”
“Thunder Cove,” he said.
“I have no idea where that is.”
“Lake Michigan. I keep my sailboat here.”
“A little cold for sailing, isn’t it?”
He smiled. “Yeah, but the boat will be warm inside.”
“Looks deserted.”
“Not many people out this time of year. Nobody knows I keep a boat here. We can eat, grab a shower, get some sleep.” He could sure as hell use all those things. “Maybe afterward we can come up with some kind of plan.”
When she didn’t say anything he reached out and stroked her cheek with the backs of his fingers. “You okay?”
She nodded. “Just a little jumpy.”
“Bullets tend to do that to a person.”
It was her turn to smile, but he didn’t miss the shadows in her eyes. He wished he could take those shadows away. He wished even more fervently that the circumstances were different.
Sighing, Jake opened the door. The frigid wind coming off the lake struck him like a glass of ice water. He went to open Leigh’s door, but she was already sliding to the ground. He motioned toward the chain-link gate and the marina beyond.
“I didn’t know you had a boat,” she said as they headed toward the gate.
“I don’t sail much anymore.”
“Why not?”
“Never make time.” Jake used his key and opened the gate.