A black SUV pulled up to the curb as soon as we exited the bed-and-breakfast and I recognized it as one from Ridge’s fleet. Ridge jumped into the passenger seat and I slid into the back.
Drake was already at the wheel and the second our doors closed, he pulled out onto the empty street and turned toward the airstrip. If we used the chopper, we’d beat them to Portland.
“There’s three hours until the helicopter can be here and then they have to refuel,” Drake said, driving past the bakery.
Ridge drummed his fingers on the armrest of the passenger side door. “Shit, it’s only three hours to make the drive.”
Damn it.
The ex-Navy SEAL had enough muscle, but he was also full of brains. He was right. By the time the plane refueled and we were able to take off and get to Portland and then leave that landing strip to make it to the warehouse where Imogen’s mother’s kidnapper told us to meet, it would be too late. We could’ve made the drive one and a half times in that length of time.
Drake idled at the stop sign in downtown. “What do you want me to do, boss?”
Ridge slapped the car’s dashboard in anger. “Put Riley and Lee on the plane and the three of us will drive.”
My anxiety was already spiked, my system flooding with adrenaline, as I tried not to think about all the things Bernard could do to Imogen once he had her back under his control. Ridge’s loss of temper didn’t help. I knew it was bad when the situation upset him.
Drake shook his head. “Riley is still MIA.”
Ridge grunted and the hand he had rested on the dashboard turned into a fist. “Fine, call in Lee and Sloan.”
Drake’s phone rested between his shoulder and his ear, which left me in the back seat to piece together the day that started so well, became a shit show, and I only hoped didn’t end in a tragedy. “How in the hell did she even get a car?” I asked myself more than anyone else.
It’s not like she had an Uber drive her to Portland.
Drake continued on down Main Street and turned toward the highway, all the while barking orders into his phone. Ridge was busy typing away. He didn’t give any indication who he was talking with, but from the way he tightened his hand around his phone, it wasn’t good news.
“My brother and I will have a long chat when he finally gets back,” Ridge said, and then he turned around in the seat to look at me. “And Katy is missing.”
Drake groaned and turned on the road to lead us toward the highway. “Her Honda?” he asked, trying to determine which of the cars Katy drove.
If this had happened a year earlier, she had a crappy old Honda to get up to Portland, and we’d probably beat them there. But now she had Pierce’s garage of vehicles to choose from to make a proper getaway.
Ridge shook his head. “No, she’s driving Pierce’s Tesla. Step on the gas.”
All of us understood the severity of the situation. Katy wasn’t likely to get to Portland and chicken out. If she coached Imogen on what to do, the two of them meant trouble. Drake pressed his foot to the gas, and we sped through the winding road out of town and into the growing darkness.
THREE HOURS LATER,we made it to the warehouse outside of Portland. The impressive driving time helped by a steady hand and the location of the warehouse being on the outskirts of the northern side of the city. Portland wasn’t a large city, especially when compared to New York, but I wasn’t in the mood to deal with any traffic that evening.
The warehouse was set back in an industrial lot full of other buildings that looked just like it. The only way we found the location was a big sign with the address numbers pointing in the right directions.
Except Drake didn’t drive us right to the warehouse door. He stopped the SUV by a building in the front of the industrial park in one of the half-filled parking lots. There must have been a night shift happening, and we blended in with the other vehicles from the workers.
“Why are we stopping here?” I asked. I stared at the warehouse in question, the one we needed, but it was way down the line. An entire row of buildings stood in our way. If Imogen had already made it inside, she was too far away.
With this much distance between us, we wouldn’t be able to make a quick getaway to safety once we snatched Imogen and her mother. I wasn’t much concerned with Katy. She put herself into this mess, and she could probably find her way out of it.
Ridge looked back at me with an annoyed expression on his face as he popped open the top of a small black box. “We can’t go in guns blazing,” he said, tapping something in the box I couldn’t see and then his phone screen lit up.
“Why not?”
They were obviously both carrying and more than likely had a weapon stashed in the vehicle somewhere. I didn’t have nearly as much experience as the SEALs, but Corbin and I spent afternoons at the shooting range. I could hold my own if need be. And when it came to getting Imogen back, I had a major need.
“Only two of us have guns, and we don’t know how many he has stationed around the building.”
Drake stood beside him and nodded. “Stealth is our friend right now,” he said as a small device floated up from the box Ridge opened moments earlier.
No, it didn’t float. It flew. The bug, because that is exactly what it resembled since it was no larger than a yellowjacket, hovered in the air in front of my face. Ridge’s attention returned to his phone and he used the small screen to direct its movements. It zipped away from us headed toward the warehouse. Once it was out of sight, Ridge used his cellphone screen to track what the spy device saw.
