Watching out for the people she cared for in the same way that they watched out for her.
Having this baby.
Maizie shifted. At the same time, Kenna spotted something dark in the side mirror. She glanced at the back window and saw a trio of black SUVs turn onto the street.
Kenna leaned over and honked the horn, long and loud.
Chapter Four
Jax motioned with one hand in a throwing motion across the street, probably ordering the woman to get to her house as quickly as possible. The woman spun around, almost tangling herself in the dog leash, and hurried across the street. She started to fast walk much too early, drawing attention to herself. With the SUVs barreling down on her and them, there wasn’t much time.
Kenna tapped her foot, jogging her knee up and down while she watched her husband sprint around the front of the car and duck his head, climbing inside.
The door behind Kenna slammed, and Zeyla patted the shoulder of his seat. “Hit it.”
He slammed his foot down on the gas, and they set off. The car quickly gained traction.
Kenna looked in the side mirror to her right and saw the pursuing vehicles. “I’m guessing they’re going to follow us and not head into the house.”
“So far.”
“With three vehicles, one could stay at the house. That means our fan is in danger.”
Jax gripped the wheel with both hands. “You want me to hang back and she see if she’s okay?”
“I don’t know how we’re going to make sure all three cars follow us.” The wrong kind of person in those vehicles might stick around the neighborhood, track down the woman now hurrying into her house, and torture her until she told them everything. After which, her body would be disposed of.
Kenna said, “Keep driving. I’ll call 911 and report this to the police.”
When the dispatcher answered, she fumbled over what to say but, hopefully, got her point across. Just because they were famous didn’t mean she could name-drop herself and get whatever she wanted. The police in Pueblo might be aware that her team was here, but she would rather as few people as possible realized it.
Maizie said, “I think she got into her house.”
They were too far away to see now, and Jax swung the car around the corner. Kenna checked the mirror and watched the first SUV follow them. Seconds later, a second and third swung around the bend in the road. But that didn’t mean no one had jumped out back there to cause trouble.
Maizie continued, “You think the software company was watching everything we were doing in the house and sent them to retrieve what Shawn stole?”
Zeyla answered first. “I would be. If you know a traitor stole from you, you’re going to set up surveillance just in case someone else finds it.”
Kenna glanced back at Maizie, one hand gripping the bar on the inside of her door. “We have it. So now all we need to do is get away from them.”
The problem was that these people knew this town much better than her team. They were from here. Lived here. Worked here. Whoever was driving might even live around here.
Jax said, “Once we get on the freeway, we can get some space between us and them.”
She didn’t look at Maizie. Kenna didn’t want the young woman to see on her face that she wasn’t sure Jax’s plan would work. Three SUVs tailing them? It would be far too difficult to lose them, especially without having an elaborate plan set up.
“Any other ideas?” She glanced at Jax. “We could call Preston back at the house, but I don’t think his helicopter is nearby.”
“You want to stop long enough to climb into a helicopter?” He glanced at her for a second, then focused back on the road. Traffic was starting to build up, so he swung the car around the corner onto a side street leading away from the center of town. Keeping them in a more residential area.
Kenna tapped the dash screen and recalled the address for the ranch Preston had rented a month ago when the case started, purely so he could provide them with a place to stay. The guy was an ex-con who had been accused of the murder of his wife and served his sentence. He’d found Jesus through a prison ministry. Also a billionaire, he was a guy with the resources to help them—and a dog in this fight, for sure—but Kenna didn’t like putting anyone else in danger unnecessarily.
Still, he’d insisted, and given how close she was to the birth of the baby, there wasn’t much point in arguing. Especially not when she got this car out of the deal.
“Maizie, is there any way to tell this thing we need a route that gets us to the ranch while also losing this tail?”
Maizie leaned forward and pointed. “Tap evasion.”
