“Maybe,” she allowed, although something told her if anyone was going to sacrifice themselves, it would be Britt.
She narrowed her eyes as she surveyed the dark fields beyond the farmhouse, imagining she could feel where he was if she concentrated hard enough. They had that connection, after all.
Agent Maddox climbed the steps to join Julia and Keplar on the porch. His sandy hair was wild and begging for a good brushing. Then again, so was hers. Helicopter rides weren’t meant to maintain careful coiffures. “We ran the wrecked motorcycle’s plates. They came back as belonging to Black Knights Inc., not Rollins or Birch in particular. We can’t confidently say who was riding the bike. But whoever it was, they were the carrot. And we chased them down like a bunch of braying jackasses.”
“And the CCTV footage we pulled?” she queried Dillan. Her question had him standing from his seat on the bottom step and dusting off his trousers.
“Nothing.” He shook his head. “The techs back at headquarters checked the video recordings from the time you and I arrived at the factory building this morning to when we went back with warrants to search the place this evening. There’s no footage of the Rollins brothers, Birch, or the mystery woman leaving. Not unless they were riding in the trunk of Becky Knight’s car when she left for the evening.”
“I guess it’s possible they escaped in the trunk and hopped on the motorcycles elsewhere,” Julia mused, her mind racing with possibilities.
“Yeah. But they’d have been stacked in like sardines.” Dillan made a face. “Mrs. Knight drives a restored 1968 Porsche 911. That model isn’t known for its cavernous trunk space. I can’t imagine it would fit three grown adults.”
Julia narrowed her eyes as more and more puzzle piecesdidn’tfall into place.
There’s something very wrong about all of this,she thought.
She had a nagging sense ofsomething.She couldn’t put her finger on it, but it was there, itching, scratching at her brain like sand in her sheets.
“So what’s our next move?” She posed the question to Maddox and Keplar. She and Dillan might’ve been the ones to facilitate the search, but it was the South Carolina agents’ operation. It wastheirfugitive on the run.
“We head north.” Keplar ran a hand back over his thinning hair. “We’ve already alerted the border authorities on both sides to be on the lookout for Knox Rollins. But he could cross into Canadian waters via Lake Huron if he steals a boat. Or if he stays on land until he makes it to Michigan’s upper peninsula, he could do the same thing on Lake Superior. We need to get more birds in the sky.” His disgust was palpable when he glanced over at the agent working on the drone. “And definitely more drones. Preferably ones thatwork.”
“Should I call in the tactical team?” Maddox lifted a hand to the earpiece he wore.
“Leave two of them here to continue the hunt for whoever was riding that wrecked bike,” Keplar declared. “If we catch them, we might be able to squeeze them into giving up the others’ location or destination.”
“I’d like to stay behind, too.” The words were out of Julia’s mouth before she’d even decided to speak them.
Maddox cocked his head, eyeing her curiously. “Why?”
“Because I’m a pretty good interrogator if I say so myself. Plus, I laid some friendly groundwork with the people at BKI when Agent Douglas and I worked the Senator McClean case. If the tactical guys catch Rollins or Birch, they’ll probably open up to me before they open up to anyone.”
“Your friendly groundwork didn’t win you any favors when you went to the motorcycle shop this morning,” Keplar said, his beady black eyes watching her closely. “Nor did it seem to sway the folks at Black Knights Inc. this evening.”
Professionalism dictated she smile, say something appropriately de-escalating, and then switch the subject. But she had three older brothers and an old-fashioned father who had taught her that backing down from an insult was tantamount to accepting defeat in an argument.
Her voice was so sugary-sweet that her teeth ached when she said, “That was me asking questionsnicely. You haven’t seen me when I decide to get nasty.”
Plus,she thought,if it was Britt riding that wrecked bike, I want to take the first stab at him. I want to look him in the eye and tell him he’s the lowest of lowdown dirty dogs for using my attraction for him against me.
“She’s not lying,” Dillan declared with a staunch dip of his chin. “When she sets her mind to it, she can make a priest forget the sanctity of the confessional.”
Her jaw was slack as she gazed at her partner.
“What?” Dillan lifted his hands. “I may not like being bossed around by a pipsqueak I could punt over the fence, but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate your professional prowess.”
A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “That might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me. Extra points for the alliteration.”
“Degree from Cornell, remember?” His arrogant grin widened over the name of his Ivy League university.
Her smile melted away as she rolled her eyes. “How could I forget when you never miss an opportunity to remind me?”
“Suit yourself and stay,” Keplar tossed over his shoulder. He was already trotting down the weathered porch steps. “We’ll let the tactical guys staying behind know you’ll be here with them.”
Agent Maddox turned from watching his partner jog toward the waiting chopper and offered her an abashed grin. “He’s not that bad once you get to know him.” When she lifted an eyebrow in disbelief, he relented. “Okay, fine. So he is that bad. Sorry.” He shrugged and then took off after Keplar.
“You want me to stay with you?” The single glowing bulb beside the front door spotlighted Dillan’s longing gaze as he watched the two South Carolina agents hop into the waiting helicopter and helpfully accept the drone pieces the operator handed them. Two of the four tactical guys emerged from the woods and crossed the cleared field as the pilot switched on the chopper’s engine. The remaining two searchers began a methodical route around the perimeter of the farmhouse, the beams from their one-thousand-lumen flashlights lighting up limbs like it was high noon on a sunny day.
