Edge was hard, dark, and, in a different way, every bit as handsome as Gage. Still, it was the older brother who drew her. Gage was the man to whom she felt connected, had since her grandfather had first mentioned his name and Abby had seen an internet photo of him on a trip to Africa.
“You finished packing?” he asked.
“I’m ready to go. I didn’t have much that would work.”
“We’ll buy the rest when we get there.”
Returning to her room, she made a final check, grabbed her laptop, and slung it over her shoulder, along with her camera. Her backup camera, a Canon Powershot Elph 190, which took surprisingly good photos as well as decent video, was packed in her carry-on. Abby grabbed the handle and wheeled it into the living room.
Gage was there, with a bigger wheeled bag and a black canvas satchel. Edge grabbed the satchel, hoisted it over one broad shoulder, and they headed out, taking the elevator this time instead of the stairs.
Edge loaded her carry-on into the back of the Land Rover next to Gage’s big bag, tossed in the satchel, then helped load the rest of the gear.
“I’ll follow you,” Edge said. “Make sure no one else does.”
Abby climbed into the passenger seat, and Gage backed the Rover out of the garage.
“Which airport?” she asked.
“Rocky Mountain Metro. It’s less than twenty miles from here. We’ve got a Bonanza A36 flying us down, good little airplane for a relatively short trip like this.”
Gage drove out of the alley and turned onto the street. A black Nissan sports car pulled in behind them. Abby recognized the black-haired man behind the wheel.
“Wow, that car your brother’s driving is hot.”
“He just got it. Now that he’s out of the army, he’s living out his fantasies.”
“So I guess he wanted to be a race car driver.”
Gage grinned. “Or an outlaw.”
Gage turned the corner and gunned the engine. The Rover tore down the block, shot through a busy intersection, and roared around a corner.
“If they’re out there,” Gage said, “I’m not making it easy for them.” He slowed to round a curve, then jammed his foot on the gas pedal again. The black Nissan dropped back a few cars but stayed right with them.
Abby flipped down her sun visor to watch behind them in the mirror, saw another car appear three vehicles back.
“There’s a car back there that seems to be staying right with us. But it’s not a dark gray or black SUV. It’s a sedan, and it’s silver.” She turned to look out the back window. “It just pulled in behind us about three cars back.” Her pulse speeded along with the engine. “Maybe the men from last night changed cars so we wouldn’t recognize them.”
“Edge knows what happened. He’ll be watching for anyone who might be following us, no matter what vehicle they’re driving.”
In the mirror, she saw Edge’s Nissan pull up beside the silver sedan, then cut in front of the car and slow, forcing the sedan to slam on its brakes. At the same time, Gage hit the gas and the Rover leaped forward. The Rover careened around a corner, then roared into an alley, raced out the other end, continued down a parallel track for a mile or so, then finally skidded back onto the road.
Abby’s heart was pounding, her fingers digging into the leather seats. They were halfway to the airport when Edge’s black Nissan caught up with them again.
“Edge is back,” Abby said.
“He’s lost them. He knows where we’re going. He’ll keep watch until we get there.”
“Seems like a handy guy to know.”
The corners of Gage’s mouth faintly curved. “You have no idea.”
CHAPTER TEN
ASINGLE ENGINEBEECHCRAFTBONANZA WAITED ON THE TARMAC. Gage drove out to the plane and dumped the gear, then parked the Rover between two cars in an out-of-the-way space at the back of the parking lot.
They wouldn’t be gone more than a week, less if the trip turned out to be a wild goose chase—or if by some miracle they found the spot King had marked on the map. In which case they would be making a second trip for an in-depth search of the area.
