“Do you recognize them?” Gideon asked.
“No. I can’t make out who’s behind the wheel.”
Gideon edged around a camper full of people. The driver shouted something at him about being patient, but he kept on, providing a gap between them and their pursuer. He repeated the maneuver until they had several cars as a buffer.
Mackenzie stared in the side mirror. It was possible they’d lost the pursuer, but with the slow speed of traffic they wouldn’t be able to outdistance them easily. Another plan was needed.
“There.” Mackenzie pointed to a lot filled with forklifts and backhoes. Gideon turned off and skirted the nearest piece of large machinery. Mackenzie grabbed her binoculars and held her breath. A couple minutes later and the ruse worked. The truck continued on, oblivious to their hiding spot.
As it passed, she brought the driver into focus through the lenses and caught a flash of long dark hair, a delicate profile. It was the woman from the stables, scanning back and forth in search of the Jeep.
“It’s Cordelia,” she said in surprise. “Kevin said she urged him to find us. I wasn’t sure he was telling us the truth.”
Gideon rubbed his chin. “She could be in Bullseye’s pocket just as much as Kevin. More. Or he’s threatened her too, in some way. We don’t know anything about her except that she was angry at the intrusion to her stables. With Bullseye’s killers and Kevin out to get us, seems pointless for her to add herself to the mix, though.”
Unless she has ulterior motives.Mackenzie considered the anonymous phone call she’d gotten as they hid from the helicopter.“Trust me.”
“Friend or enemy?” Exactly the question they had about everyone in town. Kevin had turned out to be acting for Bullseye, and Rodriquez indicated some of the police could be too.
“Some locals might seem cordial, but no one’s our friend in this town,” Gideon said, brows knit. He turned to her, and she could see his thoughts as clearly as if they were ink on a page.
“Clerk said the airstrip’s still open. I’m going,” she said.
The rest was unspoken.But you don’t have to. Leave me, she pleaded silently. Deep inside, she was terrified he actually would depart. At what moment had she come to rely on him? To trust him?
Without a word, he put the Jeep in gear and rolled out into the stream of traffic where they would stay until they reached the turnoff to the airstrip. After everything, he was still choosing to stay by her side.
She twisted her hair into a neater ponytail and shoved it under her cap. Cordelia. Kevin. Jerry. Al. The redheaded guy at the Jeep. Cops. So many people might be caught in Bullseye’s web.
When Bullseye fell, so would they.
In between sips of the coffee she was trying to make last, she began to tap notes into her phone. Gideon’s mouth tightened, but he didn’t say a word. Every last fact she could gather would be uploaded, and eventually one of two things would happen. She’d produce the podcast that would expose Bullseye to the world. Or she’d die and the file would be delivered to the police. The cops would have to start from scratch, using her information as a diving-off point to secure their own, which would take time. Herway, he’d be exposed immediately, his mask ripped off, his operations sent skittering off track. Lives saved, perhaps.
The taste would be sweet, satisfying, and worth every risk.
To you, Mackenzie. But what about Gideon?
She watched him drive, the concentration evident in his tense shoulders, the pursing of his lips. If he paid for her choices? What then? More guilt to add, like the pile she already felt because she hadn’t recognized what her brother was doing?
But it would be more than guilt if Gideon was lost.
She wondered suddenly how Aaron’s girlfriend, Leah, had felt about his murder. Mackenzie hadn’t enough to go on to find her, no contact info or even a last name. Did Leah wonder what happened to Aaron? Or had she decided he’d ghosted her?
Gideon drove on, his mouth in a grim line.
She wouldn’t let Gideon get hurt—but with the enemies piling up, how could she protect him?
Cordelia’s dark hair and flashing eyes popped into her mind.
It was strange that a woman would insert herself into a deadly cross fire, unless Bullseye had a hold over her too.
Her heart squeezed until the pulse pounded in her throat. It was too much. Enemies everywhere. No one to trust.
Gideon stared grimly at the road.
No one but the person who was facing death because of her.
Thirteen
