“Yet they were able to find you without it.” He frowned. “We tracked you from facial recognition and your cell phone.”
“I was very careful and lay low today, keeping away from all surveillance systems,” she said.
“Yet they still found you.” His frown deepened. “Makes me wonder if they’re tracking me to get to you.”
She shot a glance his way. “Check your belongings, your clothes, everything.”
He reached over the back of the seat, pulled his go-bag into his lap and went through every pocket. “Nothing. Is it possible your laptop or the flash drive is traceable?”
She shook her head. “I was careful not to go online with my laptop. If I wanted to research information on the internet, I would go to libraries and use the computers there. The flash drive is one I purchased when I started tracking information. I kept it hidden from Viktor and anyone else in Onyx.”
“Whoever commissioned us to find and eliminate you knew I was coming. They didn’t know I’d rent a vehicle. They could’ve traced calls coming into my boss, and then tracked my burner phone, which I also tossed after our conversation last night. That leaves this rental. They might’ve had a chance to tag it when I went into your motel room. I think we need to find alternate transportation.”
She nodded. “My motorcycle.”
He frowned. “Back at the diner?”
“Yes. I left it parked at the strip mall behind the diner.”
“Are there any CCTV cameras there?”
She shook her head. “I checked. The strip mall is under construction. They’re gutting it. No cameras there.”
“Is your bike big enough for the two of us?”
“It’ll be tight with two, but it’ll do,” she said.
“Good,” Rogue said. “We’ll ditch this car a block or two from the strip mall and approach the motorcycle on foot.”
Keira’s brow creased. “I’ll want to inspect the motorcycle to make sure it hasn’t been compromised. I could’ve been the one to lead them to the diner.”
“We’ll do that. Then what?”
“Like I said, I know a place in the Hill Country we can hole up in for the night.” Her fingers gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white and her lips pressed into a thin line. “Then we can backup, regroup and come up with a plan to bring these bastards down.”
“I’m all for that.” Rogue’s lips twitched. “I don’t much care for being on the run while trying to investigate, but we’ll manage.”
“The place I have in mind is off the grid.”
“By off-grid, you mean, no phone service?”
Her lips quirked. “Little to no cell phone reception, definitely off the electric grid. But don’t worry. It runs on solar power and is well-stocked.”
They made it back to the junction of 71 and 620 and drove into an industrial area a couple of blocks away from the diner and the strip mall.
Rogue grabbed his go-bag, shoved Keira’s laptop and the butcher paper diagram into it and zipped it.
Keira led the way to the strip mall where she’d stashed her motorcycle near a junk heap behind the strip mall. She unearthed a duffel bag from beneath the junk heap and gave Rogue and his bag an assessing glance. “I’ll drive. Can you handle both bags?”
He nodded. “We’ll manage.”
Keira and Rogue spent some time going over the bike, looking for any GPS tag that might have led the attackers to them. Finally, they met each other’s gazes.
“Looks clean,” Rogue said. “Shall we?”
Rogue tied the two bags together, slipped his arms through the straps and slid them onto his shoulders like a large backpack.
Keira slung her leg over the seat and slid forward.
