“Then road trip it is,” Micha said, but didn’t look all that thrilled about it. Maybe he didn’t want to be in a car with her for the three-hour drive to Portland. Especially not after a two-hour hike at her side.
Colin grinned. “I call dibs on any tunes played.”
“Say it isn’t so.” Micha groaned.
“You snooze, you lose, buddy.” Colin laughed.
Micha looked at Ava. “He’s been into seventies disco lately.”
Ava laughed. “Well, he said on any tunes played, so we just don’t play any.”
“Wise woman when traveling with any of these guys,” Reid said, a sarcastic smile forming.
“Hey, now.” Colin grabbed his chest in mock horror. “My taste is very refined. It’s the rest of the world that’s out of step.”
The group laughed and offered more pointed barbs in jest. What a team. They were dealing with something serious like murder and could joke to relieve their tension. She supposed they had to do something. Some nurses did the same thing, but in dealing with dying patients, she’d never been able to crack a single joke, and this break was actually good for her mental health in that respect. In the respect of being terrified someone would kill her or she would go to prison? Not so much.
When the laughter died down, she looked at Micha. “Can I get my phone back? You’ll want to see that video and maybe Layne left a message that could change our plans.”
“It’s in the office. Let me grab it.” He got to his feet and took long strides out of the room.
The team went back to joking around and snacking, likely not wanting to move on without Micha. Only a few minutes passed when he returned with her phone in hand. “I turned it on.”
She set it on the table in front of her and watched with expectation laced with a heavy measure of dread until the screen flashed a light, displaying readiness. She woke the device up and looked at it with one eye as if side-eyeing the screen would mean she wouldn’t have a message from Layne.
No display of a missed call or voicemail, and she let out a relieved breath. “No messages. Not sure if I’m glad about that or not.”
“I get it.” Micha leaned against the wall. “Direct contact from Layne could’ve helped, but we’ll just move on with our plan.”
“I have the video from cloning your phone and will check for changes,” Colin said. “If we score the original, I can compare to see if Layne altered it.”
“I’ll text everyone’s contact info to you when we finish up here, and you can send a copy to the rest of us,” Reid said and faced Colin. “I assume you looked into Layne and Holly, too, and not just a connection to the others?”
He nodded. “Nothing helpful as of now, but I’m still running a few things. I’d suggest we go to Layne’s house too, but we can’t be sure where he is or guarantee he won’t walk in on us like we can with the others.”
Micha crossed his feet at the ankle. “Let’s get eyes on him as soon as we get to town and put a tracker on his vehicle.”
Tracker? Ava had heard of them and seen them on TV shows and in books, but…“Is that legal?”
Reid shook his head. “One of the reasons we excluded Russ from our investigation. But it’s our best bet if we want to get into Layne’s place without a confrontation.” Reid added the information to the board, and the marker squeaked, grating on her already raw nerves.
Micha leaned forward and scanned his team. “We’ll need a safe place to stay in Portland. Any ideas?”
“Already got it handled.” Reid turned. “Gage came through on that too. Blackwell Tactical’s protection business has really taken off in Portland, and he leased an apartment for his men when not on protection duty. He’s not using it this week and offered it to us. With no connection to any of us, and if you’re not followed, which I know you’ll be sure you aren’t, it’ll be a great safe house for Ava.”
Ava tried not to look shocked at the kindness of this man called Gage, but it was a rarity in today’s world when a person went out of the way for a complete stranger. “I don’t even know him, and he’s offering so much support.”
“That’s just the kind of guy Gage is,” Reid said.
“The way you all are.” She smiled at him. “You all have blessed me so much, and I thank God that I decided to take this survival course. I might not be learning survival skills right now, but you all are guaranteeing I survive Layne’s revenge.”
“We’re glad to be of assistance,” Reid said.
“Thanks for arranging that, bro. I owe you.” Micha planted his hands on the table. “One final thing before we hit the road. Layne could be watching this place, so we need a transport plan.”
“Decoy vehicles should do the trick,” Reid said.
Devan sat up. “Better yet, why don’t we combine the decoy with a boat transport to the public ramp. Even if he has us under surveillance, there’s no way he could follow us in time to see where we go from there.”
