Bodie sighed. “Forty minutes.”
Which was about thirty more than he probably had.
“I’m on my way. I can reach him in under fifteen.”
It wasn’t a lie. Ambitious definitely, but with Nick’s life on the line, she’d push the boundaries.
“Sloane. I know you’re farther out than that.”
“You let me worry about how I manage time. Just get whoever’s free headed that way. The fact he activated our failsafe…”
“Understood. I’ll check in as soon as I hear anything just… Watch your damn six. Something’s seriously off.”
Sloane mumbled a quick, “Ya, think?” then hung up, hitting Avery’s number next.
Her best friend, Special Agent Avery Kaine, picked up immediately. “Hey, you decide to ditch Nick and hang with me instead? Because I approve of that audible.”
“Nick’s in trouble. He activated the ECHO protocol.”
Avery’s voice changed instantly. “What do you need?”
“I need you to ghost anything with Raven’s Security tags as well as my sedan. I’ll send you a photo of the registration once I’m off. I can’t afford to have State Police caught in the middle when I have no idea what I’m up against. If this is a new issue or tied to the CIA. Bodie’s already dealing with the deputy side of things — has our old FBI colleague, Sheriff Greer Hudson, in the loop. But she knows, better than anyone, not to push anything with Nick. That this could have immense consequences.”
Tapping echoed through the phone, Avery’s sigh heavier than usual. “I’ve already got BOLOs out on Nick’s truck, as well as Bodie’s, but they came in an hour ago.”
“Which means it was called in right before the attack was launched.”
“An ambush?”
“Sounds like it. Regardless, I’ll bet my best laptop this is CIA related.”
“I’ll bury everything. Introduce a glitch if I need to. I can’t buy you too much time, but I can give you an hour or two.”
“If I haven’t grabbed Nick by then…”
She didn’t elaborate. Didn’t need to. Avery knew the score.
A chair scraped back. “I’m heading your way.”
“Avery, you don’t…”
“Shut up and accept my help. Because I know damn well, you’d be the first to drop everything if our positions were reversed.”
“Thanks. Call Bodie when you get close. He’ll have the most up-to-date intel. I’ll share my location, just in case, but…”
“Don’t rush in, without looking first. I know the drill.” Avery breathed into the phone. “I know you’re a pro, but… Youdidgo dark, right?”
“First thing I did. I suppose the motor pool could track the car, but I’ll ditch it if necessary. And I am… a pro.”
“But this is Nick. We both know you tend to play it a bit loose where he’s concerned.”
“Loose’ll get him killed, assuming…”
She pushed the thought aside. She wouldn’t jinx it. Put it out for the universe to twist into reality.
Avery sighed as a door chimed. “Nick’s like a damn cockroach. Guy can’t be killed. But check his beacon.”
Sloane glanced at the location. “Bastard hasn’t moved for nearly six minutes. That’s not good.”
