Page 16 of Unplanned Target

“Seems like shit got real interesting, real quick.” Seth’s tone is neutral in spite of his obvious knowledge about the events of the past few minutes. “Where are you?”

“At a gas station just outside Memphis.” I keep the car where Miranda and Allie are waiting in sight as I put enough distance between us they won’t hear my conversation. I still lower my voice before saying, “They got my Jeep.”

“Yeah. Figured that out about fifteen minutes ago.” Seth chuckles. “They probably weren’t very happy when we remotely shut it down.”

“Good.” I watch as Miranda and Allie chat animatedly inside the car. “Miranda’s purse was inside. If you could have Heidi make sure no one can get into any of her accounts, that would be great.”

“On it. Was her cell phone in there too?”

“Yeah. You should probably wipe that while you’re at it.” I hate that Miranda’s purse was taken, but thank God she didn’t listen to me and stay in the car, because then she would have been gone too.

I don’t fucking like the idea of that. At all.

“Got it.” Seth moves on to the next issue at hand. “Where are you taking them?”

I rake a hand through my hair before scrubbing it over my face. “I haven’t got a clue. I don’t want to risk giving away the location of the girls we just freed, but I don’t think a hotel is safe either.”

“You could take them to Nashville.” Seth pauses, likely to reconsider. “As long as you can make it there in one piece, it’ll be the safest spot for them while we figure this out.”

“Making it there in one piece is the key.” Normally, I’d reach out to Luca. See if he’d be able to follow us as we make the drive. But knowing what I know now, I don’t want to risk pulling anyone away from the group of girls. The people behind their abduction clearly have access to enough technology to be dangerous as hell. “I’ll let you know what I come up with.” I disconnect the call as I walk back to the car, watching for any sign someone has followed us.

Miranda and Allie both clam up the second I open the door, their lips sealing together as I get behind the wheel.

Twisting in my seat, I look between them. “Everyone doing okay?”

“I don’t think okay is a word I’d use to describe anything that’s happened today.” Miranda rubs her temples. “What do we do now?”

“Now we have to find somewhere to lay low until we figure out what in the hell is going on.” I pull out of the station and back onto the highway. “You don’t happen to have a friend with a vacation house, do you?”

Miranda shoots me a humorless look across the car. “Bold of you to assume I have friends.”

“She works too much to have friends.” Allie pipes up from the back seat. “Plus, she doesn’t like to leave the house.”

Miranda turns to stare at her daughter. “I leave the house all the time.”

“Yeah, but you don’t like it.” Allie’s quick retort is very on brand for a teenager. She leans between the seats, eyes on me as she says, “I know somewhere we can stay.”

That has my brows lifting. “Yeah?” I glance at Miranda, wondering if she has any idea what Allie might be talking about, but she seems as clueless as I am. “Where?”

“I don’t know the address.” Allie says it like that’s not a huge problem. “It’s a hunting cabin my Uncle Tony has in case he ever needs to disappear.”

“Uncle Tony took you to a hunting cabin?” Miranda sounds appalled.

“Did you really think we were going to tent camp?” Allie wrinkles her nose. “And he hasn’t taken me there in years, but I’m pretty sure I remember the way.” She points at the upcoming exit sign. “Get off here.”

I’m skeptical about her ability to get us anywhere, but I don’t have a better idea, so I follow Allie’s directions, aiming us off the highway and through a small town just across the border in Arkansas. The roads get narrower and more desolate with each turn Allie tells me to make. We have to backtrack a few times since her memory involves a couple turns made at blue houses or big trees, and—thanks to the lack of streetlights—she sometimes doesn’t see the landmark until we’ve passed it.

But eventually, I’m pulling into an almost completely obscured driveway that is little more than a dirt path. I slowly follow the narrow ruts through the woods, a little concerned Allie’s wrong and we’re going to end up shot after all.

This time by a hillbilly with a shotgun and a commitment to enforcing his faded no trespassing sign.

When the headlights finally illuminate a wood sided building, Allie beams, her smile wide. “This is it.” The car is barely stopped before she’s jumping out, slinging her backpack over one shoulder as she jogs up the porch.

I move quickly to catch up, not wanting her wandering around alone until I’ve had the opportunity to canvass the area around us.

“Hopefully the key is still here.” She digs into a crumbling flowerpot filled with dead vegetation, shifting it around for a minute before pulling out a small rock. “Aha.” Flipping over the rock that is not actually rock, she slides a hidden hatch open and drops a key into her hand.

“I’m going to kill my brother.” Miranda wraps both arms around her middle, hands working up and down her biceps. “Is there even power here?”