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“You on a run?” Tex asked quickly.
“Yeah. Headed to New York for a drop-off. Be there late tonight.”
“Bring her to me. If you’ve got her and anyone but friendlies know about it, she’s in a world of hurt and so are you. Watch your six, Josephine,” Tex warned. “I don’t know who you’ve seen coming after her, but they can’t be the good guys. Do you want me to set up transpo at a small airport?”
“No. I can handle this. I’ll stick to the interstate.” She gave a moment’s thought to what he’d said. “We talking Russians?” she asked.
“Yes,” Tex responded laconically. “And probably the Chinese too.”
Jo bit off a shocked laugh. “At least when I do it, I do it right.”
“They aren’t the only ones looking for her, Jo.”
Something in Tex’s voice told Jo she was probably going to like this answer a whole lot less than the one before.
“Who?”
“Captain Jacobs has been searching for her the last two years.”
Her gut had been right—this was worse than the Russians and Chinese put together. “Jacobs is a gnat on the ass of humanity. Why does he want her?”
“Cap and his band of merry men are freelancers now. They took this mission because it’s personal. He’s been looking for her a long time and she’s evaded him. That notwithstanding, he took the mission as a favor to Maddigan. The General was a personal friend before he had his head blown to Kingdom Come in Moscow.” Tex sighed and it communicated a lot more to Jo than she thought he’d be happy knowing.
“Is he going to hurt her?” It was the only question she’d ask. The most important one of all. Because this girl, this Ava, with her dark eyes, too-thin frame and big ass dog had managed to crawl inside Jo’s heart with hardly any effort. Far as Jo was concerned, they were hers now, and she’d not hand her over to just anyone.
“Do you think I’d ask you to bring her here if he was?” Tex’s voice was hard now.
Jo blew out a breath and laughed. “You’re like a one-legged curmudgeon. Stop being so pissy. I trust you, but that doesn’t always extend to those yahoos you work with. I know Cap and he’s a first-rate asshat sometimes.”
“But he never hurts women, Jo,” Tex reminded her gently.
“Yeah? Well money makes a bitch out of some of the good ones, doesn’t it?” Her reference was about General Maddigan himself. The man had sold classified information to the highest bidder before he’d been assassinated in the streets of Russia. Before that day two years ago, he’d been one of the biggest national heroes since Dwight Eisenhower. After he was a traitor to his nation who’d had the unfortunate luck to meet his maker before he met the American justice system.
“There are layers, Jo. But Cap is good people. I wouldn’t deal with him otherwise.”
“Tex, I trust you, but this girl? She’s in a bad way,” Jo told him.
“Just bring her to me.”
“I’ll ask—”
“No! Don’t ask. Just bring her, Jo. I need you to trust me on this. If something happened to you because of the people looking for her I’d light the world on fire. Don’t make me get up off my one-legged, curmudgeonly ass and take on the world. I’m still tired from the last time, and now I’ve got kids and a wife…be nice to me, Jo.”
Jo snorted. “You are a big baby, Tex. I’ll go hours out of my way to bring her, but I stay while you explain. We clear?”
The threat was unspoken but very much between them. Jo had this girl’s back, and she didn’t trust Captain Jacobs any farther than she could throw him.
“Crystal,” Tex responded. “See you tonight.”
“Tell Melody to have Akilah and Hope up—I want a hug from them both. I’m out.” Jo disconnected and once again breathed in deeply.
Ava was still asleep but her pitbull was stirring. “You hungry?” she asked the massive animal. How he hadn’t scared the men after her, Jo couldn’t fathom. Of course, the dog was lucky to still be alive and not dead from lead poisoning. She’d seen operatives shoot animals with zero thought and even less conscience.
“We’ll feed you both once we make it outside of Pittsburgh. Until then, lay your head back on your lady’s shoulder and sleep, beast. I’ve got you both.”
The dog half snorted half wheezed but did as Jo suggested. She turned her attention to the road, made sure no one was following her, and drove like a madwoman to get her burden to safety.
CHAPTER TWO
