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It was over. Jordan had failed to get away, and Halstead had won. Oddly, she wasn’t as terrified as she thought she’d be. “What happens now?”
He walked to where Liam lay and jerked her knife from his leg, wiping the blood on the unconscious man’s pant leg before handing it to her. “You must be thekitten, AKA the pretty lady from the bar.Nice to meet you. James Cooper. My friends call me Coop.” He reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out a coin.
She recognized it immediately because she’d seen one just like it recently. She refocused on Coop’s face and the grin that spread there, suddenly remembering where she’d seen him.
“Travis is my partner. You wouldn’t happen to know where he is, would you?”
Chapter Fifteen
Travis didn’t havemuch going in his favor, so the element of surprise couldn’t hurt. Hopefully, Halstead wouldn’t mind him showing up early for their meeting. There was no sense in making it easy for them to spring a trap. He was making good time in the old truck, but he couldn’t help worrying that he was already too late to help Jordan. Slowing for a tight curve, the truck fishtailed on loose gravel that littered the edges of the county road. The eighteen-foot box truck felt top-heavy, and Travis couldn’t afford to be careless with the cargo he was hauling.
He pulled over into the gravel lot of an old, deserted motel. Half of ano vacancysign hung by one rusted hook over the office door, and a yard light illuminated broken windows and peeling paint. He had a couple more chores to take care of before meeting Halstead.
Travis stretched his aching muscles before picking up the sat phone. His other partners, Luke Harding and Matt Iverson, known to almost everyone asMacGyver, would be going nuts if Coop hadn’t checked in before dropping off the face of the planet. Travis dialed Coop’s number first, and the call went straight to voicemail. His friend was either still out of range or preserving his battery by turning off his device. He dialed Luke’s cell number.
“It’s about time you got in touch.” Luke’s voice was strained, which was about as close as he ever got to being angry unless someone threatened his family. Undoubtedly, Travis’s extended silence and their inability to contact Coop were to blame.
“Sorry, man. I’ve been a little busy, and this is the first chance I’ve had to call.”
“You’re on speaker. MacGyver and Blake are here. What’s your status?”
If Blake, their pilot, was standing by, Luke was concerned. Travis owed him at least the bare bones of the past twenty-four hours. “I ran into a little problem at the camp. Brody picked up a woman in the middle of nowhere, lost and scared. It’s a long story that I don’t have time for right now. Jordan is her name, and it turns out she was Alex Halstead’s girlfriend. He went ape-shit when he found out Brody had taken her to the camp. Alex ordered him to get rid of her and make it look like an accident.”
Somebody swore on the other end of the connection.
Travis hesitated. He probably hadn’t used his best judgment, but he’d made a choice, and he would stand up and take whatever shit came next. “I couldn’t let that happen, so I yanked her out of there—sort of...against her will.” Travis couldn’t see any sense in telling them he’d met Jordan a week before or had feelings for her that might compromise the operation. The attraction between him and Jordan was only an aberration, and it would pass.
“Holy shit.” MacGyver had a way with understatement.
“Everything went to hell after that. I couldn’t contact Coop to take her off my hands. Brody caught up to us at the church in Mitchell. Alex is dead. His uncle hauled Jordan to his ranch, and I managed to hang onto my cover by one thin dime—until now, anyway.” Damn, this just kept getting worse. Travis hadn’t realized what a mess he’d made until he threw all the words together. “I stole a load of automatic AR-15s, ammo, and bombs. Halstead said he’d trade Jordan for the truck.”
“That turned into a giant cluster damn quick.” Blake dropped in his two cents.
“Where’s Coop?” Luke sounded calmer now. He was a rock in a crisis, which was why their whole SEAL team had looked to him for leadership. And why Travis trusted him.
“When Brody started breaking camp, I believe Coop went undercover, but I don’t know where or why.” Travis paused for a breath. The silence was heavy but only for a second.
“See if you can raise him, MacGyver. Blake, wheels up in twenty.” Sounds of booted feet moving out echoed in the void. Then Luke was the only one left. “I assume you’ve got a plan. What do you need us to do?”
Five minutes later, they’d talked through his simple, head-on attack plan, revamping or fleshing out where necessary. Travis was almost light-hearted as he clambered back into the truck, released the brake, and found a gear. He could always count on his team. Luke, MacGyver, Blake, and Coop were closer than brothers.
A mile farther, the road ended at a stop sign. Black letters on a rectangular white sign pointed the way south to Prineville. Halstead’s sprawling ranchland lay a few miles north. The moon cast an eerie light across the countryside, and sparse trees dotted the gently rolling hillsides. Travis stared north at the ribbon of pavement that could lead to a truth he didn’t want to hear.
The thought of Jordan dying ripped at his guts and caused sweat to drip from his brow.She has to be okay. Nothing less is acceptable.A growl emanated from deep within as he shifted into first gear, let out the clutch, and hit the gas to veer south. Before meeting Halstead, he had one more chore: unload the weapons and explosives from the back of the truck and hide them somewhere the FBI could find them.
