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A few minutes later, Coop left town alone. He could move quieter and quicker on his own anyway. Hopefully, he hadn’t waited too long. If that were the case, he’d be having a follow-up conversation with Roberts.
At least Jordan was out of this and on her way someplace safe. Guilt nudged him hard, remembering her betrayed expression when she’d left with Carmen. Now he understood how she’d felt, wanting to help Travis. He’d acted like a prick, thinking he and Roberts knew what was best for her. Shehad to try to warn him—her words—strong words for no longer than she’d known Travis. What was going on between her and his best friend? Had Travis finally met his match?When hell freezes over.
Travis didn’t easily trust women, with good reason. Coop would never forget the bitterness in Travis’s eyes when he’d shared how his fiancée had betrayed him. His family owned one of the biggest shipping companies in California, and Travis had been groomed to take over when his father retired. After college, Travis decided he wanted to be a SEAL and joined the Navy. He’d convinced his father that his younger brother was more suited to the business world and capable of doing the job.
His fiancée had needed time to wrap her head around being a military wife, so they postponed the wedding until after basic training to see if Travis was accepted into the SEAL training program. Two months later, he received the ring back along with an invitation to her wedding. She was marrying his brother.
Coop had never known him to keep company with a woman like Jordan. Instead, he’d stayed far away from sweet, vulnerable young ladies who, sooner or later, would want a commitment. Travis wasn’t a commitment kind of guy, and he never allowed women inside his head, much less his heart. Hopefully, Jordan would make it through this with hers intact.
Coop followed Highway 126 east, meeting a few log trucks. Everyone else was no doubt home in bed at this hour. He could use some sleep himself. At milepost 43, he turned north. He met one other car headed toward town, and then the road spread empty and dark before him.
A few hundred feet farther, headlights suddenly flashed on in the oncoming lane where nothing had been a heartbeat ago. They must have been driving in the dark on purpose, as though hiding from someone, and flipped on their lights so Coop would stop hugging the centerline. Or maybe tailing someone—perhaps the other car he’d just passed?
A silent warning nagged at the edges of his consciousness. On impulse, he swerved into the other lane, slammed on the brakes, and slid sideways as the other vehicle, a Jeep, spun out on the shoulder of the road to miss him. As they both stopped, Coop’s lights shone in the side window of the oncoming vehicle and lit up the face of the other driver.Brody.
The man in charge of Halstead’s bomb-making militia mouthed obscenities as he ground the Jeep’s gears, doing little more than spinning through the loose gravel. Coop shifted into reverse, backed up, and pulled into his lane. Brody gained enough traction to slip through the opening.
What the hell?If Brody was tailing someone, Coop wanted to know who was in the other car. The only way to find out was to follow Brody. He pulled to the side of the road, cut his headlights, and maneuvered a tight U-turn. There were three vehicles on the otherwise deserted highway.And we’re all going to the same place. This will be interesting.
*****
JORDAN HADN’T ASKEDwhere they were going. It didn’t seem important. She only regretted that every mile Carmen drove took her farther away from Travis...if he was alive. She was still a prisoner, and the only thing that had changed was the nature of her captors. Thegood guyshad her now, and they controlled her every move as surely as the criminals had. She pressed her hand to her temple to hold back the ache pounding in her head.
Carmen blathered a running commentary on the town, the people, and the weather. Jordan couldn’t keep up and didn’t even try to appear interested. Her monosyllabic answers didn’t faze the enthusiastic woman chattering beside her.
Jake rested on the blanket spread for him on the back seat. Jordan could feel the dog’s eyes on the back of her head, and occasionally a barely audible whine reached her ears.
They turned west, off the highway, and right again a few minutes later, just outside the city limits, passing a few farms. The houses were all dark, the people within no doubt asleep. Finally, Carmen turned onto a well-maintained gravel road and followed its winding path for about a mile before parking in front of an immaculately landscaped, two-story, colonial-style house. It seemed out of place so far from town and its nearest neighbor at least a mile away.
Jordan looked at Carmen. “Is this yours?” How did an FBI agent afford something like this?
“No.” Carmen laughed. “But it might be someday. It belongs to my fiancé.”
Jordan glanced automatically at her bare ring finger. How is it a man who owned real estate like this couldn’t put a diamond on his fiancée’s hand? “How nice,” she said to the obviously delighted woman.
Jordan wanted Jake to stay outside, but the normally well-mannered dog refused to leave her side. “I’m so sorry. I could tie him out if I had a rope.” She had to make sure he stayed around so she could get him back to where they’d found him. Surely, someone must be looking for him.
Carmen hesitated but then shrugged and smiled. “I think it will be all right. Anyway, it looks like we might get some rain.”
Jordan followed her into the house with Jake practically plastered to her leg. It was equally beautiful on the inside, with expensive furnishings throughout, but dark paneling, heavy drapes, and dead animal heads on the walls made it almost oppressive. It was a man’s house, but maybe his soon-to-be wife could make it a home.
When Carmen showed her the master bath with its luxurious sunken tub and pointed out a closet in the adjoining room that contained clean clothes she thought might fit, Jordan forgot everything else.
“There are fresh towels in the bath. Take as long as you’d like. I’ll start breakfast, and after you’ve eaten, you can get some sleep.”
A few minutes later, as she sank beneath the steaming, aromatic bath water, Jordan would have pledged allegiance to Carmen and her mysterious fiancé without question. She scrubbed away a layer of grime and filth, then ran fresh water and washed again. Three shampoos and rinses finally revealed the silken texture of her hair, which squeaked between her fingers. When the water began to cool, she reluctantly stepped out and toweled dry.
As Carmen had suggested, Jordan found everything she needed in the other room, right down to clean underwear and socks.Curious, but maybe the fiancé has sisters of various sizes who visit frequently and leave things in the closet.A gift horse being a rarity, she wouldn’t complain. Jordan chose black leggings and an oversized cream-colored sweater with a cowl neck. Not finding shoes without heels, she wiped down her hiking boots and laced them back on her feet. Then, with Jake close beside her, she went downstairs to find Carmen, her stomach growling in anticipation of the promised food.
