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Once she had it open, she studied the small space. She could do this. The battery was at the side, a modification that matched the 1965 Shelbys she’d seen online.
She examined the latch mechanism. It was also as expected. She used pliers to bend the bar so the latch couldn’t close around it, then pulled a wool blanket from her bag and laid it in the trunk.
She took a slow, deep breath, then did perhaps the most insane thing she’d ever done in her life. Possibly even more dangerous than refusing to be rescued by Chris in September.
She climbed inside the trunk, pulled down the lid, then threaded a piece of wire around the latch and bent bar to fasten it closed. Once she was settled inside, she whispered into the microphone of the headset, “I’m in.”
Chapter Sixty-Three
She thought she might lose her mind as she waited inside the trunk, but in reality, only forty-five minutes passed before the valet came for Mason’s car. Still, as miserable as the wait had been, the vehicle moving was worse.
There were so many things that could go wrong. What had she been thinking?
Deep breath. Slow and steady.
As she’d waited, she pushed two bug drones through the access panel in the trunk so she and Raptor and FMV could all listen to any conversations that might take place inside the vehicle.
The tiny drones had cameras as well. Freya had told her they’d been designed by the girlfriend of one of the Raptor operatives who was helping them, and they were better than any drone of its size that FMV had been able to acquire—until now.
Freya was very much enjoying the newfound friendship between Valkyries and Raptors.
There were three places where Mason might be headed—each a possibility for where they could have taken Kira. Their walled estate in Newport News was perhaps the most secure and therefore most likely option.
Freya’s money was on the parent company warehouse on the waterfront. It was only a few miles from the third and final option: the construction site for the new flagship store and museum.
All three locations would offer places to hide a prisoner and house a terrorist.
All had heavy security, the warehouse because of the millions of dollars of merchandise it held, and the construction site would have high fences and guards to protect the equipment and structures. Plus the museum alarm system could be armed.
Riding this Trojan horse was the only surefire way to get beyond the perimeter of all three options. Once she was inside, the little drones could do their thing.
The movement of the vehicle told her the car was circling the block to get to the front entrance of the Mayflower. She was wrapped in the blanket and wished she were smaller like Morgan. Not that Diana was tall—she was a very average five-five—but she’d take any advantage she could right now.
The vehicle stopped, and she held her breath as she heard the driver’s door open and the valet say, “I’ll get your bag, Mr. Gardner.”
The moment of truth. Would he go for the trunk? If he did, how hard would they try to open it?
Thankfully, she felt the car shift as a bag was deposited in the back seat.
She was safe. If being crammed in the trunk of a vintage race car was safe.
Both the driver’s side and passenger’s side doors slammed closed.
Dennis Gardner grumbled as he settled in his seat. “He was supposed to grab her, not hit her with a car.”
“It was his last fuckup. We’ll deal with him after he posts bail. Today, we have to deal with our houseguests.”
Houseguests. Plural.
Kira and Rafiq?
Did that mean they were being held at the estate?
The worst part about being in the hospital was not being able to listen in on the bug Diana had planted in Mason Gardner’s car. But they needed to keep the ruse that Diana was in the hospital going as long as possible, so Freya didn’t dare leave the room.
Her husband was posted as her guard. Cal didn’t really look much like Chris—his skin was a lighter shade of brown, and he was slightly taller and had a receding hairline with a short crown of tight dark curls. But still, they could hope that someone not paying attention would only see a muscular Black man with military bearing and assume it was Chris.
For his part, Chris was on the road, following the tracker planted in Gardner’s car and monitoring the one in Diana’s boot.
