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Cameron wanted to object, to stand up and insist Becca stay at the house, out of danger, and out of the line of flying bullets, which was ridiculous. He knew it and worse, she knew it. Fighting every instinct within him, he took Jayne’s information and looked it over. It was in line with what he’d already discovered about Debi. “We can’t all fit in the chopper. We’ll need to split up.”
“It’s my birthday—” Becca started.
“—our birthday,” Genie interrupted.
Becca grinned. “It’s our birthday. Us girls will probably have better luck approaching Debi on our own than if we’re all there.”
Cameron saw the reasoning in that. “All right. Approach, but be careful.”
Marcie looked up from her phone. “There’s one of those budget motels next door to the bar with a mom-and-pop diner. We can make it a weekend.”
“Joy,” Becca said, cringing. “I love budget motels. They come with many creepy crawler extras.”
“We might not have to stay at the motel. Hopefully, you can work your magic and get her to come back with us before the night is out. We have a lot of explaining to do and it will go over better if we can bring her back here. Out of—”
He stopped abruptly. He was going to say out of the line of fire, but that wasn’t quite true, was it? “Try and stay out of trouble until we get there. We’ll only be an hour or so behind you. Depending on the surveillance Emerich has, she could already be on his radar.”
“Yeah, like Marcie. We barely got her out in time. Remember that?” Genie said.
“Yeah, that was fun,” Marcie said dryly.
Becca moved her arm quickly and winced.
“You sure you’re up for this?” Cameron asked her.
She smiled and he felt something move in his chest. “You don’t have to worry about me. I’m okay. Besides, what could go wrong when all of you are watching my back?”
A lot, he wanted to say, but instead, he smiled back and put his arm around her shoulders. “You’re right. Besides, it’s your birthday. I’m not going to let anything happen to you today.”
Something flashed in her eyes, and he had a sudden urge to kiss her.
“I’ll hold you to that,” she said, her voice low.
Was she feeling it too? This spark between them? Oh, he hoped not. “You girls be on your best behavior.”
They all gave him that ‘Are you kidding? What fun is that?’ look.
He shook his head and laughed. He should have known better.
A lot better.
They split up, Genie and Kyle in the front seats of the chopper, Becca, Marcie, and Jayne in the back, while he rode in the Suburban with Chet. They headed out. He worked while Chet drove, pulling up the schematics of the motel, diner, and bar, getting the lay of the land, memorizing the exits and floor plans of all.
There would be no more surprises today.
They would get in, and hopefully, convince Debi to come with them, and then get out.
His phone rang. He stared at the display, his chest tightening. It was the director. Now he’d have to try and explain what happened at the estate this morning and how he didn’t see it coming.
This wasn’t going to be good.
Chapter5
Becca stared at the waitress behind the bar, taking in her long cascading blond curls and bright shiny lipstick. Red nails tapped in rhythm to the music playing from the jukebox in time to her high-heeled foot. Becca shifted to get a better look, her breath caught in her throat, and a tightness squeezed her chest.
She looked just like Mom.
Correction, she looked just like their mom had looked twenty years ago, before she died. On closer inspection, the waitress had a roughness about her that Becca’s mother never had. This woman had seen hard days but refused to succumb to life’s blows. She was a fighter.
