Ian rolled.
Mac fired.
Then he slipped out the door.
Gina raced to Ian, who lay still on the floor. “Are you okay?”
He winced and struggled to his feet, swaying, ignoring the pain. “Yeah, hand me that gun.”
Gina didn’t hesitate. She grabbed the weapon and handed it to Ian. He weaved his way out the door, gun gripped in his right hand. “Stay here.”
“What are you doing?”
“I can’t let him get away.”
She followed him to the door. At that moment, an SUV came barreling across the field toward the house. Ian stumbled in the direction he thought Mac may have headed but didn’t get far before he went down on one knee. Gina ran to Ian’s side and shoved a shoulder under his armpit, grateful he was alive. So grateful they were both alive.
Joseph jumped out and raced over to the two of them and wrapped an arm around Ian. He helped Gina heft him back to his feet. “Where is he?”
“I’m not sure. He ran out of here a few minutes ago. He can’t have gotten far. What took you so long, man?”
Joseph motioned for the other men in the vehicle to give chase. They did and he started explaining, “I ran into Robbie Stillman and had to take care of him.”
Ian grunted. “Bet that went over well.”
“He definitely didn’t want to be taken care of. It took a lot of convincing.”
“Is that how you got that nice shiner?”
Joseph grimaced. “Yeah. The sheriff made it in time to help me out, but not before Robbie got in a good punch. Stings like mad.”
“I know what you mean.” Between Gina and Joseph, they managed to maneuver Ian back into the house, where he dropped to the couch and stayed there. Bandit had been cuffed and removed from the premises.
“Where’s Catelyn?” Gina asked even as she headed for the kitchen to gather supplies to take care of Ian’s wound until the ambulance could get there.
Joseph raised his voice so she could hear. “She’s with the sheriff trying to get as much information out of Robbie as she can.”
Ian huffed out a painful chuckle. “You won’t get anything out of him.”
“Yeah, we realize that, but we can get on his nerves for a while. At least until we find something that will allow us to put him away.”
This time Ian groaned and leaned his head back against the couch cushion. “Ugh. Mac has the microchip—and any evidence we might have had.”
“Um, not exactly,” Gina murmured.
Ian’s eyes popped open and Joseph’s swiveled in her direction. She set the first aid materials on the coffee table and said, “I didn’t give him the chip.”
A frown creased Ian’s forehead. “What do you mean? I watched you do it.”
She shrugged. “I took a chance and gave him the media card from the camera. I didn’t figure he’d take the time to look at it too closely—or recognize it if he did. Thankfully, he just stuck it in his pocket.” She shuddered at the remembered terror. “So now what? He’s still out there, and as soon as he has a chance to look at that camera card, he’s going to realize I gave him the wrong thing. Then he’ll just be back and we’ll start this all over again.” Her voice rose in frustration.
Joseph’s jaw clenched. “That’s why we’re going to get him before that happens.”
“Absolutely,” Ian concurred. “Now, give me a phone. I’ve got to call Jase and warn him to be on the lookout for Mac. Also, we need a unit to keep an eye on the Rodriguez family. Mac may try to go there for protection.”
Joseph grunted. “He won’t be going by plane. I’ve got teams at the three closest airports with Mac’s picture everywhere. I’ve also got something going to the TV stations with his picture. If by some crazy way he somehow does get back to Colombia, he’s a dead man. Once old Esteban realizes Mac’s got the wrong thing, he’ll kill him.”
Ian couldn’t argue with that statement.
While Gina watched ambulance personnel arrive and begin to work on Ian, Joseph stood outside the door strategizing. Unable to convince Ian to go to the hospital, the paramedics patched him up as well as they could.
“It’s just a flesh wound,” he assured them. “The bullet passed out the other side. It’s painful, but I don’t think it’s done much damage, if any.” The young paramedic agreed with Ian’s assessment but declared an X-ray necessary to be sure.
Gina tried to get Ian to go with them, but he was adamant. “I’m going after Mac. I’ll let someone look at it when that man’s in custody.”
“But, Ian, you don’t have any idea where he’d go, do you?”
He looked away. “No, not a clue. And if our guys haven’t caught up with him yet, he had a vehicle stashed somewhere.”
Joseph nodded. “We never spotted one, not from the air or the ground. He had it hidden well. Under some trees or in a nearby building. It doesn’t matter now. All that matters is catching up with him.” His phone rang and he excused himself. Gina prayed it was news that Mac had been captured.
Catelyn was still occupied with the sheriff and Robbie Stillman, who still hadn’t cracked. Ian had called his current commander, who agreed to fly in and take the chip off their hands and turn it in to the appropriate authorities. Carly had called to check in, and when Ian hadn’t explained what was going on, Gina had taken the phone from him and spilled everything. He told her to keep an eye out for his sister as he felt sure she’d probably show up before too long.
He reached for Gina’s hand and her insides trembled as his fingers curled around hers. She swallowed hard. “You scared me, Ian.”
Intense eyes bored holes into hers. “You trusted me.”
She swallowed. “I had to.”
“You’ll never know what that means to me.”
Joseph reentered the room and shoved his phone in his pocket with a disgusted sigh. “We lost Mac. Unless you can come up with an idea of where he might head…”
Ian stood, his face twisting into a painful grimace. Keeping his arm tucked against his side, he paced to the door and back as he thought and muttered, “Where would he go?”
Joseph shrugged. “If he goes home, we’ve got guys covering his house.”
“No, he won’t go home. Surely, he prepared for this. Had some kind of backup plan in case he failed. That was practically his motto. ‘If you have a plan A, B and C, make sure you have a D, E and F,’” he quoted. “He’s got a plan. I just don’t know what it would be.”
Gina watched the men brainstorm as Ian paced. The fluids the paramedics had given him seemed to have infused him with renewed strength and energy. She wondered how long that would last.
Hopefully long enough.
Ian clapped his hands together, then winced. “All right, my first guess says that he’ll want to find a place to check out what’s on that chip, so let’s head toward the town. Where would be a good place to find a computer and be inconspicuous about it?”
Gina spoke up. “The library.”
“Good idea. I can’t see him stopping at any of them, but we can’t take the chance. Let’s get someone covering all the libraries in town.”
“What about the three universities in town? They all have computer labs.”
“Tracking him down may be impossible.” But Ian picked up his phone anyway and made the arrangements. When he hung up, he said, “So far the bases I’ve covered are his home, his office at the base in Georgia, the local libraries, the universities and everywhere else they think he might land. They’re even sending a team back to Colombia to watch Rodriguez just in case Mac has a private plane stashed somewhere and manages to get out of the country.”
The trio made their way to Joseph’s car, and Gina wondered if this day would ever end.
Joseph and Ian took the front, with Joseph behind the wheel—much to Ian’s obvious frustration. “You’re not driving with that arm,” was all Joseph said.
Gina climbed in the back.
Inspiration kicked Ian like a punch to the nose
just on the edge of town. “His son.”
Gina leaned forward. “What about his son?”
Excitement chased away the weariness that had descended over Ian during the thirty-minute drive. “He won’t go anywhere without his son. Mac’s going to have to get out of the country to escape prosecution and jail. There’s no way he can hide out here in the United States with a special-needs adult like Jimmy.”
“You think he’ll try to take Jimmy with him?” Joseph asked.
“I know it. Mac loves that kid and would never leave him behind for as long as he’s going to have to be gone for. Jimmy may just be Mac’s one emotional weakness.” He looked at Joseph. “Take us to the airport. I’ll arrange for the chopper to meet us there. It’s the only way we’ll be able to beat Mac to the home where Jimmy lives.”
“We’re only about twenty minutes from the airport.”
Ian paused. “The only problem is we’re not going to be able to sneak up on him. We’ll have to land a couple of miles out. And I’ll have to arrange to have a car there, too.” Thinking out loud, he muttered, “No, by the time we do all that, Mac will already be there—he’s got about an hour’s head start depending on how fast he’s driving and whether he has to stop for gas or anything.”
“Then we’ll have to drive it,” Joseph determined.
“You’re right. We will. I can arrange a team to be there to keep an eye on things, but they’ll have to stay out of sight. I don’t have a good feeling about Mac’s mental state right now.”
Gina asked, “You think he might do something to hurt his son?”
“No, I don’t think he would hurt Jimmy, but another resident to get Jimmy out of there? I just don’t know, but I don’t want to get into a hostage situation.”
“No, we don’t want that.”
“I’ll call and have them lock down the place. We have to protect the residents and staff first. Then we’ll figure out how to go about grabbing Mac.”
Ian got on the phone to get the number to the home. Once he had that, he carried out his plans, arranging for a team to be there, and prepared to handle whatever situation might arise. “Call me back and let me know what’s going on,” he told the leader of the unit assigned to the home.
They rode in silence for a good while until Joseph asked, “Now, what do we do with Gina?”
Ian turned in his seat to look at her, a speculative look in his eye. “She’ll have to stay in the car. We don’t have time to drop her anywhere.” He asked her, “Can we trust you stay in the car, or do I need to find an officer to keep an eye on you?”
“Hey! That was uncalled for. I’ll stay out of trouble, I promise.”
His eyes narrowed. “Hmm.”
Joseph gave a low chuckle, then said, “You know her pretty well, don’t you?”
Gina reached up and gave Joseph’s head a light smack. “Zip it, big brother.”
Ian’s phone rang, cutting off any response Joseph might have had to his sister’s admonition. Ian answered it halfway through the first ring. Jase. “What do you have?”
“You called it. Mac’s already there. He’s in his son’s home. Everything looks peaceful right now. And nothing to indicate Mac’s in a hurry.”
Ian thought. “No, I remember him saying something about how Jimmy was so laid-back it drove him crazy sometimes. Most of the time Jimmy goes at his own pace, although he can occasionally have a ferocious temper that even Mac has trouble dealing with. Right now, let’s hope he stays calm. This might work in our favor.” He looked at his watch. “All right, just keep an eye on things. Don’t let Mac know you’re there unless you have to in order to keep him from leaving. We’re about ten minutes away.”
They’d already crossed the Georgia state line. The home was just beyond the border. The miles clicked by, and soon Joseph turned down the street that led to the group home.
A uniformed officer stood at the entrance to the street. Joseph pulled to a stop and rolled down his window. The officer leaned in and said, “License check.”
Joseph and Ian flashed their badges. The man would have been informed of who to look for. Everyone else would have been turned back and rerouted away from the area.
The officer stepped back and waved them on.
Six group homes—built by a private donor, according to Mac—lined the small cul-de-sac.
One way in. One way out.
Mac’s black truck sat outside the home at the top of the circle. Backed into the drive and ready to go.
Joseph parked across the street, hiding the car from the view of the group home, yet positioning so that he could see it from the driver’s seat. Ian turned to Gina. “Stay put, please?”
Worried dark eyes stared up at him. “Be careful.”
“I will.”
She turned to Joseph. “You, too.”
He nodded his promise and the two men turned to head over to the man in charge of the team in place. Strategically placed members stayed out of sight but within range of the house.
Joseph spoke up. “All right, how do you want to handle this? You know the guy—I’ll follow your lead.”
“I honestly don’t know that talking to him is going to get us anywhere. Is anyone else in the house?”
“Just the director.”
“Do we have a negotiator on standby?” Ian took the binoculars from Joseph and tried to see into the house. Closed blinds blocked his view.
“Yep.”
“All right.” He tossed the binoculars aside. “I say let’s wait until they come out and get in the truck. Let him think he’s getting away clean. I definitely don’t want to get into a car chase with him, though, so we need to make sure we can get to him before he tries to go anywhere.”
“We need to separate him from Jimmy as soon as we can.”
A female SWAT team member approached with more equipment. “Here. This will allow you to hear everything going on. The other five houses on the cul-de-sac are on lockdown. No one’s getting on or off this street. We’ve been instructed to go on your command, sir.”
Ian thanked her and shoved the earpiece in. He looked at the truck, sitting innocently in the driveway, and wondered how long they had until Mac decided to leave.
“What if we dismantle the truck?” he suggested to Joseph.
“Can you do it without being seen?”
Ian pushed his sleeve up, ignoring the pulsing throb still emanating from his wounded arm. “That’s the question of the decade. It’s right in front. If he walks out that door…”
“Yeah, you’re a sitting duck.”
With the car window down, Gina could hear every word the men said as they discussed their strategy. Antsy, wishing there was something, anything, she could do to help, she watched the house for any sign of movement. Then she saw Ian sneaking toward the truck.
She reached for the door handle, wanting to shout at him to get back where it was safe. But she bit her lip and slid from the car to stand beside it. Positioned just right, she had a better view of the situation. And she would be able to stay out of trouble as she’d promised.
The door to the house flew open, and Gina gasped as Ian froze, ducking low behind the truck he’d not yet managed to disable.
“No, not going,” the young man yelled over his shoulder as he stomped down the front steps. “My home—this is my home. Not going right now. Sorry.”
Mac followed close behind, as did the director of the house. A Mr. Gibson, they’d been told. Gina saw Ian and Joseph exchange a glance. They hadn’t alerted the director to what Mac was planning, worried that he would act out of character and tip Mac off. The fifty-something man was saying, “Jimmy, wait. I’m sure your dad means you’re just going away for a while. Not forever.” He looked at Mac. “Right?”
Mac ran a hand over his short cropped hair. “Yeah, right, Jimmy, just for a little while.”
Jimmy stopped, then asked in a choppy, stilted voice, “Then why do I have to pack all of my clothes?”
“You don’t. Jus
t bring a few shirts and pants, then.”
Jimmy seemed to have to stop and think about that one. “But it’s almost Christmas. I have to help wrap the presents. Have to help, Dad. Can’t leave now.”
“Jimmy…”
“Go away, Dad. Come back later.”
“I can’t, Jimmy. I need you to come with me today. Now get in the truck. I’ll let you change the gears.”
That seemed to tempt the boy trapped in an adult’s body. He paused and his eyes lit up. “Drive and Reverse?”
“Sure, buddy, sure. And even Neutral if you want. Just get in the truck, all right?” Desperation stamped Mac’s face.
Gina saw what Mac couldn’t see. Ian was trapped on the passenger’s side. If Jimmy walked around to get in, he’d see Ian—and bring attention to his presence.
But maybe Joseph could move in fast enough to grab Mac before Jimmy said anything about Ian.
Jimmy finally shook his head. “No, I want to wrap the presents. That’s important. My job. I want to stay here.”
Mac looked ready to chew nails. Mr. Gibson placed a hand on Mac’s arm. “Maybe we should all go back inside and wait until Jimmy calms down a bit. He’s upset right now and if you try to push him, you know what’s going to happen.”
“Yeah, yeah, I do and I don’t have time for a temper tantrum.” Mac’s nervousness seemed to increase, his movements agitated and quick.
“Come on,” Mr. Gibson encouraged.
“No, I’ve drugged him before—I’ll do it again. We’ve got to get moving.”
Gina felt sick, wanting to burst from her hiding place and confront Mac. Drug him? Mr. Gibson didn’t think much of the idea either if the look on his face was anything to go by.
Ian said something into his radio and shook his head. Telling them not to shoot Mac, she thought. He was too close to Jimmy.
Jimmy stomped past his father, and Mac reached out to grab his arm. “Get. In. The. Truck.”
“No.” Jimmy jerked his arm from Mac’s grip and stumbled away.
“Jimmy, you don’t know what you’re doing.”
Ignoring his father, Jimmy rounded the side of the truck and stopped, tennis shoes squeaking on the concrete. “Who are you?”
Silent Pursuit Page 16
