“I have to say, my mother made quite an impression on a lot of men. I'm starting to think she really must have been hell on wheels.”
She realized that she was babbling, and forced herself to shut up.
Connor had an odd expression, as if he were trying not to laugh. “Well, uh, if she's anything like you—”
“No, not really,” she said. “Look, I'm sorry I trashed your office.”
“No problem.” He focused on her face, and frowned. “Did you know that you have a cut on your face? Your cheek is bleeding.”
She shrugged. “Later.” She touched him on the shoulder. “Look, Connor, you're not going to slip into a coma if I leave you here with that bump on your head, are you? I can always drop you at an emergency room on my way to—”
“You're not going anywhere,” he said.
“It's too complicated to explain the whole story, but I figured out how the killer found us last night,” she explained, through clenched teeth. “And how Ed found me now. Seth has a necklace that Victor gave me in his jacket pocket. That's what's transmitting. It must be.”
Connor’s face darkened. “You put it there?”
“Yes!” she yelled. “I did! Sorry, OK? I'm an idiot! I had no idea what was going on at the time! If Victor’s watching, he'll see Seth on his system. He might think that he's me, but he'll be on guard.”
Connor grabbed the phone. He stabbed at the buttons, rattled it. Checked the jack. He lurched swiftly into the kitchen, fried the phone on the wall. “The fucking bastard. He cut the phone line.”
“Don't you have a cell?”
“Out of range. We're on the wrong side of Endicott Bluff.”
The dream sensation of helpless panic was creeping up on her. “But I have to find Seth before he gets to that meeting.”
“How? Even if Riggs hadn't cut the phone, command central was this office, and you just killed it. Davy's the computer geek around here, not me. He or Seth could put this mess back together, but I can't.”
She pressed the palms of her hands against her eyes. “I can use the monitor Ed used to find me.”
Connor shook his head. “Five kilometer radius. You're out of range. The only way to find them now would be to look them up on a master terminal running X-Ray Specs software that’s keyed to the right transmitter codes.”
“Victor’s system,” she whispered. “It's Victor's transmitter.”
Connor's face went thoughtful. “Yeah. Victor’s system.”
''Where are the keys to the car, Connor?”
He shook his head. “Forget it You're not—”
“The keys, Connor.” She yanked Ed's gun out of her pants and leveled it at him. 'Now.” He touched his head and looked at his bloody fingers. “And leave me all alone with my possible concussion? I could slip into a coma and die, you know.”
She gritted her teeth. “I can stop by a neighbor's house and tell someone to come and look after you.”
“Let me give you a tip, Raine. The next time you try to coerce somebody at gunpoint, don't offer them milk and cookies and a nice warm blankie while you're at it. It totally tucks your credibility. Now put that thing down. You look stupid.”
Raine sighed and let the gun drop. “So give me a break,” she mumbled. “I'm learning this stuff as I go.”
“I'll go with you,” Connor said.
“No!”
They looked down. The exclamation had come from Ed. He struggled against his bonds. “McCloud, I have to tell you something—”
“Tell it to the judge, Riggs. I'm already nauseous from that conk on the head. Hearing another dose of your bullshit would really make me puke my guts out.”
“No, please. This is important. You've got to help me.”
“Help you? I've got to help who?” Connor limped slowly around Riggs's twitching form. He braced himself against the cane, wedged his foot beneath the other man and flopped him over.
Blood had run in rivulets across Ed's forehead and under his eyes, like a grisly carnival mask. “Not me,” he rasped. “Erin.”
Connor's face froze. “What are you talking about?”
“Erin?” Raine asked.
“His daughter,” Connor said, his voice almost unrecognizable. “What about Erin, Riggs? Spit it out. We've got things to do.”
“Novak's got her,” Ed rasped. “That's why I needed the Lazar girl. To do ... the trade.”
Connor's face abruptly drained of all color. “This isn't happening. Tell me this isn't happening, Riggs. Tell me you're shitting me.”
“If I can't make the trade, you've got to help Erin, McCloud.”
Connor's cane went spinning and clattering across the floor. He dropped down next to Ed and seized him by his jacket, hauling him up with a violent yank. “Novak got Erin, and you don't even call me? You stay quiet to save your own worthless hide? You fuck-up. You don't even deserve to call yourself her father.
“Yeah, well, the whole thing has just stopped. Right here,” Connor hissed. He let Ed drop to the floor with a thud, and struggled to his feet. Raine retrieved his cane and handed it to him. He took it, his mouth thin and hard with fury.
Ed opened his eyes again and fixed them on Raine. “Your icon on the system is a jewel,” he said. “I got the monitor from Victor. Saw the signal drive by this morning when the car left, but I knew you were still here. Victor wanted me to guard you. Keep you safe from Novak. Fucking joke. Like I could ever keep anybody safe from anything, in my whole life.” He panted, swallowed. “Then Novak got to me. With Erin.”
“Where is Erin now?” Connor asked.
“Crystal Mountain. With her friends,” Ed wheezed. “Lots of Novak's men. A guy named Georg has orders to ... to hurt her, if I don't deliver the Lazar girl. Please, McCloud. Erin always liked you. Idolized you. Do it for her, not for me. She's innocent. I'm not, but she is.”
Connor gestured for Raine to follow him and walked into the kitchen, oblivious to the mess of broken appliances and crockery. He opened a cupboard and dumped loose macaroni noodles out of a plastic container into his shaking hand until a set of keys dropped into it. “Here.” He put them into her hands. 'It’s probably too late, but give it your best shot Turn right at the end of the driveway, follow the signs for Endicott Falls until you see Mosley Road south. Follow that for ten miles, and you'll see signs for the interstate.”
“You're going to go and rescue his daughter?”
His haggard face tightened with doubt “Davy and Sean and Seth are all three tough sons-of-bitches. They know what they're getting into,” he said, as if trying to convince himself “And you look like you can take care of yourself just fine, from what I can see. But Erin... she hasn't got a clue. I went to her graduation party, for God's sake.”
She gave him a quick, impulsive hug. “Good luck, Connor,” she said. “You're one of the good guys.”
“Oh, yeah? What's a good guy supposed to do with that?” He jerked his head towards the office, where Ed groaned and wheezed.
“Lock him in the attic,” she said coolly. “He's rolled his dice. He can take his chances with the rest of us.”
He gave her an admiring grin. “Spoken like a true heartless adventuress,” he said. “You're as tough as nails, Raine, you know that?”
“Not really, but it's sweet of you to say so,” she called back.
She found the hand monitor on the passenger seat of Riggs's car. She pulled out on the road in Seth's bronze Mercury, and drove as fast as she dared, with no driver's license and a stolen gun stuck prominently into her jeans. She had to get to him before Victor and Novak closed in.
Seth thought he was the hunter, but he was actually the prey.
