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  His lips curved in a way that made her want to kiss him. Again. “All right.”

  Jayleen stirred in the back seat. “Does anybody care if I want to go?”

  “No,” Evan said shortly, pressing on the gas pedal and driving down the long lane. “I haven’t looked into warrants out for you, yet. It’s either rehab or custody. Your call.”

  Jayleen settled back down.

  Michelle cleared her throat, partially turning in her seat to look at her mother. “This is your last chance with me, Jayleen.” She’d never said those words before, always wanting the hope of having a real relationship with the woman. “If you fail this time, we’re done. I can’t do it any longer.” Someday she’d have kids, and she didn’t want them dealing with the mess Jayleen could create. “I’ve given you second chances my whole life. This is it.”

  Jayleen’s eyes clouded, but she didn’t answer, no doubt suffering from a heck of a headache. She closed her eyes, falling asleep almost instantly.

  Evan reached over and took Michelle’s hand, and she gripped his tightly. It was time to create the life she really wanted. If a sober Jayleen could be part of that, she’d be grateful. If not, she’d move on.

  Her phone buzzed and she took it from her purse, reading a text and smiling. “George says he’s sorry for being pissy last night.” She chuckled. “Would you like to accompany me to Comic-Con this year? You should meet him.”

  “Now that’s courting.” Evan grinned, full out. “I would love to meet him and have him sign a copy. Not one of my unopened, plastic protected ones. I’d buy a new comic.”

  Her badass marine was kind of a geek. “Good plan.”

  The sunny day turned cloudy, and rain began to fall as they drove along country roads, avoiding traffic and making good time. Michelle dropped off to sleep at some point, lulled by the soft pelting of rain and the rhythm of the windshield wipers.

  She awoke some time later, sitting up. “Where are we?” Fields stretched out to mountains around them, but large fluorescent orange cones blocked off the second lane for construction, although nobody was working on the weekend.

  “You were only out twenty minutes, Peaches. We’re in the middle of Washington State, where there’s always road construction,” Evan said, glancing to the back seat. “Jayleen? You awake?”

  “No,” Jayleen muttered, sitting up.

  Evan’s jaw firmed. “We have a couple of hours to go, and it’s time you told us who’s after you and why.”

  “Nobody is chasing me now. I took care of it.” Jayleen pushed back her unruly hair and yawned widely. “Stop worrying about it and mind your own business.”

  Michelle winced.

  Evan stiffened. “A bunch of goons came after your daughter. Who are they?”

  “I took care of it,” Jayleen repeated, her voice rising. “You have no idea what I know. We’re safe now, and we’re going to be rolling in cash soon.”

  Michelle shut her eyes and counted to five before continuing. “Tell me you didn’t just blackmail a drug dealer.” Threatening George was bad enough, but a killer?

  “It’s not blackmail if it’s not in writing,” Jayleen said.

  “Jesus,” Evan muttered, glancing at his side-view mirror. “Yes, it is. You have one second to tell me who you blackmailed before I drop you off at the nearest police station to be booked for that and whatever else they can find on you. How many warrants are out there?”

  “None in Washington State,” Jayleen shot back.

  Michelle’s temper soared, and she fought to keep from yelling at the woman. “Does this have anything to do with Joey Bandini and that huge bald guy?” Her memories were a little fuzzy from that blow to her head, but she had the glimmer of an idea.

  “Not really. Maybe a little,” Jayleen said, her voice muffled as she snuggled down in the blanket. “They said something, and it got me to thinking, and then thinking more, and sometimes two plus two does equal four.”

  “What is she talking about?” Evan asked, tilting his head to study the rearview mirror, lines of concentration cutting into his forehead.

  “I’m not sure.” Michelle tried to remember what Joey had said before he’d slapped her. There was something that had perked Jayleen up. What was it? She ran through the night, what she could remember, and her head started to ache again. “Wait a minute.” Something about some computer geek? “Dooney Bourke?”

  Jayleen snorted. “That’s a purse.”

  True. That was a purse. Darn it. “I can’t remember,” Michelle muttered. The whole night was still too hazy. A lifted black truck careened out of a field ahead of them with a tall man driving, and Evan slowed slightly. “Wow,” she said. “That guy could’ve waited.”

  Evan stiffened. “Is your seat belt on?”

  She instinctively pivoted to look out the back window and spotted a green SUV rapidly approaching. “Yes.” She partially turned to make sure Jayleen was still buckled in. “What’s happening?”

  “Not sure.” Evan set both hands on the wheel, his concentration absolute. “Maybe nothing.”

  The truck in front of them began to slow down.

  “Or definitely something,” he muttered, scanning the area. “Jayleen? Are you expecting friends?”

  “No.” Jayleen sat up and craned her neck to look behind them at the oncoming SUV. “Not at all.” Her voice lowered to a whisper on the last.

  “Jayleen!” Michelle turned to more fully face her mother. “What did you do?”

  Jayleen paled, her eyes wide. “Nothing. Well, not much. I mean, I borrowed your phone earlier and might’ve made one phone call. Honest. I just want to pay you back for everything.”

  “Turn back around, Peaches,” Evan said, his tone gritty. “Face forward and try to keep your body as relaxed as possible.”

  Michelle flipped back around and clutched the dash.

  “More than that,” Evan said. “Trust me. If we crash—”

  The truck hitched as it was battered from behind. Michelle gasped, panic seizing her lungs. The driver in front of them slammed on his brakes, which flashed bright red and fast.

  Evan twisted the wheel to the right and sped up, the driver’s side mirror hitting a round divider and breaking off to hang awkwardly. He punched the gas, sped in front of the black truck, and pulled onto the main road again. With a flick of his wrist, he turned up the windshield wipers as the rain splattered faster.

  Michelle, her entire body tightened, pushed against the floor with both legs. “What’s happening?”

  “We need to stay ahead of them,” Evan said grimly, speeding up more, well beyond the speed limit. “So long as—shit.” He slammed on the brakes.

  Jayleen screamed.

  Michelle saw the spike strip positioned across the road a second before they drove over it. Evan swore, the tires blew, and the truck flew into the air sideways almost in slow motion. It flipped all the way, and Michelle had a second to breathe before the truck landed on its roof with a crunch of metal and a sputtering of air. Blackness grabbed her and she struggled to stay conscious, held upside down by the seat belt. “Evan?” she whispered, her ears ringing.

  He was upside down, blood covering his face, not moving.

  Somebody tore her door open.

  Jayleen coughed. “Dooby Brown,” she mumbled.

  Oh yeah. That was the name. Hands reached for Michelle, and she tried to fight them, but finally the darkness took her.

  * * *

  Who in the world was Dooby Brown? That thought scrubbed through Evan as he fought the darkness.

  Everything hurt. He shook himself awake and took in the scene in a second. Michelle. He turned and looked toward her open door. She was gone. No sign of Jayleen either. Grabbing a knife from his boot, he released himself from the seat belt, barely catching himself with one hand before he crashed down on the roof. Crawling over the glass and damaged metal, he pushed himself from the upside-down truck and stood in the rain, looking both ways. How long had he been out?

/>   Nausea attacked him, and he grabbed a tire to stay upright. Dizziness blasted him next, and he waited it out, partially bent over. He was in the middle of nowhere, and it’d take hours for legal backup to arrive. When he could breathe again, he tugged his phone from his pocket and quickly dialed.

  “Yo,” Wolfe said. “You miss me already?”

  “Michelle and Jayleen were taken,” he gasped, the pain in his head nearly dropping him. “I’m about an hour from you on Old Highway 26, and my vehicle is a shitshow. Get here fast.”

  “Sure thing,” Wolfe said, the sound of movement echoing over the phone. “You know where they went?”

  “Either you’ll see them on the road, a black Chevy truck or a green SUV with a dent in the front, or they headed toward Seattle, which would be my bet. Bring your gun and hurry.” He disengaged the call and dialed Raider, who answered immediately. “We’re in trouble and I need everything you can find on a Dooby Brown. He’s some sort of computer geek, but there has to be more to him than that. Start in Seattle.” Once Raider had agreed, Evan let himself sink to his butt after clearing away some glass. He leaned his head back against the upside-down tire and let the rain wash blood off his face and down his shirt. How badly had Michelle been hurt?

  Why hadn’t he told her how much he loved her? He’d figured there would be plenty of time for that, and he, of all people, should know better.

  The world swirled around him again, and he coughed.

  Then more darkness.

  “Evan? Dude. Wake up.” The rough voice came from a long distance away. Very far. Then a kick to the leg. “Now. Wake up.” Something rough licked Evan’s cheek.

  Evan blinked against the rain, opening his eyes. “Roscoe.” He leaned away from the dog’s tongue. “Stop it.” Accepting Wolfe’s offered hand, he let the soldier pull him up. “Crap. I was out an hour?”

  “No,” Wolfe said. “Half that. I drove like hell.” Concern glowed in his dark eyes. “Didn’t see a green truck or a black SUV on the way here.”

  “Figures.” Evan turned and limped through the rain toward Wolfe’s rented Jeep with the dog at his side, leaning against his leg as if offering support. Pain ticked through him, but he climbed into the passenger seat and let agony take him completely for a moment.

  Wolfe opened his door and jumped inside, while Roscoe leaped into the back seat. “I left Kat at your place. He hates high-speed chases.”

  Evan closed his eyes and swallowed, trying not to puke.

  “How bad you hurt?” Wolfe asked, flipping on the heat.

  “I don’t think anything is broken, but I’m banged up and bruised.” Evan didn’t open his eyelids. “Probable concussion, but I can talk and walk, sort of, so the damage has to be minor.” Yeah, right. If he blinked too fast, his head might explode.

  “Been there. Just take deep breaths and don’t look outside, because I’m going so fast I feel dizzy.” For the first time, Wolfe sounded all business. “Trust me. If they’re on this road, we’re gonna find them.”

  Dual planes buzzed above them. “What’s going on?” Evan asked.

  “When you called, I was in town. Nice town you have there,” Wolfe said.

  Evan forced his eyelids open and nearly cried when the dim light pierced his pupils. A dinged up red crop duster plane flew by. “Is that Ezekiel up there?”

  “Yep. His brother has his crop duster, too. They’re going to scout ahead and find the trucks.”

  Evan wiped rain and blood off his face. “I left them in a jail cell.”

  “Verna let them out early this morning. Something about needing to clean the cell.” Wolfe looked his way. “Folks sure don’t have any secrets once you head to town in the morning.”

  That was one of the things Evan liked about Doe City—usually. He leaned slightly to the side and stared up. “I hope they’re not still drunk.”

  The planes zoomed ahead, flying low.

  “They’re sober enough to fly,” Wolfe said, focusing back on the road and driving way too fast. “Were Michelle and Jayleen okay after the wreck?”

  “Jayleen spoke, but I don’t know about Michelle,” Evan said, his adrenaline flowing freely. She had to be okay. If she was hurt, she needed medical assistance. He couldn’t lose her now that he’d finally gotten her back. “Go faster, Wolfe.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Michelle blinked her eyelids, unable to rub them. What was going on? Her head hurt and her stomach felt like she’d been punched several times. She listened to the silence, and then sound came rushing in.

  “You’re awake. Oh, thank God.” Was that her mother?

  Michelle turned to see Jayleen next to her in the back seat of an SUV, her hands tied together beneath a secured seat belt. She looked down at her bound hands beneath her own seat belt, but her vision was blurry. “What?” None of this was making sense. She shook her head, winced at the pain, and then forced herself to focus.

  “Are you okay?” Jayleen asked, blood dripping from a cut on her cheekbone.

  “Yes. I think so.” The memory of the car crash came flooding back, and she looked around. “Where’s Evan?”

  Jayleen shook her head.

  Was he okay? Michelle started to struggle.

  “Stop,” commanded a male voice.

  Michelle stilled and lifted her head, looking toward the passenger-side bucket seat. Her vision finally cleared to see a thirty-something man dressed in a monogrammed white button-down shirt with modern wire-rimmed glasses framing intelligent brownish-green eyes. He smiled. “I wondered if you’d awaken.” Almost carelessly, he lifted his hand, revealing a black gun before dropping the weapon out of sight again. “Behave.”

  “No problem,” Michelle muttered. She wasn’t exactly in fighting shape. She looked toward the driver, a burly man with bushy brown hair who stared straight ahead as he drove through the rain. His thick hands on the steering wheel were hairy and bruised. Where was Evan? “The man who was driving our truck—was he still alive when you grabbed us?” She held her breath, her chest hurting more than her head.

  The guy shrugged. “No clue.”

  Michelle tried to shift in her seat, and her abdomen protested. She winced.

  The guy nodded. “Those airbags can hurt, right?”

  Yeah. Right. Michelle held still to keep the pain away. “Who are you, anyway?” More importantly, what did he want?

  “Oh. Figured you knew. I’m Dooby Brown.” He smiled, revealing a gold tooth. “Or rather, Julian Dooby Brown, but you can call me Dooby.”

  Okay. “Listen, buddy. I don’t know a thing about you, and truth be told, I don’t care about you. At all.” She needed an aspirin. Her head could take only so much. “What do you want?”

  His smile sagged away. “Want? First, I want the twenty-five grand that your mother owes me. Then? Well, then I want to bury you both so deep even the ants won’t find a piece of you.”

  The mental image made her stomach roll over. How could he sound so cheerful while making death threats? She stared harder, but he didn’t look insane. Maybe just mean. Michelle turned toward Jayleen. “This guy is the drug dealer you owe?” If anything, he looked like a techie who subcontracted for the Geek Squad. Wait a minute. “I thought Joey Bandini said you were some sort of computer nerd.” None of this was making sense.

  Jayleen sighed. “Yeah. See, it’s like this—”

  “I am a computer nerd,” Dooby said. “Lots of guys, small-time crooks like Bandini, hire me to hack or search or do whatever. You wouldn’t believe the information I’m able to get from their systems when I do so.”

  Michelle gingerly prodded a bruise on her cheekbone. “But you’re a drug dealer?”

  Dooby shook his head. “You’re as dumb as your mother.”

  “I have a concussion,” Michelle shot back. “Excuse me if I haven’t figured out your criminal enterprise yet.” She wasn’t thinking clearly, but she probably shouldn’t yell at the guy with the gun. She exhaled slowly, trying to concentrate and add the p
ieces together. “Wait a minute. You’re the guy in charge of it all.”

  “There you go,” Dooby said, condescension rippling with his words. “Most of those guys work for me and don’t know it. Or they don’t work for me, I find out everything about them when they hire good ole geeky Dooby, and then I create situations where they do work for me.”

  Michelle tested the bonds around her wrists, trying to keep him occupied. “If even a few of those guys found out who you really are . . .”

  He nodded. “They’d be pissed. Oh, I have friends who could take care of the problems for me, but right now, I don’t need problems. More importantly, if any one of those assholes knew who I am, they’d give me up in a heartbeat. I heard Bandini and his buddy are in custody in Seattle, and if they had any info to bargain with, they’d do it.”

  Bandini was in jail? Michelle sat up. “Why is Bandini in jail?” Had he found Meri? Had he hurt her?

  Dooby shrugged. “Who cares? The point is, a low-level hacker like Dooby Brown doesn’t merit a trade. My friends want me to keep it that way.”

  Michelle looked toward her mother. “You figured it out and tried to blackmail this guy.”

  Jayleen nodded, tears in her eyes. “Sorry. I ran for a dealer named Jack-Jack for a while, and I was in his place when he met with Dooby a couple of times. Well, Julian, not Dooby.”

  “I didn’t know she was there,” Dooby offered. “Your dear mama was banging Jack-Jack, and he hid her when I dropped by to collect.”

  The bindings were tight, but if she kept working them quietly, she might be able to get one hand free. What she’d do then, she had no clue. “So when Bandini mentioned Dooby in my apartment, you put it all together, Jayleen?” It seemed her mother was smarter than she normally acted.