― Rachel Caine
Taking the Lead
It's never a good idea to tangle with a militia, and an even worse idea to plant a tracking device in one of their vehicles, but that's what Luc and I did...and we were happy about it.
Talk about laughing in the devil's face―not the kind of thing I'd make into a habit, but we needed to find out what Matt Barr was doing, sneaking out in the middle of the night.
They say curiosity killed the cat, but this was more than that―these psychos were stalking me and I wanted to know why.
Luc's face was bathed in the radiant glow of his cell as he pored over his Find My app.
"He's now two miles down the concession road heading south toward town," he updated me, "I guess there's enough of a gap to follow him undetected."
"Let's do it," I yelped excitedly and headed out to my SUV.
Now I'm not the type who likes to hurt things―I'm passionate about animal welfare and protecting people―hell, I care about the whole damn ecosystem, but can't deny the hunting instinct in all of us.
It's probably the result of a million years of trying to evade predators while surviving ourselves.
And I was captivated by the thrill of the pursuit. I would have tracked Barr into Hell if he went there.
Yeah, I was obsessed.
We drove for about five minutes and were heading over the same territory I knew he just traversed.
"He must be driving under the speed limit, obeying stop lights and signalling all turns, " Luc laughed.
I nodded. "The guy definitely doesn't want to be stopped by a cop."
"Yeah," he agreed, "I'd like to glimpse what's inside those wooden crates in the bed of his pickup truck."
"So, no markings of any kind on them?"
"Naw, they weren't that careless and we weren't that lucky."
We were on the outskirts of town when Luc suddenly shouted, "He's stopped—must be a shack or trailer—it’s not showing a street address."
"Figures," I hissed, "these guys are probably roughing it, camping off the land"
He motioned to a clearing by the side of the road.
"His vehicle's about a quarter mile ahead around the bend--we should pull over here and not risk our headlights being seen."
"Good idea," I said, pulling over. "And we should probably stay off the road in the tree shadows as we approach the property. They may have guard dogs."
Luc's eyes widened. "I hadn't thought of that. I'd rather they had motion sensors—something I can defeat—I was mauled once by a pit bull."
"It was only a caution, Luc—I didn't meant to put fear on you. I have no idea what to expect so we'll keep our distance and stay upwind just in case they have dogs."
Luc looked at me surprised, "You've got good instincts, Prof—you’re a natural for this kind of thing."
I shook my head. "Don't kid yourself—I’m shaking in my boots. It's more a case of self-preservation—that’s what happens when you've been in a shooting."
He nodded, "Either way, it's still admirable.”
Remarkable or admirable didn’t matter to me—all I cared about was uncovering what we could without getting killed