Lucy took her time dressing and styling her hair after a long shower. She wasn't in a rush to face the awkwardness she was sure to encounter when she met Kurt downstairs. How could she have been foolish enough to think he wanted her? He had everything: a great job, beautiful family, nice house. To top it off he was unbelievably good looking. He probably turned down offers like hers every week. Heck, maybe she was cramping his style by staying here.
Suck it up. She swallowed hard and descended the stairs. This wasn't about either of them. It was about Dawn. Lucy would work with anyone in any situation if it meant getting closer to finding her sister.
She found Kurt pacing the space between the kitchen and dining room with his phone to his ear. He placed a finger to his lips as she entered. "I agree—throw it away... I know where that is, get there as soon as you can and we'll meet you." Kurt paused for a moment. "The agent I was with the other day... No, she's fine. Calm down, Pinter! I'm on my way, okay?" Kurt ended the call and stuffed the phone in his jacket pocket.
Lucy slid her feet into her loafers and grabbed her shoulder holster. "What's going on?"
"Get your gun and let's go. You wanted something to happen today. It's happening."
His words stung, but only for a moment before the excitement of a possible development in her sister's case took over. She followed Kurt to the garage and slipped her arms through her holster.
Kurt swore under his breath and yanked the garage door open. What had been a minor annoyance was suddenly a major setback.
Lucy holstered her gun as she watched Kurt check himself over to be sure he had everything.
They both climbed into Kurt's car and he backed out of the garage with surprising speed.
Her heart thundered in her chest. "What's going on?" She strapped herself in as Kurt sped down the highway.
His focus remained glued to the road. He either hadn't heard her or didn't care enough to answer.
They were silent for several minutes as Kurt navigated the rural highways and exits that would connect them to the Georgia 400.
"Talk to me!" Lucy felt as though she didn't know him. He was suddenly abrupt—too determined on the task at hand to give her the courtesy of filling her in on what was happening.
He was silent for a moment before answering. "We're headed to Oakland Cemetery. That was Pinter on the phone. He decrypted Dawn's SD card a couple days ago, found a bunch of crooked bookkeeping data on it, and decided to talk to Thames about it before me." Kurt shook his head and inhaled sharply through his nose. He floored the gas pedal as he merged precariously between two cars onto I-85.
Lucy grabbed the dash to steady herself.
Kurt continued, oblivious to the fact he was driving like a lunatic. "So, some 'FBI agent' from Knoxville shows up the next day and asks for the SD card plus any other copies he has of the data. He claims there was some covert investigation happening and the FBI is worried about the Police Department screwing things up for them."
"Did Pinter explain why he didn't contact you with any of this information?" This was big. Why would Pinter have kept this information from the man who commissioned it?
"Because he didn't trust you!" Kurt laughed, it was a cynical sound that made Lucy's heart constrict. Was the opinion of a colleague Kurt didn't particularly like enough to make him doubt her—or was his sudden aloofness to do with the awkwardness that still remained from the kiss they shared a few hours ago?
Could she still count on him?
She shook her head and glared at Kurt. "Yet you're bringing me to meet him with you."
"I guess he thinks you're the lesser evil now." Kurt shrugged as he held tight to the steering wheel. "You interrupted me before I could finish. Pinter tells the agent that he'll get him the card but he needs to confirm things with the Knoxville Division FBI first. So he calls the office and they've never heard of the guy who wants the data from Pinter. Pinter goes out to confront him and the guy's gone. How ballsy is that? Walks into a police station pretending to be FBI. The next day, Pinter comes back to work and his office has been robbed—the original SD card is missing. Then, as he's leaving the station later that night, some thugs try to run him off the road."
Was she following this correctly? Was it possible the data on Dawn's SD card was incriminating enough to warrant the elimination of anyone who got their hands on it?
Kurt slowed the car to a crawl and rounded a corner. "I'll let Pinter tell you the rest. We're here." Kurt parked the car in the gravel lot outside the cemetery gates and climbed out.
Lucy did the same and followed Kurt to the cemetery entrance. The gates leading to Oakland Cemetery were housed in an imposing brick archway. She studied her surroundings as they passed beneath it. The place was beautiful, abundant in nature and dotted with elaborate stone monuments. Most of the trees covering the landscape had sprouted buds and a few were in bloom. It seemed more a tourist trap than a place of eternal rest. "What are we looking for?"
"Jasper Smith vault, just ahead." Kurt gestured to a stone vault with a granite statue of a man in an easy chair above its wrought iron door.
Pinter stood next to it, smoking a cigarette and staring at them intently. He flicked it to the ground and stomped it out when they arrived at the vault. "Hey. Anyone follow you?" His gaze shifted to various landmarks and groups of tourists as he spoke.
"No one was tailing us. Do you have the card?" Kurt placed a steadying hand on the man's shoulder.
Pinter nodded, the muscles in his face twitching. "Don't ask me how, but they stole the original from my office. This is a copy. I don't think they know it exists or they would have gotten to it already." He jammed his hand into his pocket and pulled out a USB flash drive. "Don't underestimate these people. This is a very aggressive operation."
Kurt took it from him discreetly while feigning a handshake. "Thank you for getting this to us. I know you're sticking your neck out here."
Pinter blinked several times in quick succession. "I just wish I'd brought it to you first. I don't know who the hell to trust anymore."
"Do you have somewhere safe to go until this is over?" Concern etched itself in the lines on Kurt's forehead. "Just say yes or no. Take a personal leave from work and don't tell anyone where you're going."
"Yes." Pinter raked a trembling hand through his gray hair. "You think this will end anytime soon? I have a family I have to think about." He choked on the words. Any contempt Lucy had for him dissolved. He had as much wrapped up in this as she did, now. His concern wasn't for himself, but for his family.
"Good. Make sure you take a gun and a disposable phone with you." Kurt stopped and seemed to consider Pinter's question. "This data, if it's as valuable as these people are making it seem, should help us end this sooner than later."
"Okay." Pinter gave Kurt another jerky nod. "Don't tell Thames I was here."
"You think Sergeant Thames is in on this?" Kurt's jaw fell.
"No. He's one of the few people I trust. If he knew anything about this he would have taken some interest instead of waving me off. It's the people around him I can't be sure of." Pinter swiped at the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand. "I don't want him to end up dead because of this data. They're already trying to kill me! I've got the bullet hole in my fender to prove it."
"All right, go join your family and lay low for a while." Kurt extended his hand to Pinter once again.
Pinter shook Kurt's hand briskly before turning to Lucy. "Kurt tells me that data was uncovered by your sister."
"We think so."
"If she gets out of this mess in one piece, let her know she's got a future in computer forensics if she ever wants it. The information on that card—well, I'll just say, twenty-two years in this business and I can't figure out how the hell she managed to get her hands on it."
Lucy's straightened her posture and gave Pinter a nod. His words filled her with pride. "I'll tell her you said that." She shook his hand and watched him as he strode away.
Pinter wasted no time getting into his car and peeling out of the parking lot. As far from it as they were, Lucy could see the dust and gravel his wheels kicked up as he left.
"Just wait." Kurt placed an arm around her waist to keep her from following.
His touch sent a rush of warmth through her. She stilled herself as he held her, afraid that any sudden movement might cause him to pull back. That touch kept her grounded, made her feel accepted.
"I want to watch him leave, make sure he isn't being followed." He pulled her closer, into the shadow of the vault next to them.
They watched Pinter's car disappear down Memorial Drive. No one followed.
Lucy sighed heavily. "Good, now it's our turn. Where do we go to look at the data?"
"My place. I don't want to use the network at the station and I don't want God-knows-who breathing down our necks while we access it." Kurt pulled away from her and started toward the parking lot, his head moving from side to side as he surveyed their surroundings.
Lucy kept pace with him, the place where his arm had been still warm from his touch. "So, have we officially gone rogue?"
Kurt turned and offered her a half-smile as he walked. "We do as much as we can on our own. Then we use the Department and to blow it wide open."
***
Pinter hadn't been followed away from the cemetery.
Kurt and Lucy had.
He glanced in his rearview mirror for the hundredth time in ten minutes. "I can't see a damned license plate!"
"Should we drive to the station?" Lucy stared at him from the passenger seat, her eyes wide.
"That's not a bad idea." Kurt swung the car around and headed back toward the city.
The red Ford F150 followed. There was no doubt they were being tailed. Kurt maintained his speed as he drove, intent not to kill them both by getting into an accident.
The thugs behind them had other plans.
The truck accelerated on them, tapping his back bumper.
"Hold on!" Kurt sped up to avoid being run off the road. It didn't matter what speed he traveled, the truck was a few feet behind them at every turn.
"Grab the handset." Kurt nodded to the dash where his two-way radio was mounted.
Lucy picked it up. "The cord's been cut!"
"Are you kidding me?" Note to self: get two-way radio fixed. He couldn't remember the last time he'd even used the thing.
"I'm afraid to take this into the city, Lucy. It's mid-morning and it'll be crawling with civilians." Kurt stole a quick glance her way. His pulse was pounding so hard he could feel it in the soles of his feet and his fingertips.
She was gripping the dash, her fingernails digging at the vinyl finish. That was going to leave a mark. "Do what you have to do."
Kurt took the next right to bring them off the path to the city.
The truck followed.
"My cell is in the damned trunk with my briefcase!" Kurt slammed his palm against the steering wheel. "Where's yours?"
"It's in the back seat!" Lucy moved to unbuckle her belt.
"Don't—you'll get yourself killed. If these guys have their way, we'll be dead before the police manage to locate us. We have to try to shake them. I've got a full tank of gas. We could just see who runs out first. I happen to think this baby is very economical." It was an attempt at humor that came up flat.
Kurt checked his rearview. They were coming up fast again. "Hold on!"
The truck behind them slammed in to Kurt's Ford hitting it with such force it sent them fishtailing over both lanes and gravel shoulders of the highway.
"These guys aren't messing around. Do you have your gun?" Kurt took the risk of casting a long look Lucy's way. He wanted to be sure she was okay. Wanted to be sure she was up to the task of trying to blow the tires off this lunatic's vehicle. These were the kind of people who didn't care about anything—except profit. The kind of people who worried him most because they'd go to any length to protect their interests—even if it meant dying for them. There was no understanding their kind, not in Kurt's mind. That made them frighteningly unpredictable.
"Can you get a line of sight on the tire?" Kurt shouted the words as Lucy rolled down the passenger window, filling the car with wind and rippling noise.
"I think so! Let me try!" She was turned away from him, extending her arm out the passenger window as she took aim at the truck behind them. "This is really awkward with my belt strapped. I'm shooting half blind. Try to keep the car steady!"
"I'm doing my best. Try to get a feel for the movement then pop one in their front tire!" What was he saying? Fifteen years on the force and he'd never had the opportunity to shoot from a moving car. Now he was giving lessons on it?
Lucy pulled the trigger. The sound of the shot was only faintly audible amidst the roaring wind tearing through their car as they sped down the highway at twice the speed limit.
"I think I hit the grill! Let me try again." She angled her arm out the window once more.
The truck charged.
"Sit back, now!" Kurt reached for Lucy and pulled her by her shirt.
Lucy straightened herself in her seat as the vehicle behind pounded them with more force than ever.
Kurt's Ford skidded diagonally down the road but somehow managed to avoid overturning. He straightened them out again and kept on his path.
"One more time, Lucy. Then we may have to head for the station in Sandy Springs."
She toward the window once more, aimed her gun at the truck and pulled the trigger.
Their pursuers swerved behind them.
"I shot through the windshield! Sorry!" Lucy moved to take aim again.
"Wait. They're backing off." Kurt placed a hand over Lucy's chest in an attempt to keep her secure in her seat. "I'm sorry! I'm not getting fresh with you, I swear!"
Lucy was too beside herself to notice, craning her neck as she stared out the rear window. "They're turning around!"
Kurt watched from his mirror.
Full retreat.
"They really don't like us." She smiled wryly, the corners of her mouth quivering as she did.
What the hell was on that card?