Page 121 of Fatal Intent

Was Donovan the culprit or had Gino raced ahead of Grant and taken Rayne? He also hadn’t forgotten Ellis Lindsey’s interest in Rayne. Was it possible Ellis had Rayne? Hoping he’d misread the signs, Grant hurried ahead to catch up with the man who had the woman he loved.

At the edge of another clearing, he paused and shot off a text to Seth and the rest of his teammates, including his location and direction.

Seconds later, his phone vibrated. He glanced at the screen and swiped his thumb over the glass. “Still headed the same direction.”

“You’re sure someone has Rayne?”

“Positive. Her footprints stopped and the man’s prints made deeper impressions in the dirt.” He stared at the prints, dismayed. “Now there’s a kick out at the back of the print.”

“He’s running.” Seth’s voice was grim. “Andre and I are heading your way with Teagan. Elias will stay with Iona and Riley.”

Grant blinked. “Why split up?”

“Eileen is dead, one shot to the chest. We called the police and Elias is staying to make sure the crime scene’s not disturbed.”

Oh, man. Not what he wanted to hear despite the way she’d betrayed Beau. “Copy that.” He ended the call and resumed running, ignoring the building pain in his side. Nothing would stop him from finding Rayne.

Grant ran for several minutes until he burst from the treeline to see an access road. He hurried across the asphalt to search for a trail on the other side.

Nothing.

His heart sank. The attacker must have had a vehicle waiting here because there were no signs of their passage on the other side of the road.

A slight rustling sound behind him told Grant that Seth, Teagan, and Andre had arrived. One by one, they walked from the safety of the trees.

“Well?” Teagan demanded.

“He had a vehicle here. Rayne’s gone.”

“More than one vehicle. Look at this,” Andre said, pointing at impressions in the soil.

Grant joined the others in studying the ground. Fury burned a hole in his gut. How had they misread Gino and the others so badly? “They’re all involved in this up to their eyebrows. Five vehicles, five drivers.”

Teagan looked from Grant to Seth and Andre and back. “I don’t understand.”

“Gino and the others are working with Donovan. They’re using this fishing camp as their headquarters.”

“Wouldn’t other people coming to the camp notice if five other campers never caught a single fish but disappeared in the woods to play war games or target shoot?”

“I don’t think there are any other guests,” Andre said. “Riley did some research on the drive to the camp. She said the camp is booked up for the next six months so there aren’t other guests to worry about.”

Seth’s brows knitted. “Wouldn’t that be expensive?”

“Did you see how rough this place is? I doubt the owner has many guests. People might want to fish but they want luxury when they come back from the lake. This place doesn’t even have Wi-Fi. The owner probably is thrilled some outdoorsy military guys are taking over the place and forking over their money.”

“He wouldn’t care as long as they paid the fee every month,” Teagan said, standing with her hands on her hips. “Look, we need to find Rayne fast. We don’t have a clue which way those yahoos took her. And I’m not seeing any security cams hidden in the trees.”

Grant’s stomach knotted as he pulled out his sat phone and called Zane Murphy, the head of technology and communications at Fortress. There had to be something to give them a clue where to hunt for Rayne.

“Yeah, Murphy.”

In the background, a child cried. Grant flinched. “It’s Grant. Sorry to call you at home, Z.”

“What do you need?”

“Your superior hacking skills. Rayne was kidnapped and we don’t have a clue where to look.”

“Hold.”