I looked around, but I saw no one else.
“They’re here, Carson. Trust me.”
That was the problem. I didn’t.
Seeing my look, he threw me over his shoulder and ran.
He threw me in the Escalade and barked at the driver, “Get her out of here.”
Then he was out, slamming the door before I could comprehend what he was doing.
“Wait! What?” I was at the door, trying to open it, but it was locked.
The driver hit the accelerator, reversed, and we were heading right back out where we’d come from.
As we sped off, I looked back at Jonah, who had joined the other guards.
“They’ll make sure the fire is out and the phone is toast before heading back.” The driver glanced up in the rearview mirror at me. “He’ll be in the next vehicle. Don’t worry.”
As we sped down the road, we passed another black Escalade, waiting at a dirt road. It flashed its lights before falling in line behind us.
“Who’s that?”
“The other team sent to watch you. They’ll escort us back.”
What Jonah had said was true. They had men everywhere.
Which made everything so much scarier.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
JONAH
I refused to leave until the fire was out, the phone was destroyed, and I confirmed that Carson’s family hadn’t been disturbed. After that, I got in the next Escalade and sped back to the house. Five miles in, my phone rang, and I noted the driver was getting some incoming orders.
Kai calling.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Change of plans. I want you out of here.”
“Why? What happened?”
“Her phone wasn’t hacked for coordinates,” he said. “They already knew where she was. It was hacked for a backdoor into our operations. As soon as she downloaded that app, they were in and looking for our software. They knew we had her phone. They knew we would put our own program on there to try to catch them. They were prepared.”
I swore. “What’s happening now?”
“We’re waging an online battle. They’re trying to get into some of our business operations, and our people are trying to get a lock on where they are.”
“What’s the change of plans, then?”
“Drivers are instructed to take you and Carson to the airport. Tanner is escorting Brooke there. I want the three of you gone.”
“Tanner?”
“He’s staying. This is his territory. He knows it better than me.”
“Carson’s family is here.”
“But she’s in danger, and I’m assuming you want her to be safe.”
“Of course.” There was no other option. She wouldn’t be another Melissa—and that thought brought me up short. Another Melissa?
“I have surgery on Monday.”
“I’m not going to be our father. You have the choice of what to do, but you have to be safe. Right now, we’re under attack. If you go to work, you will have two teams on you. That’s not an option, and there could still be collateral. I won’t take that on my conscience. Any of your patients or colleagues who get in the crossfire, that’s on you. But it’s your decision.”
A hollow laugh ripped through me. “Right. What a choice.”
“You have genius-level intelligence. You know I’m right.”
I did, but this was the problem. There was always a fight, always a battle, always a war. There were always enemies going after us.
“You’re Jonah Bennett?”
“Who’s asking?”
“Do we know you?” Melissa had asked. “Are you hurt? Is there a car accident back there where you came from—”
BANG!
I couldn’t go through that again. Not with Carson.
“You want us in Canada?”
“Brooke’s going back to her family. You can go with her and take Carson, or you can stay with Riley.”
Right. Canada or Canada. No Minnesota.
“I should spend time with Brooke. She was upset tonight.”
“I’ll let the pilots know.”
We ended our call, but I had other calls to make.
I dialed my old life, wondering when I’d be able to get back to it.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
CARSON
We weren’t going back to their gated and very, very secure estate. I figured that out when we turned toward the city lights, and the city lights never went away.
“Where are we going?”
The driver looked in the rearview mirror. “Change of plans, ma’am. I'm supposed to take you to the airport.”
“What? Why?”
“I wasn’t told, but I’m sure others will come who can explain.”
I wished I’d kept that burner phone Jonah gave me. I’d put it down on a counter in the kitchen and never picked it back up. There’d been no reason to have it. I knew I was getting my phone back. So much for that.
The driver took me to the airport, but not the part of the airport I knew.
These were the private hangars, on the far end of the public airport.
Inside was an airplane with some workers around it. We pulled in, and a giant-sized guard approached the vehicle. At least he seemed like a guard. He wasn’t wearing an airport uniform, and had a handgun strapped to his side. The driver got out, they talked, and then the guard came to the back and opened my door.