“No, ‘honey,’” Leroy told her as his gaze slid back toward her. “I’m giving you a warning. There are some dangerous people out in this area. We’re hunting them right now.”
“Are you a cop?” she whispered. The fear was gone. Now she was sounding all impressed.
Dylan squeezed her hip. Not too much, Mancini.
The fellow’s chest puffed up. “Something like that,” he said.
Wrong. Nothing like that.
“And the guy we’re looking for? He’s a killer. A cold-blooded, shoot-you-in-the-face killer.”
Rachel trembled.
Dylan pulled her closer. “Then we need to get out of here.” He gave a quick nod. “Thank you, gentlemen. We appreciate you stopping to try to help us.”
As if the guys had even offered help. They’d just ogled Rachel and given their get-out-of-here warning.
But the men had been helpful. They’re looking for Drew.
There was no point in trying to get inside the compound for an extraction. Not when Drew had to be long gone.
Dylan and Rachel climbed back into their vehicle. Dylan thought he heard one of the guys give a wolf whistle when Rachel’s shorts hiked up as she eased into the high seat. Jaw clenching, he cranked the truck and turned it around, heading away from the compound.
“They’re watching us,” Rachel said as her fingers tapped lightly against her thigh.
He glanced into his rearview mirror. The men were standing in the middle of the road. Just staring after them.
“Now we know why Drew didn’t make contact,” she added.
He nodded. “Because he’s on the run.”
“No,” Rachel corrected softly, “they are. The guy said ‘hunting them.’ Drew’s in the wind, and he took the doctor with him.”
That had been Drew’s new mission assignment. Protect the woman. And when the blond in that proof-of-life video had gone toward her with that knife, Drew had run out of options.
Dylan’s gaze scanned the empty terrain around him. He heard the whir of the helicopter approaching once more. “We have to find Drew before they do.”
Because if they didn’t, he’d be dead.
“We need to call Sydney,” he said, “see if she was able to remotely activate his tracker.”
Only...this part of Texas was hell when it came to satellite transmissions and tracking. Cell phones barely worked, and locating Drew’s GPS signal could be near impossible.
It was a good thing Dylan liked a challenge.
* * *
THREE MEN CLIMBED from the vehicle. A quick check revealed that they were all armed. The HAVOC group always was. “They’re coming toward us,” Drew said. The men had already checked the ranch and now were splitting apart as they searched the surrounding land.
Tina stood just behind him. She’d grabbed a broken leg from an old wooden chair and was clutching it like a baseball bat. He had no doubt that, if necessary, she’d be ready to swing.
The men had made short work of searching the house. After they’d cleared that place, they should have just gotten in their Ranger and rode the hell out of there.
They hadn’t.
Lee must have given orders to thoroughly search the area. So that was exactly what those three bozos were doing.
One suddenly called out, voice excited.