‘Damn it! That means they could be anywhere. He could be taking her anywhere.’ Garrett could hear Harris on the speaker phone.
Frantically he looked around the room for something, for anything, and his eyes came to rest on a photo of Kendra dressed in jeans and a black tank top standing next to a bright red Shelby Mustang. ‘Wait a minute.’ He picked up the photo and squinted at it. ‘Can you track a car by that satellite?’
‘Only if it has a transponder,’ Wade said.
‘It’s a fucking Shelby Mustang, for Chrissake!’ Garrett yelled. Over the phone, he could hear Dee and Harris practically screaming to Wade that it was a gift from Devon Barnet. He talked over them. ‘I saw Dee’s car in the parking garage, and the Ford Focus was there, but no sign of the Mustang. And Edge mentioned it in the email. Maybe he took it. It’s a lot nicer ride than a Focus. Plus, the asshole had to know what it means to her.’
‘Wait a minute. Wait a minute.’ Wade’s voice came in tight little bursts. Garrett could hear his keystrokes against the computer keyboard. ‘It’s a vintage car, a one-off. I can’t imagine there not being a transponder, in case it ever got stolen. Surely Barnet would have given Kendra those details. Hold on, I’ve got her iPhone here for safe keeping. If it’s there, I’ll find it.’
‘I’ll look on her laptop.’ Garrett was already trying to navigate Kendra’s computer for the information. On both ends of the phone connection, there was complete silence except for the dual tapping of the keyboards.
It seemed like an eternity went by before Wade yelled into the phone, ‘I’ve got it. I’ve got it! And the Mustang’s on the move. I’m transmitting the details to the police.’
‘Tell me where they are, Wade,’ Garrett yelled. ‘I can’t be very far behind them.’
‘You’re not, Wade replied. ‘They’re off the freeway. It looks like he’s taking the slow route, probably to try out the Mustang on the winding roads. I can get you there faster, Garrett. I’m about to become your sat nav. Are you ready?’
Garrett grabbed up both BlackBerries and charged out the door. He didn’t wait for the elevator. He bolted down the stairs, the photo still clenched in one hand.
Edge was rattling on and on about how he had suffered without her, how badly she had hurt him, how hard the year had been for him, scheming and planning how he would be with her again. But Kendra was only half listening.
She was thinking of Garrett. She had the rudiments of a plan forming in her mind now, but it was a plan she probably wouldn’t survive. That was all right. It had been a good life, and the last few days with Garrett Thorne had been the best ever. He had been the bright spot; he had almost convinced her she could have her happy ever after, and that she could have it with him. If she kept him in her head, if she focused on memories of him, of being in his arms, of laughing with him, of dancing with him, of making love with him, then she could stay safe from the terror with which Edge surrounded her. She could stay focused on what she had to do, and she would have the courage to do it.
She loved him, she loved Garrett Thorne! Suddenly, the darkness that threatened to close around her was run through with the brilliance of that one thought. She loved Garrett Thorne. She loved him with all of her heart, and loving him, being with him, made her more herself than she had ever been in her whole life. She could die knowing that. She could die knowing that he was right, that she could love, that love was as much for her as it was him, or Jessie and Amanda in Texas Fire, or Dee and Ellis. Her only regret was that she hadn’t allowed herself to realize it while she was still with him, that she hadn’t told him. God how she wished she had told him!
She couldn’t bear the thought of how he would suffer because of what she was about to do, but she saw no way out. Without the BlackBerry Wade had given her, there was no way they would ever find her in time, and she wasn’t brave enough to endure Edge’s torture passively and wait, hoping against hope that Garrett would find her before Edge drove her insane. Garrett had people who loved him. He had people who understood how amazing he was, even if he didn’t. They would help him heal. And she wanted that for him. She wanted him to heal. God, she wished she could tell him, and now she didn’t even have that option left to her. The ache of loss was pushed aside by rage, rage that Edge believed it was his right to take this from her. He might take away her chance to tell Garrett how she felt, he might take away her chance to try for her happy ending, but her rage he couldn’t take from her! And, in the end, it would be enough to help her do what she had to, to deny the bastard what he most wanted.