She refused to look at him, instead focusing on the scenery outside her window. They were on the freeway, heading south, away from the city. Away from Travis.
Why hadn’t she at least gotten word to him of her plan? Told him her suspicions before taking off half-cocked?
No. She had to believe that, no matter their differences, Travis would find her. Find Darcy. He’d promised as much.
She was going to have faith.
…
He was going to throttle her. Slowly.
But first he had to find her.
How the hell could she take off like that without telling anyone? Without telling him. Didn’t she understand the risk? The danger she was bringing on herself? His blood went cold at the injuries that could befall her before he could find her. He knew all too well the stings and barbs that tongue of hers could unleash on someone, making them want to silence her. Just how far would she push Peter?
Travis rounded the last curve in the parking garage and finally reached the street. He held up his phone, waiting for the bars to appear. There. Three. He called Meems, putting the phone back on the seat as the microphone on the car picked up his voice. “What did you find?”
“There’s a distribution center in Herriman, but it’s open twenty-four hours and I don’t see how they could keep this kind of operation a secret with as much traffic as comes and goes there. Same for the one in Layton. However, when they first started up forty years ago, they operated out of a warehouse in Riverton. They moved operations nearly twenty years ago, but the old warehouse still shows as a Bauer holding.” She gave him the address.
That just might be it.
“The location is remote, more farm country, but I-15 is only a few minutes away,” Meems said, then paused like she was looking at something. “There’s even a private airstrip just…ten miles south.”
“I’m on my way. Thanks, Meems. I’ll keep in touch.”
“Like hell,” she said. “I’m on my way, too. You need someone to be your eyes out there, not knowing what you’re running into. I can hack into whatever security system they’ll have in play.”#p#分页标题#e#
“And your tech guy?”
“Who do you think’s driving?”
“Just be sure to keep out of harm’s way.”
She snorted. “Think you forget who you’re talking to. I have as much training as you and can sure as hell kick your ass.”
He managed a grim smile. “That you can. All right. Call me when you’re in.”
…
The run-down building surrounded by the stench of manure was the last thing Meredith had expected when the limo pulled down the gravel road. Farmland?
Where were all the high rollers? The clientele who had bank accounts large enough that Peter could spurn her two-million-dollar offer? This didn’t at all fit the opulence she’d envisioned.
Peter held a firm grip on her arm as he pulled her from the car and led her across the dirt path to the entrance. Not that he had to worry about her fleeing. Yet.
They were met by two men at the door, one of whom stayed behind as the other—somewhere in his thirties with a wicked scar that slashed diagonally across his upper lip—walked inside with them.
They were talking so low, the other man whispering in Peter’s ear, that she was having a hard time hearing the conversation, not helped by the loud clacking of her heels on the cement floor as they walked down a brightly lit, narrow hallway.
The building was bare. Spartan. Then they were at another door, waiting.
A moment passed, and there was a beep and then a click, like the door had unlocked, and the other man was pushing it open. This time the hallway was carpeted and dimly lit and far more opulent.
More in line with Peter’s taste.
It looked like a suite of offices with a visiting area outside, with a small couch and even a coffee table. Behind the couch was a wide window, but it was dark on the other side and other than the high ceilings of the warehouse, she couldn’t make anything out. Next to the window was a doorway that led out to the warehouse, but that wasn’t where they directed her. Instead, she was taken to the end office.
“Please, have a seat,” Peter said and waited until she sat on a long leather couch that ran against one wall before taking a seat behind a massive desk. “I’ll only be another minute.” He picked up the phone, leaving her to look around the room.
Classy. Dark cherry furnishings, leather couches and chairs. It was like a fancy home office or den. A home office or den that dealt in selling human beings. Behind the desk was another window, the blinds drawn, with a long credenza underneath. The window was against the same outer wall as the one outside the office. Looking at the same scene. But like the other window, it was too dark to make anything out from her vantage point.