Seconds to Live(76)

She blinked, surprise shifting to stubbornness. “I feel the same way, which is why I won’t let you go alone.”

He put a hand to the back of his skull where tension throbbed.

She cupped his cheek. “This isn’t a one-way street. You don’t get to care about other people and not let them feel the same about you.”

“But—”

She pressed her fingertips to his lips. “Either you let me go with you, or I’ll call your brother. Putting yourself into an unnecessarily dangerous position isn’t fair to me or to Grant or Hannah. You matter.”

“Grant isn’t getting dragged into this.” Mac wouldn’t allow any danger to touch his family.

“I wasn’t suggesting Grant take my place. But he’d be able to talk you out of whatever you’re planning.” Her eyes locked on his. “I’m going with you.”

Mac had a choice. He could skip the whole visit with Freddie. He and Stella could continue to follow leads through official channels. But if he had the chance to prevent another girl from being hurt, how could he not try? Once he learned Rabbit had bolted, Freddie would pay Mac a visit. Next time maybe he wouldn’t spot the tail. Maybe he wouldn’t be prepared. The thought of Freddie’s gang showing up at his cabin—or worse, at Grant’s house—gave him the shakes. A confrontation was inevitable, and Mac would rather be the initiator.

He could lie to Stella and go alone anyway. But that felt wrong in a thousand ways.

“You’ll stay in the car.” He glanced at her cruiser. “Not that car. We’ll have to rent one.”

“We can use my Honda.”

“All right.” Mac raised his hand to his face and covered her fingers. “But you have to promise to do what I say.”

The cocky lift to her brow shouldn’t have turned him on, but then everything about this woman cranked his testosterone into overdrive.

“Unless you’re in danger,” she said.

“That’s not an answer.”

“No, it isn’t.”

“OK.” But Mac wasn’t happy with her refusal to commit.

“Where is this friend of yours?”

“He used to operate out of the rail yard, but that location got too popular with the homeless. He’s under the power lines by Hidden Lake.”

“I’ve never been there.” Stella opened her phone and pulled up a map of the area.

Mac manipulated the image and pointed at a patch of green. “It’s here.”

“Where?” Stella squinted at the display.

“It’s called Hidden Lake for a reason.”

Stella opened her car door. “Let’s change cars and get out there. I want to be back by lunchtime.”

In the driveway, they parked her police vehicle, and Stella locked her purse and badge in the trunk. She transferred her AR-15 to the Accord. “Just in case.”

“Don’t let anyone see that.” Mac wasn’t planning for Freddie to ever set eyes on her. “It will only cause trouble. There’s no shooting your way out of that gang. You’ll be ridiculously outgunned, and they have enough ammunition to turn your car into a colander.” Tension clamped down on the nape of his neck. “Maybe we should forget this whole plan.”

Stella tucked her long hair behind her ear. “I need some evidence to tie Noah Spivak to the murders, or he’s going to get bail. I’m not entirely convinced he killed Missy and Dena, but I don’t want him on the street.”

“All right.” He held out a hand. “Why don’t you let me drive? I know where we’re going.”

She handed him the keys, and Mac got behind the wheel. He shifted to grab the seat belt. Something poked him in the leg. He reached under and found one of Stella’s hairpins. “Do you shed these things?”

“Sorry. They’re always falling out.”

She reached for it, but he closed his fist around it. “I’ll hold on to it. For good luck.” He tucked it into his pocket.

“You’re weird.”

“No doubt.” But the pin reminded him of their night together, and what Stella looked like when she let her hair down.

A half hour later they bounced along a dirt road. Mac hadn’t been out to Hidden Lake in years, but he remembered the basic terrain. He stopped the car next to a fire tower, nosing the vehicle behind a patch of shrubs for concealment. Fifty feet ahead, a metal gate blocked the road. An electrified fence prevented him from walking around. “You can wait here. There’s a clearing around the bend. I’ll walk into camp.”

Overhead, the sky teemed with heavy clouds, and the wind whipped with an approaching storm.