Mortal Pursuit

49

Cain paced the cellar, stepping over debris, thinking hard.

“Last time Robinson and the girl were on the loose, they headed straight for the rear gate. Why What’s in that direction”

“The lake.” Tyler narrowed his eyes. “There’s two boats tied up at the dock.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Lilith said. “She was already there. She could’ve taken one of the boats an hour ago.”

Cain had an answer for that. “Not without the ignition key.” He stopped pacing. “The kitchen. That’s why she went in there. The cordless phone was an afterthought. She wanted keys.”

Gage was unconvinced. “Hell, she could just hotwire the ignition. Blair used to do it all the time when him and them Mexicans were swiping boats.”

“Not everybody’s as street smart as your big brother,” Lilith said with a cold smile.

Gage’s eyes narrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean”

“Nothing. Except if he’s such a piece of work, how come Robinson’s got his gun”

“You just shut up about Blair,” Gage said in a tone meant to threaten violence but conveying a greater threat of tears.

“Both of you shut up,” Cain snapped, irritated at the distraction.

Tyler got the conversation back on track. “Lilith is right. Robinson’s a rookie. She’s never even seen a chop shop or a stolen car. Couldn’t hotwire an electric toothbrush.”

“So she comes back here, gets the keys.” Cain saw it now, saw it as clearly as the room around him. “Rescuing the girl is just improvisation. What she intends to do is get away on a boat.”

“And go where” Gage asked, still belligerently skeptical for no good reason.

Cain had studied maps of this area so intensively they were now committed to memory. Other than the Kent estate, there was nothing on the lake’s perimeter but woods and a picnic area, closed to the public at dusk.

He remembered visiting the picnic area on one of his exhaustive reconnoitering trips. He’d stopped by a snack shop, bought a cheeseburger, called Lilith from a kiosk outside-

“Shit. There are phones across the lake. That’s what she’s after. She’s still trying to get through on nine-one-one.”

“How would she know about the phones” Lilith asked.

“She lives as around here, doesn’t she She’s a local. Anyway, that’s where she’s going. She can make it in five minutes-once she gets to the dock.”

Tyler unholstered his Glock, checked the magazine. “Unless we get there first.”

“Do it,” Cain said. “Take the Porsche.” The two younger men were running for the cellar stairs when he added, “Wait.”

They stopped, looking across a waste of rubble.

“If you need to get on the radio, don’t use any of the preset frequencies. She’ll be monitoring.” Cain thought for a moment. The ProCom units transmitted only on the two-meter amateur bands between 140.0 and 148.0. “Set channel one to one-four-five-point-zero. That’ll be our private frequency. She can’t find it on the scan mode.”

“Why would we need the radio” Tyler asked as he and Gage keyed in the digits. “Ain’t you coming to the party”

“Me and Lilith will have to take a rain check. We’re staying here.” He threw her a glance and saw excitement flush her pale cheeks, hectic like fever. “Time to get paid.”

Tyler grinned. “Mrs. Kent”

Cain answered with a nod. “She’s lived too long as it is.”