Page 84 of Operation Protector
She spun around as fast as the dog had and hurried over to where Hayley was waiting, arriving in time to see him clear the fence again. Hayley murmured something soft and loving to the amazing animal as she opened the tiny container and pulled a tightly rolled piece of paper, larger than the previous ones had been.
Ali you have to help me!!! She pulled me out of class. Some stranger is here. She’s packing stuff. She told me we’re going away and not coming back. I asked her where and she said I didn’t need to know. I asked her why and she wouldn’t answer. I said what about Daddy, and she got really mad and said it’s all his fault. Help!
“So she’s going to run,” Ali said.
“Or try to,” Hayley said, with a hint of steel in her voice that calmed Ali a bit. She reached for the Foxworth phone. But before she even picked it up, the red light lit up and the urgent-sounding notification went off. Hayley hit the red button. Quinn’s voice came through immediately.
“We think she’s making a move.”
“We know she is,” Hayley countered, and relayed the contents of Grace’s note. “What happened on your end?”
“Liam’s been monitoring, and in touch with our contact over in Everett at the airport. He heard the pilot of the charter jet they use just filed a flight plan. Two passengers. And one of them is a child.”
Chapter 38
“It was filed IFR,” Quinn said.
Before he could ask, Colby heard Hayley explain it in her response.
“Instrument Flight Rules?” she asked. “But it’s severe clear out.”
Colby recognized the local term for this kind of day, when you could see from Mount Rainier to Canada. His brow furrowed as he studied the video feed from the cameras at Ali’s house.
“Exactly,” Quinn said. “Why not just Visual Flight Rules? So Liam kept digging. Turns out the only real weather anywhere close is some heavy clouds with potential snow later tonight hitting the Rockies, west of Denver.”
Colby tensed and his gaze snapped back to Quinn. “Her family has an office in Denver, and a house in Beaver Creek. Near Vail.”
Quinn looked at him. “Address of the house?”
Colby gave a disgusted shake of his head. “I don’t know. I’ve never been there. Grace either. I only know about it because I overheard her father bragging about it to someone. About how big the house is, and what big wheels they are around there.”
“Liam!” Quinn yelled toward the stairway.
“On it!” came a return yell from the second floor, reminding Colby all of this was going on live via those rather heavy-duty Foxworth phones.
Quinn looked back at Colby. “Her father bragged about it, but she never told you about it?”
“No.”
He didn’t even try to explain how typical that was, that once he’d refused to become part of their world, they shared nothing with him.
“So she has every reason to think you don’t know anything about it?”
“Yeah, I—” Belatedly it hit him. “So it’s the perfect place to hide Grace.”
Quinn nodded. “Liam,” he called out again, “you copy that part about her pulling Grace out of class?”
“Already called Ria,” came the answer.
Quinn turned back to Colby. “Ria is his wife. She’s also a local teacher, who knows several others who work at Grace’s school. She’s already reached out and they’re checking for us.”
Colby wondered if the Foxworth network had no end. Then Hayley’s voice came over the speaker.
“Ali and I could go over there, see if we can find out anything.”
“Put that on hold,” Quinn said. “We don’t know who that guy who arrived is yet.”
Hayley sounded tense. “We need to be sure before we commit. If we guess wrong…”
