Page 68 of Wild Sentinel

We caught up to Brooke.

Jack crossed the double yellows again and pulled alongside her. I shouted, "I'm not going to hurt you. If I was going to hurt you, I would have done so by now.”

An 18-wheeler approached, honking his horn, flashing his lights. It was a lot bigger than we were, and it closed in quickly.

Jack sped up and swerved back into our lane in front of Brooke, just in the nick of time.

The 18-wheeler rumbled past, its horn warbling.

Brooke slowed, then stopped in the middle of the highway.

Jack pulled to the shoulder.

We both looked through the rear window, waiting for her to make her next move.

After a beat, she drove forward and pulled behind the Porsche.

I hopped out with my badge in hand and approached with my hands in the air. I stopped at the back of the Porsche, waiting for her to do something. Jack kept an eye on the highway in case the goons showed up.

Brooke climbed out of the car with a pistol in hand. She kept it aimed at the ground. "Tell me who you are and exactly what you want."

"It's a long, complicated story."

"What happened to Autumn?”

I told her everything I knew. "We need to get you somewhere safe.”

"I felt pretty safe until you two showed up."

"That was an illusion. The two men in the coffee shop… They're looking for you.”

"Who are they?”

"I was hoping you could tell me.”

She said nothing.

“Jonathan Edwards was shot. Charles McGinnis was killed during a break-in. Michelle Morgan went missing. Adam Baxter, who also worked at Meridian with you, is missing. This is all connected to RSS. The parent company of your employer.”

"Former employer. I don't work there anymore.”

"You want to tell me what this is all about?”

40

"Is your phone off?" I asked.

Brooke nodded.

"Don't ever turn it on again. In fact, you should toss it right now.”

Brooke hesitated for a moment. She wasn’t sold on ditching her only line of communication.

I hadn’t seen another car on the highway since our close encounter with the 18-wheeler. But we were too exposed here. This wasn’t the best place to have a conversation.

"Hop in the car," I said. "Let's talk.”

It was getting hot, and the desert sun could burn you to a crisp in no time.