Catherine inhaled sharply. “Where?”
“It didn’t give a location. I’ve tracked down Natlow’s telephone number, and I’ve been calling him for the last ten minutes. No answer,” he said through set teeth. “Get that answer from Langley. We’re running out of time. According to what Jane told us, Harriet Weber should be landing in three hours.”
“You call Natlow back,” Catherine said. “I’ll get on the line to Langley.”
“Good.”
“May I suggest we get on the road,” Gallo said quietly. “Quinn is right, every minute may count.”
“Just wait until I get through to—” Her phone rang, and she glanced at the ID. “Langley.” She punched the speaker and the access button. “It’s about time. What have you got for me, Sid?”
“Success,” Sid said. “And if you’d been asking the right questions, we would have gotten it for you sooner. Kevin Relling purchased a small acreage five and a half years ago. The paperwork was buried beneath four fake companies and one legitimate franchise, but I finally dug through all the shit.”
“Near the beach?”
“On the hill above with beach access.”
“What about the driftwood?”
“Give me a break. There’s no way these records would mention driftwood.”
“Where is it?”
“Right below Oregon’s northern border with Washington.”
“On the Oregon side?”
“That’s what I said.”
“Give me the address.”
“Twelve Moonspinner Place.”
“Sickeningly poetic for the domicile of a mass murderer.”
“Yeah, anything else?”
“No. Thanks, Sid.” She hung up and jumped to her feet. Excitement was zinging through her. “Come on, we’ve got it.” She started for the door. “Gallo, do you know far it is to the Oregon border?”
“About 140 miles from here.”
“Shit.” Joe was jerking open the door. “God, it’s going to be close.”
“What about a helicopter?”
“By the time we get to the airport and rent it, we’ll have lost too much time,” Joe said. “And if Doane hears a plane overhead, it could trigger—” He broke off. “We’ll just have to break every speed record and take the fastest highway. I’ll drive, Gallo. You keep calling Natlow to verify. I’ll Google the house and area and see what we’re up against.”
A few minutes later, they were in the car and heading through the city streets. Catherine knew they couldn’t travel any faster until they got on the highway, but she was breathless, tense, and only wanted to hurry. Joe was right, it was going to be incredibly close. “What if Sid is wrong?” she asked jerkily. “Wrong address? Wrong Relling? We don’t have time for mistakes.”
“You’re borrowing trouble,” Gallo said quietly. “And I don’t believe he’s wrong. I just pulled up the Natlow photo that Quinn found in that Portland University site.” He handed her his phone. “Pretty convincing.”
Stark white branches curved in a wild, horribly macabre simile to a headstone. She felt sick as she stared at it. Death. Both Doane and Kevin had been totally absorbed with death as a means to power. This piece of driftwood was meant to fling that ugly power in the faces of anyone looking at it. She hadn’t the slightest doubt that this photo was part of Doane’s tapestry of evil.
She swallowed as she handed Gallo’s phone back to him. “Very convincing. Now let’s get to the damn place and find Eve.”
Sandhurst Airport
Washington
THE GULFSTREAM’S ENGINE WAS STILL whining as Jane, Trevor, Margaret, and Caleb ran down the steps and moved toward the blue-and-white hangar. The pilot immediately taxied into the hangar to get out of sight.
Caleb craned his neck, his gaze searing the sky. “If Venable is correct, Harriet could be arriving at any moment.”
“We just have to hope that they didn’t have a last-minute course change.” Jane glanced around the small single-runway airport located southwest of Seattle. “I thought you’d arranged a car for us.”
“I did.” Caleb pointed to a black Range Rover parked next to the hangar. “Curb service.”
A portly man in a gold shirt emblazoned with a rental-car-company logo climbed out and walked toward them with keys and contract. Caleb had barely finished signing the paperwork when Jane heard the sound of a jet in the distance. The next moment, Caleb’s iPad made a pinging sound in his satchel.
“They’re back in range,” Jane said. She looked up at the approaching plane. “That has to be them. Let’s move.”
Trevor snatched the keys from Caleb’s hand. “I’ll drive.”
“I gathered that,” Caleb said dryly.
“Come on!” Margaret had already opened the Range Rover’s rear door and was climbing into the car. “I think I see a car coming toward the airport. That may be Harriet’s welcoming committee. We have to get out of sight.”
Less than a minute later, they were idling in a small lot near the airport’s exit. Two minutes after that, a Cadillac Escalade drove past and headed toward the Learjet that had just landed.
“Whew,” Trevor said softly. “Entirely too close.”
“Two men in the front seat,” Caleb said. “That shouldn’t be too much of a problem.”
They watched as Harriet came down the steps of the Learjet carrying her overnight bag and the box of Kevin’s letters. One of the two men who had met her politely tried to take the bag from her, but she waved him aside and got into the Cadillac.
A few minutes later, the Escalade drove past their Range Rover as it exited the airport.
“Okay, here we go,” Caleb said as he looked at the iPad. “And we have a strong signal.”
Trevor slowly turned the wheel and waited until the Escalade had turned the corner before he started to follow it. Five minutes later, they had left the small town behind. Twenty minutes later, the scenery became sparse and barren, with tall grass lining the two-lane highway. The sky was overcast with a damp blanket of marine layer and only an occasional sliver of moonlight as they drew closer to the coast.
“Faster, Trevor.” Jane’s hands were clenching with tension. “I think we’re losing her.”
Trevor shook his head. “If I get any closer, she’ll see us. It’s been five minutes since we’ve seen another car.”
“No worries.” In the backseat, Caleb raised the iPad screen. “I still have her right here. Strange, she’s heading south, not north toward Seattle. But she can’t make a move without my knowing it. She’s moving fast, but not—”
Margaret’s phone rang. “It’s Catherine. Should I—”
“Not now,” Jane said, her gaze on the road ahead.
But after Margaret’s call had gone to voice mail, Jane’s phone rang. It had to be important if Catherine was going through her list trying to reach them. “Catherine, what is it?” Jane asked.
“Something good at last,” Catherine said. “I think we’ve located Doane’s cottage.”
“What?” Jane’s heart leaped. “That’s fantastic. Where is it? Are you—”
“Harriet’s stopped,” Caleb said.
Trevor eased off the gas pedal. “You’d better be sure of that.”
“Positive.”
“I’ll call you right back, Catherine.” Jane hung up.
“Where?” Trevor asked Caleb.
“About half a mile ahead. Probably just around that bend.”
Jane leaned back to glance at the iPad screen. “What’s there?”
“Nothing as far as I can tell. Absolutely nothing.” He waved his hand toward the tall grass along the road. “More of the same.”
Trevor cursed under his breath. “They may have seen us.”
“Unlikely, considering how careful you were,” Caleb said. “For once, your conservativeness may have been an actual benefit, Trevor.”
Trevor thought for a moment. “Okay, everyone get down. I’m going to do a drive past.”
“Now, that’s not a conservative move,” Caleb said.