Hot Velocity

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Sierra laughed. “My thoughts exactly.” For a long moment, her smile lingered. Then it disappeared altogether.

T-Rex found himself wanting to make her smile again.

“Speak of the devil.” Sierra nodded toward the entrance and ducked her head.

T-Rex glanced in the direction indicated.

Clay Ellis strutted into the tavern, cocky as hell, sneering at anyone who dared to give a friendly greeting.

“Don’t worry. He can’t hurt you here,” T-Rex said, clenching his fists beneath the table.

“I know. But he can make a fuss.” She set down her wineglass. “We can leave now, if you want.”

“I’d rather you finished your wine and I finished my beer and neither one of us lets him get to us.”

She laughed, though it sounded less than convincing. “You’re right.” She lifted her glass and sipped. “I shouldn’t let him get to me. I’m done with him.” As she spoke, she lifted her glass. Her hand shook so much, the wine spilled onto her chest. “Darn. This was my favorite sweater.” She dabbed at the stain with her napkin. When that didn’t help, she looked up. “I’d better go to the ladies’ room and see if I can get this out before it sets.”

T-Rex watched as she left their table. His gaze switched from her to where Ellis leaned against the bar, flirting with one of the waitresses trying to fill a drink order.

As far as T-Rex could tell, Ellis hadn’t seen Sierra.

“T-Rex, glad we found you.” Caveman slipped into the chair Sierra had vacated a minute before. “We’ve been looking for you.”

Kevin Garner, Ghost, Caveman and Hawkeye pulled up chairs around the little table.

“Uh, guys, I’m here with someone.”

“Yeah?” Hawkeye, the army ranger of the group of military men, glanced around. “I don’t see anyone else.”

As one, all four men craned their necks, searching the room.

“Who is she?” Ghost asked. The Navy SEAL smiled, refusing to let T-Rex off the hook.

“Who said it was a she?” T-Rex drummed his fingers on the table, willing the men to leave before Sierra returned.

Caveman laughed. “You, by the way you’re avoiding the question.” The Delta-Force soldier crossed his arms. These men weren’t going to give up until they got an answer.

“It doesn’t matter.” The only way T-Rex would get rid of them was to find out what they wanted. “What’s up?”

“Charlie found the social media site the Free America group moved to,” Ghost said. Charlie McClain was an old flame of Ghost’s who moonlighted as a cybersnoop for the Department of Homeland Security.

“And?” T-Rex prompted to move the conversation along.

Ghost leaned closer, lowering his voice so that others couldn’t hear. “There’s been more noise about a potential takeover in the very near future.”

“Any dates given?” T-Rex asked.

“No, just a general call to arms to stand ready.”

“Great. And we’re no closer to figuring out who’s involved with the Free America group?”

“Our computer gurus, Hack and Charlie, said that anyone could have set up that group from a public library,” Garner said. “The members of the group are using aliases, probably set up on public Wi-Fi systems.”

T-Rex’s fingers clenched into fists. “How much time do you think we have until they make their move?”

“We’ve known something was coming for the past couple weeks we’ve been here,” Caveman said.

Garner, the team’s leader, shrugged. “It could be a couple more weeks from now, or it could be any day. What did you find at the county records office?”

T-Rex pulled his wallet from his pocket and removed the notepad he’d used to record his notes. Then he brought up the photos of the maps on his cell phone. “Not much more than we already know. Olivia Dawson—” he glanced toward Hawkeye, who’d established a relationship with the woman “—owns this portion of land bordering the current pipeline easement.” He pointed to the middle of the map on his phone. “On the north side of the easement is the national park all the way through the mountainous area. East of the Dawson spread, the land was recently sold to Pinnacle Enterprises.”

“West of Dawson’s ranch is owned by BRE Inc.”

“Any idea who BRE Inc. is?” Caveman asked.

Garner’s lips thinned. “Bryson Rausch Enterprises.”

“The big shot in town?” Ghost asked.

Hawkeye’s brows descended. “Liv says Rausch owns half the town. He offered to buy her ranch before her father’s casket settled in his grave.”

“I can’t imagine the man risking a connection to the Free America group,” Ghost said. “Why would he? He has plenty of money.”

“I can’t help but think what’s happening with the pipeline is somehow connected with Free America.” Garner stared into the distance.

“Wayne Batson admitted he was paid to kill the pipeline inspector,” Caveman said.

“But he didn’t share the name of the guy who funded him,” Ghost reminded them.

“Hack hasn’t found the money Batson claims he was paid.”

“Unless he was paid in kind.” T-Rex’s eyes narrowed. “Do you suppose he was paid in weapons?”

“The weapons we can’t find?” Caveman asked.

“Yes, those.” T-Rex drummed his fingers on the table. “The ones that arrived in the boxes discovered in the Lucky Lou Mine.”

Garner nodded, his own eyes narrowing. “Could be.”

“We know Batson had a tactical training facility on his property and that he was training individuals there,” T-Rex reminded them.

Leaning forward, Garner’s eyes narrowed. “We can only assume they were members of the Free America group and Batson was one of them. But we have no evidence, and Batson didn’t keep written or video records of those who came for the training.”