They had been over this topic at least ten times, and each time he tried to reassure her that he had forgiven her misjudgment. She never should have gone after Avery with that car, not only because of the danger to herself, but also because she very well might have killed her. Jilly had been so proud of her careful research. She’d done her own surveillance, discovered the dusty old Cadillac was owned by a woman who never drove it, and had been so clever in the way she’d gotten into the apartment and stolen the keys. She’d had fun too, dressing up as a policewoman collecting for the widows’ fund.

Still, Jilly hadn’t thought the plan through. When he gently pointed out that if she had killed Avery, Carrie certainly would have canceled her vacation plans, Jilly was mortified. Now she always checked with him first so that she wouldn’t do anything rash. He liked the way she looked up to him, trusted him to know what was best.

“I’ll meet you at our designated spot. Now, here’s what I want you to do,” he began.

She listened, growing more excited as he explained the details. When he was finished, she giggled. “It’s perfect, darling. Absolutely perfect.”

Chapter 13

HIS NAME IS DALE SKARRETT,” AVERY SAID, “AND HE’S IN prison now.”

“Where?” John Paul asked.

“Florida,” she answered. “He came up for parole a couple of years ago, and Carrie and I went to the hearing. We each spoke to the board, and they listened to what we had to say. We’re the reason he didn’t get out.”

“So he has a real good reason for wanting both of you dead.”

“Yes.”

“What’d he do?”

She hated bringing those memories back to the surface. It made the wounds fester again.

“I’ll explain later,” she said, buying herself time.

“What’d he do?” he calmly repeated.

She turned away from him to stare out the window. “He murdered my grandmother,” she answered. She anxiously looked at the watch. “We have twenty-three minutes left to get to God only knows where. What should we be looking for?”

He knew she was trying to make him focus on the problem at hand so that he wouldn’t ask her any more questions. Eventually she would tell him what he wanted and needed to know if they were going to get through this alive, but he didn’t press her now for the grim details. Like she said, they had only twenty-three minutes to go.

“We look for anything that doesn’t belong.”

They were still climbing higher and higher as they wound around the mountain. Avery had lost her sense of direction, but thankfully, John Paul hadn’t.

Sunlight was streaming in through the branches again, and the area wasn’t quite as thick with evergreens. She thought they were getting closer to an open area or a summit. Would they be sitting ducks?

“We’re going to get nosebleeds if we keep climbing. Are you cold?” she asked.

“No.”

He knew she was. He’d noticed her rubbing her arms a minute ago. He reached over and flipped on the heater. Avery immediately adjusted the vents so the hot air would blow on her arms.

“What do you think she meant?”

“What?”

“When the woman said ‘boom.’ I keep picturing those women tied to chairs with explosives.”

“Maybe,” he said. “Or maybe they’re inside something that’s wired.”

“There are caves and old shafts around here, aren’t there?”

“Yes,” he said. “There are hundreds of them.”

She checked the time again. “Twenty-one minutes.”

“I’m aware of the time,” he snapped.

“Can’t you go any faster?”

“You want to drive?”

“No,” she said. She realized her frustration and fear were misdirected. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to criticize. I know you’re doing the best you can.”

It occurred to her then that she didn’t know much about the man she had so eagerly jumped into the car with. No, that wasn’t true. She knew enough to trust his ability. He had proven himself capable when he was in the military. Hopefully, the skills he’d learned would come in handy, if he still remembered them.

She decided to find out. “Were you any good at what you used to do before you took a leave of absence?”

The question jarred him. “What are you talking about?”

“You were in the military.”

He gave her a sharp look. “How do you know that?”

“I had a friend look you up in the computer where she works.”

She waited for a reaction. She was ready with a good reason for invading his private life if he asked. He didn’t, though. In fact he didn’t say anything for a while.

“When did you do that?”

“Look you up? When I was in the manager’s office at the spa. You had left to go find Cannon.”

“You did a background check on me.” He seemed to be having trouble believing her.

“Yes, I did.”

The glare he cast her should have scalded her face. “Where does this friend of yours work?”

“Quantico.”

Uh-oh. He didn’t take the news well at all.

“Son of a . . .” he began.

“You were a Marine,” she blurted.

She watched him take a breath and knew he was trying to keep his temper under control. Oh, yes, he was angry; his neck had turned pink. It didn’t matter to her, though. She had done what she had to do, and he was going to have to deal with it.

The muscle in his jaw flinched. Lord, he was good-looking. The thought came out of nowhere. Jeez, Avery, get a grip. For all she knew, the man could be paying alimony to eight ex-wives. She quickly discounted the Henry VIII notion right away. There couldn’t possibly be eight women in the United States willing to marry him. No way.

“You were a Marine,” she repeated.

“So?”

She had to grab hold again when he swerved to avoid a tree trunk. There were deep ruts in the dirt from other cars or trucks that had ventured up this road, but it was so isolated, so . . . quiet she was a little unnerved. She felt completely out of her element. She was a big-city girl who fell asleep to the music of car horns and police sirens. The silence now seemed almost deafening.

Swarms of gnats scattered as they hit the windshield. Avery picked up the watch and checked the time again. Seventeen minutes left.

John Paul kept glancing over at her. She thought he expected her to finish what she’d started.

“So that was good to know,” she said.

“Why?”

“Marines are trained in combat, and that could be helpful.” He didn’t respond to her observation. “I also found out you were recruited by covert—”

He didn’t let her finish. “Look, I know what I was. You don’t have to go into it.”

Damn. She had been hoping he would finish for her and tell her what she didn’t know. Had he been in special ops or covert operations? And what exactly had his expertise been?

She looked at the map while she gathered her gumption. She couldn’t find out unless she asked, could she?

“So what exactly did you do?”

“Don’t you know?”

“Your file was classified.”

“I would bet so.”

There it was, that snide tone of voice again. “Did they teach you to be obnoxious, or were you born that way? You’ve got that alienation thing down pat.”

“Avery, leave it alone.”

“You don’t scare me.”

His eyes narrowed as he looked over at her again. “Yeah, I do.”

“Oh, brother.”

He smiled in spite of his bad mood. Maybe he didn’t scare her. Interesting, he thought. And different.

“Do you think the two of them are together? Monk and the woman who called me?”

“I don’t know. If the missing women are still alive and if he’s tied them up or hidden them somewhere that’s really isolated, then he could be with her. He’s got a lot going on,” he said. “If the women are still alive.”

“He has to keep his eye on them. And he has to follow us.”

“I don’t think he’s following us.”

“But he’s tracking us, isn’t he?”

He almost smiled. “How?” he asked. He already knew the answer, but he was curious to know if she had figured it out.

“There’s some kind of device inside the watch.”

“Yes,” he said. “He knows exactly where we are.”

She shivered. The killer was monitoring their progress. “Shouldn’t we get rid of it?”

“No, I don’t want to do that. I think we should use it to our advantage. Let’s wait and see what happens when we get near the X.”

Avery picked up the watch and looked at it carefully. “There isn’t a single scratch or mark on it to indicate someone’s tampered with it.”

“Monk’s a professional. He wouldn’t leave any marks.”

“So he knows all about transmitters? He understands that technology?”

“Yes, he does.”

“How do you know so much about him?”

“I read his file.”

“The FBI file?” Her eyes widened. “If you’re on leave, that’s got to be illegal.”

“I’m sure it is.”

“John Paul, you could get into serious trouble.”

She sounded worried about him. She was just chock full of surprises, and what a piece of work she was turning out to be. If he didn’t watch out, he would start to like her.

“I’ve got connections who could bail me out,” he said.

“Like your brother-in-law?”

“How’d you know about Theo?” he asked.

“When my friend pulled up your file for me, she told me.”

“Having a relative working in the Justice Department comes in handy.”

“You don’t like your brother-in-law?”

What an odd question. “Sure I do. My sister loves him, and they’re happy together. Why would you ask me that?”

“You sneered the words ‘Justice Department.’ ”

He smiled. She was a quick study. “I didn’t sneer.”

She decided not to argue with him. “Do you think the woman who called me hired Monk?”

“Could be,” he said, “but I don’t think so. From what you said about her, he’s letting her call the shots. I think she might be more like a partner. It’s so damn odd. Monk never played games before. So why the treasure hunt?”

“I don’t know.”

“We might catch a break if the woman is making some decisions. Maybe she isn’t quite the perfectionist he is.”

“She’s someone who knows Carrie and me.”

“Because?”

“The way she talked. Her tone was mocking when she said Carrie’s name. She doesn’t like her.”

“That’s a given.”

“Which means she’s interacted with her.”

“What about you?”

“She called me stupid. I’ve got to assume she doesn’t like me either,” she said dryly.

“No kidding.”

“Maybe it’s just that Skarrett has told her about us. But the way she talked . . . it sure sounded like this was personal to her.”

Avery picked up the Swatch watch again and then gingerly placed it back in the cup holder. She could almost visualize a red light inside, pulsating like a heart. The image creeped her out.

John Paul was a good driver. She decided to let him worry about getting stuck in the mud and nicking a tire on a rock. Closing her eyes, she leaned back and let her mind move from one possibility to another. What was she missing? She felt as though she had the answer to this crazy puzzle in the back of her mind, but she couldn’t quite reach it.

“How much time’s left?” As soon as she told him, he said, “I don’t know what we’re going to barrel into, so listen up. You do whatever I tell you. If I tell you to get down, don’t argue. Just do it. Once I figure out where the X is, I’m gonna try to bypass it some way and then circle around. You’ll stay in the car.”

“I have to show.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Are you crazy? Of course I have to,” she argued. “The woman said they would kill Carrie and the others if we’re late. If I don’t show my face . . .”

“Did this woman offer you any proof that they’re still alive? Did you ask for any?”

“No,” she said. “I should have, but I didn’t. The conversation was short, and she wouldn’t let me ask questions.”

“Then you should have said no.”

“Tell her I wouldn’t play her game?”

“Yeah,” he said. “That’s what I would have done.”

She shook her head. “I don’t believe you. But, I’m sorry I didn’t ask for proof. I should have.”

“Should have, could have . . . it’s too late now. I figure we’ve got a ninety percent chance of walking into a trap, so I want—”

She wouldn’t let him finish. “I told you, I don’t have a choice. I have to show. I’m hoping I can figure out a way to placate the madwoman.”

“Placate a madwoman? That’s a contradiction, isn’t it?”

“Don’t be a smart . . .”

He raised an eyebrow. “Smart ass? Is that what you were going to say?”

“No.”

“Then what?” he challenged.

She became defensive. “Look, if you want to bail, that’s fine with me. Just get me to the X and take off.”

“I’m not going to bail.”

“Okay, then,” she replied, irritated she’d sounded so relieved. “I know there’s a good chance Monk has already dug our graves, but if you think I’m going to hide in the woods and hope for the best, then you’re out of your mind.”

“All I’m trying to say is that, if I’m lucky, maybe I’ll spot him and be able to get close.”

“And you don’t want to worry about me. You want blind obedience.”

“Exactly.”

“Two heads are better than one.”

“How much survival training have you had?”