Murder Game (GhostWalkers, #7)(97)

Ryland nodded, avoiding looking at Tansy. “And Meadows planted one of his own when he had Whitney’s removed.”

“In me?” Tansy leapt off the couch and paced across the room, whirling around to face Ryland, her fingers closed into two tight fists. “My father planted a tracking device in me? They can actually use GPS to find me?”

Ryland nodded. “I’m sorry, but yes, that’s what he told Violet. They apparently had a long conversation about how all parents should put them in at birth, and she was interested because the senator might want to bring this up and back the idea. Kidnapped children could be found easily. The conversation was all about what tracking devices could be used for, the good they could do. It also got a little technical on how they work. Violet knew how to find you.” Ryland looked at Kadan. “I spent some time with Ms. Harris, and as it turns out, Violet wanted the information about the murders and Tansy given to the reporter. Violet had her secretary leak the information.”

Tansy’s hand was still over her mouth, her eyes wide. “And the secretary just gave you all this because of the generous good heart that she has?”

“I persuaded her that if she wanted to live a few minutes longer, she’d better tell me the truth,” Ryland said without flinching away from her steady gaze.

Tansy glanced at Kadan’s impassive face. “You all play for keeps, don’t you?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Ryland answered. “We’ve dealt with these people for a long time. Our friends end up dead or tortured. Sometimes both. Violet traded your location, and basically your life, for something big that she wants. What it is I don’t know, but the reporter heard a rumor that Senator Freeman was going to undergo some kind of new, experimental brain operation. If that’s true, I’m guessing your life is the price someone was asking in order for the senator to be a candidate for the surgery.”

“So they’re going to come here and kill me.” She swallowed hard. “And all of you.”

“I would think that was the plan,” Ryland agreed. “But we have a few plans of our own.”

“Great.” Tansy swept a hand through her hair and looked at Kadan. “Can we get rid of the tracking device?”

“Yes, eventually. For now, the best we can do is jam it. I don’t want to cut you open to take it out. We need a doc for that.”

“No, we don’t. Not if it’s in my hip where the first one was. I remember having stitches in my hip. Dad told me I fell and hit my head and tore a laceration in my hip but—” She stopped abruptly and turned her face away from them. “I’m going to make tea. Does anyone want a cup?”

Kadan filled her mind with him, wrapping himself in her. He wanted to pull her into his arms, but she kept space between them. The only thing he had was his mind and he used it, pushing inside her where she was silently weeping, where the pain of her father’s betrayal cut like a knife. Even when he willed her to look at him, she kept her head down, her arms crossing her breasts in a protective gesture. He hated the separation. And he hated more that his reaction went from being about her and the pain her father caused, to him and his own need to be complete with her.

He watched her walk out and felt like she took all the warmth in the room with her. His eyes met Ryland’s. “I’ve never wanted to hurt anyone in my life the way I want to hurt her father,” he admitted.

“Man,” Ryland set the heavy bag he’d carried in onto the couch and unzipped it, “I’m sorry to have to tell her. And he bragged about it, bragged he could find her anywhere in the world. He may not have realized he set the assassins on her trail, but he did. He led them right to her.”

“She’ll handle it,” Kadan said.

“Yeah, but she shouldn’t have to,” Ryland said, dragging weapons from the bag. “I brought a few supplies. Thought they might come in handy. And I’ve got transport standing by just in case we need it.”

“Isn’t Gator’s wife really good on a computer?”

“She can hack just about anything,” Ryland confirmed.

“I’m going to need her to work on a few things for me. With her help, I think I can find and take down killers on the East Coast team, but not until Tansy handles the other team’s game pieces and gives me enough to find them. I’m going to have to eliminate them all fast so no one has time to disappear.”

“Tansy can do that? She looks a little worn.”

Kadan shook his head. “I almost lost her with the last one. We’ll have to be careful. But I can’t eliminate anyone without the others going underground. I have to know who they are.”

“I can ask Lily if there are any other trackers, but I’ve not heard of it, not legitimate ones anyway.” Ryland began pulling guns and ammunition out of the sack and spreading the cache across the couch. “So she has to handle how many more objects before we can go after them?”

“Four.”

“That burns.” He added grenades and claymore mines to the mix. “You better pack up whatever evidence you have and get it ready to move fast. We secured another house, and partially set it up. We can use this one as bait, but I doubt if they’ll be very far behind us. They’ve had the information for a while. They’ll be trying to find out who is with her.”