They rolled into Peterborough from the north, having taken several side roads that meandered back and forth through the thick forests. The winding route had offered him plenty of opportunity to see if they were being followed. The area was heavily forested, houses scattered either indiscriminately on farmland or in small subdivisions. They passed a hospital, and then a short distance later, a road sign announcing the McDowell Colony—some sort of artist’s retreat or something. Further into town, there was a church on nearly every corner, then a number of family-owned restaurants, some bed and breakfasts, a couple of stores, and more trailheads than he’d seen in any small country town, even back home. A tourist town was a bad place to try to hide out in.

“Hmmm,” he muttered. “I think we’re out of luck here.” He glanced her way. “You good for another hour or so maybe? We can continue west, see what they’ve got in Keene.”

Ellie shrugged, not looking at him, her gaze riveted on the road winding its way back and forth through the close-growing forest, splashes of sunlight and shadow dancing across the windshield.

“Ellie, you okay?”

She nodded. “I’m sorry I got you into this,” she mumbled.

She’d already apologized several times, but there had never been any need for it. This was his job. A job he hadn’t wanted in the beginning, but that was long past. He wasn’t her babysitter—he’d come to realize in the last few hours driving the winding roads that he had never been. He was her lifeline, and just maybe, she’d be his. “I know you are, and it’s not . . . well, you started a stone rolling, but you didn’t know what was going to happen once it did. This has never happened to you before, has it?”

She shook her head. “I have no idea,” she began. “I don’t even know what I found.” She turned to him. “I don’t know what this is all about. Maybe between me and your guys, we can find out. But even if we do, how in the world are we going to get out of this? It’s obvious that they don’t want—”

He interrupted before she could work herself into a state again. If there’s one thing he needed, it was to keep Ellie calm. She couldn’t do what she needed if she was losing it. Besides, even a hint of tears from her tore at his heartstrings. “You know what my mom always used to say?” She gave him a look and he grinned. “Don’t put the cart before the horse. I never really understood it back then, but as I grew older, I did. Let’s take this one step at a time. First, safety. Second, computer. Then we’ll plan our next step, okay?”

She nodded, saying nothing, but her hands rested in her lap unclenched. The sight gave him more satisfaction than he was expecting. With one last glance at her gorgeous profile, Asher turned back to the road. They rode in silence for the next hour.

They rolled into Keene at about four o’clock in the afternoon. Bigger than Peterborough, the town of Keene, settled in 1736 according to the sign as they approached, was a typically northeastern town; it was a combination of centuries of history with historical buildings and modern amenities. Hotels, coffee shops, boutique stores, and more. Keene was also home to the state college, a number of conservation and nature preserves, parks, and shopping centers. He drove around a few roundabout streets, just looking, but also paying attention to what he saw in his rearview mirror. He hadn’t spotted a car following them, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t there. They hadn’t yet seen who—

“There’s a shopping center over there.”

He glanced at Ellie, who was pointing out the window to her right. He turned at the next corner, went around the block, and pulled into the parking lot of a small shopping center, at least by Boston standards. A couple of retail stores, an office supply store, and a pharmacy.

“Perfect,” he said, gesturing toward the office store as he pulled into a parking space. “We can get a laptop in there. I hope.” He gazed along the front of the mall. In front of a pharmacy stood two phone booths. “I’ve got to check in with my boss. You want to go into the office store and see if they have any decent computers? I’ll meet you in there in a few minutes.” He hadn’t noticed a tail, and all his evasive maneuvers had to count for something. Besides, he would be able to see the front entrance of the store from the phone. He’d know if anyone followed her in. He had to keep her safe, but Asher knew what would happen if he never let her have a moment of peace. Ellie was already stressed, but if she was anything like the geekier members of his team, a few minutes alone with the hardware would soothe her soul. Besides, it might give him a break from the almost-permanent semi he’d had since he’d made her come the night before. He never thought a moment would come when he’d be glad for being followed by someone trying to kill them, but it had made for a good distraction from sitting right next to Ellie for hours on end and not being able to touch her. Last night had been heaven on earth, but he couldn’t let himself lose focus again. Next time, it might be at the cost of her life, and that was something Asher couldn’t bear to even think about.

The quiet clink of a seatbelt unlatching pulled him out of his morbid thoughts. Ellie opened the car door, and without a backward glance, walked quickly into the office supply store. He watched her disappear behind an aisle and then stepped out of the car himself and headed for the phone booths. One of them was out of service, but the other looked operable. Inserting several coins, he dialed Jackson’s number, added a few more quarters, and waited for him to answer. After several rings, he did.

“Asher, where are you?”

“A town called Keene,” he said. “New Hampshire.” He turned his back to the wall, gaze skimming over the parking lot, still watching for anything suspicious. “Ellie’s in an office store to look at computers. We’ll get ourselves another laptop. She has an idea. Got anything on your end?”

“A little bit. Tansy was able to do some superficial searching on this company without triggering any alarm bells, on the Guardian Knights. The CEO is a guy named Clay Mosby. He’s supposedly clean, runs a security company for contractors in the Middle East, mainly Qatar and Saudi Arabia.”

“Supposedly clean?”

“Squeaky. Which alerted my suspicions, of course. No one in this business is that neat and tidy. We both know their company doesn’t have the best reputation, especially . . .”

“Most of their employees are former military, just like us, Jackson.”

“Yeah, except that we all have honorable discharges.”

“Mercenaries, then? Find out anything else?”

“Not yet. You have a place to hunker down for the night or do you plan on driving until you hit the Canadian border?”

“I’ll find a place. I’m going to drive around some of the rural roads, try a secluded bed and breakfast or out-of-the-way motel somewhere where it’ll be easier to notice any unusual activity. But I’m afraid that any strangers, including us, might stick out like a sore thumb, especially with Massachusetts plates.”

“Got it,” Jackson said. “Gimme a minute.” The familiar sound of a tapping keyboard echoed down the phone line. “Okay, there’s a few car rental places along Main Street. You want to switch?”

“Yeah, something with four-wheel-drive if you don’t mind. That’ll help, especially in this country.”

“I’ll make a call. Give it thirty minutes. Problem is, if you’re using your real ID . . .”

“Anyone following us will find out real fast,” Asher filled in. “I haven’t seen anything yet, but that doesn’t mean they’re not back there. I’m doing my best to shake anyone, but I guess we won’t know for sure . . .” He didn’t finish the sentence. They wouldn’t know for sure unless something happened. Jackson didn’t finish the sentence, either. Asher changed the subject. “So this guy, Clay Mosby. Who is he?”

“On the surface, a retired Army colonel, West Point grad, exemplary service record, but we’re still digging.” He paused. “So, what was this idea that Ellie had?”

Asher swept his gaze across the parking lot. Ellie emerged from the office store giving him a thumbs-up and meandered her way toward him. “She was thinking about something like a Trojan horse. We go at it from one end and coordinate with you, while you go at them from another. It’s two breaches, so if they see both of them, they’ll be splitting their focus. Maybe give one of us a chance to find something concrete, something that we can take—”

“Got it,” Jackson said.

The phone made a noise and an automated operator came on the line telling him to deposit another fifty cents.

“Never mind,” Jackson said quickly. “Call me when you get settled in for the night. We’ll coordinate.”

With that, the call disconnected. Asher hung up the phone and turned to Ellie. “Find something?”

She nodded. “I did, but even with the bare bones and guts, it’s still gonna cost about five hundred bucks.”

“All right, let’s get it, and then go next door and get us a change of clothes and some personal hygiene items.” He grinned down at her. “We can’t have you running for your life with bad breath, can we?”

She grinned up at him and then turned around and headed back into the office store. He followed, smiling himself as he entered the store.

A half hour later, they climbed back into the car with a laptop and two plastic bags from the retail store. He was running short on cash, so tonight when he updated Jackson, he’d have to arrange to pick up some more. They each now had a change of clothes: jeans, T-shirts, lightweight windbreakers, underwear, toothpaste, deodorant . . . for the first time all day, Ellie seemed to shrug off the shroud of depression that had settled over her.

He understood. It was one thing to have your life turned upside down, but somehow, things didn’t seem so dire when you at least had a plan of action. At least, that’s how it felt.

“First thing we have to do is ditch this car and get another. Jack—my boss has already arranged it. We’ll be much less noticeable driving a car with New Hampshire plates.”

Within the hour, Asher smiled, driving a Jeep Wrangler out of the driveway of the rental place, much more satisfied with this vehicle than with the sedan. If they had to, they could disappear into the mountains in this thing.

“Hungry?” he turned to ask. She nodded. “Hope you’re not picky then. There’s a burger joint on the corner over there.”

“Fine with me.”

In a matter of minutes, loaded up with laptop, shopping, and now burgers, fries, and cokes, they left downtown Keene. Asher traversed several streets, taking a roundabout way through the outskirts, looking for the ubiquitous bed and breakfast locations as well as small, mom-and-pop owned motels scattered throughout the region.

“Motel or bed and breakfast?” he asked, the scent of French fries and cheeseburgers permeating the interior of the Jeep.

She seemed to give it some thought and then turned to him. “I think a motel, preferably one with separate cabins might be best . . . a bed and breakfast no . . . no, I don’t feel right about that.”

He glanced at her. Ellie’s smile had fallen away, replaced by a somber expression. He understood, as much as he wished he did not. It was part of the job. People were after them. Bad people who didn’t seem to care about collateral damage. Innocent people could die in a bed and breakfast, and while the same held true for motel, it seemed less risky.

“Got it,” he said. He made a U-turn, and they returned the way they had come down a winding rural road several miles north of downtown Keene. The woods closed in on the highway as approaching dusk cast long shadows across the road. An orange-yellow glow in the sky quickly morphed into a darker bluish-purple. At any other time, he might have found sunset in the north country beautiful. At that moment, he was focused on anything but.

They found a motel, and Ellie waited in the Jeep as he registered. He’d gotten lucky and found an older motel that had separate cabins, many of which rented out by the week or month. Probably for anglers and hunters during season. He had asked the manager for the most secluded cabin, gotten a sly wink and nod in return.

“You kids have fun now,” the manager grinned, handing over the key fob and a small brochure advertising several things to do and sights to see in the area.

It was probably just as well that the manager had come to the wrong impression. He turned to glance over his shoulder as he opened the heavy glass door. “I knew this was a perfect spot for a honeymoon. Thanks.”

He grinned and turned away, the sound of the manager’s soft chuckle abruptly cut off when the glass door closed. He sighed and made his way over to the Jeep, gaze skimming the trees nestled up close to the structures. The cabin they had been assigned had a medium-sized window that looked over the front parking lot a short distance away. A small dirt trail led from the parking lot to the cabin set close against the wood line. As they left the car carrying their things, their feet crunched against the dry pine needles and pine cones. Good. A natural alarm.

They entered the motel room and placed their purchases on the bed closest to the door. He turned, locked the door, and slid the chain into place. “By the way, we’re married.”

Ellie whipped her head around, eyes wide with surprise, mouth open. “What?”

He gestured with his thumb over his shoulder. “The manager. He made a comment when I asked him for the most secluded cabin. I boosted his impressions, told him that we were on our honeymoon.” Ellie frowned, and he couldn’t resist a chuckle. “If anybody is following us, and if they check here, the manager might mention a couple, but maybe also mention the couple on their honeymoon . . .”

“Got it,” she sighed, grabbing the food and stepping over to the small, round table in the corner of the room in front of the window. She pulled the drapes and sat down while Asher brought the drink carrier now tilted precariously on the mattress over to the table as Ellie dug inside the bag, divvying up the food.

After scarfing half his hamburger in a few bites, he looked up at Ellie, in the process of devouring her hamburger as well, just not as fast. She glanced up at him just then, self-consciously paused, then offered a shrug.

“I don’t usually eat like a pig,” she said, mouth half full. “But I’m starving.”

He laughed again. “Not to worry. I’m the one inhaling my food.” He quickly took another huge bite, chewed, and then swallowed. “After we’re done eating, you go ahead and get onto the computer, tell me what you need me to do.” He glanced at the landline phone on the bedside table nestled between the double beds. “When you’re ready, I’ll make a call.”

She made a gesture with her hand, shaking her head. “First, I have to look around. Albeit quickly. There’s something I want to check first. After I have some basic information, which will only involve snooping around the perimeter of their database, we can coordinate with your guys.”

“What do you want to check?”

“I’m not sure if it’s connected to the Guardian Knights, and it might be completely coincidental and innocent, but—”

“Ellie, I don’t believe in coincidences.” He picked up several fries before looking back at her. “If you think there’s something we should be concerned about, spit it out.”

She sighed. “The last time I did some digging, I was able to hack into their email server. I only caught a glimpse, but I recognized a name.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “And?”

“And it belongs to a United States senator serving on the National Defense Committee.”

“Name?” Asher asked, dropping the fries down onto his hamburger wrapper. His heart thudded, and his appetite vanished. Maybe he would need to get hold of Jackson again sooner than he had planned.

“Nathan Chambers.”

Asher sighed and slowly set the remains of his hamburger down on the wrapper. He wiped his mouth on a napkin, stood, and walked toward the phone as Ellie watched him, wide-eyed with surprise.

Without caring that she could hear him this time, he picked up the phone, listened for the dial tone—and any telltale indication that someone else was listening in on the line. He punched the numbers for Jackson’s phone, waited while it rang once, and then was picked up.

“Got another name for you,” he said without preamble or creating. Before Jackson could even say anything, he spoke again. “Nathan Chambers.”

“Shit.”

“You got that right.”

Asher hung up.