Chapter Four

Tex

The summer storm was thick and brutal and made my leg throb like a bitch in my prosthetic, but I still pushed myself through the airport toward the car rental place as fast as I could go. Times like these, I really hated my limitations, but I had to trust I’d get to Melody and the girls in time. There were no other options.

I yanked my phone from my pocket and tried her again as I jogged down the corridor. Still no answer.

I shot a quick text to Wolf. News?

Wolf: Still rounding everyone up. You have the girls?

Tex: Not yet. At airport. Bad storm.

Wolf: Be careful, man.

Tex: Anything from Maverick?

Wolf: He made it to Biloxi and has your cuz. It’s all good, man. Just take care of Melody and the girls and get home. We’ve got this.

Tex: I appreciate it.

Tex: I’ll check in when I can.

Wolf: K

I pocketed my phone as I got to the car rental counter, startling the poor clerk.

“Can I help you, sir?”

“John Keegan,” I barked, not caring if I was brusque. “I have a reservation.”

She blinked at me then began typing quickly on her keyboard. “Yes, sir. Right here.”

I impatiently handed her my ID and credit card, signing the appropriate forms and grabbing my keys. I nodded my thanks then jogged out the doors toward the lot to find the SUV I’d rented and peeled out of the parking lot, my wife and daughters on my mind.

The storm continued to beat down in fierce sheets, making my heart pound furiously. Had someone already gotten to them? Was I too late? Why the hell wouldn’t she answer her phone? Since Hope had been born, she’d been notoriously forgetful about turning on her ringer, not wanting to wake the baby, but damn it, I needed to hear her voice. The only saving grace in this situation was the tracker I had on her showed that reassuring red marker still at the small retreat deep in the Allegheny Mountains.

But that doesn’t mean they’re safe, my heart screamed. I wouldn’t rest until I set my eyes on them or at least heard her voice.

I’d used my time on the short airplane ride here to do what I could to figure out where these damn threats were originating from. So far, El Lobo Blanco was a mystery. What I did know was that he or she was a hacker of supreme intelligence, which made them extremely dangerous. I’d also managed to piece together some intel from the FBI, ATF, and DEA that pointed to a new leader of the drug cartel that had abducted Senator Lytle’s daughter, Julie, and Cookie’s wife, Fiona, as being responsible for this mess. We’d taken down their old leader a few months ago, but there was a new sheriff in town and he was obviously interested in making a name for himself by exacting his revenge on those of us responsible for the death of his mentor.

Marco Esteban.

Younger than his predecessor by a decade, he was slicker, meaner, and obviously more than willing to play dirty.

The other information I’d managed to find on the flight was about my cousin, Rebekah Anne Keegan. Now that had really thrown me for a loop. I thought I knew all there was to know about my family tree, but she’d come out of nowhere. A mystery, but I had to admit, a pleasant surprise, and one that made perfect sense when I thought about it.

I didn’t talk much about my Uncle Charlie because he was a drunk son-of-a-bitch and he and my father never got along. He was the black sheep of the family and honestly, I never really knew him and you can’t miss what you don’t know. A little digging told me not many other people missed him either, including his young bride, Ruth, who he left when she was seventeen and pregnant, only to get killed in a bar fight a few years later. Ruth was killed herself in a car accident when their daughter, Rebekah, was only three years old, leaving Ruth’s parents to raise their little girl, and who, understandably, kept her far, far away from the Keegans.

Apparently, from what I could find, her grandmother had passed away a couple of years ago, and now it was just her and her grandfather. I wondered what they’d told her about her Keegan blood. What she knew about her father. About me. If she had been threatened because of my life. I had to hope Maverick had her safe and that we could meet and make up for lost time soon . . . but first, I had to get my family safe.

I turned onto the highway, driving entirely too fast through the downpour, and headed toward the mountains.

“I’m coming, girls. Just hold on.”