Marine's Mission - Rebecca Deel Page 0,17
her face, Owen wrapped his arms around Gigi. “We’re one step closer to finding Toni,” he murmured. “I’ll send the footage to Fortress and ask a tech to enhance the image of the license plate and kidnappers.” The Fortress facial recognition system was better than the one he and his brothers used in the sheriff’s office.
“What if the SUV is stolen, too?”
“It might be,” he admitted. “Every step we move along the timeline, the closer we are to finding Toni.”
“Will it be in time to save her?”
Yeah, Gigi was a smart woman. Owen was as concerned as she was. He tightened his hold on her. “Don’t lose hope. We’re just getting started.” More concerning to him was the fact that the men didn’t find what they were after. If Toni didn’t hand over the item or tell the men where to find it, they might come after Gigi. Those men got a good look at G when she was unconscious in the SUV. With a little pressure on Toni, they’d have Gigi’s name and address.
After another moment indulging his need to hold her, Owen eased back. “Come on. We need to tell David what we saw and send the footage to Fortress.”
Owen threaded his fingers through hers and led her to the parking lot.
David glanced over his shoulder as they approached. “Did you get the security feed?”
“Yeah. I want to send the footage to Fortress. Hawthorne’s security cameras aren’t the best. I hope Zane can clean up the images to give us clearer pictures of the perps and a license plate.” He held up a hand. “I know. Caleb can do it, but he needs sleep and the clock’s ticking.” Caleb was a whiz with computers. Maybe not in the same league as Zane Murphy or Jon Smith, another Fortress operative who had mad computer skills, but Caleb could all but make a computer sit up and sing.
His brother gave a nod. “Do it. What did you see on the security footage?”
Owen summarized his observations. “I don’t know what these guys were looking for, but they didn’t find it.”
David’s expression grew grim. “They’ll be back.”
“I’ll be ready.” Those thugs would have to go through him to get to Gigi.
Her hand tightened around Owen’s. “What does that mean?”
“Someone tossed Ellis’s apartment, looking for something. When they didn’t find it, they went after Toni, figuring either she had what they want, or they plan to use her for leverage to force Ellis to cooperate. If Ellis refuses to cooperate, they’ll be back.”
Her eyes widened. “They might come after me? But I don’t have what they want. Toni didn’t give me anything last night.”
“Those men don’t know that.”
Elliot grunted. “If they’re desperate, they’ll use you as leverage to force Toni to give them the object, Gigi.”
“Enough, bro,” Owen said. This was not the time for his taciturn brother to become a motormouth. Gigi had been through enough.
“Want me to lie to her?”
“I want you to drop the subject.” Owen glared at his brother. “I’ll handle it.”
“We all will.” David narrowed his eyes. “This is a joint effort, Owen. You’re not behind enemy lines by yourself.”
He held up his hand to hold off his brother’s lecture. “Look for a tracking device on Toni’s car.”
“Why?” Elliot asked.
“There was a fifteen-minute gap between the time Toni showed up here and the kidnappers’ arrival.”
His brothers exchanged glances. David inclined his head toward the car. Elliot glanced at the puddles surrounding the car and snorted. “You just don’t want to get wet.”
David scowled. “Like you, I was a SEAL. SEALs aren’t afraid of a little water.”
“Could have fooled me,” Elliot groused. He stalked toward the car, pulled a Fortress electronic signal detector from his pocket, and turned on the device.
“What’s he doing?” Gigi asked as she watched Elliot circle Toni’s car slowly.
“Looking for a GPS tracker.”
“By looking at that black gadget?”
His lips curved. “It’s an electronic signal detector. The chaser lights are green until it detects an electronic signal, then the lights turn red.”
“Does it catch everything?”
“As long as there’s a signal, yes.”
Gigi’s gaze shifted to Owen. “Why wouldn’t there be a signal?”
“The battery died, the tracker was deactivated remotely, or there is no tracker.”
“If her car doesn’t have a tracker, how would the kidnappers find Toni?” She frowned. “Wait a minute. The only way that could happen is if the kidnappers knew where she was going. Do you think they overheard Toni asking me to meet her here?”
“That’s one possibility.”
Understanding dawned in her eyes. “No way. Toni