Marine's Mission - Rebecca Deel Page 0,18
isn’t part of whatever this is. She wouldn’t set up the accident. You know her, Owen. Toni doesn’t have a mean bone in her body, and we’ve been friends since we were kids.”
“We’re exploring all possible explanations,” David murmured, laying his hand on Gigi’s shoulder. “A good cop entertains every possibility until the facts lead us one direction or another. You should keep an open mind, too.”
“Toni’s not part of this,” Gigi insisted. “If Elliot doesn’t find a tracker, there’s another explanation.”
“I hope you’re right.”
Elliot completed his circuit of the car, looked toward his brothers, and shook his head.
No tracker signal. Owen wrapped his arm around Gigi’s shoulders. For her sake, he hoped the signal had been turned off or the battery died.
His brother grabbed a small penlight and crouched at the driver’s side rear wheel well. He aimed the beam of light into the interior. After a careful perusal, Elliot moved to the passenger side and checked that wheel well. Seconds later, he leaned closer and reached into the space. He stood and approached with his hand extended. In the center of his palm lay a flat black object the size of a fingernail. “Want me to check for more?” he asked David.
A slight nod. He handed Elliot a plastic evidence bag, then turned to Owen. “Send Zane the security footage as soon as possible. Since Caleb’s at the B & B, drop off Gigi and check Ellis’s apartment. If the apartment complex management insists on a search warrant, let me know. I should be able to get a warrant within a few hours.”
Hours they might not have if they wanted to save Toni’s life. “I can get into his apartment without the warrant.”
David frowned. “I didn’t hear that. We’re not on a mission, Owen. We need to do this by the book. I don’t want to hand these guys a get-out-of-jail-free card, and you shouldn’t either. If they’re roaming free, Gigi’s still in danger.”
Owen clenched his jaw. “Yes, sir.”
“Go. Charm the management.”
With a nod, he nudged Gigi toward his SUV. Once she was safely inside, Owen climbed behind the wheel.
“If you drive me home, you have to backtrack to go to Knoxville. You’ll save time by driving straight to Ellis’s apartment complex.”
“Gigi, you just got out of the hospital. You should be home resting, not traipsing around the countryside on what’s likely to be an exercise in frustration. There’s a good chance the complex management will refuse to let me inside the apartment. If that happens, I’ll be forced to wait for David to work his own brand of magic.”
“Too bad we don’t have Toni’s purse.”
“Why?”
“Toni has a key to Ellis’s apartment. That’s how she got in to see if he was just ignoring her phone calls.” From inside her purse, her cell phone signaled that Gigi had a text message. She unzipped her small bag and thrust her hand into the interior. Frowning, she peered inside her bag.
“What is it?”
“These aren’t mine,” she murmured, and withdrew her hand. When she turned her hand over, a keyring with multiple keys lay in the center of her palm. Gigi turned to Owen, a stunned look in her eyes. “The keys belong to Toni.”
He smiled. “Looks like I won’t need the charm after all.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Gigi stared at Toni’s keys. How had they gotten into her purse? Toni must have slipped them in there before the kidnappers took her away. That meant she had been conscious after the accident, at least for a while. Gigi didn’t understand why Toni hid the keys in her purse.
She knew Owen and his brothers would investigate Ellis’s disappearance and her own. Did Toni want to give them easy access to Ellis’s apartment or was there another reason for the keys? Easy access, she decided. After all, Toni didn’t know the Montgomery brothers had some illegal skills in their arsenal.
The memory of one of the men transferring her unconscious friend to the SUV surged to the forefront of her mind again. Grief and worry swamped her anew. Where was Toni? Had the men harmed her? If her friend needed medical attention, the kidnappers didn’t have much incentive to bring in help for Toni and her baby.
Gigi turned her gaze to the handsome cop sitting next to her. If anyone could find Toni and bring her home before something horrible happened, it was Owen. He and his brothers were relentless in going after their target, and she had absolute faith in their dogged determination to get the