as Eagle said, the driver was turned away and hunched over the wheel.
For a long moment everyone stared at the screen in shocked silence.
“You can’t even tell who it is.” Peyton was struck by the urge to hit something. “It could be anyone. Maybe someone they didn’t even know.”
“I’m still trying to clear it up,” he explained. “Whoever did this meant business, and we have to find out why. I know you all agree with me that it’s a product of the situation with the Kendricks and Hayden Kellerman, so now we have to find out the details.”
Blaze cleared his throat. “Okay, next move. We need to find that car. Eagle, were you able to do anything with a partial license plate?”
“I ran it through every piece of software I’ve got that could pull it up, but everything beyond the first two characters is blurred. It almost looks like the driver made an attempt to cover it over with mud or something.”
“So this definitely isn’t just some drunk who raced down the street too fast,” Rocket pointed out. “Whoever it is may not have done the best job of concealment, but they made a strong effort. This means it definitely was deliberate.”
“And not one of Kellerman’s thugs,” Viper added. “They’d have done a better job covering it up. Or maybe used a stolen license plate. I’d say we’re definitely looking at an amateur here.”
Everyone was silent for a long moment. Peyton was still trying to process what she’d seen on the laptop screen, along with all the information that had been dumped. She felt as if she’d fallen into an alternate universe. She wrote about things like this. She didn’t live them. And although she always tried to breathe reality into her stories, most of it was fiction. This was not. A shiver raced over her skin and she rubbed her arms.
“You okay?” Blaze’s voice was low and soft but everyone heard him.
She swallowed hard and reached for the coffee to take a steadying sip, but it was ice cold, so she put it right back down.
“Let me get you a refill.” Eagle reached for her cup, giving her a warm smile as he did. “Don’t sweat it. We’ve all been there. Stuff like that never gets easy to see, even when the people are strangers.”
“Thank you.”
When he set the refilled cup back down in front of her, she gripped it with both hands and swallowed some. Immediately, her jittery nerves began to settle. But the arm that Blaze slid around her, giving her a gentle hug, did even more. She wasn’t a needy person, was used to taking care of everything herself, even her emotions. But this was an emotionally challenging situation and she wasn’t afraid to lean on him.
Peyton knew after the previous evening that Viper sensed something going on between her and Blaze, and now she figured Eagle and Rocket were wondering about it. Blaze could tell them whatever he wanted and she’d just follow his lead, but she needed him right now. Needed his strength.
“Better?” Eagle asked as he took his seat across from her.
“Much. Thank you. Coffee’s always the best medicine.”
“Okay.” Blaze gave her a final, light squeeze and turned back to the others. “We need to tap into every resource we can to identify that license plate.”
“I agree.” Eagle looked at everyone in turn. “But it’s going to take software more sophisticated than what I have. I’ll have to reach out to a contact of mine.”
“Then do it,” Blaze told him. “If your software won’t do it, we need someone’s who will, and we don’t have any time to screw around. Also, any luck in finding out what happened to Dane’s car?”
“Yeah, but it doesn’t help. Peter Kendrick ‘kindly’ offered to return it to the leasing company and his parents were grateful they didn’t have to deal with it.”
Rocket snorted. “How fucking nice of him.”
“That means he’s got Dane’s cell phone and laptop, so we can kiss those goodbye.”
“Yeah, but it’s more important to find out about the car that ran down the Hollisters.” Eagle pushed out of his chair. “Let me go in the back and give him a call.”
Eagle climbed out of his chair and headed back to the galley. Peyton saw him lean against the counter, pull out his phone and hit some buttons.
Peyton glanced at Blaze. “I didn’t think you could make cell phone calls at this altitude.”
“The phones are tied into the plane’s wireless network, which is as powerful