Deliver Us from Evil by Robin Caroll Page A

and anger. “Then we need to get a move on. I brought the hand radio so I can try to raise my supervisor or the ATC again.”
    â€œI’ll try my phone again, too.” Roark squeezed her hands for the briefest of seconds, then stood and pulled out a satellite phone from his pocket.
    She smiled at him, feeling the common ground strengthen between them. “This weather is blocking reception.” She headed to her backpack, retrieved her radio, then moved back to the door. “We’ll have a better chance of reception free of the mountain.”
    Roark nodded and followed her. He pressed buttons and held the phone toward the sky, moving it around like a beacon in the dark.
    Flipping on the radio, she tried to raise Steve. Twice she radioed her location and situation—twice she received no response. She twisted the dial and changed frequency, then repeated her SOS message. Once more, nothing squalled from the radio. Maybe someone heard her call for help, but she couldn’t receive the reply. God, let that be true. Please.
    Shoving the phone back into his pocket, Roark met her questioning gaze and shook his head. She sighed. Things weren’t looking so good. “Who do you think tracked us?”
    â€œHonestly? I don’t know. But I would imagine someone involved in the ring.”
    â€œDo they know you have this witness in custody?”
    He gave a snort, his face crinkling into an expression of distaste. “We tried to keep it quiet, but the blasted press hounded us. Someone talked and before we could act, it was all over the news so the entire world knew where we were headed and how.”
    Brannon rubbed her finger along her bottom lip. “But it has to be someone familiar with this area. Trust me, it’s hard to hike this terrain, and in this weather they’d have to be really experienced.” She hugged herself with her arms folded over her chest. “No other aircraft was in the area, so they had to be within driving distance.”
    She closed her eyes, letting the analytical portion of her brain take over. “A Hummer or a Jeep. Something rugged. To have gotten to the crash site from the time the news aired, that only gave them limited driving time, which means they had to be close to begin with.” Her eyes shot open. “Did anyone know about the witness and his condition prior to the media hype?”
    â€œYeah. We’ve had the witness in custody for a couple of weeks, so lots of people knew. People we’d assumed could be trusted, but we see how that turned out.” Roark shifted his weight. “Why?”
    â€œWell . . . let’s just say someone knew you had him and were waiting for an opportunity to get him. Why not go after the witness himself?”
    â€œHe’s in the cardiac ICU, in a coma, under guard of the marshals. I don’t think anyone would take the chance of trying to get to him there.” He shrugged. “Besides, the man’s going to die without the heart transplant. They probably figured if they can stop or delay the surgery long enough, they’d be home free anyway.”
    â€œWill they?” Her pulse pounded inside her skull, making her head ache.
    â€œMore than likely, yeah.”
    â€œBut you said you had documented proof . . .”
    â€œProof we can’t decipher.” He raised a hand before she could interrupt. “We’ve had the best of the alphabet-soupers working on decoding it for two weeks now. Hasn’t been broken yet.”
    â€œAlphabet-soupers?”
    Roark gave a wry smile. “CIA, FBI, NSA—all the government initial organizations.”
    Despite the situation, she chuckled. “That’s good. Never heard them called that before.”
    â€œInsider joke.” He nodded toward Lincoln and Thomas, who dozed in the warm glow of the fire. “We need to rest, get Thomas’s wound cleaned again, and then head out.”
    She gestured to his arm.