“It’s going to be okay,” Bran said. “We’re all here now. We’re going to find your boy.”
Her eyes burned. “Thank you for coming,” she managed.
Brandon grinned. “Are you kidding? Stay in Denver and let these guys get all the glory?”
The words made her smile, his confidence easing some of the fear inside her. Reese looked at his brothers and emotion surfaced in his face. Then it was gone, his control back in place.
He drew Kenzie against his side, an arm possessively around her waist. “We’re waiting to hear from Tabby. There’s a chance she’ll come up with Griff’s location.”
Reese went on to give them the kidnapper’s names and explain what had happened at the casino. He told them about Eddie’s cell phone and that Tabby was trying to ping Nolan Webb’s location.
“We’re working on the assumption Webb is still with Griff. If he is, we may be able to find him.”
“Amen to that,” Chase said.
The men began to mill impatiently around the room, waiting for a call that could still be some time away—if it came at all.
Then Hawk’s phone started playing some country tune. He stepped away to take the call, and the lines of his face turned grim. He said something Kenzie didn’t catch and the call ended.
Hawk turned toward them. “That was a guy named Buddy Brackett, one of my informants. I put word out it was worth big money for info on Jeremy Bolt. Buddy says he knows where to find him, but I need to get there now.”
“Bolt’s our ticket to proving Kenzie’s innocence,” Reese said. “Add to that, he shot your friend. If you’ve got a line on him—”
“Go,” Chase finished, his gaze going to Bran and Reese. “We’ve got this covered.”
The edge of Hawk’s hard mouth curved up. “Yeah, looks that way.” He turned to Kenzie. “With luck, I’ll solve at least one of your problems.”
“Be careful,” Kenzie said as she had before.
Hawk smiled. “Yes, ma’am.” Pulling his pistol, he dropped the magazine to check the load, shoved it in with the flat of his big hand, and slid the gun back into the holster at his waist. “If you need my help, just call.”
“We’ll keep you posted,” Chase said. “You do the same.”
As Hawk’s big, muscular frame disappeared out the door, Reese kissed the top of Kenzie’s head, which didn’t go unnoticed by the men. “Anybody else here hungry?” he asked. “Because I’m calling room service and ordering something to eat.”
“Count me in,” Bran said.
Chase went to the desk and picked up the room service menu. “Pastrami on rye or burgers?”
“Both,” Reese said.
Kenzie realized food was just something for the guys to do to break up the waiting.
“I’ve got an idea.” She headed for the kitchen table, where she’d set up her laptop. “Eddie said DeMarco owns property all over the state. County tax parcel records are public. I’ll call the Houston office. Rick Holloway and his people in acquisitions deal with that stuff every day. He can get us a list of all the property DeMarco owns.”
Reese nodded. “Good idea. Real estate, oil well leases, Rick knows how to find out who they belong to. Even if DeMarco owns the land in the name of a corporation, Rick should be able to track it down.”
“It won’t give us an exact location,” Chase said, “but at least it will narrow the possibilities.”
The atmosphere in the room subtly altered as everyone got moving. Hawk was hunting Bolt. Food was on the way, and Kenzie had found a means of tracking down DeMarco’s property. If nothing else, it gave them something to do.
When the sandwiches arrived, there was plenty to eat, but the thought of food made Kenzie slightly nauseous. Reese must have noticed her reluctance. Opening one of the burgers, he put it on a plate and brought it over to where she was sat behind the computer.
“I know you’re too worried to eat, but you’ve got to keep up your strength.”
“I’m just... I’m not hungry.”
“Do it for me.” He held the burger out to her, and since she would do just about anything for Reese, she took a bite. It tasted wonderful and she found herself eating more, drinking some of the Coke he had ordered for her—the real thing instead of Diet because he said she needed the sugar. She managed to finish most of the burger and had to admit she felt better now that she had eaten.
The guys were just cleaning up their trash when Reese’s disposable rang. He picked it up and checked the screen.
“It’s Tabby.” He put the phone on speaker and Chase and Bran clustered around the table beside them.
“I got a partial location,” Tabby said. “No calls after the one to Eddie’s phone this morning but I was able to ping the tower closest to that call. It’s in the middle of nowhere, only limited cell service. There’s nothing around, no town, not even a gas station.”
“That’s probably why we couldn’t reach him earlier,” Reese said.
“He’s somewhere with no cell service,” Kenzie added.
“Or maybe Webb got antsy,” Bran said. “Destroyed the phone so he couldn’t be tracked.”
“It’s a possibility,” Tabby agreed. “But he could also be out there somewhere. It’s thousands of acres. Without service, there’s just no way to track him.”
“Send me the cell tower coordinates,” Reese said.
“Will do. The tower’s located southeast of Shreveport in an area called Loggy Bayou. You can find it on Google Maps. That’s all I’ve got.”
“Loggy Bayou. Thanks, Tab.”
“I’ll keep an eye on Webb’s phone. Let you know if his location changes. Good luck.” Tabby ended the call.
Kenzie’s heart was pumping with hope. There was a chance they’d found some connection that would lead them to Griff.
Reese’s intense blue eyes locked on her face. “You get anything from Rick Holloway yet?”
“Let me check.” Kenzie hurriedly checked her email, found an incoming message from Rick that included an attachment. “I’ve got something.”
“Now that we know the location of the tower,” Bran said. “Maybe Holloway’s intel can pinpoint a parcel DeMarco owns in the area.”
She clicked the attachment and Reese walked around to look over her shoulder. “Rick sent a list of properties the tax rolls show in DeMarco’s name. He’s working on the corporate info. He’s says it’ll take a while.”