Free Body of Evidence (Evidence Series) by Rachel Grant

okay.”
    She grimaced. “I promise. The cut stings, but my head is fine.”
    “I’m going to get you the hell out of here; then we’ll clean you up. Okay?” He pulled at his shirt, buttons went flying, but he didn’t give a damn. Bare-chested, he pressed his shirt against the cut on her forehead. “Hold this to stop the bleeding.”
    Oh Jesus. If she’d been one step higher… He couldn’t think about that. Right now he had to get her out of here. He needed to do his fucking job and actually protect her for a change.
    He swung around to face the airman. “I think the bullet came from over there,” he said, pointing to a line of trees across the road from the airfield.
    “Yes, sir, there’s already a team checking the area out. If the gunman was there, he’ll have fled by now.”
    Curt glanced again at the hole in the jet. “This jet isn’t going anywhere.”
    “No, sir.”
    “Ms. Garrett and I are leaving. I want you to call FBI Agent Kaha’i Palea. He’s going to be in charge of this investigation as it relates to the others. Tell him what happened and tell him I’ll call him as soon as I can.”
    In minutes, Curt was back behind the wheel of Mara’s Honda.
    “How did the shooter know where to find us?” She leaned against the passenger window, holding his shirt in a ball against her forehead. She looked exhausted and her eyes closed as she said, “No one knew where we were headed.”
    “I don’t know. We were only there, what, thirty minutes? Hardly time to drive through Honolulu traffic and get in position for that shot.”
    “Do you think the shooter was on base already?”
    “Possible. Or there’s a tracking device on your car—or on one of us.”
    Curt’s phone vibrated in his pocket.
    My cell phone .
    Cell phones were vulnerable to hacking and being turned into microphones, but it required sophisticated computer skills. The few cases he’d prosecuted had involved corporate espionage or domestic-violence-related stalking. But a few months ago, he’d read a Homeland Security briefing that stated devices to lock onto cell phones by the less-technically savvy were in development and might already be in use.
    From the moment Palea told him Roddy was dead, Curt had suspected Raptor. It was why he’d made the decision to reroute to Oahu. Anything that implicated Raptor could possibly be used against Stevens, and even better, lead to an indictment of Robert Beck. The man had betrayed his country numerous times in Iraq, Afghanistan, and in Egypt. And with Roddy’s abduction of Mara in North Korea, he couldn’t help but wonder if the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea could be added to the list.
    Raptor had the skill and equipment to blow up a plane and had long-range sniper rifles with enough firepower to blow a hole in the side of a military jet. But more important, Raptor topped Homeland Security’s list of companies who were suspected of developing phone-hacking devices.
    The phone in his pocket was probably acting as a beacon and microphone right this second, telling a Raptor operative where they were, and anything he said aloud would tell him where they were headed. He looked for a place to pull over so he could yank the battery out of the phone.
    “Curt, I think you should let me call—”
    He slapped a hand over Mara’s mouth before she could divulge something important. He glanced sideways to see hurt and confusion on her bloody face.
    He was a complete ass. But all he could do was shake his head, slowly remove his hand, and press his index finger to his lips. When she remained silent, he gingerly took the cell phone out of his pocket and held it out to her. He waited for a safe break in traffic, then faced her long enough to mouth the words, Remove the battery .
    She cocked her head to the side but nodded. She dropped the shirt she’d been holding against the cut and pried off the back of the phone. A moment later, the battery was out. Curt took a deep breath but remained