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pizza and nodded. To Rita's surprise, Falon went on to explain that he'd known the man in the Army and even told a couple of stories about him. The hour passed quickly, and they handed the kids over to Falon's buddy.
    Watching closely, Rita decided she approved. The man had the kindest eyes, and an easy, natural way with the kids. They seemed to take an immediate liking to him. When the minivan with the church logo pulled out of the parking lot, relief swept through her, weakening her knees for a moment. She cleaned up their trash while Falon went back inside to get them a couple bottles of water.
    When he dropped onto the bench beside her, a frown furrowed his forehead. "God, I hope that works out for those kids."
    "Yeah, me too. They deserve a little something good for a change." She took a sip of her water. "We ready to head out soon?"
    "Think so. I want to try again to get hold of Barger. He should have got back with me by now." Worry gave his voice an unfamiliar tone. He must have been close with this Jakob Barger.
    Thoughts focused on how to solve the problem, Rita reached to take his hand. "Maybe we could try a web search and see if alternative contact is out there somewhere for him."
    He grinned and leaned in to kiss her. "You're a genius, you know that? I saw a sign inside about wi-fi. Let's go see if we can use it." Without waiting, he grabbed her hand and dragged her for the door, his excitement palpable.
    The pretty dark-skinned girl behind the counter allowed Falon to use her laptop for his searches. She seemed to have developed an odd sort of liking for him, but Rita didn't question it.
    Leaning over Falon's shoulder, Rita spotted a search result for an obituary for well-known hunter, Frank Barger. He clicked it and they read together, spotting the mention of a nephew Jakob Barger. A little more digging produced a phone listing for Frank Barger in the same town. Falon tried the number, but it only rang endlessly.
    Some vital bit of info hovered just out of reach, but Rita couldn't quite put her finger on it. She went back over every detail they knew about the plot heading for Falon's old friend. Suddenly, it hit. "The woman!"
    Startled, Falon just raised one brow and looked at her.
    "The name of the woman Kellen is supposed to get. We have it. We might be able to reach her."
    He laughed aloud. "You're a genius again." He immediately searched the name he'd heard with the help of the listening device he'd planted at the meeting when Kellen got his orders. The search returned several listings for Kate Holt, mostly horse related. Apparently, she was a highly sought-after horse trainer. A little more digging produced a phone number and location and Falon lost no time trying to reach her.
    "Nothing. Still."
    "So we keep going."
    They thanked the clerk and returned her laptop, and moments later, they were on their way again.
     

Chapter Six: Jakob
     
    A faint noise drew Jakob from the twilight that precedes waking, straight into full alert. Unsure what disturbed him, he lay still and allowed his eyes to open a bare slit. A sledgehammer pounded inside his skull. What the hell? He closed his eyes again and forced himself to think. Surely he'd been injured, but how?
    Examining his memories, he found nothing that seemed likely to account for that sledgehammer. The last thing he remembered was…No, that couldn't be right. A woman like that wouldn't have anything to do with a guy like him. For a second there, he could have almost sworn her taste lingered on his tongue. Annoyed with himself, he pushed the sentimental bullshit dreams away. Time to focus on getting his sorry ass out of whatever enemy camp he'd been dumped in.
    He forced his eyes open just the slightest crack, wary of alerting a guard that he'd regained consciousness. They must have worked him over pretty damn good, judging by the aching bruises that kept making themselves known.
    A horse blew, not far away, in stark contrast with his surroundings. Other