Ginna Gray - The Prime Objective

“Which is where you come in. We want you—and only you—to keep us informed of the location of each and every activity on the account as soon as they are electronically posted.”

Half expecting the banker to hum and haw and quote some nitpicking banking regulation, Kate was surprised when, without the least hesitation, he swiveled his chair to face the computer on the corner of his desk.

“Excellent idea. Why don’t you come around here and look over my shoulder and we’ll get started.”

Kate shot to her feet and hurried around the desk and Jack followed right behind her. At last they were doing something that might lead them to Colleen. Or at the very least, point them in the right direction. She was so anxious her heart pounded against her ribs.

In his sixties, Mr. Hurley was of Kate’s father’s generation, and Joe Mahaffey would not have touched a computer if you had held a gun to his head. She had expected the banker to share the same aversion and call his secretary into the office to retrieve the data, but the older man’s fingers flew over the keyboard with a speed and agility that surprised her.

“Ah, here we are.” The account record filled the screen and he began scrolling down. “Let’s see, now, you wanted to start last Saturday after seven in the evening. Ah, here it is. At 8:11 p.m. there was a charge of $47.24 at a gas station in LaGrange, Texas.”

“LaGrange?” Jack frowned in thought. “She must have gotten out of town on Interstate 10 then turned north on Highway 77 at Schulenburg. Looks like she’s trying to avoid the main roads. Probably worried they’ll be watching those.”

Kate glanced over her shoulder at him. “Will they?”

“Depends on how much manpower they have, but anything’s possible.”

“Just a little over an hour after that, at 9:30 p.m., there was a charge of $229.34 at the Wal-Mart in Giddings,” Mr. Hurley went on.

“Clothes and toilet articles would be my guess,” Jack murmured. “Maybe some food.”

“Just fourteen minutes after that, at 10:44, there’s a charge at a Giddings motel.”

Jack glanced at Kate. “Is there any reason why she would go to Giddings?”

“None that I can think of.”

“Any friends there?”

“I don’t know of any.”

“Hmm.”

“Maybe she’s heading for Austin,” Mr. Hurley suggested. “Giddings is on Highway 290 between Houston and Austin.”

“It’s possible. It could also be that at that point she didn’t yet know where she was going. Most likely she was in shock. Considering how fragile Colleen is, she probably just lit out of Houston like a cat with its tail on fire and drove without any thought as to where she was going or how she’d get by. Could be by this point she was simply too tired to keep going.”

Mr. Hurley scrolled down the screen. “You may be right. She’s not heading for Austin. Sunday morning at 10:22 she charged gas in Brady, Texas.”

“She’s still sticking to the back roads,” Jack muttered. “Smart. You keep it up, darlin’.”

“The next charge is at 6:45 Sunday evening. She filled up with gas in Big Springs, Texas,” Mr. Hurley continued. “Twenty minutes later she made a purchase at a fast food place, and seven minutes after that she checked into a Big Springs motel.”

“And—” He scrolled down the screen. “—that’s it. So far today there’s been no activity on the account.”

“Do you have a map handy?” Jack asked.

“Hang on a second.” Mr. Hurley rummaged through the middle drawer of his desk and after a moment withdrew a large leather-bound, ringed binder. “There are detailed maps of every state and all the major cities in here, along with a clear plastic overlay and a dry ink pen so you can plot your route.”

He gave them a wry smile. “This was a gift from my grandchildren last Christmas. They seem to be laboring under the mistaken idea that I’m going to retire soon and take their grandmother on an extended cross-country driving trip. Here. Take it.”

“Oh, no, we couldn’t take your gift,” Kate said when he handed the notebook across the desk to Jack. “We’ll pick up a map at a bookstore.”

“No, please, take it. Trust me, my dear, you’ll get more use out of it than I will. Just between us, I’d rather be burned at the stake than take a long driving trip.”

The discussion turned to strategy, and they agreed that Mr. Hurley would check the account frequently and call them with the information. After the three exchanged cell phone numbers, Kate and Jack left the bank.

Kate practically sprinted to the car. Once inside she expected Jack to start the engine immediately, but he sat motionless, staring straight ahead, deep in thought. Unable to contain herself, she snapped, “For Pete’s sake! What are you waiting for? We need to get going.”

He turned his head and fixed her with his steady blue gaze. “Going where?”

“After Colleen.”

“Not yet.”

“What! But—”

“Look, Mick, she has almost a two-day head start on us.”

“All the more reason to go after her now, before she can widen the gap.”

“Okay, say we go to Big Springs. Then what? From there she could have taken off in any direction. She may even be doubling back by now.”

“She could just as easily have decided to hole up there,” Kate argued.

“Maybe. Although I doubt it. My gut tells me that she’s still panicked and running aimlessly. My hope is that soon she’ll calm down enough to devise a plan and head for a specific destination.” Jack started the engine and put the SUV in Reverse. “But, if you’re right and she is staying put we’ll know it the next time she makes a purchase and Mr. Hurley relays the information.”

“And if she’s left Big Springs?”

“Then we continue to track her movements.”

“But, Jack, Colleen is out there all alone and terrified.” Kate’s voice broke on the last word and she had to press her lips together to keep them from quivering.

These past two days she’d been worried sick about Colleen, but now that she had a general idea of where her sister was, she was more anxious than ever. All she could think about was finding her. Protecting her.

Though Colleen was older by twenty-two months, Kate had always protected her.

In the second grade Kate had whaled the tar out of a little boy who had made her sister cry, and in their teens she’d hovered over her like a broody mother hen, double dating with her, confronting anyone who dared to bother her.

The pattern had continued through the years. As teenagers, Kate had been the rebel child, the daredevil who’d given their parents more than a few gray hairs. Colleen had been the docile, obedient one.

Even so, Joe and Maureen Mahaffey had worried no less over their eldest daughter. All of her life Colleen’s painful shyness made her cling to the familiar, the safe.

After high school she had gone directly into the family business, claiming that for her, college would be a waste of time because she could learn all she needed to know from their father and on-the-job experience. Privately, Kate believed that the idea of going away to a strange university, in a strange town, where she knew no one, had simply been more than her sister could handle.

Over the years, no amount of prodding or confidence-boosting pep talks or assertiveness training or therapy had brought Colleen out of her shell.

The only place she was remotely comfortable making decisions was the family business, which she knew inside out. Yet even there, ever since their parents had died and she had assumed the position of manager, more often than not, she still sought Kate’s opinion.

Looking out for her sister had become an ingrained part of who Kate was, and even though Jack’s reasoning made sense, the need to head west was eating her up inside.