Rebel Heat by Cyndi Friberg Page A

detected had anything to do with the fugitives. Still, they had no other leads, so they searched in concentric circles, scanning outward from the lake. It had been time-consuming and tedious, but their patience paid off.
    “They were definitely here.” He looked at Echo and allowed his disappointment to show. Façades were pointless with Echo. Their life bond allowed her to sense his emotions and hear every thought he didn’t shield. “But they’ve been gone for at least six hours, probably more.”
    “There was nothing personal in the tent, just generic camping supplies. Even the clothing looked new. Most of the garments still had sales tags on them.”
    “Then it stands to reason that Nazerel didn’t assemble this himself. He must have purchased everything from a supplier.”
    “Or suppliers.”
    He nodded. A different person could have supplied each component, but each person Nazerel involved in his escape was a potential liability. Having one supplier assemble the entire package was a wiser choice.
    “What about the vehicle?” Echo asked. “Is it registered?”
    “It’s locked. I haven’t searched it yet.” He approached the vehicle cautiously. “Why did they leave it behind?”
    She bent and tilted her head so she could see beneath it. “He could have set some sort of trap, but it’s more likely that they just didn’t need it anymore.”
    “My thoughts exactly.” Their biggest advantage had been the collar suppressing Nazerel’s abilities. If he had already regained access to his power, their job just became exponentially harder.
    They quickly searched the vehicle to make sure it posed no danger, then he smashed the driver’s window with an energy pulse. There were more camping supplies in the rear compartment, but again nothing personal.
    “It’s registered to a rental company,” Echo told him. “Lor and Elias are both running the information through their databases.”
    She must have contacted Lor telepathically and asked him to pass the information on to Elias. Echo appeared fragile and feminine to those who didn’t know her well. It made her all the more dangerous. She was a trained operative who had been involved in countless covert operations long before Varrik met her. He’d thought he kidnaped a helpless princess, but found himself dealing with a female warrior. He was still captivated by the contrast.
    “There are some female garments on the backseat. They don’t appear damaged.” Sometimes the smallest detail would end up being the most significant, so he tried to notice everything.
    “There was a bra in the tent as well.” She tensed, suddenly looking uncomfortable. “I know the Sacred Customs forbid rape, but how do we know Nazerel still honors the ancient ways?”
    “We don’t. All we can do is process each clue as quickly as possible. The sooner we find them, the less risk there is that circumstances will escalate beyond his control.”
    The rotation in her eyes slowed for a moment then her voice appeared in his mind.
    Go on Lor. I just brought Varrik in as well. We can both hear you.
    The rental company was real, but the customer was phony. The only real piece of information given was the credit card. It was a corporate card belonging to a failed auto dealership. We’re running down the authorized users now.
    If the dealership went out of business, why was the card still active? Echo beat him to the question.
    We’re not sure. Give us a few more minutes to dig. The layers of misinformation are multiplying quickly.
    Understood.
    She pinched off the connection, yet lingered in his mind, surrounding herself with his energy. The telepathic caress made Varrik smile. “Keep that up and you’ll find yourself on your back in that tent with your mate deep inside you.”
    She laughed, her cheeks bright pink. “That’s not much of a threat.”
    They continued to search the campsite, but they both knew they were wasting time. Without some idea of where Nazerel went, he could