Beside her, Blake shrugged out of his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. The tender protectiveness of the act, so unfamiliar to her, punched at her heart, and for a moment—just a moment—her anger wavered. Coat or no coat, he’d tried to hold her hostage tonight and followed that up by trying to kill the one man certain to have answers about her sister.

“Keep walking,” Blake ordered as they approached his truck in the parking lot. “No way in hell are we getting into a truck that could have been tampered with.”

So much for her assumption that they’d had a surveillance team in place. Apparently the truck hadn’t been a priority—but then, she wouldn’t know. It wasn’t like she’d been included in the plans for tonight, and even if she wanted to ask him what had been, Blake was already punching a button on his cell phone. “Tell me you tracked us and whatever boat met up with ours,” he said into the phone. He cursed. “It was Alvarez. He met us on the boat and pretty much said he was testing us to take us deeper into his operation.” He paused and listened. “No, I didn’t kill him. And don’t ask questions I don’t have time to answer. Yeah. I know. We’ll meet you at the hotel. I left the truck at the dock. I wasn’t taking any chances it was wired. Yeah. Good. Hurry.” He listened again and glanced at her. “It was a drug she got from an FBI lab. He’ll be okay in the morning.”

Kara looked away and scanned the side street they took, lined with residential buildings, looking for trouble. She felt guilty over Kyle, but he’d be fine, she reminded herself. Her sister might not be, though. If it were Kyle’s sister, she was willing to bet he’d have done the same thing she had. And Blake too, damn it.

Blake ended the call. “Luke has eyes on us. He’s got a car coming to pick us up.”

“Did they get a trace on our boat?” she asked anxiously.

He gave a disgusted shake of his head. “We went too far out of range. The tracking device I have on me wasn’t powerful enough.”

The implications stabbed at her heart. “That’s not the answer I wanted.” They were no closer to finding her sister.

“You and me both, sweetheart,” Blake assured her. “They’re working on better technology and some off-the-record Coast Guard support.”

Kara stopped walking. “But—”

“A friend of one of our men. He’ll keep things off the feds’ radar, and we need water support.”

“You’re sure you can trust him?”

“I’m positive.”