Not willing to wait a moment longer than necessary, Gilmont loaded his equipment into both cockpits, then paced the tarmac until Drew finished his tune-up.

“Where are we off to?” Drew asked.

“The Tay Forest Park. Agent Taylor’s on foot somewhere in the vicinity.”

“That area has few roads, Professor.”

“We’ll use the rivers to navigate by and fly low so I can get a good look under the canopy. I doubt she’ll be far from water. Also, watch for smoke; she might have started a campfire.”

They suited up, with Drew testing their headset coms before they taxied down a series of runways. The breeze gusted, sending windsocks horizontal with their poles. The gyrocopter’s windscreen, nothing more substantial than a motorbike’s, did little to alleviate the morning chill.

The copter lifted off, its rotor blades spinning overhead. They arced north, directly into the headwind. As they started up the valley, Drew maintained their altitude below general aviation flight paths.

The Tay reflected the mist-laden sky as it twisted and turned beneath them like an opaque snake through the forested countryside. If finding Agent Taylor weren’t his sole focus, Gilmont might have enjoyed the view of the verdant hills and valley below.

The gusts picked up, and the gyro crabbed sideways.

“Are we in any danger?” Gilmont glanced at the spinning rotors.

“We’ll be fine. These babies are stall-proof. The rotors aren’t really propelling us, you know. Our thrust is from the engine behind my seat.”

“I thought this was just a small helicopter. It certainly looks like one.” Gilmont had never studied aerodynamics and now regretted his lack of knowledge in the subject.

“Not at all. The blades are a kind of wing. That provides a better glide slope than a plane should anything go wrong. Trust me. We won’t drop out of the sky.”

“Good news all around.”

Gilmont shifted his eyes back to the A9 below, his hands relaxing their grip on the launcher. He had almost caught Agent Taylor yesterday. Today, he had every intention of seeing it through, then transporting her to Cambridge.

Tingles of anticipation filled him. The woman made a worthy opponent, which would make her capture all the sweeter.

Harry woke in a cramped position when his alarm went off at dawn. He yawned and sat up, working the kinks out of his neck. A light mist fell, covering the windscreen with a thin layer of moisture. He ate two breakfast bars and washed them down with an IRN-BRU.

Ticking over the engine, he moved the 4x4 into the trees not far from the dirt track, then checked the time. His backup must have run into trouble . . . or overslept. Harry ground his teeth until his jaw ached. Either way, Harry had no intention of waiting, not with Gilmont on Elise and Sammy’s trail.