Leaving Las Vegas (Entangled Ignite) by Aleah Barley Page A

but I couldn’t go away. Someone had to look after Hallie. Ashley was taking her first run at the mayor’s office.”
    “By the way, I think we lost them. I haven’t seen any SUVs for quite a while.”
    For one brief moment Glory’s heart sang. She took a deep breath, concentrating on the land around them. Luke had doubled back and they were on the 64 again, headed north. She twisted in her seat and watched out the rearview mirror for a while, making sure no SUVs popped up. They’d done it. Tiffanette’s men were probably zooming down I-40, figuring they’d head straight for the nearest city.
    After all, who went to the Grand Canyon with gunners on their trail? Besides Thelma and Louise?
    The land was dry and foreign. Narrow trees bent in on themselves. Masses of brush piled on either side of the road. Overhead were sunshine and fluffy white clouds. “Turn on the AC. If I wanted a sauna, I’d join the gym over in Miller’s Crossing.”
    “What’s Miller’s Crossing?”
    “Miller’s Crossing is the next town over from Beaux. The county seat.” Glory made the sign of the cross reflexively. The rivalry between the two towns was legendary. No one knew how it had started, but every autumn Friday night when the two high school football teams met, it grew deeper. “They beat us in the state playoffs last year, but we’ll get them this time. We have Josiah Blankford coming up from the junior high. Kid’s got an arm like a machine.”
    “I’ll bet on him to beat the spread.” Luke grinned.
    In a moment’s silence, Glory could hear crows crying in the distance. An eerie reminder of their rural setting, so much like her small hometown and—at the same time—so different. There was more open space, and the only mountains were far off in the distance. Her throat was dry, and breathing in the arid air didn’t help. It was completely foreign, unlike the earthy Middle American farmland she was used to. No dense forests, deep rivers, or gunpowder residue from her cousin’s latest disagreement or celebration.
    With Luke at her side, the memory of his phone call still burning in her mind, she’d never felt more alone.
    She wanted to grab his arm, to tell him to stop the car, but there were still people with guns out to get them. “So…what’s next?”
    “In less than twelve hours I’ve been held up, kidnapped, and shot at,” Luke said. “We’re less than an hour from the Grand Canyon, and we lost the bad guys. The least we can do is look at a big freaking hole in the ground.”

Chapter Seven
    According to the sign in the parking lot, the Grand Canyon was eighteen miles wide, 277 miles long, and over a mile deep. Staring down into the mammoth crevice, Luke could just make out the Colorado River wending its way toward the sea. A blue trickle of water in the distance, the sight was calming, meditative.
    Beautiful, but he still needed to figure out who’d set him up. He needed a plan, and a good one. Who could he trust to help him? His mother, most definitely, but she didn’t seem to know anything. Chester, probably, but if his mother didn’t know anything, Chester would be beyond clueless. Definitely not David Tanner—although the man had been vetted thoroughly before being hired, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t give out crucial information if someone made him a good offer.
    Because everyone could be bought. For the right price.
    He’d probably put Bone on his list of suspects, except the guy had gotten shot. And Grant wasn’t part of the Las Vegas crowd.
    There was a private investigator from New York. Donny Burke. The man who’d vetted Tanner. Before Luke had hired the security chief, he’d contracted a bunch of work through Burke. The man was good at his job, with plenty of contacts in the security community. More importantly, Luke hadn’t talked to him in years. There was no way he could be involved.
    Besides, it wasn’t as if Luke could call the guy up. He’d crushed his phone when he’d