by Debra Webb
And fired.
The shot shattered through the man’s right shoulder before he could react, sending a shock wave all the way to his hand. The weapon he held clattered to the pavement. He scrambled to grab it with his left hand but she was over the car’s hood and on top of the weapon before he could reach it.
“Get down,” she ordered.
Cradling his shoulder, he flattened on the pavement.
With one swift kick she sent his weapon spinning off under the vehicle she’d scrambled across.
“We should tie him up,” she told Landry as he jogged up next to her.
“No time. Cops.”
He was right. The sirens were very close now.
In one abrupt move, she slammed the butt of her Beretta into the guy’s skull, sending him to la-la land for a while.
“Thank God you’re all right.” Jeffrey rushed up to her, surveyed her from head to toe.
Her relief at seeing that he was unharmed almost made her sway. “We’re all okay.”
“Come on!” Landry shouted. “This is not the time.”
Seconds later they were in the Land Rover. Landry executed a U-turn and headed toward the neighboring parking lot. An IHOP. He didn’t take the usual route, out of the hotel’s lot and onto the highway, to reach the entrance to the IHOP property. He went straight over the wide median, careful not to flatten any of the shrubbery.
He drove slowly around to the other side of the restaurant and backed into a slot.
In the nick of time.
Four police cruisers raced into the hotel’s parking lot. When they’d circled around to the rear of the building, Landry eased out of his slot and rolled up to the stop sign where the IHOP lot met the service road.
Cops spilled out of the cruisers and started assessing the threat as well as the condition of the two downed men.
Landry pulled out onto the service road and headed toward the ramp to the beltway.
Olivia’s chest ached with the breath she’d been holding, but she couldn’t let it go until they were out of sight of the flashing blue lights.
“They’ll get a description of our vehicle,” Landry noted.
She knew.
“We’ll have to ditch it and find some other means of transportation.”
She knew that, too.
“They’ll search each room until they determine who isn’t accounted for.”
Back at the hotel, he meant. “Standard protocol.” Again, nothing she didn’t know already.
“The Agency’s boys may cover for us. Claim jurisdiction and send the locals on their way.”
Olivia closed her eyes and let go a shaky breath. She had to know exactly what he’d done back there. An annoying little voice just wouldn’t shut up until she knew. “Did you kill anyone?”
The silence that dragged on inside the car was very nearly muffled by the roar of blood in her ears.
“No.”
Profound relief swamped her.
“But I would have if necessary. Do you have a problem with that?”
How could she say yes? Hysterical laughter gurgled up into her throat at the same time that tears burned at the backs of her eyes.
She’d killed for a living. Had been the best of the best. And now the mere idea of taking a life ripped her apart inside. As proudly as she had served her country, that one mistake—that one killing of a man who shouldn’t have been a target—had ruined her. She couldn’t do it anymore.
Pull it together, she ordered. This was no time to crack. She took a breath and gave him the only answer she could, “I don’t know.”
That was where the conversation ended.
Landry drove. He took side streets. He made a million turns.
She sat there in the dark, numb and exhausted.
Jeffrey did the same.
She could only imagine how he felt just now.
They needed another car.
Everything they’d had with them, including the money, was back in that hotel room.
She told herself she’d been in worse situations.
It was true.
But it gave her no comfort.
Olivia couldn’t be sure how much time had passed when Landry at last stopped the car.
He parked inside an out-of-business car wash and turned around to face her. Without the aid of the dash lights, she couldn’t see his expression or hope to assess his mood in the consuming darkness.
“There’s a car on the street about a block from here. I’m going to check it out. If it’s functional, I’ll come back for you. If it’s not, I’ll keep looking until I find something that is. Stay here. I’ll call you if I run into any trouble.”
He opened the driver’s-side door but no light came on inside the vehicle, providing some amount of relief. He’d had the foresight to turn the switch to the off position before opening the door. Any light, at this time of night, in this run-down neighborhood would attract attention. Especially in view of the fact that they were parked in a closed-for-business car wash. They didn’t need any attention.
Still, she would have liked to see Landry’s face…to get some idea of what he was thinking.
That was a lie. She could never read him. She simply wanted to see him…just in case.
Before he closed the door she blurted, “Be careful.”
She hadn’t meant to let that slip out. Dammit.
“I will be back, Nessa. You have my word.”
The door closed with a thud.
She sat there. Didn’t turn around to try and see him moving through the night. She didn’t do anything.
Except the most unlikely act for a former assassin.
She prayed.
Chapter 13
The sound of a running engine pulled Olivia’s attention toward the street.
Her Beretta palmed, she moved cautiously to the entrance of the dilapidated car wash and surveyed the street, left then right.
She’d left Jeffrey in the SUV and had taken a position where she could keep an eye open for the unexpected. She didn’t need any more surprises tonight.
Now that the mega blast of adrenaline from all the excitement at the hotel had dissipated for the most part, she’d had time to think. How had those men found them at the hotel?
The bigger question was, why weren’t they dead already?
A car approached from the right. Black or dark blue. Headlights were off.
Olivia slipped back into the shadow of the building and waited for the vehicle to come closer.
If any of the streetlights in this neighborhood still worked, she might be able to make out the number of occupants before they were on top of her. But vandals had put them out of commission, and the city had apparently opted not to keep up the maintenance.
She controlled her respiration, forced her heart to slow its reaction to the new trickle of adrenaline. At one time she’d been particularly good at this discipline.
A head leaned out the driver’s-side window.
Landry.
She relaxed. He’d kept the headlights off so as not to attract any unnecessary attention from the houses flanking the narrow street.
For the first time since this game began, she admitted to herself that she was glad he was here. As much as she hated to admit it, she’d never been any good at hot-wiring a vehicle. And they needed a way out of here.
As he made the turn into the car-wash lot, she hustled over to the SUV to get Jeffrey.
“Let’s go. We have new transportation.”
He got out slowly. Didn’t speak.
“Jeffrey.” She touched his shoulder. “Are you okay?”
He nodded. “I’m fine.”
The pressure of regret pressing against her chest made taking a deep breath difficult. He wasn’t fine.
“I’m really sorry about all of this.” There was more she wanted to say but right now they had to go.
He turned his face to her. Even in the near-total darkness she could see the devastation, or maybe she sensed it
more than she actually saw it. “Those men were going to kill you.”
Probably. Olivia gathered her determination and reached for him. “We’ll be okay.” She closed her fingers around his hand. For a couple of seconds his hand remained limp, unresponsive, and then he curled his fingers around hers and nodded.
Uneasiness slid through her when she turned to head toward the waiting car and found Landry waiting at the entrance to the car wash.
“There something we need to do before we go any farther.”
Her guard went up. She didn’t need ESP to know where this was going. He’d wondered how those men found them the same as she had. The difference was, he’d reached a conclusion she refused to even consider.
“You don’t have any proof,” she countered before he could toss the first accusation.
“What happened back at the hotel is proof enough. Unless you’re going to tell me that you tipped them off.” He hadn’t drawn his weapon, but his stance was battle ready. Landry wouldn’t be backing off on this one.
As much as she hated to admit it, he was right. She could pretend, but she knew.
If anyone was going to do this, it would be her. She turned to Jeffrey, who waited next to her. “Jeffrey, so you understand the situation. We have reason to believe that those guys back at the hotel found us because of a mistake one of us may have made.”
“A mistake?”
The confusion in his tone made her feel like a heel. But he was the logical candidate.
“One of us may unknowingly be leading them right to our position.”
He looked past her to Landry, then swung his attention back to her. “Are you suggesting me?” He released her hand and flared his fingers, palms up. “I don’t even know these people. How could I be passing along information?”
That guilt nagged at her again. “I’m sorry. I’m certain nothing you did was intentional, but we have to know for sure. We can’t risk them catching up with us again. We might not be so lucky next time.”
He walked past her, came to a halt right in front of Landry and held out his arms, offering access. “Check me out. I have nothing to hide.”
Olivia sighed, heading over to stand next to him. “Jeffrey, this isn’t personal. The enemy could have found an opportunity to plant some sort of bug before any of this started.” There were all sorts of new technologies. Stuff she hadn’t even heard of.
He grabbed his cell from his pocket and thrust it at the other man. “View my recent calls.”
Landry took the BlackBerry, a specialized cell phone with options like Internet access, walked over to the SUV and used the interior light to inspect the high-tech communications device.
Olivia was pretty sure he wouldn’t find anything in Jeffrey’s phone. She checked all their communications devices regularly. She put her hand on his arm. He moved away from her touch. That too-familiar regret pricked her. “Someone may be using you, Jeffrey. It isn’t your fault. But we have to protect ourselves.”
That he refused to talk to her only made her feel worse. As much as she wished this step wasn’t necessary, she couldn’t deny the absolute urgency of what Landry was doing that very minute.
The crack of plastic slamming onto concrete had her wheeling around to see what Landry was up to. He’d tossed Jeffrey’s cell phone onto the ground and now proceeded to shatter it with the heel of his boot.
Jeffrey released a heavy breath but kept whatever he thought to himself.
Landry strode back to where she and Jeffrey waited.
“There was a tracking device in his phone?”
She found that difficult to believe, since she’d inspected Jeffrey’s as well as her own phone just a few days ago. Some microfiber job on his clothes possibly, but this, impossible.
“Nothing so simple.” Landry rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ve only seen this technology used once. It’s integrated with the hardware so seamlessly it’s almost impossible to spot, but it was there. There could be others in his clothes.” He settled his attention on her. “Or your own. How often did you perform a scan of your home?”
She hadn’t…at least nothing more than a visual after that first year.
Her hesitation was answer enough.
“I should have a look at your phone, as well.”
She wanted to be outraged, but he was right. Without a word, she handed the phone to him.
He walked back to the SUV and did what he had to do.
When he returned, he handed the undamaged phone back to her. “Yours is clean. My guess is they assumed you would examine it regularly and didn’t want to risk you’d recognize whatever technology they used.”
But she probably wouldn’t have…just like she hadn’t with Jeffrey’s. She’d slipped into some level of complacency. Tried to be normal….
“What now?” She battled the emotions whirling inside her, throwing her off balance.
“We’ll drive until we locate an all-night superstore, then we’ll get new clothes for the two of you. Just in case.”
She nodded. “No point taking any unnecessary risks.”
Jeffrey took the backseat in the old pimped-up Caddy. He said nothing to Olivia as he settled there.
She got into the front passenger seat and buckled up.
Landry didn’t look at her as he dropped behind the wheel. He backed up then pulled out onto the street and drove through the neighborhood without the aid of headlights.
The silence quickly became suffocating. But what was there to say? She stuck by her belief in Hamilton. He’d never let her down before…why would he do that now? Things changed, she understood that, but if he’d wanted her taken down he really would have done so the night she showed up alone at his weekend home, whether he also wanted Landry or not.
Twenty minutes later they were on the interstate again, traveling back toward the Arlington area. A quick stop at a superstore and she and Jeffrey were decked out in new duds, shoes included. Going to that extreme might have been unnecessary, but why take any chances?
Olivia had used the lack of conversation in the car as an opportunity to mull over all that had happened. She’d arrived at a conclusion as to what her next move should be.
With that in mind, she announced, “I want to talk to Hamilton again.”
That Landry remained focused completely on the long stretch of highway in front of them and refused to even glance her way sent up warning flags.
He didn’t agree.
She didn’t care. Nothing he said could convince her not to go to the one man she’d trusted three years ago.
“We both know Hamilton is in the game. You’ve already confronted him at his weekend home,” Landry offered. “Don’t you find it odd that he hasn’t tried to contact you since your meeting with Director Woods?”
Olivia considered that her old Sheara number was forwarded to her current cell number. Hamilton could contact her if he so chose, she imagined. But the idea that he might avoid contact in case he was being watched carried just as much weight as any other.
Another aspect of the events that had occurred over the past forty-eight hours abruptly cleared for her. “I don’t think they’re trying to kill us.”
“It does appear as if they’ve sent their most inept men after us,” Landry allowed, following her train of thought. “Avoiding capture has been a little easier than it should have been.”
Damn straight it had been. As rusty as she was, she sure couldn’t claim skill. “But what do they want?”
“To determine just what we know. To make sure we haven’t told anyone.”
Olivia chewed on her lower lip. “That would mean torture. Lots of it.”
The idea of how this conversation sounded had her looking back to check on Jeffrey. He stared out the window, seemingly oblivious to the conversation in the front seat, but she knew better.
“They’ll use us against each other.”
She shifted her attention back to Landry, dread congealing in her gut.
“They will.�
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“Bottom line, we appear to have ahead of us a command performance with whoever is in charge,” Landry suggested.
Something else to look forward to. “A debrief.”
A crash catch-up course on ways to inflict pain sounded less than appealing. But they couldn’t stop now. They had to finish this…or they’d both be running for the rest of their lives.
“If Hamilton isn’t next on our agenda, then who?” She wanted to talk to him again, but that might serve no other purpose than to get them caught. That was exactly what would be expected of her. She’d already proven that once when Landry had caught her there. Being predictable equated to being stupid.
“Echols.”
“What about Page?” That Landry continued to bypass the names from his side of the covert-operations world annoyed her probably more than it should have.
“Page is the one who warned me that trouble was headed our way, remember? He also helped me find you.”
He had mentioned that. But did that prove anything?
“You haven’t considered that his warning could have been the catalyst for this operation?”
Everyone who knew she was alive and who had been involved in that op three years ago was a suspect. She and Landry had agreed on that already. There was no rational reason for him to see it any other way. His people were just as susceptible to slipping into the dark side as hers.
Page had saved his life. So what? Hamilton had, too. Page had warned him. Big deal. Hamilton had promised to help her. Echols and the former president had everything to lose. No one was exempt. That he’d managed to position himself so close to the current president was a rare phenomenon. One he would likely want to protect.
“I know Page. He isn’t the one.”
“But you listed him in your initial lineup of suspects.”
“Only because I knew you would notice if I didn’t.” He glanced at her for the first time since the conversation had started. “And I was right.”
No matter how she looked at it, some aspects still didn’t add up. Both Hamilton and Page had the resources to take them down with far less effort and drama than they’d experienced so far. Maybe bringing them in alive was priority as they’d discussed moments ago.