Next Exit, Use Caution

by CW Browning

  “I know that,” Stephanie said. “I understand it. It’s just very jarring when you actually see it.”

  “My guess is you were never meant to see it,” he said softly.

  “No, I wasn’t.”

  Buddy barked impatiently from a few yards away and they started walking again.

  “So what did you mean by a full cast?” Blake asked after a moment of silence. “Full cast for what?”

  “I don’t know, but it’s never good when we’re all in the same state,” Stephanie replied. “Look what happened the last time.”

  “That turned out alright,” he said with a quick grin, “and it certainly wasn’t boring. What did she say this morning that has you worried?”

  Stephanie glanced at him hesitantly.

  “She said there’s a lot going on that I don’t know about. She doesn’t want Angela staying with her because she can’t guarantee her safety.”

  Blake frowned.

  “Can’t guarantee her safety? What the hell does that mean?”

  “Exactly.”

  “I’ll talk to Mike when he stops by on his way back,” he said. “I’ll find out what’s going on.”

  Stephanie grunted.

  “Only if he knows,” she muttered. “Knowing Viper, he’s probably just as much in the dark as we are.”

  Viper laid a Ruger SR40 down on the workbench next to its twin and reached into her cargo pocket for her phone.

  “Yes?”

  “Happy Easter,” Damon’s deep voice greeted her. “How goes it?”

  She smiled.

  “It goes. How are you? Do you get Easter dinner there?”

  “I do, actually,” he said, surprising her. “The nurse was in earlier and asked if I like ham. What are you having?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t given it much thought. Not ham.”

  “How’s the armory?”

  “Coming along. I just finished one of my SR40s. How are you feeling?”

  “Like hell. I slept for sixteen hours.”

  “You need it. You’re healing. Trust the process.”

  “Easy for you to say. You’re not the one stuck in bed with nothing to do. Any progress on our shooter?”

  Alina turned to leave her small armory, stepping through the door into her command center.

  “Possibly. You know how Charlie wanted me to look for an ex-soldier in Singapore?” she asked, walking over to a chair and seating herself before one of the computers.

  “Yes.”

  “Well that search dug up quite a few possibilities, one of which is a name I recognized. He was in the same unit as Dave. In fact, Dave mentioned him in a couple of the emails to John.”

  Silence greeted that. Alina typed on the keyboard, waiting for him to process the information.

  “Do you mean to tell me that I was shot because of something that happened in Iraq twelve years ago?” Hawk finally demanded.

  “Possibly.”

  “Son of a bitch.”

  “It gets better.”

  “Of course it does,” he said sarcastically. “Tell me.”

  “When he was honorably discharged, he disappeared. Went off grid,” said Alina, pulling up the record she was looking for. “He stayed underground for years, until he popped up last year in Madrid. That’s the first record of him since his discharge. He paid a few utility bills, then disappeared again. Ask me why that’s significant.”

  “Why?”

  “According to a graveyard in his hometown of Vinland, Kansas, he was buried the same year he was discharged. Killed in a car accident.”

  “That explains the disappearance,” he said dryly. “So who paid utilities in Madrid? Our shooter?”

  “That’s the question.” Alina sat back in her chair. “If the shooter did take his identity at some point, that might be what tipped Charlie off.”

  “If he was killed in that car accident. Did you verify his death?”

  “Of course I did. Death certificate is legit.”

  “So it’s another dead end.”

  “Perhaps. Perhaps not. Someone certainly went through a lot of trouble to try to cover their tracks.”

  “What did Dave’s emails say about him?” Hawk asked after a moment.

  “Not much. They sometimes utilized him as an interpreter. He spoke the language like a native. Michael said he thinks his mother was an Iraqi immigrant. He was helping Dave, but how much he knew about what Dave was doing is obscure at best.”

  “You told Michael all this?” he demanded.

  “Of course not!” Viper frowned. “I just asked him what he remembered about him.”

  “That’s still too much,” Hawk muttered. “Michael may be a Marine, but he’s not stupid. Asking him that much is enough to get him thinking.”

  “Don’t worry about him,” she said. “I’m keeping an eye on him.”

  “Oh?”

  “I know you think I’m being reckless, but give me some credit. I’m not bringing anyone else into this mess.”

  “Viper, there’s something that’s been bothering me,” said Damon slowly. “Since I’ve been lying here, I’ve had ample time to think.”

  “About?”

  “These emails from your brother,” he said unexpectedly. “Why are they just surfacing now?”

  “What do you mean? You know why. John had them on a hidden drive in his laptop.”

  “Exactly.”

  Alina pressed her lips together thoughtfully.

  “You think there’s something more to it?”

  “I don’t know,” he said. “If these emails and attachments are what they appear to be, why didn’t John tell you about them? You’ve been back for a year, but he never once mentioned them. That doesn’t strike you as odd?”

  Alina was silent, staring at the overturned photo next to the monitor. He was right, of course. That was the infuriating thing about Hawk. He usually was.

  “So what are you thinking?” she finally asked.

  “If he was poking around in ancient history, why didn’t he come to you for help? Your security clearance is higher than his ever was, and you have access to outlets of information he didn’t. He knew that. Why not tell you, and have you work it as well?”

  “Maybe he didn’t know how to,” Viper suggested, playing devil’s advocate half-heartedly. “Maybe he meant to but never got a chance. I came back a year ago, but I’ve hardly been a staple here. I’ve been gone more than I’ve been home.”

  “That’s weak.”

  “Yeah.” She sighed. “It is.”

  Damon was silent for a long moment. When he finally did speak, he sounded as if he was picking his words very carefully.

  “I know you grew up with these people, and John was a big part of your life. All I’m asking is that you carefully evaluate all the information we have and acknowledge that someone close to you is not what they seem.”

  “If John had an ulterior motive for not telling me about the emails, and that’s a pretty big if, what would it be? What would he have to gain? John didn’t know what we know. He didn’t even know my cover was blown in Damascus. There’s no possible way he could have known the person responsible for Dave’s death is even still alive. For all he knew, they were killed long ago. A lot can happen in twelve years.”

  “Unless the attachments contained something that made John believe they were still active today,” Hawk pointed out.

  “The attachments were destroyed in the fire along with everything else, so we’ll never know.”

  “Maybe that’s a good thing,” Damon said with a sigh. “Maybe it’s better not to know why John did what he did. It wouldn’t change the current situation. My only reason for mentioning it is to illustrate the point that you need to tread carefully up there. Be very careful about who you trust. We don’t know who else knows about the emails, or the attachments, or what they contain.”

  “Well if John was doing something shady in the background, he would hardly tell anyone else about the emails,” Vi
per pointed out. “If he wasn’t doing anything sketchy, then he certainly knew better than to talk about it to anyone. I see where your concern is coming from though. Something isn’t adding up and until I find out what it is, I can’t take anything at face value. I’d already decided that.”

  “Charlie isn’t happy with you there. I’m not happy with you there. Why stay? What are you trying to prove? Take Raven and go back to the cottage in Virginia. Go into the mountains. Hell, go to upstate New York if you want; anywhere but there.”

  “Raven wouldn’t like it any further north,” Viper said matter-of-factly. “He doesn’t like it much here, but at least the winters aren’t too extreme for him. New York would kill him.”

  “Then go south. Don’t you have property in North Carolina?”

  “Not anymore. I sold it after it was compromised last summer.” Alina grinned despite herself. “I could always go to your ranch in Nowhere, USA.”

  “Now there’s an idea!”

  She laughed.

  “Not gonna happen, Hawk. I’m staying here, at least until the funeral is over and I can get together enough information to act on. Kasim is still out there, and now there’s something going on with Angela.”

  “What?” Damon asked sharply. “What does she have to do with anything?”

  “I don’t know yet. Someone slashed her tire on Friday, and her house was broken into last night. The intruder went straight to her bedroom.”

  “They didn’t search anything first?”

  “Nope. He didn’t pass Go, didn’t collect $200. Just went straight for her.”

  “That’s not good,” Hawk said grimly after a long silence. “What did he do?”

  “He didn’t get the chance to do anything. She managed to fight him off with a stiletto heel. Stabbed him in the neck with it, apparently, and pushed him down the stairs.”

  Hawk was surprised into a guffaw.

  “You’re kidding!”

  Alina grinned.

  “Angie’s no joke when she’s threatened,” she said. Then she sobered again. “The question is who is he? And why now?”

  “You don’t honestly think it has anything to do with...anything, do you?” Damon demanded. “How could Angela get mixed up in all this?”

  “How did she get mixed up with North Korean terrorists last fall?” Alina countered. “How does she get into any of the messes she gets into?”

  “Good Lord,” Damon groaned. “Why is it always so complicated with you?”

  “I’m starting to wonder the same thing. Right now, the best place I can be is right here. I’m not stupid. I know the risks. I also know that the fastest way to sort all this out, with the highest rate of success, is to be right in the center where I can see everything.”

  “And everything can see you,” he retorted. “Just remember the center is usually the kill box.”

  Viper smiled coldly.

  “Exactly.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Michael watched as Alina lowered her head and aimed through the night-vision scope fixed on the .338 Lapua Magnum. She was lying on her stomach in the grass, the rifle resting on a lightweight tactical bipod with the butt nestled against her shoulder. When he arrived back from Brooklyn an hour before, she’d been setting up night targets at various distances, one as far as a thousand yards. She hadn’t been exaggerating when she said she wanted to refresh her armory.

  He sipped his beer as she pulled the trigger and a loud crack echoed through the trees. She never lifted her head, and a second later, another shot followed. She lifted her head then and made an adjustment to the sight before lowering it once more. She was completely focused, and not paying him the least amount of attention. He smiled faintly. Now he knew what she did in her spare time.

  The smile faded as he thought about his conversation with Blake and Stephanie. Stephanie was worried about Angela, and Michael had to admit he wouldn’t want any friend of his spending the night alone after the ordeal she had gone through last night. He suggested Angela come to Lina’s. That was when he learned Alina had already shot down the idea. He watched as she fired off a few more rounds. While he understood her position, Michael wasn’t sure he agreed. After all, Angela would not only have one of the nation’s most skilled assassins protecting her, but also himself. He’d been known to handle himself well in a conflict, after all.

  Two more shots cracked out as she shifted to the second target, further away. Blake wanted to know what was going on. Michael shook his head and sipped his beer, watching as Alina made another adjustment. It had been a very long time since Michael withheld information from his friend, but it wasn’t his information to give. Viper was under attack, and that was no one’s business but her own. She had shared with him in confidence, and he wasn’t about to break that confidence. Not unless he had to.

  Another shot rang out.

  Viper lifted her head and pulled off her ear protection, glancing back at him.

  “Hey gunny!” she called.

  “Yeah?”

  “Come show me what you’ve got.”

  Michael grinned and set his beer down as she rolled over and sat up in the grass. He stood and walked off the deck to join her in the darkness. She had turned off the floodlights, and the yard was steeped in the kind of impenetrable shadows only possible in the country.

  “Don’t mind if I do,” he said cheerfully. “It’s been a while since I fired one of these. It’s almost nostalgic.”

  Alina grinned and handed him the ear protection, watching as he dropped down and made himself comfortable on the grass.

  “There are clean targets at six hundred and fifty, nine hundred, or eleven hundred yards out,” she told him as he familiarized himself with the rifle. “Take your pick.”

  Michael lowered his head to the scope and picked out the nine hundred yarder, adjusting the sight to his preference.

  “Dave would be proud of you,” he said, his voice muffled. “He would have loved your gear.”

  She didn’t answer and he fell silent for a moment before squeezing the trigger. The shot cracked out in the night and he lifted his head. Alina picked up her spotter scope and searched out the target in the distance.

  “Not bad. You’re about an inch from center. Try the 1100.”

  Michael glanced at her.

  “It’s been a long time since I made such a long shot.”

  “The conditions don’t get any better than this,” she replied. “There’s no wind. Try it.”

  Michael lowered his head and found the long target. After some adjusting, he sighed and the shot echoed through the trees. Alina watched the vapor trail through the scope.

  “Adjust to the left half a dot.”

  Michael did as instructed and squeezed the trigger again.

  “You’ve still got it,” she announced as he lifted his head. “Take a better look.”

  She passed him the scope and he peered through it. His first shot had landed on the far right edge of the target, but his second was about an inch from the center.

  “Not bad for being rusty,” he decided, lowering the binoculars. He pulled off the ear protection and held them out to her. “Your turn.”

  Viper’s lips curved into that partly-self-depreciating smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

  “Just don’t get all bent out of shape,” she said. “I’m not rusty.”

  Michael grinned and moved out of the way so she could resume her place at her rifle.

  “Just want to see if Dave’s little sister is a better shot than he was,” he replied.

  Alina was surprised into a short laugh. She loaded a fresh magazine and lowered her eye to the scope. She squeezed the trigger and lifted her head.

  “Nine hundred.”

  Michael lifted the binoculars and searched out the target. He grinned.

  “Yeah, you’re not rusty.”

  Viper lowered her head again and shifted slightly, picking out the long target. Her finger slid over the trigger and she exhaled, sque
ezing. Without lifting her head, she fired again.

  Michael whistled.

  “Doesn’t get much prettier than that,” he said, lowering the binoculars.

  Alina lifted her head. She didn’t ask for the binoculars. She didn’t need them. Her shots were parallel bullseyes and she knew it.

  “Well?” she asked, sitting up and lifting the rifle. “What’s the verdict? Would Dave be proud?”

  “Dave would be pissed,” Michael told her with a grin. “I don’t think he ever made a perfect shot over a thousand yards on the first try. Hell, I don’t know if any of us did.”

  “Well you didn’t have my equipment,” she murmured, detaching the night-vision scope and setting it into the case next to her in the grass. “Or my experience.”

  “That’s true,” said Michael, watching as she disassembled the rifle with quick, sure movements. “I’ve had some good peashooters, but the accuracy on that is in a class all its own.”

  She glanced at him.

  “I try.” She finished stowing the rifle away in the case and snapped it closed. “I’m going to collect the targets.”

  “I’ll help,” he offered, standing with her.

  She nodded and they started across the grass towards the trees.

  “What’s on your mind, gunny?” she asked after a moment. “You look like you have something to say.”

  He looked at her in surprise, then shook his head ruefully.

  “It’s that obvious?”

  Silence greeted that and he sighed.

  “I stopped to see Blake on my way back. Angela was with them. You heard what happened last night?”

  “Yes.”