Next Exit, No Outlet Read online

  Blake looked grim. “Then we’ll handle it.”

  Hawk strode through the trees, moving steadily in the direction of the man who had breached the perimeter. He moved swiftly and silently, at home among the trees. He had a pretty good idea who the intruder was, but he didn’t know why he had chosen to come through the back of the property. He paused, listening intently, then continued to the left. A sharp breeze blew through the trees above his head, rustling young, spring leaves. The woods had grown silent, the wildlife still and invisible, leery of the sudden and foreign movement in their midst. A few minutes later, Damon rounded the trunk of a pine tree, and came face-to-face with Michael.

  “You’re living dangerously, gunny,” he told him, tucking his gun back into the holster at his back.

  Michael held out his hand. “Good to see you, too.”

  Damon grasped his hand in greeting.

  “This is a good way to get yourself killed. What the hell are you doing?”

  “Viper asked me to come,” Michael said, falling into step beside him. “Something about babysitting Angela.”

  Damon glanced at him, his blue eyes amused.

  “So that’s what she meant about a babysitter,” he murmured. “Good luck with that.”

  Michael grimaced. “Thanks.”

  “That doesn’t answer why you’re coming through the back,” Damon said. “Where’s the truck?”

  “I parked it at short-term parking at the airport. I was followed out of DC this morning.”

  Damon looked at him sharply. “How many?”

  “Honestly, I lost count. I picked up the first one as soon as I left the house, and I lost him immediately. Then he was replaced with another, who I also lost, and then another one showed up. They kept switching out all the way up 95. I gave up keeping count after about the sixth.”

  Damon pressed his lips together and was silent for a moment.

  “Did they see you leave the airport?”

  “No. I lost them, parked the truck, and then caught a cab at the terminal. I’ve been clear since.”

  “Where did you have the cab drop you?”

  “About four blocks from the nature reserve at the back of the property.”

  Damon nodded.

  “Good. If they were able to keep tabs on you all the way from DC, they either have your truck tagged or they knew where you were going.”

  “No one knew where I was going, not even my boss. My bet is on the truck being tagged, but I didn’t have time to go over it at the airport. I just wanted to get moving while I had the chance.”

  “If they’re going off the tracking device on the truck, then their trail ended at the airport. If the cab dropped you four blocks from the nature reserve, that’s well within Viper’s five-mile security perimeter. Even if they weren’t going off a tracking device and somehow managed to follow the cab, you should be safe.”

  “It’s not me I’m worried about,” Michael said. “Is she here?”

  “No. She should be back soon.”

  Michael glanced at him and shifted his duffel bag from one shoulder to the other. Hawk caught the grimace on his face and grinned.

  “You’re not getting soft on me, are you?”

  Michael glowered at him.

  “I wasn't expecting a two-mile hike today,” he retorted. “How’s Stephanie? I spoke to Blake this morning and he told me what happened at the hospital last night.”

  “She’s fine. They’re at the house now.”

  Michael looked at him, surprised. “They?”

  “I convinced Lina to allow Blake to come with her,” he said. “It’s safer that way.”

  Michael let out a soft whistle. “I was going to try to convince her myself, but I wasn’t holding out much hope.”

  Damon glanced at him but was silent. After moment, Michael up.

  “How bad is it? What are we looking at?”

  “Nothing good. I hope you came ready to fight. Chances are good you’ll be thrown right into the ring. We all will be.”

  “And Viper?”

  Damon hesitated for the briefest of seconds, then sighed imperceptibly.

  “She’s on a warpath, but for the first time, I think she’s actually ahead.”

  Michael nodded. “About damn time. Whatever I can do to help, I’m here.”

  Blue eyes met brown.

  “I appreciate that, gunny. I never thought I’d say this, but I’m glad to have you here.”

  Michael grinned. “Things must be worse than I thought."”

  “Oh, I have a feeling they’re going to get even worse before they get better.”

  The man sat behind the steering wheel and watched as the woman opened her trunk. The silver BMW was parked fairly close to the store and in a well-trafficked part of the parking lot. As he watched, the woman began loading bags from a red cart into her trunk. He hoped this was the last stop. He was getting tired of watching her shop; she’d been at it most of the day.

  He’d got the call from Alpha telling him to stick to Angela Bolan early this morning. He’d been watching her for days, but he hadn’t been told to maintain continuous surveillance, and so he hadn’t. He learned her routine and kept watch from afar. All that changed this morning.

  Alpha had lost the FBI agent.

  The man shook his head, his lips tightening. How Stephanie Walker had turned into such a nightmare was anyone’s guess. All he knew was that if it had been him, Stephanie Walker would be dead. He should have had her in the parking garage, but she dropped her keys at the same second he pulled the trigger. That was freak accident and it would not have happened again. He could have finished the job if Alpha had allowed him to. But he hadn’t and, as a result, the FBI agent was still very much alive. Why Alpha had switched to mercenaries was a mystery to him. He didn’t care how good they were supposed to be, they had done nothing but fail since they came onboard. Now it was up to him to try to salvage everything. Alpha expected Angela Bolan to lead him to Agent Walker, and so here he was, watching her marathon shop through her Saturday.

  The man watched as she lifted two cases of soda into the trunk. She really had a thing for soda. Yesterday, she’d gone food shopping and bought two cases there. Now here she was with more. Didn’t the woman know how bad for her the stuff was?

  Angela finally finished emptying the cart and slammed the trunk closed. The man watched as she walked the cart to the cart return, then turned and headed back to her car, pulling her keys out of her purse. He glanced at his watch. The sun was starting to fade, and he was getting hungry, but if she didn’t go straight home, there would be no dinner in his foreseeable future.

  He watched as she started the car and backed out of her parking spot, waiting until she got to the end of the row before starting his own engine. She rolled to the stop sign at the edge of the parking lot, and then turned right onto the busy street. Once she’d merged into traffic, he pulled out to follow. He maintained a very safe distance, keeping her about eight cars ahead. At the next light, she would turn left if she were headed home.

  The man frowned when she instead turned right. He glanced at the GPS tracker on his dash and watched as the flashing red dot that represented her vehicle moved along the line on the map toward Route 70. She was going in the opposite direction from where she lived. He bit back a sigh. She wasn’t done yet.

  A few minutes later, they turned onto Route 70, heading east. The frown grew as she drove away from the shopping areas. Where the hell was she going? The man glanced at his GPS again, expanding the map. As far as he could tell, there was nothing in this direction except residential areas and trees. Lots of trees.

  He returned his gaze to the silver BMW ahead. As they drove, the traffic diminished and he held back even further. He didn’t think she would notice a tail, but there was no point in being careless. He was hacked into the onboard GPS of her BMW. He couldn’t lose her. Wherever she went, he would know.

  After what seemed like forever, she pulled off the highway and wound her
way through a small, sleepy suburban town. They rolled through the center of town, passing little strip malls interspersed with old, colonial houses. After going through four traffic lights, they approached a fifth one. The light was yellow when Angela turned right and turned red before he reached it. The man slowed down and rolled to a stop, glancing to the right. He could just see her taillights disappearing down a tree covered road. Looking to his left and seeing no oncoming traffic, he turned.

  He hadn’t gone half a block when red and blue lights lit up the street behind him and a brief wail sounded from a siren. The man looked in his rear view mirror, cursing softly at the sight of the patrol car with flashing lights. He took his foot off the gas and pressed the brake, pulling to the side of the road. In the distance, Angela’s taillights disappeared into the growing dusk.

  Irritation washed through him as he shut the engine off. The police car rolled up behind him, lights still flashing, and an officer got out. The man shook his head and reached into his glove box to extract the rental car paperwork. Angela was long gone now, but he wasn’t worried. The GPS would tell him where she went, and he’d find her again soon enough.

  The police officer walked up to the driver side door and the man lowered the window with the press of a button.

  “Good evening, officer.”

  “How’s it going?” The officer responded. “Do you know why I pulled you over?”

  “Not the faintest.”

  “You turned right on a red light back there,” the officer told him. “It’s a no turn on red.”

  “Is it? I’m sorry. I’m not from around here, and I didn’t know.”

  “Where’re you from?”

  “California,” the man answered readily. “I’m visiting my brother.”

  “Okay. Well, let me see your license and registration.”

  The man handed over the rental car paperwork along with his license. After examining them briefly, he nodded.

  “Sit tight, and I’ll be right back. Is there anything on your license I should know about?”

  “Nope.”

  The police officer nodded again and walked back to his patrol car. The man watched him go in the rear view mirror and the congenial smile left his face. Seriously? A no turn on red? The man rested his head back against the headrest.

  This was going to be a long night.

  Alina pulled the Range Rover next to Damon’s Audi and killed the engine. The sun had sunk below the tree line, casting the backyard into deep shadows. She opened the door and got out of the rental SUV as flood lights flashed on, washing the area with white light. She looked towards the deck as the back door slid open and Damon moved onto the deck, closing the door behind him. Alina felt a rush of warmth go through her. It had been a long day, and she had never been much of a fan of trains. Seeing Hawk move across the deck and down the steps filled her with a sense of homecoming, and she frowned faintly in response.

  “New Range Rover?” Damon asked, moving across the grass with his lethal, jungle cat stride.

  “Just a rental,” she replied with a faint smile. “Everything go okay today?”

  Damon nodded, his face inscrutable.

  “The gang’s all here,” he said. “You have a full house.”

  Alina fell into step beside him as they walked towards the deck. There was a whoosh of wings and a large black shadow swooped down from the roof of the garage. She turned her head to look and held out her arm. With a whisper, Raven landed on her outstretched arm and bobbed his head in greeting. A smile spread across her face and she stroked under his chin affectionately.

  “I haven’t heard from Michael,” she said, glancing at Damon. “He should have been here by now.”

  “He’s here.”

  She raised a questioning eyebrow.

  “He got here earlier this afternoon. He was followed out of DC, so he left his truck at the airport and took a cab in.”

  Alina frowned. “Dammit.”

  Raven shook his head, disturbed by the harshness in her voice, and launched off her arm, heading for the deck. Damon looked at her sharply.

  “You know who followed him,” he stated, rather than asked.

  “Yes. I was hoping he wouldn’t get caught, but I guess that was wishful thinking.”

  “You think it was him? Mr. X?”

  “Michael’s been poking around into every aspect of his life for the past 30 years,” she said. “I’d say it’s pretty obvious.”

  Damon’s lips tightened and he shook his head.

  “I forgot about that,” he admitted. “Well, that explains why they were so persistent.”

  They moved up the steps and across the deck to the sliding door. Before Alina could reach for the handle, Damon reached out a hand to stop her.

  “How was your trip?” he asked softly, his eyes probing hers. “Anything I should know about?”

  She met his gaze squarely. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

  He considered her silently for a long moment, then nodded slowly.

  “Before we go in, you should know Stephanie’s apartment was tossed.”

  Alina turned to face him, her eyes narrowing. “What happened?”

  “I stopped there on my way to get her. The place was trashed and the safe was open. All the cash and weapons were still there, so it wasn’t a robbery.”

  “And the camera?”

  “In your command center.”

  She nodded and looked through the glass sliding door into the living room. Stephanie was in the recliner with her injured leg elevated and Michael was settled at the dining room table with his laptop. There was no sign of Blake.

  “Does she know?”

  “No. I figured you’d watch the camera first, and then we’ll know exactly what happened.”

  Alina shot him a look filled with amusement. “Coward.”

  Damon grinned, unrepentant. “Guilty.”

  She looked around the deck, watching as Raven settled himself on the railing with his back to them, facing the dark backyard.

  “What about the security perimeter?” she asked, returning her gaze to Damon’s face.

  “It’s secure. Before you, the last one to breach it was Michael. Everything’s been quiet.”

  She nodded and reached for the door again.

  “For now,” she said quietly. “Let’s hope it lasts.”

  Chapter Ten

  Alina stepped through the sliding doors into the living room, nodding in greeting to Michael then glancing into the living room where Stephanie was in the recliner.

  “I see you two got here ok,” she said, moving toward the bar. She reached behind her and pulled the .45 from her back holster, setting it down with her keys. “Are you both all settled in?”

  “For the most part,” Stephanie said. “Thank you for getting Buddy last night. Blake just took him for a walk. He said he would stay in the woods where we could keep an eye on him with the security cameras.”

  “Smart man,” Alina murmured, moving into the kitchen and heading for the coffee maker. “As for Buddy, it was no trouble,” she said over her shoulder. “He’s a good dog.”

  Damon perched on a stool at the bar and watched as Alina turned the coffee machine on.

  “If you’re making coffee, I’ll take some,” he said.

  She nodded in acknowledgment as Stephanie hobbled across the living room with her cane.

  “Thank you for letting Blake come with me,” she said, pausing near the bar and glancing at the Ruger SR45. She seemed uncomfortable with the sight of it and quickly shifted her gaze to look across the kitchen at Alina. “I know how you feel about letting people know where you live. I appreciate you letting him in.”

  Alina met her gaze impassively. “Thank Damon. He’s the one behind it.”

  “Yes, but it’s your house,” Stephanie persisted, a frown creasing her brow. “You could have said no.”

  Alina turned to the cabinet to get a couple of coffee mugs.

  “I’m not happy about it,
but Damon’s right. This is the lesser of all the evils.”

  “Am I the lesser of all the evils too?” Michael called from the dining room.

  “Hardly,” Alina said with a short laugh. “You’re a welcome necessity right now. I heard you had some trouble earlier.”

  He sat back in his chair and stretched, then stood and walked over to the bar.

  “I was followed up from DC,” he said, pulling out a stool and motioning Stephanie into it. “Get off that leg, Walker. You shouldn’t be standing on it like that.”

  Stephanie made a face, but sank onto the stool with a sigh.

  “I feel like an old woman,” she muttered.

  “Well, you’re not. You’ve been shot.”

  Michael moved into the kitchen and opened the cabinet to pull another mug out.

  “Any idea who followed you?” Alina asked him, taking the mug from him and adding it to the collection next to the coffee machine.

  “No, but I’m guessing you do,” he said, leaning against the kitchen island and crossing his arms over his chest. His hazel green eyes bore into hers. “So?”

  Her lips twitched and she placed a mug under the coffee spout, pressing the button to brew espresso into the mug.

  “You found something on Mr. X, didn’t you?”

  He nodded.

  “Then you know who had you followed.”

  Stephanie watched the two in the kitchen and looked at Damon beside her at the bar.

  “Do you know what they’re talking about?”

  “Yes.”

  She frowned and looked back at Alina and Michael.

  “You were followed all the way from DC?” she asked. “Why? What’s going on?”

  “He poked a bear,” Alina said, “and the bear poked back.”

  “You really think he’s the one behind all this?” Michael asked, his brows drawn together.

  “I don’t think, I know.” The coffee finished brewing and she turned to pull it out from under the spout, handing it to him. “Here. For fortitude.”

  He took it with a short laugh.

  “If you’re right, I’m going to need something stronger than coffee.”

  “I know you all love to talk in riddles amongst yourselves,” Stephanie interjected loudly from the bar, “but will someone please fill me in? What happened? How do you know you were followed?”