“Keep reading,” Tommy said.
“Fifty-nine,” Eddie said. “Fifty-three … forty-four.”
“Shit,” Tommy muttered.
“Thirty-one,” Eddie diligently read the display. “Twenty-three.”
“That’s enough,” Tommy said, stepping on the gas. “Turn around and put your seat belt on.”
The kid listened. His voice got excited. “Are you going to outrun him?”
“Don’t be such a thrill seeker.”
Tommy got the car up to cruising speed again and scanned the shoulder for a place to park. Someplace he could get some quick cover. The headlights temporarily disappeared behind him.
“Hey, you like Coldplay?” Eddie said, browsing through Tommy’s phone.
Tommy snatched the phone from the kid. “Will you pay attention here? I’m trying to keep us alive.”
Eddie’s face turned cold. “You think the terrorists are in that car?”
Tommy frowned at the thought. “I’m not sure. I have an idea, but it’s not fun to think about.”
The sheriff’s car needed some suspension work because the chassis kept bouncing over the winding road like a boat over choppy water. As they swerved from side to side, the headlights came into view again.
“Hang on,” Tommy said, as he tapped the brakes and turned into a narrow gravel driveway. The path was lined with trees and Tommy just cleared a pine as he dashed down the driveway twenty yards before turning off the lights and skidding the car to a stop. He pulled out his gun and turned to Eddie.
“Keep your head down and stay still,” Tommy ordered.
He jumped out of the car and ran back up the path to the side of the road. There was very little moon out so Tommy was practically invisible as he crept between the pines, gun by his side. He was only a few feet from the road and tucked behind a large trunk. Even in the cool night air, he felt a trickle of sweat wander down his temple. He forced himself to take deep breaths and waited. And waited.
No headlights.
As he stood there contemplating his moves, he realized he wasn’t going to track this guy down by himself. Not in foreign territory. Maybe back home he could make a couple of calls and get some lookouts, but not here. Tommy slumped against the tree and shook his head. The guy was a pro, no doubt.
He waited for almost three minutes when a terrible thought entered his mind. He was dealing with a professional. Norm Jennings had appeared harmless because he had that mid-western, fair-haired look. Pale skin. Blue eyes. A mid-western look, but also a European look.
Maybe even Russian.
Chapter 23
“Where’s Walt?” Matt asked while driving his SUV seventy down the crooked back road. Nick sat in the passenger seat and gripped the door handle tight. Jennifer and Stevie were in the back seat checking their phones while swaying back and forth.
“He’s at Palo Verde securing the site,” Nick said.
Nick glanced behind them and noticed the lead Humvee falling behind.
“You’re losing our soldiers,” Nick said.
“They know where the office is,” Matt said, staring intently on the road as far as the headlights would take him.
Stevie’s face was screwed up into a knot while squeezing his thumbs over his phone’s keypad.
“What are you doing back there, Stevie?” Nick asked.
“I’m trying to find out why I found traces of Chloride in Semir’s shoe,” Stevie said, not looking up.
“Isn’t that a common mineral around here?”
“Chloride itself is not a mineral per se, it’s a negatively charged ion and must be paired with a positive ion.”
“Okay,” Nick said. “I’ll take your word on that.”
Matt finally cruised the final mile before the sheriff’s office, then swiveled his head around as he pulled into the parking lot.
“Where is he?” Matt said.
“Good question,” Nick answered, remembering Tommy’s reluctance to meet at the house. He pulled out his cell phone, then stopped when he saw the sheriff’s car come charging into the parking lot to park beside them. There was only minimal security lighting, so both drivers left their headlights on.
“Where’ve you been?” Nick asked as they got out of the car.
Tommy looked disgusted as he slammed his door shut. “I picked up a tail on the way over here.”
Nick and Matt exchanged glances.
Tommy motioned them away from the cars. Nick and Matt followed. “Listen,” Tommy said, “I have a bad feeling about this guy I met at the bar. It seemed like a chance meeting, but the more I think about it, the less I like it.”
“What’d he look like?’ Matt asked.
Tommy met his cousin’s eyes. “He looked and sounded mid-western. But he tailed me like a pro. I don’t like it.”
“You get a name?” Nick asked.
“Norm Jennings from West Lafayette, Indiana,” Tommy said. “But I doubt that’ll mean anything.”
Nick rubbed a hand through his hair. “Great,” he said.
“Hey, I don’t like it any more than you do,” Tommy said.
“Did you tell him anything?” Nick said.
“What?” Tommy squinted. “Did you really ask me that?”
Nick covered his eyes and sighed. “Sorry. I’m a little frazzled right now.”
Matt looked over at the car where the kid sat in the passenger seat. “What’s he know?”
All three of them stared at Eddie who was talking on his cell phone.
“He says he knows where these KSF guys are,” Tommy said.
Matt headed for the sheriff’s car. “Well let’s get going then.”
Tommy raced around Matt and pulled the twenty-something kid from the passenger seat. He had three-day old facial stubble and a red rag in his hand.
As they got closer, Nick could see the kid’s nose appeared broken. He shot Tommy a look.
“This here is Eddie Lister,” Tommy said.
Eddie nodded, carefully.
Nick pointed to his face. “You okay?”
“The cigarette thief,” Matt said flatly.
“Hey, easy,” Tommy said. “He’s a good kid. He just made a bad choice, that’s all.”
The two Humvees filled with soldiers came rolling into the lot and Nick waved for them to stay put until they’ve figured out a plan. The lead driver flashed his lights for confirmation.
“So, how did you come to discover the safe house?” Nick asked.
“The what?” Eddie said.
“The place where the bad guys are hiding out,” Tommy translated.
“Oh, yeah, well,” the kid glanced around the parking lot. “Should I be calling my lawyer or something?
“Oh, for crying out loud,” Tommy cried. “There’s four FBI agents and a freakin’ platoon of soldiers here. You think they got out of bed to arrest some kid heisting cigarettes?”
Eddie looked at Nick, who groped one-handed into his pocket to pull out his credentials. Matt did the same. Nick motioned to Jennifer and Stevie in the back of the SUV. “They’re agents as well,” he said.
Eddie had a wary expression on his face.
“We don’t care about the robbery,” Nick said. “But if you can help us track down these terrorists, it would mean a great deal to the United States. You’d be considered a hero.”
Eddie seemed to like the sound of that. His face brightened. “So then I can tell you what happened and I
