The screen went black.
Richard closed the computer, exited the vehicle and climbed back into the helicopter. As the pilot took off, Richard stared out the thick-paned glass. The lights of the city glittered in the distance. Headlights from vehicles below moved quickly along major traffic arterials, pinpoints of light moving together like an army of fireflies in formation.
Uneasy, he began to map out a plan in his mind, a plan that had so many variables, it made him dizzy trying to figure out each one. Gerrit already knew two weaknesses-Harrogate in England and the lab in Albuquerque. And his uncle was teaching him how to stay alive, to live off the grid, out of Richard’s reach.
His one ace in the hole was the imbedded informant in Joe’s extended group of acquaintances. Unfortunately, the source must never contact Richard directly unless it was an extreme emergency. Joe O’Rourke and his sidekick Willy posed a threat with all their technological prowess. Richard and the source had to use an archaic communication system to stay in touch. In the past, the source would give him a summary of Joe’s activities after the fact. Until now, it helped Richard keep ahead of Joe’s meddling. Recent events changed everything. He must get to the source quicker, even if it meant burning that person’s cover.
He clenched his hands in frustration. He would have to divide his people in two camps-one in England and the other in New Mexico. He would head for the United Kingdom and leave the other crew behind to cover the lab. Between them, they should be able to lock on to Joe’s small army, wherever they might be hiding.
All this money and all these resources, and Joe still continued to elude capture. To be a royal pain in the backside. Richard must bring this to an end, to sanitize everyone and everything. Otherwise, Stuart and his organization would make sure that he would be the one taken off this planet.
Permanently.
Richard turned and beckoned to a woman seated behind him. He wanted her close enough so he could speak into her ear above the drum of the helicopter without the aid of headsets. He did not want others to hear. “Collette, can you hear me?”
She drew even closer, leaning over the back of his chair.
As he turned, his lips almost touched her left ear, the smell of jasmine filling his nostrils. “I need you to pull together a team and head down to Albuquerque. If I am not mistaken, our boy Gerrit and his new friends will be sniffing around down there trying to find out where our lab’s located. Retrieve whatever resources you need. Locate and take them out. Understood?”
“I saw you take that call in the limo. Any trouble from the boss?”
Shaking his head, Richard played down his fears. “Shoot, that ol’ boy thinks the sun comes up just to hear him crow. I’ll take care of that end. You just find Gerrit, hear?”
Collette gave him a slow smile. “Can I play with him first?”
He smirked. “As long as he ends up dead, you can do whatever you want.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Consider it done. Where will you be?”
“Going back home to England. Need to start ramping up our operations and tie up loose ends. Keep me advised.”
“Always here to serve, Richard.” She smiled, languidly leaning back in her seat.
He turned and eyed her curves with fond memories, then turned to face the pilot ahead, watching him manipulate the controls as they neared the airport. He must get to Harrogate and make sure it hasn’t been compromised. He could have kicked himself for taking Gerrit there. Richard had been so sure the man would work with them-given Marilynn’s not-so-subtle charms and other incentives-that he never even thought there might be security issues. He’d misjudged the situation, and now the operation might be exposed.
Trying to control his breathing, Richard leaned back and closed his eyes, listening to the sound of the chopper. He trusted Collette’s skills and knew firsthand how deadly she could be. All sweet and nice on the outside, but as lethal as the unrestrained Ebola virus.
Find Gerrit. Kill Gerrit. I will do the rest.
He picked up his cell phone and quickly dialed a number. “Okay, here’s what I want you to do,” he said, as soon as the person on the other end answered. Richard laid out his plan.
Chapter 38
Richmond, Virginia
Gerrit could smell snow in the air, cold air cutting into his nostrils like a razor. Since they’d pulled into a motel, he sensed the weather might worsen.
Joe rented several adjoining rooms at the far end of the parking lot, away from noisy traffic and prying eyes. Gerrit felt a hand on his arm.
“We need to talk.” His uncle led him away as the others grabbed their belongings and trudged to their rooms. “Come into my room for a minute.”
Gerrit followed the older man up a flight of concrete stairs and into the room. Inside, Joe turned to Gerrit with a frown. “I’m putting you in charge of this trip to Albuquerque. Give you and the others a chance to work together.”
“And where are you going?”
“I’m heading to England. Kane’s shield of protection cracked just a tad when he took you to Harrogate. A mistake on his part. I want to take advantage.”
“How do you plan on doing that?”
“I actually have some friends stationed at the RAF Menwith Hill site. I plan on setting up surveillance capabilities to identify any visitors Kane might invite to his lair and establish traps to capture electronic communications with others in his group. This is the first time we have had an opportunity to systematically identify our enemy.”
“Be careful. Are you taking anyone with you?”
Joe shook his head. “Nah. You’ll need all hands on deck in Albuquerque. I’ll be fine. I’m not going to do a John Wayne on Kane’s place. Just try to find out what we’re up against.”
As Gerrit turned to leave, doubts started to set in. Splitting up seemed risky. And Joe going solo in Harrogate seemed foolhardy. However, Joe had been doing this for some time. Better not question the teacher until Gerrit knew more.
He got to the door when Joe spoke up. “Oh, wait. I forgot to give you a contact. An Albuquerque PD officer. Here’s his number. Tell him Joe sent you and that Oakland Raiders rule. He’ll get whatever you need. In fact, I’ll give him a quick call to get things started before I leave.”
“And what’s his name?
“Geronimo Sanchez.”
Gerrit raised his eyebrows. “You’re kidding.”
Joe laughed. “Nope. That’s his name. Just don’t try to shorten his name to Geri unless you want to tick him off. He hates it. His old man tagged him with it when Geronimo was young. Only his family gets away with calling him that.”
Gerrit made his way to his own room and saw Alena waiting outside. She watched him unlock the door.
“Joe, talk to you?”
He nodded and gestured inside. “Wanna come in?”
“Only if you leave the door open a crack.”
He smiled. “Don’t trust me?”
She just laughed.
Gerrit grabbed his bag, followed her inside, and set it on the bed. “Joe said he’s headed to England-by himself.”
“He told me.” She waited a moment. “That makes me uncomfortable. We have always worked together as a team.”
Gerrit dragged a chair over for her, taking the edge of the bed for himself. “I don’t have a good feeling about it either. No one for back-up.”
