“It’s already up. I’m tracking now.” Marcus sat down behind the parapet of the roof and punched commands into the controller.
“Set it for auto track and meet me at the car.” Ryan crossed back to the other side of the street and rounded a corner.
“On my way.” Marcus closed the cover on the small drone controller and made for the roof access.
He made his way through the dark corridors of the building and stepped out into a gloomy alleyway. He watched as a Toyota SUV rolled up and stopped beside him.
“Still got him?” Ryan asked.
“If this auto tracker is working, then yeah.” Marcus slid into the passenger seat and flipped open the controller again. “Yup. Still on target.”
“Which direction?”
“South.” Marcus pointed and Ryan goosed the Toyota out of the alley and onto the streets. “Stay on this road. We’re parallel to him so he won’t have a clue we’re on his tail. If he turns, we can adjust.”
The pair drove slowly through the streets until Marcus noted the Range Rover turning east. “Turn up here. Make a left.”
“Crap.” Ryan groaned. “The only thing out that way is the airport.” He turned and eyed Marcus. “Is he on 5?”
“Yup. Just got on and they’re accelerating.” Marcus cursed under his breath and punched the abort code into the drone.
“No, stay on him!” Ryan reached for the controller and Marcus pulled it away.
“We can’t. They’ve got jammers set up out there anyway. If we get too close, we lose the drone.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. “Jay and his team should be here by now. We need to let them know.”
Ryan goosed the accelerator again and crossed through town, turning onto the first onramp toward the airport. “If we can’t track him, then we’ll follow him the old fashioned way.”
“Don’t do anything that draws attention to us.” Marcus listened to the phone ring then relaxed slightly when it was answered. “It looks like they’re headed to the airport. We’re going to close the gap and try to keep eyes on him.”
He listened while Jay spoke then hung up. “Jay says not to get too close. If he does leave, he’ll be back. He’s supposed to be in town tomorrow.”
Ryan slowed the Toyota slightly while his mind worked. “Maybe he’s picking somebody up?”
“Or maybe he’s not going to the airport.” Marcus slipped the phone back into his pocket.
“Well if we had a drone on him, we’d know.” Ryan couldn’t hide the frustration in his voice.
“And if it got too close to the airport, we’d be out twelve grand.”
Ryan shrugged. “We’d just add it to Jay’s bill.”
“That would go over like a fart in church.” Marcus leaned back in the seat and stared out the windshield. “Hurry up, but not too fast.”
Ryan gave him a dirty look. “You want to drive?”
“Nah, you need the practice.”
Langley, VA
“SIR? WE HAVE an issue.”
Darren Chesterfield quickly closed the screen on his computer and turned to the agent standing in his doorway. “What is it now?”
“We pulled a video feed from a private airport. Bridger has left the country.” He handed the file to the senior man and waited while he skimmed it.
“What was the flight plan?” He never raised his eyes as he continued to scan the documents.
“They filed a plan for Montreal, Canada, but…”
Chesterfield turned to the man and glared. “But? But what?”
“They never arrived, sir.” The junior agent swallowed hard and pointed to the file. “The blue sticky tab, sir. The report from our man there. The plane never landed and they have no record of a change in the flight plan.”
Chesterfield squeezed his eyes shut and slapped the folder on his desk. “Who are these people with him?”
“Most are ex military. Some are…well, contractors, sir.”
Chesterfield waved the man on. “What kind of contractors?”
“They work for us, sir. Er, rather, they did. They’ve done all sorts of dirty jobs that we don’t want linked directly to us.”
Chesterfield leaned back in his seat and smiled. “Mercenaries.”
“Well, in a way, sir. Yes.”
He nearly broke into laughter as he began to nod. “This is perfect.”
“Sir?” The junior agent truly had no clue what he meant, but he was relieved that he was happy with the outcome.
“Never mind. I have some spinning to do.” He waved the man off and when he heard his door close, he picked up his phone.
“Nelson.”
“Colonel, we’ve found Bridger. Well, we had him, but…he’s in the wind with a bunch of mercenaries.” He waited for the colonel to process the news. “If we can tie them and him to the project, then we might be able to—”
“Who are the mercs?”
Chesterfield stammered slightly. “I-I don’t…I mean, I’m not sure yet. Sir.”
“Find out.” Chesterfield heard the phone click and he stared at the receiver in his hand.
“Or it’s my nuts. Got it.”
9
Oklahoma City, OK
ROGER WALLACE TOSSED the covers aside and stumbled to the bathroom. The hotel room was still dark and he heard Brenda mumble something under the covers as he closed the bathroom door. Don’t let the Bureau find out you talk in your sleep. He smiled to himself as he squinted at the image in the mirror. He relieved himself then washed his hands.
He glanced at his watch then splashed cold water onto his face. It was still a bit early but he had a lot of driving to do. He could almost smell the coffee downstairs that he would need plenty of to make the rest of his journey.
He opened the door to the bathroom and found Brenda sitting up in bed, her phone pressed to her ear. He opened his mouth to say something then realized that this wasn’t the time.
Roger picked up his trousers and slid them on then reached for his shirt. He stood to pull the shirt on and
