She thought about side-stepping the question but didn’t. “Marines for a short time. I was recruited by the Bureau straight out of boot camp.” She could tell Danny didn’t like her response.
“If you don’t want to tell me, just say so, but don’t give me that line of crap.”
“It’s not a line of crap, it’s the truth. Part of the truth. I had a falling out with the FBI over how a case was handled. I quit and became a merc. Spent a lot of time in the Middle-East and parts of Africa before fate brought me back to the Bureau.”
“That makes more sense,” Danny nodded. “I knew a bunch of mercs while I was with Team 6. Most went by monikers instead of names; would I recognize yours?”
She looked at Troy who shrugged. “Danny is an old friend,” he said. “Someone we can trust.”
Sin looked Danny in the eye. “La Perla Ángel de la Muerte.” She spotted disbelief in his eyes but then a small lopsided grin blossomed from his lips.
“Are you carrying?” he asked.
“Always.”
Danny held out his palm and waited. Sin pulled her Sig .45 from her waist and handed it to him. “There’s one in the chamber.”
“I wouldn’t expect nothing less.” His small lopsided grin turned into a full-fledged, open-mouthed smile as he held the semi-automatic. She watched him turn the gun in his hand, his eyes glued to the grip. “I’ll be damned. The girl of my dreams in high school turned into the ghost nobody wanted to see in their nightmares.”
Sin held out her hand and wiggled her fingers. Danny placed her pistol in her palm. “Now that we’ve all been down memory lane, how close can you get us to that camp without seeming suspicious?”
“I’ll do a drive-by and then make a loop around, but this conversation ain’t finished.”
“It is for now.”
Danny laughed and gave her that one-hundred-watt-smile. “For now,” he repeated. Getting back in the pilot’s seat, he yelled over the sound of the engines, “If you see anyone at the camp, wave.”
“Why?” Sin said.
“Because that’s what people do out here.”
They made two wide circles around the camp. The cabin was situated on a small island made mostly of cypress trees just as described. There was no getting on or off the island without being spotted. In front and in back of the cabin were a couple of guys. They appeared to be lounging around, but appearances can be deceiving.
Sin, who was sitting behind the pilot’s seat, tapped Danny on the shoulder. “Let me borrow your eyes,” she said, pointing to a metal box next to his seat. Danny leaned to his right, lifted the lid and pulled out a pair of Steiner M50rc Commander, SEAL-issue binoculars and handed them to her.
“Nice,” Sin mumbled. Placing her sunglasses on the top of her head she looked at the cabin through the binoculars. She tapped Danny’s shoulder one more time, held up one finger, and then swirled it around before making a fist.
Danny, reading her signals, made one more loop around the camp before high-tailing it out of the area. He stopped the boat at the same dock he had before.
“What did you see back there?” Troy said once Danny cut the engine.
“The guards were packing sidearms. One man in back and one man in front of the cabin both had fully-automatic assault-weapons.”
“Do you think they’re expecting trouble?” Danny asked.
She shook her head. “I don’t know if they’re expecting it, but I do think they’re ready for it in case it comes.”
“What’s our next move, Angel?” Danny smirked.
“Can you get us a map of the area? And don’t call me that.”
Danny packed his lower lip and spit. “I can, and you don’t have to tell me twice.”
“Good. Take us back to the vehicles. I need to check on somebody before we go any further,” she said looking down at her phone.
Troy peered over her shoulder trying to read the text on her phone. “What is it?”
“Better question is, what isn’t it. Lancaster and Frank are blowing up my phone. Deb says that Savio’s health is declining and to call her as soon as possible, and Russo needs to talk ASAP. He’s at the house in Tumbleboat.”
Forty minutes later, Sin swung a leg over the saddle of her Harley. “Troy and I will meet you tomorrow morning, 5:00 a.m. at the old Key West airport. You remember Charlie’s old hangar?”
“Ten-four.”
“Stubbs, I’ll meet you at the hospital. I need to see Russo first.”
“Be careful,” Troy responded.
“Always,” Sin jumped on the starter, twisted the throttle, and fish-tailed it out of the parking lot.
30
Sin was sweaty and grimy by the time she made it back to Tumbleboat. She didn’t spot Russo’s car, but something told her he was there. As she rumbled past the house, she spotted the security lights on by the front door. Someone’s in there, she thought. It’s the only reason the security lighting would be triggered.
Sin parked two blocks away and made her way back to the house. One block away, she spotted a black Cadillac pulled into the neighbor’s driveway. Knowing that the car didn’t belong, she pulled her semi-automatic from her waist and went around the back of the house. Not seeing anyone, she stayed hidden behind a bunch of Palmetto bushes that separated the beach from the homes.
With her stance low, she crept behind the cover of the Palmettos, until she was one house away from her own. Sin took a deep breath, gripped her pistol tighter, and made her way up the back porch steps, making sure not to cause a creaking of the hardwood. She peered through the windows of the French doors and spotted Russo sitting on the couch with Lancaster beside him while someone with his back turned towards her was pecking way on her laptop. She used her free hand to jerk the door open and took them by surprise.
Her actions drew the attention of the man at the computer who jumped to his feet
