Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“They’re dead,” Agent Price confirmed with a somber nod.
Coulter felt like he was going to be sick. They’d gotten to the private air strip north of the city in record time, but they were still too late.
Crawford’s jet was gone. Alex was nowhere to be found, and the two agents Price had watching the plane were both dead. Each suffering from a single gunshot wound to their head.
Along with the lost agents, two additional bodies had been discovered. Both were identified as employees of the private air strip. Innocents who’d been caught in a monster’s deadly game.
“We need to figure out where that plane is headed,” Digger rumbled.
Bones chimed in from a few feet away. “I’m guessing they didn’t file a flight plan that would lead us straight to them.”
Apollo nodded. “And if they did file a plan, I doubt they’re stupid enough to stick with it.”
“I should call my wife.” Garrett looked Coulter’s way. “Alex is her sister. Avery deserves to know.”
Coulter nodded, a ball of emotions filling the base of his throat. He pushed it down with a painful swallow. “Tell her I’m—”
What? That he was sorry? A lot of good those words were now.
“I will.” His brother gave one of his shoulders a tight squeeze. “It’s going to be okay, Colt. We will get Alex back.”
A jerky nod was the best response he could muster before Garrett pulled his phone out and walked away. While he broke the heartbreaking news to Alex’s sister, Coulter did his best to push away his overwhelming emotions and fear.
Think, dammit. Think! Where would he go?
“Crawford wouldn’t take her to his place in L.A.”
All eyes turned his way, but it was his boss who chose to speak up first.
“I agree,” she nodded. “Especially after leaving this kind of carnage behind.”
“Can you track the plane?” Owens turned his hopeful gaze his daughter’s way.
Standing next to the team’s SUV, Shadow had the passenger door open as she used the front seat as a makeshift desk.
“Already working on it.” She didn’t bother looking up. “If I can access the right satellite, I should be able to use it to triangulate the jet’s GPS signal. From there, I can hack into the plane’s system and start tracking it until it lands.”
“Shouldn’t we be in the air, too, then?” Coulter looked to Rafe. “We could be at your team’s jet in like, what . . . fifteen minutes?”
“Less if I’m driving,” Apollo muttered low.
“You guys go.” Shadow turned Coulter’s way. “I can keep doing my thing, so when you’re ready to go wheels up, I’ll be able to give you a direction in which to fly.”
“She’s right,” Garrett agreed. “We can use the jet’s comms system to keep in contact with Shadow, like we do for any other op.”
“You sure?” Digger looked to his wife. “You can come with us if you want.”
But Shadow was already shaking her head. “It’s better if I stay behind. That way I’m closer to home if I need to access another program.”
“She can ride with me back into the city.” Agent Price looked to Coulter. “I’m assuming you want to go with your brother’s team?”
Oh, yeah. He was going. She could fire his ass for all he cared. It wasn’t like he planned to stay with the CIA after this, anyway.
Coulter nodded. “I’m going with them.”
“Keep me posted as much as you can.” Price dipped her delicate chin. “And good luck, Agent Morgan. I really do hope you find Miss Webb and that she’s okay.”
“Thanks.” He forced the smallest of smiles.
“We should go now,” Bones suggested. “Especially if we want any chance of catching up to Crawford once we figure out where he’s headed.”
“Be careful.” Shadow rose to her tiptoes and gave Digger a quick peck on the lips. “You’d better come back to me in one piece. Oh, and I love you.”
The leader of Tac-Ops leaned in for a second go. “Love you, too, baby.” Digger kissed Shadow on the lips before pressing his mouth to her forehead.
The loving scene tore at Coulter’s aching heart. What if he never got the chance to kiss Alex again?
If you don’t, you’ll have no one to blame but yourself.
“Don’t do that.” Garrett eyed him closely. “Don’t beat yourself up or play the bullshit game of what-ifs.”
“How did you—”
“I’ve been in your shoes.” A haunted look covered his brother’s serious gaze.
“We all have,” Apollo reminded him grimly.
Half-a-second later, Bones slapped a friendly hand against Coulter’s back. “And just like all those times, it’ll be mission success. You just have to hang in there, brother. Alex will be back in your arms before you know it.”
“Trust us, Colt.” Digger’s gaze locked with his. “This is what we do, remember?”
The corners of Coulter’s eyes began to sting, and he had to blink several times to keep the flood of emotions at bay. He wasn’t a member of Tac-Ops, and yet these guys were treating him as if he were a part of the team.
“Thank you.” He cleared his throat, turning to Shadow, Rafe, and even Agent Price, as well. “Thank you, all.”
His boss sent him what appeared to be a smile of encouragement. “Good luck, Agent Morgan. Now, go bring your girl home.”
An hour later, Coulter and the men of Tac-Ops were flying due west on the team’s private jet. In an impressive display of Shadow’s mad technical skills, the tiny blonde was able to locate Crawford’s plane.
They were still waiting on its final destination, but she was keeping a close eye on their target’s movements. While she did that, Shadow was also doing a deep-dive on all of Crawford’s properties.
The guy was a billionaire, so there were several to choose from, but given the direction they were headed, she’d narrowed it down to two. One was in northern California, not far from Santa Barbara, and the other was a secluded beach house in San Diego.
Neither property was a guaranteed hit, but for now, it was their best shot at getting to Alex and taking down Crawford. And since Shadow was as thorough as she was smart, she was doing a simultaneous search for land connected to Cyrus Vas.
“So.” Bones plopped down into the seat beside him. “You and Alex, huh? That’s cool.”
It was the first any of them had said about his burgeoning relationship. Though, to be fair, they’d been busy with other things.
“If you’re going to warn me off or tell me it’s a mistake, I’m gonna have to stop you right there.”
“Warn you off?” Bones snorted. “Dude, I think it’s freakin’ awesome. Think about it. If you and Al get married, then you’ll be Falcon’s brother and his brother-in-law.”
Coulter frowned. “I’m not sure that’s how it works.”
“Sure it is. Alex is his sister-in-law, so her husband would be Falcon’s bro-in-law by marriage. Two titles, one man.” The team’s medic gave him a teasing nudge.
“To be honest, I expected you to say something about me being an undercover agent with the CIA.”
“Oh, that? Nah.” Bones waved the topic away. “I mean, it’s cool, don’t get me wrong. But given what we do, and the secrets our job requires us to keep, I get it. The others do, too.”
Coulter grinned. “Thanks, Bones.”
“No thanks needed, man. Far as any of us are concerned, you’re just another part of the team.”
“I wish,” he huffed.
“Do I sense trouble in CIA paradise?”
Coulter shifted his lower body against the soft leather seat.
“I’m just burned out, I think. All the lying I’m forced to do and the lines we cross .
. . I don’t know.” He sighed. “I love doing what I can to keep our country safe. I just think there has to be a better way, you know? One without all the government BS getting in the way.”
“Why do you think I joined Tac-Ops? Hell, it’s why we all became part of the team.”
“Bones is right.” Garrett returned from his quick trip to the jet’s tiny bathroom. Choosing the seat across from Bones, his brother added, “It’s nice not having to cut through all that red tape.”
Bones nodded. “Especially when there are innocent lives hanging in the balance.”
“I bet it makes doing your jobs a heck of a lot easier,” Coulter mused as he met the man’s friendly stare.
“Dude, you have no idea. But hey.” Bones gave his thigh a light slap. “If you’re really wanting to get out of the spy biz, you should see if Rafe will hire you on as part of the team.”
Garrett leaned forward to meet his gaze. “So you were serious about quitting the CIA?”
“I was.” Coulter nodded. “I am.”
“Then its settled.” Bones slapped his own thighs that time. “We get back, we’ll tell Owens we want you as the newest addition to the team.”
A tiny grin lifted one corner of his lips as his chest grew warm. “I appreciate the sentiment, Bones, but shouldn’t the other guys have a say?”
In a move he should have anticipated, the former corpsman pushed himself to his feet and whistled. When Digger and Apollo turned his way, he asked loudly, “Either of you two object to seeing if Owens will make Colt an official member of the team?”
“Works for me.” Apollo shrugged as Digger gave what they all assumed was an approving grunt.
“There ya go, my man.” Bones slid back down into his seat. “It’s all but done.”
“It won’t be done until I see Alex with my own eyes and know that she’s okay.”
Right on cue, the mounted flatscreen above the cockpit door came to life. Within seconds, Shadow’s face appeared.
“I think I know where he’s taking her.” She didn’t bother with a formal greeting. “But the property doesn’t belong to Crawford.”
“Then who?” Garrett asked.
“Cyrus Vas.”
Coulter frowned. “Vas owns property in southern California?”
“As of a month ago, yes.” Shadow nodded.
“It’s a stretch of farmland located between L.A.
and San Diego. It’s not in Vas’s name directly, but rather an alias listed as the owner of a shell company out of Idaho.
Of course, they’re both fake, but after digging, I was able to find a county permit with Vas’s real name and signature. ”
“What kind of permit?” Coulter asked next.
“There’s a turn-of-the-century farmhouse still there that, up until the sale, had been used as a rental. From what I could tell, it looks as if Vas is planning to tear it down, but the construction permit hasn’t been filed, and satellite imaging shows the farmhouse is still there.”