Chapter 11
“What in the world is going on?” Levy’s voice rose in alarm.
“We were found again,” Dom said hoarsely.
His heart thundered with the spurt of adrenaline that came from being targeted by gunfire.
He should have been used to it by now, but he wasn’t.
The only good thing was that this incident pretty much proved Andrew Levy wasn’t their shooter.
The US Marshal was down under the table with the rest of them.
“We need to head out the back,” Griff ordered. “Hurry!”
Dom grabbed the laptop, wondering again how they were found. He had rerouted the ISP address just an hour or so ago. And now that he thought about it, each time they were found was shortly after he’d rerouted the ISP.
“Stick close.” Kendra tugged his arm. He nodded, noticing she had her weapon in hand. So did Griff, Justin, Raine, and Levy. Dom was the only one without a gun. And for some reason, that made him feel next to useless.
“Okay.” For the first time since this nightmare started, he felt safe knowing he and Kendra weren’t in this alone.
Staying low, Kendra quickly ran toward the back door with Smoky padding softly beside her.
Griff already had the back door open, scanning the backyard for signs of a threat.
When Dom and Kendra got there, Griff gave them a nod.
“Let’s go.” Griff led the way, with Kendra and Smoky following. Dom stayed behind Kendra as Justin, Raine, and Levy came up behind him, covering his back.
While it was nice to not be alone, he didn’t like everyone else risking their lives for him. Gritting his teeth, Dom tried to make himself a smaller target, despite being the tallest person in the group.
Griff led them through the snow-covered backyard to the small wooded area to the east of the rental property. Once they were within the trees, he stopped and gestured for the rest of them to huddle closer.
“What’s the plan?” Levy asked. “We need to try to grab this guy.”
“Yep. We’re going to split up.” Griff pointed to Levy. “You and I will go on either side of the house to approach the front. Raine, Justin, Kendra, and Dom should stay back.”
“Works for me.” Levy didn’t hesitate. Dom was impressed with the US Marshal’s dedication to getting this guy. “I’ll take the side closest to us. You go around the other side.”
“I can come too,” Raine said curtly.
Griff shook his head. “Stay here in case we need backup. Or in case another shooter comes in from this direction.”
Raine didn’t look thrilled but nodded. “Fine.”
“Great. Let’s move.” Griff sprinted toward the far side of the house where the attached garage was located. Levy took the closest side, reaching the house before Griff and making his way along the side of the house toward the front.
“My SUV is in the garage,” Kendra said in a low whisper. “What if we need to drive out of here?”
“Our vehicle isn’t far. We’ll make room.” Justin glanced at his K9, Stone, who stood waiting for a command. Dom noticed Smoky stood with her head up, sniffing with interest. Had Kendra’s K9 gotten a whiff of the shooter?
How much more of this could they take? The way the shooter kept finding them, Dom feared it was only a matter of time until a bullet struck one of them.
Lifting his gaze to the sky, he opened his heart to prayer. Please, Lord Jesus, give Griff and Levy the skill and strength they need to find and arrest this man!
On the heels of his prayer, another crack of gunfire rang out. He flinched, then glanced at Kendra. She offered a reassuring smile, stroking her free hand over Smoky’s fur.
The minutes ticked by slowly. Dom’s toes were growing numb with cold when suddenly the two men came running back toward them. Both Griff’s and Levy’s expressions were somber.
Not good.
“What happened?” Raine demanded.
“He’s gone.” Levy sounded disgusted. “I fired at his vehicle as he passed by but must have missed.”
“I wasn’t even sure that was the right truck,” Griff drawled, his gaze narrowing at Levy. “Did you get a look at the driver?”
Levy grimaced. “A brief glimpse. He’s a young white guy late twenties or early thirties. But the truck was definitely a black GMC Sierra, so I figured I’d take the shot.”
“A white guy in his late twenties and early thirties doesn’t narrow our suspect pool,” Raine said with a sigh. “What about a license plate?”
Levy frowned. “I looked but didn’t see anything. Maybe it was covered in snow? I can’t be sure.”
“I didn’t see a plate either,” Griff admitted. “We’ll call the local cops and let them know about the GMC Sierra. If they see a black one with an obstructed plate, they have grounds to pull the driver over. Maybe our guy has a criminal record.”
“Even if he doesn’t, we could ask for the police to provide us his name and date of birth,” Raine said thoughtfully.
“Yep,” Justin agreed. “Then we can cross-check him with Bartoli.”
The faint wail of sirens could be heard in the distance. Dom realized someone had called in the gunfire, alerting the police. Something he should have done once they were safely out of the house and away from the gunman.
Dom swallowed a surge of frustration. Once again, the shooter had taken shots at them without exposing himself to danger.
Firing at a house from behind the wheel of a car seemed like a coward’s way out.
And it was also odd in that the shooter would be less likely to hit his target from that distance.
That was the point, right? To hit and kill Dom? Because he had been told too much?
“Let’s get back to the house,” Griff said, interrupting his thoughts. “The local police will be there soon. And we’ll need another place to stay.”
“We’re running out of options,” Kendra said dryly. “At this rate, no one will want to rent to a Sullivan.”
“I’ll use my FBI resources to obtain a safe house,” Griff said. “Remember, we rented this specifically to draw the shooter out.”
“You did?” Levy looked surprised.
Dom nodded. “Yep, that was when we suspected you were dirty. Obviously, we were wrong about that. But the other factor here is that I rerouted the ISP address to use the computer. The same way I have been each time we found a place to stay. From the hotel to one safe house and the next.”
“So?” Levy lifted his hands. “I don’t understand your point.”
“I think we need to consider the possibility Bartoli has a hacker on the payroll.” Dom held Levy’s gaze, then turned to look at Kendra.
“You know that it wasn’t long after we got to the safe house that we didn’t even rent through legal channels that we were found there.
The more I think about it, the more I think there’s a hacker out there feeding the gunman our location. ”
There was a moment of silence as the group absorbed his theory.
“Okay, we’ll consider ways to narrow down who Bartoli may have hired. How, I’m not sure. For now, we need to update the local police. Let’s go.” Griff turned and led the way back to the rental house. Everyone else followed. Dom fell into step beside Kendra and Smoky.
“You really think a hacker is involved?” she asked in a low voice.
“Yeah, I do.” Dom grimaced as he considered for the first time that maybe someone within Data Intelligence Services could be involved. It was the largest computer technology company in the quad state area, covering Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Idaho.
Not that his employer was the only one who hired geeks like him for their technical expertise. The truth was that the computer industry was growing, and there were companies like Data Intelligence Services popping up all over the US and worldwide.
The dark web had tentacles that reached to every corner of the world. Their hacker could be from anywhere. Even overseas. Yet Dom didn’t think so. He wasn’t a cop, but in his humble opinion, digging into the employees within his company, Data Intelligence Services, would be the best place to start.
But first, they needed a safe place with internet access that wasn’t likely to get them all killed.
Kendra noticed Smoky continued to sniff their surroundings with interest. Almost as if there was something about the GMC Sierra that had caught her K9’s attention. But that didn’t seem possible. Despite being highly trained, even a K9 couldn’t sniff through glass and steel.
The warmth of the house enveloped her when they walked inside.
She sighed in relief as her fingers and toes thawed out.
But then she glanced at the shattered front window that was clearly allowing cold air to seep in.
The warmth wouldn’t last for long, making her wish, and not for the first time, that she had a coat as warm and fluffy as Smoky’s fur.
The sirens were loud enough now that they couldn’t hear each other speak. Griff headed out the front door with Levy trailing behind him to meet the Cody cops.
Justin and Raine were off speaking in low voices. Kendra glanced at Dom, who set the computer on the kitchen table, then headed to the counter.
“Need more coffee,” he muttered.
“What if this is about the Krugerrand coins?” Kendra spoke softly as she joined him in the kitchen.
“I was going to mention this earlier, but your father obviously had some from prior to his being relocated into witness protection. Stuart Ramsey had one, either from being paid in Krugerrand or having found one when he messed with your father’s plane.
And then Stuart gave his to Helen, who also ended up dead. ”
After finishing with the coffee, Dom turned to stare at her.
“I get where you’re going with that thought, but keep in mind, my father doesn’t have any Krugerrand at the house.
I would have found it if he did. And if Bartoli thought my dad had Krugerrand on his plane, wouldn’t he have taken the coins first, then killed him? ”