Chapter Twelve #2
The plan was methodically designed. Everyone knew their zone and the objective: don’t let Shepherd get away while keeping an eye on her.
Olivia glanced at Eli.
He drove Chance’s truck. His brow was riddled with worry lines. He was still concerned that somehow Shepherd would get the upper hand.
The reality was he might. Nothing was foolproof.
Where their planning might fail, they would have to rely on experience, training, and gut instincts. Play it by ear.
Olivia focused on the road in an attempt to steady her nerves. If she let on in the slightest about her own unease, it would only make things worse for Eli.
“It’s not too late,” he said.
“For what?”
“To turn around and hop on a plane. We could be relaxing on a beach in Fiji, sipping on papaya juice in less than twenty-four hours.”
If only, but it was too late.
During the Aegis briefing about the New Dawn Revolution and the grand opening of the resort, Olivia had gotten a bad feeling. She should’ve passed on this mission then. Instead, she dragged Eli and IPS, what little family he had, into this dangerous web of terrorism.
“What happened to Paris?” She put her hand on his thigh and squeezed. “It’ll be okay.”
The road came to an end, and he stopped. She checked the coordinates. “We’ll have to go on foot another four hundred feet.”
They got out and headed into the park.
“How’s it looking?” Eli asked over the Bluetooth comms in his ear.
“Good,” Bo said. “I’ve only got one heat signature. The person is waiting right at the coordinates. No one else.”
“We’ve got other signatures throughout the park,” Chance said. “Mostly animals. A few people. Nothing odd.”
“Maybe you should wait here.” Stopping, Olivia turned to him. “Shepherd was clear that he wanted to meet me alone.”
Putting an arm around her, he started walking. “We’re almost there.”
She swallowed any objections, even though she was confident this wasn’t the right move.
A man came into sight, standing there waiting. Wearing a sweatshirt and jeans, he was tall and had a wide-shouldered build. “Hi,” he said, waving like he was some kind of tour guide, meeting his party.
Olivia and Eli exchanged a glance.
“I don’t like this,” he said.
As they approached, she could see the guy more clearly. Baby-faced with a smooth jaw, he looked no older than twenty, binoculars hanging around his neck.
This wasn’t Shepherd.
“Are you Ms. Lane from Aegis?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“And I take it you’re Mr. Easton?”
Eli nodded.
“Shepherd told me you might be with her. You both look exactly like the picture.” The guy reached into his front pocket, pulled out a photo, and showed them.
It was a snapshot taken of them in the motel room from the vent. Eli was holding the envelope. She was standing
behind him.
“Who are you?” Eli asked.
“I’m Tristan,” he said, putting the photo away.
Eli scrutinized him. “How old are you?”
“Seventeen.”
Just a kid.
“I’m afraid only Ms. Lane is allowed to go deeper into the forest to speak with Shepherd,” Tristan said. “You’ll have to wait here, Mr. Easton.”
“Where she goes, I go.” Eli took a step forward. “Got it?”
“Sorry. Those are the rules. If you don’t agree, I can’t escort Ms. Lane any farther.”
Eli drew his gun and put it to Tristan’s head.
Olivia’s pulse sped up and she put a hand on Eli’s arm. “What are you doing?” she asked, even though she knew he wouldn’t shoot an unarmed teenager.
“You’ll take us both,” Eli demanded.
Tristan pushed up his sleeves and lifted his sweatshirt. “I’m unarmed, Mr. Easton. No harm will come to Ms. Lane, and no violence will occur here unless it’s by your hand. I assure you.”
“You can take your assurance,” Eli said, “and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine.”
“I was told you’d be antagonistic and wary.” Tristan slowly reached for his back pocket and withdrew a small, yellow rectangular packet that he handed to Olivia. “Ms. Lane will put that on.” He handed Eli the binoculars. “So you can keep an eye on her.”
Olivia opened the packet. It was a bright yellow poncho.
“I don’t like it,” Eli said, with the gun still trained on Tristan’s head.
“You shoot me. Or leave. Or I can take Ms. Lane into the forest, alone, to speak with Shepherd,” Tristan said, calmly. “Those are the only options.”
She shoved Eli’s arm down. Once he holstered his gun, she took him off to the side, where they couldn’t be overheard. “He only wants to talk.”
“Stop saying that. It’s some kind of trap,” he said, and she agreed. “Why even bother with a parley? Why not just kill us?”
“Because we would be replaced by two Aegis agents. He keeps besting us, but he spared our lives for a reason. So that I could talk to him. That’s what I’m going to do because if he wanted either of us dead, we would be.”
“A parley isn’t a truce. It isn’t surrender. Any conversation can still be dangerous.”
“I know.”
“What do you think he wants to talk about?”
They’d had this conversation already and had weighed the pros and cons. They had nothing to go on, besides this.
“I think he wants me to hear him out. Try to soften me to his perspective. He has a bunch of loyal followers because he’s excellent at recruitment. If he could turn an Aegis agent to his side, that would be valuable to him.” No doubt his pitch would be compelling.
“And what happens when you’re not persuaded?”
“I’ll let him think otherwise.” She pressed a hand to his cheek.
“Audrey is dead and the others in custody are going to be more tight-lipped. Having a face-to-face conversation with Shepherd means at the least I’ll be able to help a forensic artist create a sketch of him.
That’ll be something since there were no prints on the surveillance equipment,” she said, also confident she could get the smallest nugget of information out of Shepherd.
“We need this. It might be the only break we get in this case. Shepherd is too careful, too thorough.”
“That’s what worries me. He’s considered all of this, gamed it out, and is several steps ahead of us.”
All true. “This is our best chance.” A better option than waiting for Shepherd to find them again. The next time, they might not survive.
“Liv, you can’t trust this parley.”
“I don’t.” The alternative was to fly to Fiji and hand this off to someone else who might very well end up dead. “But I won’t throw in the towel. I’ll get the guy to talk. Even a minor mistake on his part, we might be able to take advantage of it.”
“How can you be so sure he’ll give you something?”