3. Michael
“So this makes a total of four assassins who are about to descend on this podunk town, if they haven’t already?” Logan hovers his tense body over his computer, speaking into the microphone with an incredulous look carved into his features.
“The good news is, the deadline to accept the hit has passed. It’s now closed. I’ll touch base with Waldo and Tex and check in with updates in an hour.” There is little confidence in Link’s tone.
“And Penny is nowhere near this, right?”
“Affirmative. We aren’t drawing any attention to ourselves.”
“Good. Update in an hour.” Logan taps a key, and Link’s image disappears from the screen.
Four hitmen have signed on for this job. Most are driven by money; some may want to prove themselves loyal to the Sparr family. Whatever their reasons, they will all know how many they are up against.
This has now become a race to find Dana first.
Luckily, we already know where she is and who she is now. It’s taken all my willpower to stop myself from marching into her little coffee shop and dragging her out of there, but we don’t have a handle on any of these contract killers, and we could be walking into a trap at any moment—or leading them straight to her.
In hindsight, we shouldn’t have left Waldo and Tex back on base, but we needed leadership there. When it was only two killers, this operation seemed more achievable. We made the decision to bring Grey along for field training.
But now there are four of them. They will know about each other, but hopefully they don’t know about us. So far, Dana’s identity is still hidden, or we would have heard about it by now. Which reminds me to check in. I tap the screen on my phone and hit dial.
“Eagle, how’s the shop?”
Depending on where we are in these hills, connections cut in and out, which hinders our surveillance. Radio is the best option for communication, but any professional would know to scan all channels, so we’re keeping our conversations to our phones for now.
“Shit—one sec,” is his hasty reply, and I listen to a commotion on his end as he mutters something in Spanish. Jack and Logan pause briefly out of concern. “You startled me, and the sun caught my scope. It may have reflected into her place. Give me a moment.”
As I wait, I realize I’m silently hoping he’ll tell us he’s been made and we need to do an immediate extraction.
My impatience rings in my ears. The sooner we have this done, the sooner Dana will be reunited with Jessa, and we’ll all be out of danger.
At least, that’s what I tell myself.
“All clear. I’m good. Nothing out of the ordinary. Almost the same customers as yesterday. This town is predictable. Makes things easy.” His words shouldn’t frustrate me as much as they do.
The guys with me in the room go back to their tasks.
“Thanks. Stay on the building. We’re going to take the other truck and check out our lead soon, so stand by. Logan is staying back to finish the setup. He’ll call if he needs you. And, Eagle? There are a total of four contractors who’ve taken the hit, so watch your back.”
“Will do. Out.” Eagle’s line abruptly cuts out with a crackle, and I turn to face the guys.
Jack and Logan are busy unloading equipment and supplies. They already heard our conversation, so there’s no point in an update. An awkward few minutes pass as everyone processes the new information on their own before Logan stops fiddling with some wires and catches our attention.
“So it’s four then.” I halt unpacking as he speaks, and Jack stops putting our rations away in the open kitchen. “I don’t like the odds.”
“Should we call in additional backup?” I have one hand on my phone, ready to dial Link.
“The thought crossed my mind, but I’m not sure more manpower will benefit us here. This is a small town. Right now, we’re a group of buddies on a hunting trip. More bodies makes us look like—well, like people who are up to no good and need backup. If we were obvious, someone would have already come snooping, and the alarms we set up on the property would be going off. I’m also concerned with appearances back on base. Calling for more bodies may alert Penny.” Logan lets the threat of Jessa linger.
One by one, we drop our tasks and gather around the antique wooden table in the middle of the room.
“I’ll get Link to profile the contract and match it with a list of who’s most likely to pick up a hit like this. Innocent woman, above-average price tag. Many of these contract killers have their own codes, so he should be able to eliminate some of them. I’ll ask him to email the most likely candidates, along with photos, if possible, so we have something to work with,” Jack offers.
“Have him send the photos to everyone’s phone as soon as he has the list.” Logan follows up on Jack’s thought. “You know the drill with this lead. We have visual confirmation Dana is here; this Stan Teckler is connected to her. We go in easy. Find out if anyone else has asked about her and try to get a description. We need to know if they have her new identity before we extract her, or we’re all sitting ducks.”
I confirm his words with a nod as Grey joins us from outside.
“I unloaded the last of the supplies. The truck is ready to go, boss.” He stands at the door, letting in the warm summer breeze.
The air up here reminds me of the compound: fresh and removed from the diluted air of the city. I love places like this, but right now I’d prefer to have this mission over and done with.
“Give me a few minutes to get my things.” I stand from the table, and the men disperse, returning to their tasks as I continue, “Jack, outside in five?”
Grabbing the last of our food, he nods and walks to the fridge. I turn and tip my chin at Grey, who steps back onto the porch before closing the door.
I reach into my duffel bag, pull out my gun and holster, and secure them under my jacket. Just because we’re going in easy doesn’t mean we’re going in unprepared.
I close the distance to the front door with one eye on Jack. The guy is deep in thought; the look on his face is a complex one. This is stressing him out almost as much as it is me. He’s had to keep information from Jessa, and I know that’s been eating away at him, even though it is for her own safety.
I can’t fathom the shit show that would hit this sleepy little town if word got out she was still alive.
For now, we all keep our secrets.
We find out if Dana’s identity has been exposed, then we move on to our extraction.