Chapter 4 #3
That timeline was a problem. If the drone meant my house was burned and her townhouse was a crime scene, Brenna’s place had been compromised since I’d taken Emma there two nights ago. A safe house could work, but if they were tracking us, anywhere we landed could be compromised within minutes.
The bay was right outside my window, and so was the answer. There were thirty-two acres of private land out on that water that few knew had ever been inhabited.
Gunner Godet, a founding partner of K19 and the closest thing I had to a mentor, had inherited Indian Springs Island from his father, a retired Marine general.
Gunner had built it into something close to a fortress—perimeter sensors, sonar on the dock, cameras on every approach, and sixteen miles of open water between the island and the nearest land.
It wasn’t a long-term solution. But it would keep her safe tonight, and tonight was as far as I needed to think.
He’d offered the place to me once, after a job in Bogotá fell apart and I needed to disappear for a few weeks.
I’d told him I was fine. He’d poured two fingers of Maker’s Mark, looked at me over the rim, and said, “Kid, the day you stop being fine is the day you won’t have the sense to ask for help.
So I’m telling you now—the island’s there when you need it. ”
The time had come when I needed to take him up on the offer.
“I know where to take her,” I said.
Atticus caught my eye in the rearview mirror. “Where?”
“Indian Springs Island,” I said, pulling out my phone while trying not to wake Emma.
Gunner answered on the second ring. “Kodiak. What’s happenin’?”
“I need to get somebody to the island.”
“Jesus Christ, you younguns can’t seem to remember who you’re dealin’ with.
” The growl was pure theater. “Somebody? You mean Emma? And before you ask, I got the alert about the drone, and I’m a couple of steps ahead of you.
Chopper’s on standby, perimeter sensors are live, and the house will be stocked by the time you arrive.
I’ll send you the rest of the details when we hang up. ”
Of course he already knew. He’d probably had the drone flagged before Alice did.
“Thanks, Gunner.”
“You got it, kid. Keep her safe.”
His promised text arrived within seconds and included the airfield location south of the bay, a hangar number, the tail ID, and a six-digit access code for the house.
Now, we had a destination, but didn’t have Emma’s things, her laptop, the evidence files, or my go bag. All of it was inside the house with a drone parked on my road.
I also didn’t have a place to stash Emma and Brenna while Atticus and I returned to get it.
When the answer came to me, I hated it before I’d finished the thought. Luke had a place in Annapolis that was less than fifteen minutes from mine. It was the obvious call.
“We should go to Luke’s if he’s back from meeting with Steel.”
“I’ll let him know we’re coming,” Brenna said, already placing the call.
Emma’s weight resting on me felt better than it should.
Luke was waiting on his porch when we arrived. He opened the rear passenger door on Emma’s side, and she blinked awake. She was groggy and disoriented, and when he offered his arm, she took it.
I reminded myself that I had a job to do, and that was keeping her safe.
“I saw the drone alert,” he said. “What’s your plan?”
“Immediate: Atticus and I will return to my house and pick up what we need. Then go to Indian Springs.”
Luke hadn’t worked for K19 very long, so I had no idea if he knew the reference, but he nodded and helped Emma inside.
“Anything else I can do?” he asked once she and Brenna were settled on his sofa.
“We should take a different vehicle,” Atticus suggested, and I agreed.
Luke dug his keys from his pocket and tossed them to him.
Atticus drove and kept his mouth shut, which was smart.
I called Alice on the way. “We’re heading in to grab gear. Can you kill that drone signal?”
“Give me ninety seconds.” She paused for far less time than that. “Done. You’ve got maybe twenty or thirty minutes before whoever’s running it realizes the feed is dead.”
“That’ll do it.”
We ditched Luke’s SUV a quarter mile from my neighborhood and covered the rest on foot. Everything was dark and quiet. The drone was where I’d last seen it—tucked into an oak branch, forty yards out, matte black and dead, thanks to Alice.
We cleared the house in under five minutes. I grabbed my go bag from the closet first because it was always on the ready. Atticus headed straight to the guest bedroom and put Emma’s clothes in the suitcase while I gathered her computer and evidence files and shoved them in a separate bag.
I was headed out when the two framed photos still sitting on the kitchen counter caught my eye. I shoved them into my go bag and followed Atticus out.
We retraced our route, loaded Luke’s SUV, and were at his place in under forty minutes total.
While we unloaded the bags, Atticus brought up what I’d been turning over on the drive over. “Treasury needs to know she’s out. Darla will have questions by morning if Emma doesn’t show.”
“Brenna can handle it,” I said. “Darla knows who she is. She can let her know Emma was in a car accident and that she’s okay, but she needs a few days of medical leave. Someone will keep Darla updated on when she’s able to return. No location, no details beyond that.”
When we reached the house, Brenna met us and motioned us inside.
Luke met us in the hallway. “What do you need from me?”
“Keep showing up at Treasury. Same schedule, same cover. K19’s still on-site for the Morrison continuation.
I won’t be there—if anyone asks, I’m working the investigation off-site while Emma recovers.
Darla can let Brad and Astrid know Emma’s on medical leave, and you’re the K19 point of contact until she returns. ”
He nodded once.
When I saw Emma pushing herself off the sofa, I rushed over to help her. Luke arrived at her opposite side at the same time. As stupid as it was, my tension eased when she reached for me instead of him.
“We got everything,” I said. “We need to get on the road.” As soon as I said it, I wondered if Brenna had filled her in on what went down while she slept during the car ride.
She shook her head as if that would help clear it. “We’re going to an island?”
“That’s right. It’s not far, and it’s secure. We’ll regroup there while you recover, then figure out our next move.”
“Thank you,” she said, then leaned into me.
“Are you okay to walk?” I asked, hoping she’d say she wasn’t and give me an excuse to gather her into my arms and carry her outside.
“I think so.”
“I’ll help,” Brenna offered, plastering herself to Emma’s side.
“Luke suggested he take you to the airfield, and I took him up on it,” Atticus said as the two men followed.
The ride to the airfield was twenty minutes of Luke attempting to make conversation with Emma.
There was a floodlight over the last hangar in a row. Otherwise, everything was dark. Luke parked and came around to help Emma out, but I was already there.
A modified Bell 407 waited on the pad beyond the building. It had blacked-out windows and no markings on the fuselage. The pilot climbed out when he saw us approach and helped get Emma settled in a jump seat.
When he fastened her harness, she winced, so I reached over and loosened the strap. My fingers grazed the skin above her collarbone, and she didn’t release the breath she held until I pulled my hand away and planted myself in the seat next to her.
The rotors spooled up, the cabin rattled, and the ground fell away. Within minutes, the mainland was a fading line behind us.
“I didn’t thank him,” she murmured, looking out the window at where Luke waited by the SUV.
“He knows you appreciate his help.”
Emma turned to me. “Do you?”
It took me a minute to figure out what she meant. Even then, I wasn’t exactly sure, so rather than respond, I did what was becoming second nature. I shrugged and withdrew.
“Kodiak?”
“Yeah, I do.” The answer was vague enough that it would cover whatever she’d meant.
“No, you don’t.”
I opened my mouth, but shut it when her hand rested on my arm.
“You saved my life, Coleman. Merely saying thank you isn’t enough.”
I wanted to bring her hand to my lips and tell her that her use of my given name was what made it enough. She wasn’t thanking Kodiak the operative. She was thanking Coleman the man.