“
Y
ou’re talking too fast,” he said pointedly. “You…okay, slow down and tell me what it is that you know. Use your words the way they’re meant to be used—you know, with spaces between.”
“Ugh, fine,” Courtney mumbled irritably on the other side of the call. “It’s not that simple, though. We have a renegade on the board—Charles Stafford—and it would appear that he put a hit out on your life. And an expensive one at that.”
“Oh, wow, that makes me feel all warm and cuddly inside.” Anderson let his sarcasm drip from his words although he didn’t really mean it. Perversely, it was oddly flattering to know that the people who wanted you dead were willing to pay top-dollar for it. Then again, the fact that they tried to kill him at all was something he needed to get used to. Had he allowed himself to slide into complacency with his own fireteam now in place? They’d sent assassins before. The fact that they’d failed meant the worst was yet to come.
“Look, if you need me to head back to help you to deal with this shit, I’m sure I can put my business here aside,” Courtney said. Anderson could hear a rumble of protest on the other side, but he couldn’t tell who it was. Probably Jacobs, he mused.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He shook his head firmly.
“The fact that they have a hit out on me and not you is suspicious on its own, considering you’re the figurehead for all the changes we’ve made here. The only reason I can think of why they don’t have a hit out on you too is that you are still near the Zoo. They have vivid memories of what happened the last time they tried to kill you there. Hell, I still have vivid memories from that time.”
“Would you believe me if I said that I do too?” she asked with a dark chuckle.
“I’m torn between my own memories and the fact that you’ve actually been in the Zoo the longest. Technically, you should be the one it affects the least.”
“And the fact that the nightmare we saw that day still haunts me should be enough said, I think.” Her voice took on a somber note.
“Hell.” Anderson forced a laugh. “Now, I actually think we could lead all these people who want us dead out there with you and the Zoo will take care of the evidence.”
“Yeah, take care of, digest, and shit out before too long. If they’re lucky, of course.”
He laughed despite the fact that none of it was funny at all. These days, a dark sense of humor was all he could really manage. When he thought about it, the fact that he still had a sense of humor at all was a miracle on its own.
“Ah, no matter, we’ll deal with it on this end.” He nodded decisively. “Haven’t you heard? We appear to have had an uptick of gangland violence in this part of town. Horrible business, really. I hear five men with guns were killed outside the restaurant where I had dinner with Ivy and Damon.”
“Oh, golly me, that is terrifying,” Courtney said and ran with the joke. “Why, that makes me wonder if I should even return to Philly at all. It’s probably a good deal safer around here.”
“Yeah, that joke will never get old. While we have Davis and Mixon working with us to keep things running smoothly around
Philly, I thought I might make it a little more difficult for people to find and kill me by taking a road trip.”
“Will you and Savage have a bonding experience on the road?” Courtney sounded amused. “Become bros. Have an adventure, start talking like surfers while you smoke weed and try out all kinds of new ideas. And all that before the two of you meet a couple of happy go lucky ladies who make you realize how much you’ve missed living life to the fullest?”
“That was…oddly specific.” He wasn’t sure he wanted to delve into either the fantasy or its possible sources.
“It was a movie I watched,” she admitted. “Or maybe a book, I don’t remember. Bro-bonding fiction is usually my go-to. That and sci-fi action. All kinds of fun shenanigans, actually.”
“Well, the reason for the proposed road trip was something very interesting that the lead scientist here in the Wolven facility said,” Anderson explained. He spoke quietly and paced around the small research lab that still hadn’t been unpacked and seemed rather low on the list of priorities of the people there. “He told me the people running most of the military weapons testing were all moved to facilities in Nevada.”
“But we don’t have any testing facilities in Nevada,” Courtney pointed out.
“That was exactly what I thought,” Anderson concurred quickly. “It would seem that most of the military testing equipment was moved by Carlson before we actually arrived, which is what I plan to take Savage to investigate. If I had to guess, I’d say most of the scientists and researchers were kept out of the loop, which would explain why Dr. Maschick provided me with that little nugget so flippantly. If we can bring them back into the fold, we can find out who was in charge of moving them and if they’re still with Pegasus.”
“Fantastic,” Courtney said enthusiastically, then drew in a quick breath. “Wait a second. You and Savage won’t rush off
to Nevada to gamble away all the company funds I left at your disposal, will you?”
“I have company funds at my disposal?” he asked.
“Forget I said that,” she snapped.
“Nope, too late,” he replied. “In all seriousness, though, with this new hit and the higher stakes, staying on the move does seem to be the best option right now. We still haven’t managed to establish how the bastards knew we’d be at the chop shop, although Anja is adamant there is no evidence that our systems were compromised. That leaves the option of more conventional or old-school surveillance techniques as a viable possibility. It wouldn’t have been difficult to track us on public airlines. If they are watching, a moving target with no clear or obvious purpose could confuse them a little—or draw them out if they think I’m vulnerable.”
He paused and frowned before he decided to simply go ahead and say it. “And if you’d rather return to the States, I’d suggest you adopt a similar policy. I’ll make sure to use most if not all the company funds at my disposal.”
“Ugh, fine.” Courtney sounded aggravated and Anderson thought he could hear her roll her eyes if he actually tried. “But don’t do it all on red or something like that. Let Savage play a little. He has the potential to simply scare everything so shitless it coughs up, so maybe we can actually pull a profit from this.”
“I’ll get right on that. Okay, I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Damn right you will. Stay alive, Anderson.”
“Will do, ma’am,” Anderson said and smirked at the indignant gasp.
“Did you just ‘ma’am’ me?” She almost sounded angry.
“Sorry…going through a tunnel… Losing you… I… you…” He continued the stutter for a few seconds before he hung up. She wouldn’t believe the charade, but she wouldn’t bother to call him back for that kind of awkward conversation.
He hoped, anyway.
Maschick still waited patiently for him when he stepped out of the room.
“I’m sorry, doctor, but I’m afraid I’ll have to cut this visit short.” He shook the man’s hand. “Trouble at the office and it can’t wait. But I’ll be sure to pass your notes on to Dr. Monroe, and if there’s anything I’ve missed, feel free to email me.”
“Of course,” Maschick smiled but looked a little disappointed. “You have a nice day now.”
Anderson nodded and headed back the way they’d come, his phone in his hand. When he was out of earshot, he opened his contacts list and brought up Savage’s number.
Meet me at Pegasus building. Urgent!
He sent the text as he hurried to his car. Savage wasn’t the type who liked conversations for their own sake and would appreciate that the message was concise and to the point. If he was in any kind of trouble and couldn’t make it, he would call or text a response. He’d do the same if he needed more details. Otherwise, he would arrive at the Pegasus offices and assume he had been called in for an emergency.
“He’ll know what that means,” Anderson said to himself with a grin. He turned the car on and grinned when the engine revved delightfully in the underground parking of the testing facility.
Behind him, Mixon eased onto the road a short distance back. The ex-colonel grimaced when he remembered how close he’d come that morning to telling his shadow not to follow. It had been a momentary foolishness, but he’d learned his lesson. For better or for worse, their foresight in bringing in the new team members had been wise, and he was grateful for the fact that the quiet sniper took his responsibilities seriously.