Chapter Eighteen

The first thing Mitch did after taking the OPAQUE tech setup bags into his own bedroom, was unlock his side of the connecting door. He jiggled the handle on her side. Locked.

“Coming. I forgot. I forgot,” Liz called from inside her room then opened the door. “Thanks for reminding me. I’ll leave it unlocked from now on. Should I leave the door open?”

“No!”

“Okay. Okay.” She jerked her hands against her chest as her eyes widened. Then she giggled. “It wasn’t an invitation, if that’s what you’re thinking. I just needed to know if the door should stay open in case CT shows up. That’s all. Nothing else.”

What was she talking about? What invitation? What—

A light went on in his brain. She had him so confused he couldn’t stay one step ahead of her. And she wasn’t even trying. Well, she didn’t need to know he was flustered. He’d learned to bluff with the best of them.

“I know that’s not what you meant,” he said. “And for your information, I figured you might like some privacy. So, I said no on keeping the door open.”

“Sorry. Guess I misunderstood.” She rolled her eyes. “But, since you mentioned privacy. Are there security cameras set up inside this house? I mean, are we being filmed all the time?”

“No. What would make you think that?”

She shrugged. “You said this house was ultra-secure. To me that means cameras, burglar alarms, hidden weapons, and…I don’t know what all else. All I know is I don’t want you spying on me.”

“The only security cameras that run full-time are outside around the perimeter of the house. But there are a few security panels that can be activated if I think someone’s broken into the house.” He understood her concern, but a part of him felt insulted. “Just for the record, I’m not some pervert who’s set up cameras to spy on you.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Sounded like it.”

She rolled her eyes again. “Sorry. You do this all the time. For me, this is a little overwhelming.”

“That’s okay. I accept your apology.” Uh-oh…the moment the words left his mouth, he knew they had been a mistake. “You should—”

“I’d accept your apology, too, if you ever gave one,” she said sharply.

All he could do was stand there and stare into her sassy green eyes. She stared right back at him. Seemed as if they stood there forever, but couldn’t have been more than half a minute. She might be right about him never saying he was sorry, but damned if he planned to say it any time soon. In fact, never. He didn’t do sorry. At least not in words.

But he couldn’t keep a you-got-me grin from tugging at his mouth. She shook her head and turned, closing the connecting door behind her.

He caught the edge of the door right before it shut completely. “By the way, you mentioned losing your passport, but we never really talked about it. Did you say it was the same day that you were fired?”

Her expression took on a serious look. “Yes. I remember handing my jacket, purse, and laptop bag to the boss’s administrative assistant when I arrived for the meeting. When I got home that evening, my passport wasn’t there.”

“Are you sure you had it with you?”

“I’m almost positive. Anytime I fly, I follow the same routine. I keep my purse in my small carry-on tote. Once Security does the whole ticket and passport scan in the security line, I take the time to put them both in my purse before stepping through the scanner.” She sighed. “I must have forgot.”

“But if you had your ticket to get on the plane, logic says you’d put both in your purse.”

“Exactly.” The pinch of her brows indicated she was searching for an answer just like him. “Unless the passport fell out when I removed my ticket at the gate.”

He leaned against the doorframe. “Possible. But if that happened, wouldn’t the passport have fallen inside the small carry-on?”

She nodded. “Should have. But I swear I checked everything in every bag that evening. The passport was nowhere to be found.”

Once he talked with Josh later tonight, he’d have a better idea of any red flags regarding the publishing company she’d been working for. For now, though, he was satisfied Liz and he were in a place he knew how to defend. One that was safe, and very few people even knew existed.

“You said the assistant took your things. Did she always do that?” he asked.

“Yes. Every time I went for a meeting with the boss.”

“Were there a lot of meetings with the boss?”

“More than at my other publisher. But they’re all different.”

“Was it the same assistant each visit?”

“Yes.” She yawned, blinking her eyes rapidly. “I get the feeling you think they took my passport. Why?”

“That’s one of a lot of possibilities as to what happened. It’s my job to latch onto things that might help in this assignment.” Besides which, the why was something he still needed to figure out. “You look tired, get some rest. We’ll talk about this tomorrow.”

Nodding, she slowly closed her door. And he closed his.

For the next fifteen minutes, Mitch hooked up his OPAQUE communication system. He’d done this so many times, the arrangement and plugs seemed to be wired into his thinking. Computer set. Panels for viewing set. Everything hooked into the jamming system he’d had installed at this house. Power on. Password. Next passcode. System working—clean and clear.

This communication wavelength would be for only the three agents involved in protecting Liz—Josh, Reese, and him. As always, the lines were scrambled, secure access within secure access. There’d never been a breach of the system.

Reese would be his nearest backup if something happened to him, which meant he’d need to be familiar with this location. Mitch had already told him where to find a rental property in close proximity.

Of course, Josh, the secondary backup, could contact others in OPAQUE, even try to keep track of Drake’s whereabouts on a different channel back at headquarters.

He keyed Reese and Josh to get them both in the feed. “You two on board?”

First, Josh’s picture popped on the viewing screen. Followed closely by Reese. The words “mobile station” signaled they weren’t on any direct OPAQUE headquarters system.

“I was beginning to worry,” Josh said

“No need.” Mitch sat down in front of the big screen. “Took longer to get here than I thought. Reese, you settled in your place yet?”

“Yeah, I’m tucked away in my cozy little two-bedroom beach house. At least I think there’s a beach someplace.” Reese cleared his throat. “From what I’m seeing on the GPS and satellite feed, looks like you’re waterfront. Staring out at the Gulf in a”—he clicked the house on the screen—”is this place where you two are hiding out?”

“Yes.”

“What the hell?” Josh questioned. “That place must have cost OPAQUE a buttload to lease.”

Mitch stayed quiet. Until this case was settled, he outranked Drake. He didn’t need to explain anything to anybody. “Bring me up to date on what you’ve found out, Josh.”

“The passport hasn’t been turned in anyplace. Not on the black market. Not on the inner web. Not even on the street. Liz’s dad, Russ, hasn’t shown up anyplace, either. And, as of ten minutes ago, there’s been no contact from Drake.” Josh sighed. “In other words, we’ve got nothing new since you left the boat.”

There were always three options—status quo, attack, or subterfuge. Better known as tactical manipulation to gain an edge. He’d never much liked status quo. And if OPAQUE had nothing more than what they’d been sitting on since the beginning, then there was no chance of going on offense with an attack as long as Liz was in their protection. That left subterfuge. If that backfired it could be the end of all of them. Staying in one spot too long could also be the end.

“We can’t sit and wait for CT to make the first move again,” Mitch said.

Reese nodded. “Any moves they make will be direct and to the point of what they want. Namely, Liz.”

“That’s why I need you to be close at all times. I’m texting you the passcodes and instructions for the security system right now.” Mitch pressed send before looking back at the men on the screen.

“From what I’ve calculated, my place is a two-minute sprint to your location. A lot less by car, but that loses the element of surprise.”

“Do some recon tonight. Again, in the daylight.”

“Will do,” Reese replied.

“Contact me after that, and we’ll plot the strategic points around this place.” Mitch figured that would mean letting him know he owned the house. Had to be done. “After that, I’ll give you a tour of the house and all the security systems. You’re my replacement, if anything happens to me.”

Reese nodded again.

“Josh, I need you to recheck Liz’s bank accounts and credit cards. She mentioned something about them being all jacked up the day her dad’s text came. Ask her again and see if she’s come up with anything new.”

“Got it.”

“If we knew what CT wants her father to do, it could lead us to their location. Suggestions?” Narrowing in on the opponent’s location could lead to taking out their point men. “By the way, have there been updated Coercion Ten Leverage Lists coming through?”

“A couple, but everybody’s still at the same level. Liz. Alive. Fifty thousand. You, Reese, Drake, me and the rest of the OPAQUE crew are the same as always. Alive. Ten grand. Dead, needs approval.” Josh leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. “I’ll keep working this end, but squeezing the same intel over and over is coming up with a big fat zero.”

Even though a smaller team would be the way to stay hidden, Mitch needed to look at the broader picture. “Would more eyes on the case help?”

“We may get to be the point where we need fresh brainpower,” Josh said. “What about on your end?”

Reese patted the gun tucked in his shoulder holster. “For now, I’ve got this end covered. If we get any movement, that’ll be a different story.”

There wasn’t much chance of CT finding them at the house, but Mitch still felt uneasy. Who else could he trust? Cat for sure, but she was out of commission. Joey? Yeah, but he was more of a tech guy. A smart, muscular techie, but still a support agent who spent a lot of time behind a desk and on workshop presentations around the country instead of an in-the-field agent like himself.

“Who else could we pull in to the team if needed?” Mitch asked.

“Stealth just got off an assignment, but I left him in Florida with Cat.” Josh grinned. “He’ll get her back to St. Louis once she can travel. May have to be by car instead of flying. I’ll keep you posted.”

“Let’s hope they don’t kill each other before then.” Mitch couldn’t help but laugh. “Remember when she put him on the floor at that defensive move exhibit? I thought he’d bust a gut trying to get up before anyone saw him on the ground.”

“As I recall, she didn’t even see him move before he had her pinned against the wall.”

Clicking his tongue, Reese rolled his shoulders. “I worked with Stealth in South America. He is one hard-ass guy. Picturing Cat and him, in a car, for close to eighteen hours… That’s gonna be a long, long trip.”

Mitch laid his gun next to the keyboard. “We’ll need to—

A second later, he slid his hand to cover the gun and motioned for the men to be quiet. What had he heard? A clink? A thud? A door closing? Footsteps on the stairs? What? He pulled his gun in front of his chest, resting it on the edge of the desk.

“I think someone’s moving around downstairs,” Mitch mouthed with barely a whisper as he got to his feet.

Another sound. Something like a stifled pinch of pain echoed from downstairs, up the stairway, and into his open doorway to the hall.

Racing out of his bedroom, he crouched low, hugging the wall as tightly as he clutched his gun. Should he alert Liz? Set up his perimeter at her door? No. Right now, he had a clear lead on the intruder. Other movement might put him on the defense.

Slowly, he inched down the stairs. Heard muffled footsteps. Saw a flash of light turned on. He inched farther down. Darkness flashed as the switch was evidently thrown off, leaving only the kitchen’s nightlight casting a slight glow.

The footsteps headed toward him. A loud pop cut through the air.

Mitch jumped the railing. Landed, rolled twice, stood, and aimed his weapon. “Stay right where—”

Liz’s terrified expression greeted his aim as she sucked in a panicked breath. Caught in the glow of the nightlight, she scrunched her arms against her sides, shielding her chest by holding her hands in front of her, one of which held a chocolate milk.

“Wha-what are you doing?” Her shaky voice matched the tremble of her body.

“I heard a sound. Thought it might be CT.”

She flipped on the overhead light, which illuminated her hair dripping wet. Her oversized sleep shirt skimmed more than halfway up her thighs. “Do I look like CT?”

Redundant question. No need for an answer. He was the one who needed answers. And, to keep his eyes on her face. “What was the loud pop I heard?”

Liz bent and retrieved a bag from the floor. “I dropped my cookies.”

His eyes zoomed back and forth between her and the bag of chocolate chip cookies in her hand. “What are you doing down here by yourself? I told you to let me know if you left from upstairs.”

“I knocked on your connecting door, but you didn’t answer. So, I opened it a crack and told you I was going downstairs. Even asked if you wanted anything.”

“Well, I didn’t hear you.”

“Really? Because you said ‘no’.” She did that whole cock of the hip that women did when they wanted to make a point. “And don’t you go all ballistic on me. When we were in the kitchen earlier, you said that if I needed anything else to… Get. It. Myself.”

The side door slammed open, and she screamed as she dropped the bag again. Plus the bottle of milk this time.

Pounding footsteps raced toward them as Mitch spun to face the attack.

CT had moved in fast. Faster than he’d imagined possible.

No Kevlar to protect him. None for his client. He’d trained for this day. Knew it would come. He stepped in front of her, his gun aimed level at the approaching danger. Whoever rounded that corner was a dead man. After that, it was anybody’s guess.