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Michael turned away from the ambulance containing Angela and Stephanie, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. Blake was accompanying them to the hospital. Neither was critically hurt, but both had lost significant amounts of blood. Surprisingly, Stephanie was the worst of the two. The bullet in her leg was dangerously close to the femoral artery, prompting the medic to call ahead for the surgeon.
Michael tapped a button on his screen and lifted the phone to his ear, walking away from the ambulance as it slowly rolled down the alley into the parking lot. The phone rang twice before it was picked up.
“Yes?”
Relief washed through him at the sound of Alina’s voice.
“Where the hell are you?” he demanded, his voice sharper than he intended.
“In Pennsauken. Our shooter dumped his car. I just finished going through it.”
Michael raised his eyebrows.
“You followed him?” he exclaimed. “How did you find him?”
“I saw him leave the church. I couldn’t stop him, but I slowed him down.”
“Did you find anything in the car?”
“No. How’s Angie?”
“On her way to the hospital with Stephanie,” Michael said, walking toward the parking lot. “Stephanie took a bullet in her leg. Blake’s with them. I managed to go through the organ loft before the cops got there.”
“And?”
“Nothing. It was clean.” Michael pulled his keys out of his pocket. “Where in Pennsauken? I’ll come meet you.”
“For what?” Alina sounded amused. “He’s long gone.”
“Hey, anything to get away from here. The only reason I’m walking free is because I have a badge that trumps the Feds. Everyone else is being held in the church until they can be interviewed.”
“Go to the hospital and check on the girls.” He heard a door close and an engine start. “Call me as soon as you have an update.”
“Where are you going?” he asked, but there was no answer. She had already disconnected.
Viper disconnected and glanced at the torn piece of paper in her hand. It wasn’t much, but it was enough. She dropped it into her cup holder and pulled out of the empty parking lot.
She had told Michael an outright lie. She’d found two things in the sedan, missed by the assassin when he dumped it. The first was the torn scrap of paper, extracted from between the driver seat and the carpeted floor board inside the door. It wasn’t surprising Kyle had missed it. It was completely obscured by the frame under the seat. The other item was more obvious, and she had no good explanation for why the assassin would have left it to be found. Whether he was in a hurry, or simply didn’t think it was something included with an older model sedan, he had failed to remove the GPS chip from the on-board computer.
Viper frowned, slowing for a stop sign. It was a rookie mistake, and one she hadn’t expected him to make. Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully and she glanced at the chip sitting on the passenger seat. Why did he leave it behind? He had to know she was right behind him. Her lips tightened and she returned her gaze to the road. He’d ditched the car fast enough.
Alina turned right and headed toward the highway. The torn scrap of paper was part of a parking garage receipt. Unfortunately for him, the address was still visible.
Fury was simmering below the surface and Alina took a deep, steadying breath. Now was not the time for emotion, yet it was there, threatening. It was bad enough John’s final send-off turned into a complete fiasco, but now Stephanie and Angela were both in the hospital, victims by association. Viper pressed the gas, accelerating with more force than necessary to pull onto Route 130.
When she came back to New Jersey, she knew the risks involved to herself. In her opinion, the possibility of getting one step closer to the invisible puppet master in Washington, DC outweighed those risks. What she hadn’t taken into account was the toll on her friends, or the unexpected arrival of Michael and Blake. Because of that miscalculation, Stephanie and Angela were both caught in the crossfire. Not only that, Joanne and Bill had their final good-bye to their only son disrupted by the actions of the very assassin that killed him!
Viper veered off onto an exit heading toward Camden and the Ben Franklin Bridge into Philadelphia. Perhaps Hawk was right. Perhaps she should have stayed away from Jersey. As soon as the thought entered her mind, however, Alina shook her head. She came back to New Jersey with a plan, and that plan had not changed. Her hand tightened on the steering wheel. The plan was flawless, even with the unexpected additional players. She had to stop letting emotion get in the way. The plan was the plan, and the only way to keep them all safe was to follow it.
And kill the enemy so well-hidden in Washington.
Alina rubbed her forehead and flew along in the far left lane, speeding toward the tolls for the bridge. The letters Dave had sent John twelve years ago held all the clues to the identity of her arch-nemesis, but she was unable to decipher them without the attachments. Her hand dropped back to the steering wheel. Without the attachments, she had no way of pinpointing the traitor behind all of this.
The frustration and fury she’d been carefully repressing for the past two weeks tightened her gut, and made Viper’s throat constrict. Not only did her brother die trying to get the information out to someone, but now that information was lost forever. John was dead, Hawk was shot, she was being hunted, and Stephanie and Angela were hurt and it was all because of her brother’s curiosity and her job. Her lips tightened. It would all be for nothing if she couldn’t figure out who was behind it. Kyle was just a pawn, another puppet on a string. It was the puppet-master she wanted.
Her phone broke the silence in the Jeep, ringing through the speakers and pulling Alina from her thoughts. She pressed a button on the steering wheel.
“Yes?”
“Go secure,” Charlie’s voice filled the Jeep.
Alina pressed a button on the screen of her phone.
“Done.”
“What the hell just happened?” he demanded. “There was an active shooter at John’s funeral?”
Viper’s lips twisted humorlessly.
“Someday you have to tell me how you know everything,” she said, switching lanes for EZ pass. “It can’t have hit the news yet.”
“It hasn’t. Tell me what’s going on.”
“A sniper was in the organ loft,” said Alina, slowing to roll through the toll booth. The light flashed green and she pressed the gas again. The bridge loomed ahead of her, and beyond it, the Philadelphia Skyline. “He took a shot, but missed and hit the lectern.”
“You were the target?”
“Yes.” Viper glanced over her shoulder and moved into the middle lane to cross the bridge. “Someone knocked a kneeler and I hit the deck. The round went over me. He tried again, but I was moving and he hit a statue.”
“Did you see him?”
“Yes.”
Silence greeted that and Alina was halfway across the bridge before Charlie spoke again.
“I’m assuming he got away since you’re not telling me it’s been contained.”
“He did, but he won’t get far.”
“You sound confident. Why?”
Viper’s eyes narrowed.
“When have I ever failed?”
Charlie chuckled reluctantly.
“Fair enough,” he murmured. “You have a lead?”
“No, but I’m working on it,” she lied. “Do you have any information on your leak?”
“Yes,” he said unexpectedly. “It’s worse than we thought. Assets are being targeted all over the globe.”
“How many?” Viper demanded, approaching the end of the bridge.
“As of this morning, I have four confirmed dead and three missing,” he said. “It’s not just you anymore. I’ve warned the rest and they’re going dark.”
Alina swore.
“Is it confined to the Organization?”
“It appears to be. There are no signs of any other agency being targeted.”
“Who have you pissed off, Charlie?” Viper demanded, turning right off the bridge and taking the exit to Center City. “Are you any closer to finding out if the leak is in our house or someone else’s?”
“I am.”
“Don’t forget–”
“I won’t,” he said, cutting her off. “They’re all yours when I have a name.”
Viper nodded, navigating the narrow city streets of Philadelphia skillfully. She was skirting around the edge of Center City, cutting through neighborhoods of row homes pressed together just feet from the curb. When this all began and she was chased across Europe a few weeks ago, Charlie promised her he would send her when he found the leak. It was beyond business now. It was personal.
“What about Hawk?” she asked. “Is he safe where he is?”
“For now. I don’t anticipate him staying put for much longer.”
“He’ll be safer on his own,” Alina said, slowing for a red light. “No offense.”
“I don’t doubt that,” he agreed. “It’s not him I’m worried about.”
Alina watched in her rear view mirror as a black sedan with tinted windows pulled up behind her. She glanced at the light as it turned green and pressed the gas.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’m not happy with you being in New Jersey. You’re too much of a target there.”
“Only if they know where to look,” she pointed out, approaching the next block and another red light. “I have my reasons. You know that.”
Alina stopped at the light and glanced in her rear view mirror. The black sedan was still behind her. She frowned and shifted her eyes to her side mirror, watching as two youths in hoodies moved from the sidewalk into the street behind the Jeep. Her lips tightened as one crossed behind her while the other one started walking beside the Jeep. She glanced at the red light swiftly, then the black sedan behind her.
“I can’t change your mind?”
Before she could answer him, something hit the window next to her. Viper turned her head incredulously to stare down the barrel of a semi-automatic.
“Hold on, Charlie,” she said. “Give me a minute.”
“Get out or I’ll blow your head off!” yelled the youth.
“Is someone actually...” Charlie began, sounding dumbstruck.
“I think so,” she answered, amused. “Hold on.”
Viper undid her seatbelt and moved her hand to the door handle. She opened the door just enough for the unsuspecting, would-be car-jacker to shove the gun into the opening, pointing it directly at her. As soon as the hand holding the weapon passed the edge of the door, Viper pulled the door closed again, hard. She threw the Jeep in park, catching the semi-automatic as it fell. Moving swiftly, she released the door and spun sideways in the seat at the same time, kicking the attacker solidly in his chest. He stumbled backwards, lost his footing and fell onto the curb.
Viper followed him.
Before he could regain his feet, she was above him. The butt of his own weapon made solid contact with his temple and the car-jacker sank back on the cement silently. Spinning around, Viper started toward the back of the Jeep. The other half of the car-jacking duo was backtracking toward the black sedan. She raised the semi-automatic in her hand, watching as the back window of the sedan opened. The barrel of another gun appeared. Without breaking stride, Viper fired. Her shot was true and the barrel lowered abruptly as the weapon dropped from lifeless fingers. Reaching the back of the Jeep, she unloaded a stream of bullets into the front tires of the sedan as the driver threw it in reverse and hit the gas. The partner still in the road yelled, raising a pistol and pointing it at Viper.
“I’ma kill you, bitch!” he screamed.
He never got the chance to fire. One bullet entered his neck and the other went into his chest. The pistol dropped from his fingers as he fell into the road, dead. The sedan never hit the brakes as it sped backwards, the front tires flattening as they went.
Viper turned and went back to the driver’s door, flipping on the safety as she went. She climbed back into the Jeep, tossing the gun onto the floor of the passenger side, and closed the door. Putting the Jeep back into gear, she hit the gas, crossing through the intersection and leaving three bodies behind.
“You were saying?” she asked, reaching for her seatbelt as she drove. “Something about changing my mind?”
“Do you go out of your way to look for trouble?” Charlie demanded. Whether his voice was shaking from amusement or anger, Viper wasn’t entirely sure.
“Sad, isn’t it?” Alina asked, turning left down a side street. “It just seems to find me.”
“How many were there?”
“At least four, maybe five.”
“How many are still alive?”
“Two.”
A sigh filled the Jeep.
“That isn’t exactly what I had in mind when I told you to take care of yourself up there.”
Despite herself, Viper’s lips curved in a grin.
“Maybe not, but we can’t have it easy all the time, can we? That wouldn’t be any fun.”
Michael slid his phone into his jacket pocket and glanced at his watch as he strode up to the entrance of the ER. No sooner was he on his way to the hospital than Damon called. How he knew about the funeral was a mystery, but he did. He was short and to the point: how the hell did a shooter make it into the church? It had been a long time since Michael felt like a teenager taken to task by an irate adult, but Damon managed it within the space of half a minute.
Michael scowled as the automatic doors slid open and he went into the hospital. Alina’s safety was his primary responsibility, and he’d failed. Never mind how or why, it was only by the grace of God himself that Alina still had a head on her shoulders. He shook his head. Of all the things that could have gone wrong, the would-be assassin was foiled by a church kneeler. A kneeler! He couldn’t make that up if he tried.
A nurse behind the intake desk looked up as he approached.
“Can I help you?”
“I’m looking for two patients brought in a little while ago,” he said, pulling out his badge. “Agent Stephanie Walker and Angela...oh god, I don’t know her last name.”
The nurse looked at his badge and turned to her computer.
“Walker?” she repeated, typing rapidly. “Did she come in...oh yes! Here it is. Gunshot wounds.”
“That’s the one.”
“Mike!”
Michael turned in surprise as Blake came through a door at the far end of the room.
“It’s about time you got here! Steph’s gone into surgery, and Angela is getting stitched up.” He glanced at the nurse behind the desk. “I’ll take him back.”
She nodded and turned to grab some papers off a printer behind her, dismissing them.
“How bad is Stephanie?” Michael asked.
“She lost a lot of blood, but she should be fine,” said Blake, hitting a large, stainless steel button on the wall. The doors began to swing ponderously open. “At least, that’s what the nurse said before they rushed her back.”
“Was it really close to the artery?”
“Don’t know yet.” Blake glanced at him as they walked into the bowels of the Emergency Room. “It’s a miracle your girlfriend wasn’t killed. If she hadn’t hit the deck...”
“Trust me, I know. What about Angie?”
“They picked pieces of the Virgin Mary out of her head, neck, shoulder and chest, and stitched her up. She’ll be fine.”
Blake led him to the end of a wide corridor and they turned the corner. The smell of antiseptic and the sounds of medical equipment assaulted them, and Michael sighed. He hated hospitals.
“Where’s the Black Widow?” Blake asked, leading him down the corridor. “Please tell me she had more luck than we did.”
“Not really. She got eyes on him, but he got away.”
“Damn! Who is this guy? What was he doing there?”
Michael glanced at him.
“You don’t know?” he asked, surprised. “I thought you would have figured it out by now.”
Blake stared at him blankly.
“Figured what out?”
Michael stopped walking and pulled Blake to the side of the hallway.
“I can’t tell you much,” he said, lowering his voice, “and I’m guessing Walker doesn’t know much either, so this is strictly between us.”
Blake nodded in acknowledgment.
“I came up here because I was asked to watch Lina’s back. Someone’s discovered her identity, and they’re gunning for her.”
Blake stared at him hard.
“How the hell did that happen?!”
Michael shrugged.
“That’s what she’s trying to figure out.”
Blake ran a hand over his short hair.
“That’s why she didn’t want Angela staying with her,” he said slowly. “Stephanie said she was going to get the story out of her later today. She doesn’t know any of this!”
“No one does except me, and I don’t know the whole story. I was told to make sure this didn’t happen.”
Blake shook his head.
“How the hell were you supposed to secure a church that size with no resources and no back-up?” he asked. “It couldn’t be done. Even with a full team, there were too many people and too many exits.” He paused for a moment, then shook his head again. “What kind of demented bastard hits a funeral, for God’s sake!?”
“One who’s desperate. He knew she would surface for the funeral. It was the only time he was guaranteed a shot.”
“And he took it,” Blake muttered, turning to continue walking down the wide corridor. “This is turning into a circus. Does she have any leads?”
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Michael said with a shrug. “She wasn’t telling me much to begin with, and after this, it will be even less. In fact, I won’t be surprised if she just goes dark and disappears altogether.”
Blake looked at him.
“You think she’ll run?”
“No,” Michael sighed after a moment of thought. “I wish she would, but she won’t. She’ll stay and fight.”
“Angela is in here.” Blake motioned to the next room. “How much do we tell her?”
“Nothing,” said Michael flatly. “Viper doesn’t want her to know anything.”
Blake nodded.
“Got it.” He looked at him, and for the first time all day, a smile cracked his face. “Are you ready? She’s not in a good mood.”
Michael rolled his eyes.
“I took on the Taliban and insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan,” he muttered. “I think I can handle Angela.”