Next Exit, No Outlet

by CW Browning

  “Mike, give her a chance to explain,” Blake suggested. “No point in jumping to conclusions before you know the facts.”

  “I can tell you the facts,” Viper said coldly. “The trackers transmitted my location every time I crossed over the five-mile security perimeter around this house, and Stephanie forwarded that information to someone each time.”

  “How do you know that?” Blake demanded.

  “Because I had highly-trained killers waiting for me when no one knew where I was,” she replied flatly, her eyes on Stephanie’s face.

  The words fell heavily and a stunned silence followed.

  “What?!” Michael finally roared.

  Alina glanced at him.

  “They’ve tried multiple times,” she said. “Each time, no one knew where I was, not even Damon. One of the times, I didn’t even know where I was going until I was enroute.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me this?” Michael demanded and she shrugged.

  “You were already overwhelmed with Dave,” she said shortly. “There was no reason to add to it.”

  “No reason...” Michael stuttered incredulously. “You nearly had my head on a platter for wanting to stay here and help you, and the whole time you were aware that Mr. X knew where you were going?!”

  Her lips twisted humorlessly. “You being here or not being here wouldn’t have changed anything.”

  Michael got up angrily and strode away from the sofa, pacing to the sliding doors restlessly.

  “That wasn’t your decision to make,” he shot over his shoulder before turning and pacing back. “What happened? When did they come after you?”

  Viper returned her gaze to Stephanie’s face.

  “Once while I was in New York City,” she said deliberately, “and again when I was in Pittsburgh. The last time I can directly attribute it to the trackers was while I was in Atlantic City.”

  “Three times?” Blake sucked in his breath. “You were attacked three times?!”

  For the first time that evening, genuine amusement lit Alina’s eyes and her lips curved.

  “Trust me, Hanover, I’ve seen worse.”

  “Lina, I had no idea,” Stephanie broke her silence, her lips trembling. “You have to believe me. I didn’t know!”

  “You said those were the times you could directly link it to the trackers,” Michael said, stopping his pacing next to Blake. He pinned Alina with a probing look. “There were others?”

  “Yes.”

  “How do you know they weren’t because of the tracking devices?” he pressed.

  “Because I reprogrammed the devices so they weren’t reflecting my true location,” she said calmly. “They still aren’t.”

  “Well, at least that’s something,” he muttered, resuming pacing.

  “How many?” Blake asked. “How many came after you?”

  “I don’t know how many were in New York, but there were four in Pittsburgh.” She glanced at Damon. “How many would you say in Atlantic City? Twelve? Fourteen?”

  His lips twitched and were repressed. She knew exactly how many they had killed in Frankie’s penthouse. Viper was just making a point now.

  “Sixteen,” he replied, his voice even.

  The act had precisely the effect Viper was looking for. Stephanie sucked in her breath sharply and Michael let out a low curse. Blake stared at her hard.

  “Sixteen?” he repeated. “A full team?”

  “Sound familiar?” she asked softly.

  “The hospital last night,” Blake said, glancing at Stephanie. “Steph, what the hell have you done?”

  “I didn’t know this was going to happen!” she exclaimed, looking at him. “I swear, I had no idea any of this was happening!”

  “Why the hell did you put trackers on her cars in the first place?” he demanded. “You know what she does! You knew someone tried to kill her at John’s funeral! What the hell were you thinking?”

  “I was trying to protect her!”

  Michael stopped pacing at that and gaped at her incredulously.

  “By giving away her location?”

  Stephanie ran her hands through her hair in distress and gazed across the coffee table at Alina.

  “When I was in the hospital after John’s funeral, someone came to visit me,” she said, her eyes meeting Viper’s. “You’d already told me about Damon taking a bullet meant for you, and about the leak in Washington. Before he showed up, I thought there was no way I could help you. You saved my life on Three Mile Island, and again in Baltimore, and I’ve never been able to repay you. He offered a way for me to do that. All I had to do was keep an eye on you. If you left the safety of Jersey, where no one knew where to find you, then I would let him know. The plan was that he would have counter-measures in place ahead of you so that if someone tried to kill you again, they wouldn’t succeed. Except then his whole system got compromised and he never got any of my messages. Someone else did. I didn’t find out until the night before last when he called me to see why he hadn’t heard from me.”

  “So when you sent her location, you thought it was going to one person, but it was really going to someone else?” Blake asked.

  She nodded tiredly. “Yes. I had no idea, and I certainly didn’t know that assassins were being dispatched each time.”

  “And when you found out the messages went somewhere else?” Damon asked, his voice soft and dangerous.

  Stephanie looked into his arctic blue eyes and her gaze fell away quickly.

  “I took the tablet and my phone to Matt, at work, and asked him to find out where the messages went,” she told them. “I thought he might be able to trace them.”

  “And was he?”

  “No. He got as far as Mexico, but then he lost them.”

  “Mexico?” Viper asked sharply, her head snapping up. “Where in Mexico?”

  Stephanie frowned. “I don’t remember. It was somewhere in the south. It might have started with a G?”

  “Guerrero?”

  “Yes!” Stephanie’s face lit up. “That was it!”

  Alina and Damon exchanged a grim look and Stephanie looked from one to the other.

  “What’s in Guerrero?”

  “A military base,” Damon said shortly. “That’s why your forensic guru lost the trail. He ran into military servers.”

  Michael stopped pacing again and stared at Damon.

  “Are you saying the Mexican Army is involved in this?” he demanded.

  “No, I’m saying someone used their servers to conceal their digital trail.”

  “If that’s the case, we’ll never find out where those messages went,” Michael said disgustedly. “Another dead end.”

  Blake was watching Alina’s face and he shook his head slowly.

  “I don’t think Alina agrees with you,” he said.

  Her lips curved faintly. “No.”

  “Why not?” Stephanie asked. “If there was a way past it, Matt would have found it. You know how he is.”

  “He can only find what he knows to look for,” Alina replied. “I already know where the messages ultimately ended up. That’s not my concern right now. My question is why you.”

  Stephanie’s eyes flashed briefly.

  “I told you, I was trying to help protect you!” she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air.

  “Who went to see you in the hospital?” Michael asked, stopping behind the sofa and bracing his hands on the back next to Alina’s shoulder.

  “There’s no reason to look at me like that, Michael,” Stephanie said angrily. “Stop looking at me like I’m some kind of traitor. Do you really think I would have spied on my best friend for someone she didn’t know and trust?”

  “So far, you haven’t convinced me otherwise,” he shot back.

  Alina reached up and placed a calm hand over one of his, her eyes never leaving Stephanie’s face as she glared across the room at Michael.

  “I don’t have to convince you of anything,” she snapped. “It’s Alina w
ho’s been compromised by me, not you.”

  “Then convince me.”

  Viper’s voice sliced across the room, making Stephanie start and Blake scowl.

  “For God’s sake, it was someone you know and trust,” Stephanie repeated. “He made me swear to him not to tell you. He said you would be angry if you knew he was getting involved.”

  The look on Viper’s face was decidedly ugly. “And your loyalty is to him now?”

  “We all owe our loyalty to him in one way or another,” she retorted. “For God’s sake, the man helped train you and turn you into the...weapon you are now.”

  There was only the slightest hesitation in her voice to indicate that weapon was not her first choice of words and Alina’s lips tightened imperceptibly.

  “You’ll have to break your promise, Steph,” Blake said quietly, looking down at her. His mouth was pulled into a grim line. “We need to know who it was that talked you into this.”

  She met his gaze and hesitated, then sighed.

  “Colonel Harry Shore,” she said reluctantly. “He said he trained Viper for the Organization.”

  Michael and Blake both sucked in their breaths.

  “Harry Shore?” Blake repeated, stunned.

  Michael glanced at Damon’s unsurprised face and looked down at Alina.

  “Colonel Shore trained you?” he asked. “No wonder you’re so...holy...I had no idea.”

  Viper glanced at him, clearly unimpressed.

  “He’s just a man,” she replied shortly. “He helped train all of us. He’s very good at what he does.”

  “He’s not just a man,” Blake objected, shaking his head. “He’s a legend. My God, the things that man did in the Army are beyond belief.”

  “Clearly not,” Damon said dryly. “Obviously you both believe them.”

  Blake’s eyebrows drew together in a frown.

  “If the Colonel was the one who was supposed to get the messages, how the hell did they not get there? That man is one of this nation’s top intelligence officers! Security is his thing. There’s no way his system simply got hacked.”

  “Not easily,” Michael agreed.

  “Now do you see why I did it?” Stephanie asked Alina, ignoring them. “He’s been doing everything he can to try to help you. Hell, the man’s a war hero!”

  “I see why you thought it was good idea. Harry can be very persuasive.”

  She glanced at Damon and saw the anger lurking in the blue depths of his eyes. Standing, she turned and paced slowly away from the reflection of her own feelings.

  “Of course it was a good idea,” Stephanie said. “It was a fool-proof way to help keep you safe when you were clearly hell-bent on throwing yourself into the line fire at every opportunity.”

  “Not quite fool-proof,” Damon said, his voice hard.

  Stephanie looked at him in surprise.

  “What do you mean? Of course it was! It’s not his fault someone got to his secure server and was able to pick off the messages before he got them.”

  Silence greeted that statement and Blake suddenly grew still, his eyes going from Damon to Alina. He pressed his lips together and looked at Michael’s stony face.

  “Oh my God,” he breathed in sudden understanding.

  Stephanie looked at him, then at Michael. “Now what?”

  “Oh Steph, you really know how to make bad situations even worse, don’t you?” Blake said, running a hand through his hair. “Holy crap.”

  “How is this my fault again?” Stephanie exclaimed, her temper flaring. “For God’s sake, I just told you! I was giving her location to someone who was protecting her!”

  Viper stopped mid-stride and looked at her, her eyes dark, bottomless pools.

  “You gave my location to the very man trying to kill me.”

  Chapter Twelve

  The loud tone from the security system sliced through the house, shattering the stunned silence. Stephanie visibly jumped and Viper strode over to the coffee table to pick up the remote to the TV. Pointing it at the screen, she turned it on, revealing her property split into four security quadrants. The first one was flashing and she hit a button, zooming in. A silver BMW was pulling into the drive from the road.

  “The rest of this conversation will have to wait,” she said, dropping the remote onto the table. “I don’t want Angela knowing any of this.”

  Michael nodded briskly in agreement, but Stephanie frowned.

  “I don’t see how you’ll be able to keep it from her,” she objected. “She already knows someone’s trying to kill me, just as she already knows someone tried to kill you.”

  “The more she knows, the more of a liability she becomes,” Viper said shortly.

  “She’s right,” Michael said. “She can suspect all she wants, but if she doesn’t know anything, she can’t tell anyone anything.”

  Stephanie gasped furiously.

  “This is ridiculous!” she exclaimed. “You can’t distrust Angela simply because I showed what turns out to be poor judgment.”

  Damon stood.

  “Right now, we don’t have a choice. Anyone who learns anything or gets anywhere near Harry ends up dead. Is that what you want to happen to Angie?”

  Stephanie swallowed and shook her head.

  “What are you going to tell her?” she asked, resigned. “Lina, you know her. She can sniff out bullshit a mile away.”

  Alina smiled faintly. “Let me handle Angela.”

  The floodlights at the back of the house switched on, and a moment later they heard a car door slam. Alina strode over to the sliding door and opened it, stepping onto the deck. Angela was making her way across the grass, two brown shopping bags encased in plastic bags in either hand. Alina raised her eyebrows. The trunk to the BMW was open and she could see that it was filled with more shopping bags.

  “I brought food,” Angela called, raising the bags in her hands. “I hope you’re hungry.”

  Alina watched as she came up the steps onto the deck. The distinct aroma of Chinese food reached her nose and her stomach growled in reaction.

  “I hadn’t given it much thought,” she admitted as Angela passed her to go into the house.

  Angela laughed. “I knew it! I bet none of you have eaten yet.”

  Alina followed her into the house and slid the door closed.

  “I can’t speak for anyone else, but I haven’t.”

  “Is that Chinese food?” Michael asked, walking over to take two of the bags from Angela.

  “Yes. I figured with everything going on, you’d all forgotten to eat. Turns out I was right.”

  “Angela, you’re a saint,” Blake announced, striding across the living room to take the other two bags from her. “I completely forgot about food, but now that I smell it, I’m starving.”

  She laughed and turned back to the sliding doors.

  “Where you going?” Alina asked.

  “I have more bags to carry in,” Angie said over her shoulder, sliding the door open once again. “I brought provisions for Stephanie.”

  Alina’s eyebrows soared into her for head and she looked at Stephanie, who was making her way towards the dining room where Michael and Blake were ripping open the Chinese bags.

  “Provisions?”

  Stephanie had the grace to look rueful.

  “Just a few things,” she said. “Things that I know you don’t have in the house.”

  “Like what?”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” she said evasively, not meeting Alina’s gaze. “You know, things like soda.”

  Damon winked at Alina as he moved into the dining room.

  “I’m willing to bet there’s white bread out there somewhere,” he murmured as he passed her.

  Alina made a face at his back.

  “I’m sorry if I refuse to pay for cancer in a loaf,” she said, joining everyone at the table.

  Michael and Blake had emptied the bags already, spreading what seemed like at least twenty Chinese food containers across the
dining room table. Michael unplugged his laptop and moved it over to the bar to make more room while Blake and Damon began opening the variety of containers.

  Alina looked at all the food then turned to go into the kitchen for plates. She was opening the cabinet door when she sensed someone behind her. Turning her head, she glanced at Stephanie.

  “I’ll help,” she offered, holding out her hands.

  Alina pulled out six plates and handed them to her. “Can you handle those?”

  Stephanie nodded.

  “I’ve got them,” she said, balancing them in one arm while she leaned on her cane with the other. “Lina...” she began, but Alina cut her off.

  “Later,” she said shortly as Angela came back into the house, her arms filled with shopping bags.

  Stephanie’s lips tightened, but she turned to make her way into the dining room with the plates. Angela headed straight into the kitchen and dropped all the bags onto the kitchen island before turning to head back towards the door. Michael raised an eyebrow as she passed by again.

  “How many bags are there?” he asked.

  “Just a few more,” Angela said, continuing on her way.

  Michael sighed and turned to follow her.

  “If there’s shrimp lo mein there, save me some,” he said over his shoulder.

  “You got it,” Blake said, taking a plate from the stack that Stephanie had set on the table.

  Damon went into the kitchen where Alina was investigating the bags on the kitchen island. Walking up behind her, he lifted her shirt at the back and Viper felt the familiar weight of her .45 settle into her back holster.

  “I don’t think you want Angela seeing that sitting on the bar,” he murmured in her ear.

  She turned her head and met his eyes. “Thank you.”

  He nodded, his eyes not leaving hers.

  “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

  “Trust me. It was only a matter of time before they found out, and it needed to be done.”

  “And if Stephanie’s part of it?”

  “She’s not,” she said shortly. “She was horrified when she realized what she’d done.”

  Damon shook his head and turned towards the refrigerator.

  “You know her best, so you would know if that was an act. I just hope you’re right.”