by Elle James
Lana fidgeted beside him, craning her neck to see beyond the car in front of their cab. “What’s taking so long?” She glanced at her watch. “We’re going to be late.”
“I’m sure they won’t turn you away,” Trevor said. He understood how Lana felt. He was ready to get the meeting over with and hit the road to Montana. He’d have to figure out a way to get there without alerting Lana’s attackers to their mode of transportation or destination.
As soon as they left the cab, he’d call the pilot who’d flown him to San Diego and see if he was still in town.
The traffic finally moved, and the taxi crept along the interstate for the next mile to the exit. At the front entrance of the FBI building, the cab driver pulled up and jumped out to open the door for Trevor and Lana. Trevor got out, scanned the area for potential threats, and then helped Lana out of the backseat.
With his arm wrapped protectively around her, he walked with her into the building.
Once inside, they went through a metal detector and approached the reception desk.
Lana pulled her driver’s license from her wallet and handed it to the clerk. “I’m here to meet with Special Agent James Thompson.”
The woman scanned her license and held out her hand for Trevor’s. He handed his to the woman and waited while she made visitors passes for them. “Have a seat, while I let Agent Thompson know you’ve arrived.”
Trevor and Lana walked over to the seating area. Lana sank onto the edge of one of the leather chairs.
“Do you think it would be a bad idea for me to call in to work?” Lana asked. “I feel bad that I’m not there when I’m scheduled to work today.”
“It should be okay.”
“On your cell phone?” she asked.
“I don’t see why not. We should be safe inside this building, and whoever was after you last night, probably already knows you’re here today.” He handed her his cell phone. “But don’t tell them where you’re going.”
“I won’t.” Lana entered her work number and waited for someone on the other end to answer.
“Oh, hello, Peter. I thought this was Margaret’s number.” She paused. “Oh, I forgot she was out of the office until next week. I’m sorry, but something came up last night. I won’t be in the office the rest of this week.” She shook her head. “No, no. I’m okay, but I had an…emergency come up, and I have to take care of it. I’m sorry for the short notice.” She stared up at Trevor. “No, it’s nothing to do with our special project. If you could let Mr. Powell know I won’t be in, I’d really appreciate it. You can tell him I sick or something. Thanks.” She ended the call and handed the phone back to Trevor. “I felt like I should have warned Peter about what happened. He’s been so helpful with my research.” A frown wrinkled her brow. “You don’t think he’ll be in danger, do you?”
“Did he know you were going to take the information to the FBI?”
She shook her head. “I made that decision on my own. I didn’t want to implicate him in any way, in case we got in trouble for hacking into the DHS databases.”
“He should be okay. You did right by leaving your emergency vague.”
She inhaled and let go of a long, slow breath. Then she hugged herself around the middle. “I don’t feel good about any of this.”
“Just hand it off to the FBI, and we’ll get you somewhere safe until all this blows over.”
She nodded. “Okay. At least I know I can trust you.”
“What about Peter?”
“He’s all right. He doesn’t like it when people steal from the government any more than I do. And he understands how important it is for me to get to the truth about Mason’s death.”
It hurt Trevor to know Lana was still grieving over her dead husband. Why else would she be a year out from his death and still pushing to get answers? “Hopefully, the FBI will get to the bottom of what’s going on. But for now, you need to get away from San Diego.”
She nodded. “I know you’re right, but I feel like I’m abandoning my work…and Mason,” she added softly.
A twinge of pain settled in his chest. “You’re not abandoning either. You’re taking the next step and turning it over to the professionals. They have more resources and an entire organization they can tap into to get the answers you’ve been digging for.”
She smiled up at him. “You’re right, as usual. I’ve put my faith in you. Now I just need to let the system work.”
Trevor didn’t like the way her shoulders drooped, or the fact her mouth turned downward in a frown, but there was nothing he could do at that point to cheer her. They had to get the investigation into the hands of the FBI.
With too much energy to sit, Trevor paced the floor. He called the pilot who’d flown him down from Montana and was just lucky enough to catch him before he headed back to Big Sky country. The pilot promised to wait for him and Lana.
With the method of transport to Montana in place, Trevor had nothing left to do but walk from one end of the waiting area to the other. He focused his attention on the elevator doors behind the reception desk.
The elevator was a busy place. It opened and closed on people going up and those coming down to leave the building.
A man with salt-and-pepper hair exited the elevator and walked directly toward Lana. “Mrs. Connolly, nice to meet you.” He held out his hand.
Lana placed hers in his. “Thank you for taking the time to see me.”
“I’m interested to hear what you have to say.” He waved toward a door on the far side of the lobby. “Please, join me in the conference room.”
Lana motioned toward Trevor. “I brought my…friend with me. I’d like him to sit in on this conversation.”
Agent Thompson held out his hand. “James Thompson.”
“Trevor Anderson.” Trevor gave the man’s hand a firm shake.
Thompson’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Prior military?”
Trevor nodded. “Navy.”
“Thank you for your service,” Thompson said. “Spent four years in the Marine Corps myself. Deployed to the sandbox twice before I suffered an injury that sidelined my military career and gave me all this gray hair.”
“I’m surprised you got on with the FBI. Don’t they have strict physical standards?”
Thompson nodded. “They do. But I recovered enough to pass their fitness tests. And here I am.” He waved toward the door. “Please, join me in the conference room. I want to hear what Mrs. Connolly has to say.”
Thirty minutes later, Lana had given Agent Thompson all the information she’d acquired, leaving out how she’d acquired some of it from a deep web hacker.
Agent Thompson sat back in his chair. “This is all interesting. I’ll run it by other agents in the department and see if anyone is working a similar scenario. If not, I’ll take on the task of following your leads. Thank you for all the work you’ve done so far.”
“I don’t want your thanks,” Lana said. “I need to know someone will work this case.”
Trevor leaned forward. “She’s not safe, as it is. I doubt seriously she’ll be safe until you find the people who attacked her last night.”
“I’ll reach out to the San Diego Police Department detective in charge of the investigation into the shooting at Mrs. Connolly’s home.” Thompson gave Trevor and Lana a chin lift. “In the meantime, how can I get hold of you two?”
Trevor glanced at Lana. “You won’t be able to get in touch with us. I’m taking Lana away from San Diego. We’ll be in touch with you periodically. I don’t want whoever tried to kill Lana to follow us.”
Thompson nodded. “I understand. But we might have questions for you, Mrs. Connolly.”
“We’ll be in touch often enough to answer any of your queries,” Lana said, challenging Trevor with a raised eyebrow. “I want the people responsible for my husband’s death to be brought to justice, preferably before they can execute any plan to overthrow the government.”
“Believe me when I say, we take these th
reats seriously,” Thompson said.
Lana nodded. “Good. I didn’t spend a year of my life chasing wild geese. These threats are real.”
She handed him a thumb drive. “This drive contains all the information I’ve gathered for the past year. It includes the names of people in high positions within their organizations, locations of terrorist cells hiding in the mountains of Montana and some government officials responsible for the safety of our nation, who are involved with the plot to overthrow our government. Guard it carefully. Someone didn’t want me to live to pass it on.” Lana pushed to her feet. “I’ll call for an update in a couple days.”
Thompson took the flash drive. “Thank you for all you did to amass this data. I’ll be sure to move on it, once I check it out.”
“Don’t sit on it,” Lana cautioned. “I might have already taken too long to bring it to your attention. If they truly are planning an attempt to overthrow the government, they’ve had over a year to prepare.”
“On it, Mrs. Connolly. And when we get to the bottom of it, we’ll do our best to let you know what happened.” He stood and held out his hand. “It’s citizens like you who help us more than you can imagine.”
Lana’s cheeks blossomed with color. “I don’t know about that, but I do know someone is worried about this information getting out. Now that it is, they might move faster.”
“Understood. Please be safe, wherever you go,” Thompson said.
“I have every intention of keeping her safe,” Trevor said. “You can count on that.”
“Is there anything we can do for you?” Thompson asked.
Trevor gave him a crooked smile. “As a matter of fact, there is. We could use a ride to the local general aviation airport. We had to ditch the rental car after it was targeted several times.”
“I’ll get one of my guys to give you a lift. And I’ll work with the local police about the attack on your vehicle and have someone retrieve the rental car and deal with the rental agency.”
“Thank you,” Lana said.
“Yes. Thank you.” Trevor shook hands with the agent, his mind already a thousand miles ahead of where they were standing.
Thompson left them in the lobby, promising to send someone down to take them to the airport.
“What do you think?” Trevor asked Lana.
“I liked Agent Thompson. I think he really cares.”
“Does it help set your mind at ease about the investigation?” Trevor watched the play of emotions rushing across Lana’s face.
Lana tilted her head, her eyes narrowing. “Yes and no.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m worried I haven’t done enough. That the FBI will have to dig a lot deeper. They don’t have my connection to the dark web. They might not get the same information to back my assumptions. The people involved may already have caught wind that the FBI will be looking into their business. They could be packing up as we speak and bugging out to some other state to set up shop again.”
“You have a point,” Trevor agreed. “We don’t know if the bad guys in this situation have already packed up and moved out ahead of a shit-storm of Feds investigating them. But back to the idea that you haven’t done enough. You’ve done well beyond enough. You don’t have to do anything else but hide until they figure this thing out and arrest those who’ve been trying to kill you.”
A young man exited the elevator and approached them. “Mr. and Mrs. Connolly?”
Trevor’s heart skipped several beats at being addressed as Mr. Connolly.
Lana answered, “That’s us.”
“I’m Randy Gaither. If you’re ready, I’ll take you to the airport now,” the young man said.
“Thank you,” Lana said. She hooked her hand through Trevor’s elbow and followed the young man out of the building.
Trevor didn’t let down his guard for a moment. The hairs on the back of his neck stood at attention as they climbed into the backseat of the man’s car. Oh, he trusted the young man, but he had a feeling they were being watched.
Giving Randy the address of the small, general aviation airport, Trevor leaned over the back of the driver’s seat and said, “I want you to pretend we’re being followed and do your best to shake anyone off your tail. Got that?”
The driver frowned. “Excuse me?”
Trevor repeated his instructions. “Have you been trained on driving techniques used to avoid being followed?”
The man shook his head, staring into Trevor’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “I’m just the mail clerk. I have to drive by the airport to get to the local UPS office and collect a package that didn’t make it on the morning run.”
“Humor me, will ya?” Trevor leaned over the back of the front seat. “The young lady in your car has had a very frustrating night. I’d like to know she’ll make it to the airport without being run off the road or shot at again.”
Randy’s brows rose. “You were run off the road? Shot at? When?”
Lana gave the young man a small smile. “Yes, we were attacked, but obviously we made it out of the situation just fine. “
“We made it by zigzagging through neighborhoods and losing our tail,” Trevor emphasized. “Just to be conservative, would you take us the long way to the airport, ducking into neighborhoods to keep our vehicle on the downlow.”
“I can do that,” the young man said, sitting straighter.
“Good,” Trevor said. “Then do it.”
Randy eased out of the parking lot and onto the access road. Soon they were on the interstate headed toward the airport.
Lana and Trevor sat sideways in their seats alternating between looking forward and backward. With as many vehicles on the road as there were, they’d find it difficult to spot one following them. Once they exited the interstate, Randy took a circuitous route to avoid being spotted by someone bent on attacking them.
The smaller roads meant fewer vehicles to keep track of.
“Do you think anyone is following us?” Lana asked.
“I can’t say for certain, but I haven’t seen any particular car following for more than a block or two behind us.”
“This is fun,” Randy said. “I’ve applied to become an agent. If I make it in, do you think we’ll do things like this?”
Lana chuckled. “You’ll have to ask Agent Thompson. I’m not familiar with what all the agents do.”
They arrived at the hanger the pilot had indicated and thanked Randy for bringing them.
Trevor slipped an arm around Lana and hustled her into the hanger. They weren’t out of danger yet. The plane had to be a mile in the sky before Trevor would feel like they were out of range of a shooter’s sights.
The woman at the desk informed them the pilot was performing pre-flight checks on the aircraft. They were to join him on the tarmac. “The restrooms are down that hall.”
“You’ll want to make use of their amenities,” Trevor suggested. “This is a small aircraft. No facilities on board.”
Lana shook her head. “I’m good.”
The receptionist hit the button to open the sliding glass doors.
Trevor and Lana walked out into the San Diego sunshine.
Several airplanes lined the tarmac.
Lana shaded her eyes. “Which plane is it?”
Trevor pointed to a white plane with gold and black trim. “That one.”
The pilot emerged from behind the tail and waved.
Moments later, they had boarded the four-seater, single engine aircraft.
Lana chose to sit in the back seat, allowing Trevor to ride in the seat next to the pilot.
As they left the ground, Trevor held his breath. They were at their most vulnerable until they achieved enough altitude to get them out of a gunman’s range.
As the aircraft climbed higher into the sky, Trevor relaxed and turned to glance back at Lana.
She sat with her fingers digging into the armrests, her eyes rounded.
“Are you all right?”
She nodded. “Just fine. Have I told you I’ve never flown in anything smaller than a one-hundred-passenger plane?”
He smiled. “Quintin’s a good pilot. He’ll get us there safely. Why don’t you go to sleep? We’ll stop once on the way up to refuel. Other than that, it should be an uneventful flight.”
“You know that for certain?” she quipped.
Quintin chuckled. “I’ll do my best to keep the plane in the air when it’s supposed to be. Sorry we don’t have a flight attendant, but we can’t afford the extra weight on board.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Lana said. “Just concentrate on flying the damned plane.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Both Trevor and Quintin chuckled.
The glare on Lana’s face only made Trevor smile more. He reached back and touched her hand. “We’re going to be all right. And I think you’ll like Montana.”
“Ask me when I get there. Right now, I’m just going to sit here and will this puddle-jumper to remain in the air. I’d hate to think I’d lived through a gunman shooting at me only to die in an airplane crash.”
“You’re not going to die in an airplane crash,” Trevor assured her. “Close your eyes and pretend you’re drifting among the clouds. In effect, you are.”
She did as he told her and closed her eyes.
Trevor smiled at the wrinkle creasing her brow. He wanted to crawl into the back seat, pull her into his arms and kiss away her worry. The woman had experienced enough trauma in the past twenty-four hours. Flying in a small aircraft shouldn’t have caused her so much anxiety. But it did.
Still, she didn’t come apart. Instead, she sat in her seat with her eyes closed until her breathing grew deeper and her face relaxed. She’d fallen asleep.
Trevor wished all her worries could be swept away. They couldn’t. But that was why he was bringing her to Montana. At least there, he could take care of her, protect her and finally fulfill his promise to his old friend.
And maybe beneath the big sky full of stars, she can fall in love with me.
As soon as the thought popped into Trevor’s head, he chastised himself for even thinking it. He wouldn’t poach on Mason’s girl. It wasn’t right, even if his friend was dead. Especially since his friend was dead.
