by Raven Scott
“Any more intel from the computer or cell phone activity?” continued Lucas.
“Nope, nothing new,” replied Evan. “He talked to a small number of people in Maryland including his family and a couple of friends from college and his Best Buy job. No additional message on the dating site to the contact.”
“Well, hopefully we’ll get a solid piece of intel tomorrow to identify who’s trying to steal the Magnus technology,” Lucas concluded.
“Yeah, well, every one of the big car manufacturers have similar research and development projects on the go. So it will be interesting to see how they’ll respond once the Magnus hybrid is officially revealed,” Lucas pondered. “There is certainly incentive for one of them to steal it if they can.”
“Let’s hope it’s one of the manufacturers,” Lance added as he stood between the two other men with his arms crossed across his chest. “Just with the fuel efficiency projected, the impact to gas consumption is massive. Like, industry-changing massive. So we better hope it’s just one of the car companies that knows about this. Because an oil company won’t just want to steal it, they’d want to bury it, and anyone who can recreate it.”
The three men looked at each other. Lance had just stated exactly what Lucas and his partners had been thinking. “All right, let’s grab some grub,” Lucas stated to cut the tension. “I’m starving.”
“I’ll go pick up some food from that restaurant we passed down the block,” offered Lance. “What do you guys want?”
Lucas and Evan both ordered steak, done rare with whatever came on the side.
“How’s Nia doing?” Lucas asked once Lance had left.
Nia James was Evan’s girlfriend, a burgeoning singer-songwriter who had just relocated from Boston to live with Evan in Alexandria.
Evan smiled, looking very satisfied with life.
“Nia’s good,” he said simply. He wasn’t the most talkative guy. “She’s going to Detroit this weekend. One of her cousins is getting married this summer, and Nia’s helping with some of the planning.”
“Really?” Lucas asked, surprised. “I thought she wasn’t very close to her family.”
Evan had met Nia last year during a mission in Boston to recover millions of dollars in rare jewels that were stolen from the auction house where she worked at the time.
“She wasn’t until her mom got sick and Nia went to visit her last fall. They’ve been communicating more ever since.”
“That’s good, right?”
“Yeah,” Evan agreed. “Nia was pretty cautious at first, uncertain of what the relationship would be like. But now, she seems calmer, less guarded. It’s a good thing.”
Lance returned a short time later with their meals.
“Hey, do either of you know a good housecleaning service,” Lucas asked while they ate dinner.
Lance shook his head.
“Nia fired mine once she moved in, preferring to do it herself,” Evan explained. “Why?”
“I have a woman who’s supposed to clean the house for me while I’m traveling, but she’s been pretty flaky over the last couple of months,” replied Lucas with annoyance. “She’s through a service. I’ll just call them and get someone else.”
“Why don’t you hire a house sitter when you’re gone,” suggested Lance. “That’s what I do.”
“I would if I had dogs, like you,” Lucas agreed. “But my neighbors do a good job keeping an eye on things. I just need the plants watered once a week.”
“Maybe my mom’s housekeeper, Agnes, will know someone,” added Evan.
“It’s not urgent, but let me know,” Lucas told him.
The men finished eating, then began a meticulous prep of the weapons and equipment needed for their mission in the morning. Without knowing whom Pratt was meeting, they were prepared for anything. Their subject remained quiet in his apartment.
Wednesday morning, Lucas was up by five o’clock and out the door for a long run. It was an opportunity to map out the route from Pratt’s apartment to the meeting coordinates, and the vicinity around it. When he got back to the hotel room with coffee and bagels, he, Evan, and Lance finalized their strategy to spy on the meet. At ten o’clock, one hour before the scheduled meet, Lance and Lucas left the room, armed with several of their favorite concealed weapons. Lance headed to the deli, where he would be seated fifteen minutes before eleven o’clock and he’d order a late breakfast. He would get access to an empty ketchup bottle, to add a small listening device. Then when Pratt was seated, either alone or with whomever he was meeting, Lance would simply ask for their fuller bottle of ketchup, leaving the empty wired one behind.
Lucas took the rental car that Evan had picked up the day before, and parked in a spot on the street across from the deli where he could have eyes on the entrance and everything nearby. Evan stayed at the hotel until Pratt left his apartment, then would follow the target to the meet, dressed as a jogger wearing a hoodie, and with his pistol tucked into a back belt holster. All three of them had wireless earpieces, connected to Laura at the Fortis headquarters.
Everything went like clockwork until Pratt was seated at a booth in the deli.
“All looks good inside, Lance?” asked Laura at ten minutes after eleven o’clock.
“Yup. Pratt’s starting to get a little anxious, but it’s quiet in here,” Lance told them in whispered tones.
“I see a suspect about to enter,” Lucas announced from his vantage point in the car across the street. “Slender guy, brown hair. That jacket looks a little thicker than needed for the temperature today.”
“I got him,” Lance confirmed a few seconds later. “He’s just sat down beside Pratt. I’m going to plant the bug.”
The team waited, listening to Lance’s movements for a few seconds.
“Shit! Something’s wrong!” muttered Lance. “Pratt’s body just jerked forward. I think he’s been shot and our guy’s on the move!”
“I got him,” Evan stated from his position two stores down from the restaurant.
“I’m with you,” Lucas added as he threw aside the binoculars and jumped out of the car.
The shooter was walking swiftly away from the scene, cautious of his surroundings but trying to look inconspicuous. Lucas and Evan looked at each other, with a silent plan to get close enough to the suspect without tipping him.
“The suspect is armed, with a silencer,” Lance stated through the earpiece. “Pratt’s been shot in the side. He’s bleeding out pretty fast.”
“I’ve called an ambulance, Lance,” Laura told him. “Can he talk? Has he said anything?”
Lucas listened to chatter but his focus was on their suspect. For sure, there was a getaway car parked somewhere nearby. Lucas and Evan had to take him down before then, or they would lose him. Both men picked up their speed, until Evan was just a couple of people behind him, and Lucas was almost parallel on the opposite side of the street. Suddenly, their target looked backward and spotted Evan, paused for a second, then started running. Lucas and Evan immediately burst into full sprints.
“He’s made Ice, and he’s now running down West Taylor Street,” Lucas told Lance and Laura. “Ice’s almost on him. They’ve just turned right on South Loomis.”
Lucas cut across the street, dodging traffic and ignoring the blare of horns from annoyed drivers. He kept his eyes fixed on the shooter whom Evan had just reached about a block up, grabbing the man by the jacket and shoving him face first into the brick wall of a store.
“Who are you working for?” Lucas heard Evan demand.
The suspect grunted, shoving his elbow into Evan’s stomach. They started grappling, with Evan trying to restrain his arms and the assailant trying to break free in order to reach his gun.
Lucas ran up on them within a few seconds, then skidded to a halt as tires squealed from farther up the street.
“Ice, I think we have company,” he announced loudly.
It was a black sedan with Illinois plates and only a driver inside, and
it was coming up on them fast. Lucas saw the arm coming out of the driver’s window, but was already prepared for what he knew was coming. He was running for cover in a store doorway, with his gun drawn and pointed at the right side of the front windshield.
“Gun,” he yelled at Evan, and squeezed off two shots before ducking for cover.
Four bullets splintered the bricks near his head. More gunshots went off nearby.
“Shit!” Evan muttered into his earpiece, followed by heavy breathing and more scuffling.
Lucas quickly leaned forward, firing two more shots into the windshield. He could see Evan rolling to a safe spot behind a parked car, but their suspect was now free and scrambling to the door of the sedan. Lucas took aim at him, then felt the burning pain of a bullet as it sliced through the flesh at the top of his right shoulder. He clenched his teeth and fired at the target. First shot. The car was pulling away, tires squealing. Second shot. The suspect had a gun pointed out the passenger window aimed right at his chest. Third shot. Lucas felt the heat of the shooter’s bullet as it whizzed past him, hitting the brick behind him. He also heard Evan beside him, also shooting a series of bullets back at the getaway car, now speeding down South Loomis Street.
CHAPTER 8
“Hey, Alex.”
It was eight thirty on Thursday morning, and Alex had been working over an hour already. She looked up to find Marco standing at the doorway of her office.
“Hey, Markie,” she replied with a smile. “What’s up?”
“I spoke to Lucas last night,” he started, but she could tell by the look on his face that it wasn’t good news. “His lead didn’t pan out yesterday. They weren’t able to find out who tried to hack our system.”
Alex let out a big sigh. She had tried not to get her hopes up, but it was still very disappointing news.
“Okay. Thanks for letting me know,” she told him.
But instead of walking away, Marco hesitated then walked farther into her office.
“There is something else,” he stated, clearly uncomfortable with what he needed to tell her.
“What, Markie?” Alex demanded. “What’s going on?”
She stood up and walked over to her boss.
“Nothing, nothing . . .” He cleared his throat and shoved his hands in his pants pocket. “It’s just that Lucas is recommending a security detail for you.”
“What? Why?” she demanded.
“He’s doing some work with his team right now, but I’m sure he’ll explain more when he’s free,” Marco explained.
“Markie, this is ridiculous!” she insisted. “Why would I need a bodyguard?”
“Alex, the design is in your head as much as it is in the computer or installed in the Evo. You’re the only one who understands why it works, end to end. You know that,” he detailed with a sigh. “So, Lucas considers you one of the assets.”
“I’m a person, not an asset!” countered Alex. “I can’t be treated like an engine part. This whole thing is completely out of control, now. I know we have to be cautious and protect the Cicada design. I get that, I do. But armed security? Now a personal bodyguard for me? Come on!”
Marco shrugged with his hands up in the air, suggesting he had nothing to say.
“I know it seems as though things have gotten really serious really fast, but there’s just too much at stake not to take precautions, Alex,” he finally told her. “You know what this technology could mean for the car industry. For you, for this company. We have to do whatever it takes to protect it until the launch.”
“Of course I agree with that, Marco,” Alex replied with a sigh. “But I don’t think we should just follow this Fortis company blindly, doing whatever they tell us to do without question. I mean, what do we even know about them anyway?”
“Alex, they’ve come very highly recommended. From what I’ve been told, they get the job done,” Marco told her.
“I’m sure they do. But at what cost? How do you know they aren’t just exaggerating the threat to pad their bill?”
“Oh come on, Alex,” he scoffed.
“What? It happens. These military types always use fear to push their agenda,” Alex shot back, with her arms planted on her hips.
“Okay, you’ve been watching too much television,” chuckled Marco. “But in case you’re serious, I can assure you that they have no agenda other than completing their job. And they’re job is to secure and protect the Cicada until we officially launch it in June. They don’t get paid until then, and then they only bill for the work required to complete the job.”
Alex thought through what her boss was telling her, and felt some of her indignation melting away.
“That’s an interesting arrangement. How did you negotiate that?” she finally asked, grudgingly.
“I didn’t. That’s their standard contract,” he clarified. “They do whatever is needed to deliver, then only bill for what was required. So if all of this extra security isn’t necessary in the end, they don’t get paid for it.”
Alex looked at the floor.
“So, Alex, if they say you need protection, I’m going to assume it’s necessary.”
She nodded, now starting to feel a little silly about her outburst.
“Fine, okay,” she finally conceded.
“Hey.” She looked up at the man whom she considered a very good friend. “It’s not a big deal. They obviously know what they’re doing, so I’m sure you won’t even notice their presence.”
Alex nodded, even managed a smile.
“I have a couple of meetings booked in the east end of the city, so I’ll be gone most of the day,” Marco added. “Call me if you need to.”
She nodded again. He left the office and Alex went back to work.
The next couple of hours went by slowly while she tried to focus on the very tedious computer configuration and virtual tuning of the Cicada drivetrain. Niles, Randy, and Bobby were all tweaking their own components and had been sending her the various specs they had sourced or customized to create the perfect power-to-weight ratio. They planned to put together a modified design by Monday, ready for road testing next week when the body repairs to the race car were completed.
There wasn’t any time for brooding about Lucas Johnson and his new edict. To be fair, Alex had to admit that the two Fortis agents, Michael and Ned, who had started the security detail yesterday were pretty invisible. She had caught a glimpse of them a couple of times, but with blazers on to conceal their guns, Alex barely took note of them. And there was really no sign of the extra surveillance cameras that she knew had been installed. So, after a little bit of retrospect, maybe her personal security wouldn’t be as invasive as Alex had initially feared.
Knowing that Lucas was back from his trip and planning to meet with her was a whole other cause for concern. Something about his tall good looks and boyish charm was messing with her hormones and disturbing her sleep. And the memory of that hot, sizzling kiss between strangers only made it worse. Just last night, Alex had dreamed about him. It was nothing specific she could remember in the morning, but he was the first thing she thought about when she awoke with her body humming with arousal.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a call on her desk phone.
“Alex Cotts,” she answered after the second ring.
“Hey, Alex, it’s Frank at DS Distributors,” said the voice over the line.
“Hi, Frank, what’s up?”
“Do you remember that power converter you were looking for last month? The one that’s on back order?”
Alex sat up straighter. It was a part for the Cicada that could be more effective than the one she was currently using.
“Sure, I remember it. Do you have one?”
“Yup, it just came in. But there’s another customer who’s looking for it, too, but he can’t get it until tomorrow at the earliest,” Frank told her. “If you can pick it up today, it’s yours.”
Alex looked at the time on her laptop. It was twenty minutes to e
leven o’clock.
“Okay, I should be there by noon,” she committed, quickly calculating how long the drive uptown would take.
“Good, see you then.”
Alex hung up the phone, then checked her schedule. She had a meeting at one o’clock with their event management consultant to finalize the schedule and logistics for the Sea-to-Sky race. And it would take about forty minutes to drive up into Frank’s warehouse in the northwest end of the city in midday traffic. There was plenty of time, if Alex left within the next thirty minutes.
The only hiccup was Lucas. He wanted to speak with her about the personal security.
Alex tapped her fingers on the desk, trying to think about what to do. Finally, she decided to give Lucas until eleven o’clock to meet with her. If he didn’t show up by then, Alex would take a quick trip to get the converter and be back in less than two hours. Chances were, Lucas wouldn’t even know she had left.
She went back to work and the next fifteen minutes ticked by slowly. There was no sign of Lucas.
At five minutes to eleven, Alex locked her computer then peeled off her overalls. She had on slim black jeans and a white T-shirt underneath, so she added the light blue jacket she had worn to work, then grabbed her purse and left her office. In the hallway, she paused from a niggling sense of uncertainty about her decision. Instead of heading through to the shop floor and out to the parking lot, Alex walked a few doors down to the office used by the Fortis agents. The door was open but the room was empty.
She stood there for a few minutes, but no one came by. Finally, concerned that she was running out of time, Alex left the building for the drive uptown through the city. Trying to relax about the decision, she turned the music up loud in her Porsche and enjoyed the ride. Thankfully, traffic was pretty light on the route, and Alex was on her way back to the office within an hour. She was making such good time that it seemed like a good idea to stop for an errand. Shawn’s wedding was on Saturday, and this might be the only opportunity to pick up a card and withdraw some cash as a gift.
It was only twenty minutes to one o’clock when she pulled into the Magnus Motorsports parking lot feeling pretty good about her efficient use of time. Alex was about to step out of the low-riding body of her car when a big black truck sped into the parking spot right beside her, its brakes squealing in protest at the abrupt stop. Annoyed by the aggressive driving, she grabbed the boxed power converter and her purse, then stepped out of the Porsche. And right into a solid wall of black cotton.
