Jackie sighed. “It’s a coping tactic. Don’t worry, we’re both as scared as you are.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better. Are you sure you shouldn’t just turn yourselves in?” She shot a beseeching glance at Ian. “What about Terry and your parents?”
Ian stiffened. “I’m keeping them as far away from me as possible. I would have done the same with you if I hadn’t already unknowingly put you in danger.”
“If I’d answered my phone, we wouldn’t be in this situation, would we?”
Jackie hesitated and exchanged a glance with Ian. “Maybe. But the bad guys found you before we could get to you, so if you had been home when your apartment was trashed, you would most likely be dead. It’s a good thing you were gone.”
“Oh.” Holly’s jaw hardened and she lifted her chin. “Fine. Do you need anything else?”
“Food would be nice,” Ian said. He glanced at Gus, whose ears pricked forward. “Yeah, dog food. I wouldn’t forget about you, buddy.” He rubbed Gus’s ears.
“And more hair coloring or wigs, whatever you can come up with. I think I’d like to be a brunette.” Jackie looked at the ID, then at Ian. “How do you feel about a new color?”
He grimaced, but nodded.
Jackie rummaged in the bag Ron had given her for the two IDs and showed them to Holly. “As close to these colors as you can.”
Holly drew in a deep breath. “All right. I’ll try to be back in thirty minutes or so.”
“What about Lucy? Is she all right where she is for now?”
“For now,” Holly said. “I always call her at night. I didn’t call her last night and I’m sure my friend is worried.”
“Call her from a pay phone,” Jackie said. “Or borrow someone’s cell phone. There’s no reason to believe they know where Lucy is, so there’s no reason to believe they’ll be listening in on your friend’s phone.”
Holly nodded and turned to go.
Jackie stopped her. “I want to check outside before you go.”
Ian stood and grabbed the laptop Ron had provided. “I’m going to do a little research on Wainwright.”
Jackie stepped outside and pulled Holly with her.
“What is it?” Holly asked as soon as the door shut behind her.
Jackie hunched her shoulders against the cold and walked to a nearby van, sheltering herself and Holly from any prying eyes. “You weren’t overseas.”
Holly’s jaw dropped, then she snapped it shut. She lowered her eyes to the concrete. “No. I wasn’t.”
“And you didn’t land at any airport.”
“No. I drove.” She lifted her chin to look at Jackie.
“Why didn’t you answer your phone?”
“I really did have it turned off most of the time.”
“What about Lucy? What if she’d needed you?”
“I was only going to be gone two nights. Lucy was fine. I needed time to think, to process.”
“Process what?”
Tears filled her friend’s eyes. “I’m not ready to talk about it yet, but the friend who has Lucy understands.” She sniffed. “Now let me go get what you need.” She paused. “How did you know?” she whispered.
“Because the FBI is looking for you. They would have you on a watch list for flights. If you’d been overseas teaching, the feds would have known that. And when you were landing. They would have picked you up the minute you stepped off the plane.”
“Oh.” She frowned. “You thought they’d be at my apartment today.”
Jackie gave a slow nod. “But you came back a day early. They probably checked with your work or your father and found out when you were supposed to come home.”
“Only I came home a day early. I see.”
Jackie squeezed her friend’s arm. “When you’re ready to talk, I’ll listen.”
“I know.”
Jackie cleared her throat. “All right then, I’ll let you get that stuff. If you feel uncomfortable at all at any time, if you feel like you’re in danger, call 911.”
Holly’s eyes went wide, then she took a deep breath and left. Jackie closed her eyes and leaned her head against the cold side of the van for just a moment, then returned to the room.
Ian sat at the table staring at the laptop. He looked up. “Are we staying here for a while?”
“No. Not if we can get away. I don’t want to stay in one place too long.” Jackie rubbed her eyes. They were five minutes from Holly’s apartment. Law enforcement had swarmed like ants on a hill at the report of gunfire this close to Central Park and Times Square. They’d barely managed to avoid a gridlock and roadblocks when Jackie had taken a chance and swept into the Park Central Hotel parking lot and handed over her keys to valet parking as they’d hurried into the lobby. Later, she’d gotten the car and pulled it around to park on the street and pocket the keys. They might need to leave fast.
She wondered if she’d made the right decision. She studied Gus, who sat on the end of the bed with his nose settled between his paws. “He’s going to have to stay with someone else. The word is out now that he’s with us.”
“I know.”
She’d turned on the television and flipped the channel to Fox News. They were still one of the top stories. “They’ve gotten new pictures of us.”
“From the bus camera.”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
“So we change our appearances once again.”
She nodded. “We may be regular chameleons before this is over.”
“So what’s our next move?” he asked.
She didn’t answer right away. Instead she tapped her chin and closed her eyes. “Let’s make a list.”
He grabbed a pen and the notepad from the end table, then took the chair opposite her. “You talk, I’ll write.”
“First, we need to get that email to the FBI. Elizabeth Miller is the South Carolina FBI agent, right?”
“Right.”
“So we send her the email. We’ll fax it to her and be on our way. Holly can do it when she gets back. By the time they trace the number, we’ll be long gone.”
Ian rubbed his head. “Or just text it to them, then dump the phone.”
Jackie shrugged. “Or that.”
“I wish there was a way I could convince them I haven’t done what they’re accusing me of.”
“We’re working on that part.”
“I know. Then what?”
“You said Wainwright is the one who actually sent the email.”
Ian nodded. “It came from his account, yes.”
“Then we’ll assume he sent it.”
“Just like they’re assuming I sent the emails they found on my computer.” His sour expression would have made her laugh if the situation weren’t so serious.
“Who were the other recipients of the email?”
“I don’t know. We were all blind copied so my name was the only one on there that I could see. I’m only going on the assumption it was supposed to go to Ian Peterson.”
“Maybe. Probably. Unless it was just a huge slip of the finger on the key or whatever.”
“Maybe.”
“And if it was meant for you?”
He shook his head. “That’s one thing I’m certain of. I wasn’t meant to see this email. If Ian Peterson wasn’t supposed to get it and I wasn’t supposed to get it, I don’t know who the intended recipient would have been.”
“I want to know the other names on the email,” she murmured.
“Unfortunately, the only way to do that is to see the original email.”
She rubbed her chin, her eyes on the far wall. “From Wainwright’s account.”
“Yes.”
She dropped her gaze to him and shrugged. “So then we need to hack into his account.”
19
11:45 A.M.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Victor tapped his fingers against the steering wheel as he waited for the young woman to exit the building. Hector sat beside him, still and silent. Al
most too silent. The young man, a kid really, in his early twenties, was brilliant. If Victor wasn’t quite comfortable with his position in the organization, he might feel threatened by Hector’s presence. But Hector knew his place, so all was well. “You ready?”
“Of course.” Hector reached into his shoulder holster and pulled out his weapon.
Doing a little research on the doctor behind the glass doors had proved helpful. Dr. Jason Arnold was in practice for himself. He had no partner and his two assistants shared the full-time position. The first assistant would leave at lunchtime and the second one would come in for the afternoon shift.
As soon as Dr. Arnold’s morning assistant walked out to go to lunch like she did every day, he would be alone. And as long as she didn’t lock the door behind her, she would live to see the sun set tonight. If she locked it …
It took ten more tense minutes before the woman finally exited. She let the door shut behind her and walked to the beat-up Ford Taurus parked under the tree near the end of the sidewalk.
“She didn’t lock the door,” Victor said.
“Which makes things a little easier for us.”
Victor waited another two minutes after she drove off before he nodded. “Let’s go.”
Hector and Victor exited the stolen car and entered the building. A small bell rang and Hector quickly twisted the lock on the door before moving like a silent shadow to the far door opposite him that led to the examination rooms in the back. Standing off to the side, he held his gun and waited.
As soon as the good doctor stepped through the door, Hector lowered his weapon against the man’s left temple. Dr. Arnold froze and Victor stepped forward with a smile, ignoring the terror stamped on the man’s suddenly gray face. “Hello, Dr. Arnold. So nice to meet you.”
His throat worked and his Adam’s apple dipped. “If you’re after drugs, I’ll give them to you.”
“I’m not after drugs, I simply want the password to your computer files.”
The man blinked. “My computer files? Why?”
“That doesn’t concern you. Do you want to live?”
“Of course.”
“Then stop asking questions and let’s get busy.”
Dr. Arnold walked slowly to one of the computers and slid into the chair. He clicked a few keys and brought the home screen up. The cursor blinked in the space that requested the password. He glanced up. Hector moved the gun closer.
Dr. Arnold swallowed and typed. The screen went black, then opened up to the software his assistant had been using just before she left. “What now?”
“Bring up the file for Ian Lockwood and get me the code.”
The doctor jerked. “Ian?”
“Yes. Is there a problem?” The barrel of the gun rested against his temple.
“Yes, yes, there’s a problem. Ian’s a good man. He’s not a terrorist.”
“Correct,” Victor said. “But we are.” He reached around the doctor and picked up a picture. A blonde-haired girl with blue eyes had her arms wrapped around the man now seated at the computer desk. She smiled into the camera, looking happy and carefree. “‘Love you, Dad. Corie.’” Victor smiled. “Pretty girl. Looks smart too.”
“Leave her alone, please.” The man’s voice shook. “I’ll do what you want.”
Victor hardened his voice and threw the picture to the floor. He ground the glass with his heel. “Pull up the file or that will be Corie’s face.”
Knowledge entered Dr. Arnold’s eyes. Tears appeared and his throat worked. He took a deep breath. “May I please call my daughter before you kill me?” he whispered.
“No. Now stop stalling and get me Lockwood’s information. Or I will find your daughter next.”
The doctor clicked the keys and brought up the file. Victor leaned in. “Excellent.”
The doctor moved fast, grabbing Victor’s head and slamming it against the counter. Victor yelled, his vision swirled as pain raced through the back of his neck and up into his head. Darkness threatened. His knees hit the floor, then his left cheek. He heard a pop and a cry. Fighting the nausea and desperate to stay conscious, he rolled. He could see Dr. Arnold on the floor next to him, blood pooling beneath his head.
Then Victor looked up, expecting a helping hand and, instead, finding the dark hole of the suppressor staring him in the eye. “What—”
“Just tying up a few loose ends.”
Hector pulled the trigger. Victor felt one more sharp pain and knew no more.
NEW YORK CITY
Ian rubbed his eyes and stared at Jackie. “Where’s Holly? I’m starving.”
“She went to get lunch. She’ll be back in a minute.” She ran a hand through her hair and shoved the laptop from her. “We’ve been at this for three hours. Hacking into his computer remotely simply isn’t going to work. At least not with us doing it. If I had the right equipment, maybe, but with this—” She gestured to the laptop. “It’s hopeless.” She stood and paced and glanced at her watch. “We need to come up with a different plan. And we need to move out of this hotel room soon. Where is Wainwright Labs here in New York?”
“It’s in Armonk, about forty-five minutes from here.”
“What’s security like there?”
“Tight. And all kinds of firewalls on their computer systems. If you try to hack into it, alarms will go off.”
She nodded. “I know. I was having to be too careful. I either set the alarms off or I just don’t get in. Either way, it’s an epic fail.” She sighed and ran a hand down the side of her face as she thought. “What if we don’t hack into it? What if we just walk into his office and get on his computer so the FBI can hack into it?”
Ian laughed. “That’s insane. I don’t see that happening.” He sobered. “I mean, even if we managed to steal the computer, wouldn’t they have to get some kind of order to justify searching it? The email’s not going to be enough to prove I’m—we’re—innocent.”
Jackie nodded and Ian studied her. The faraway look in her eyes said she was hatching something. Ian glanced at the clock and sent up a silent prayer for Holly’s safety.
Jackie stood. “As soon as we have the names of the others the email was sent to, we’ll be able to start piecing this together.”
“How do you propose we go about doing this?”
“We’ll need help. I have computer skills, but not the kind needed for that.”
Ian blew out a breath. “He has a laptop—or a tablet—that he carries everywhere. Rumor is he sleeps with it handcuffed to his wrist.”
“Tell me more.”
Ian shrugged. “It’s just a rumor.”
“You know what they say.”
“What’s that?”
“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”
“Maybe, but if we steal the information, can it be used against him?”
“Why not? If we have evidence that he’s a murderer, I don’t think the authorities are just going to ignore that. The cops aren’t getting the information in a questionable manner, we are. They’re free to use it.”
The hotel phone rang and they both jumped. Ian tensed while Jackie answered it. “Hello?”
She listened, then shot out of the chair to push the curtain back from the window. “Stay there, we’ll be there in one minute.” She hung up and turned to Ian. “Let’s grab our stuff and Gus and go.”
“They’ve found us?”
“The bad guys, not the cops. Holly said she was walking down the sidewalk and thought she recognized the car from yesterday afternoon’s shooting turn into the parking garage of the hotel.”
Ian started gathering belongings. Jackie did the same. Within seconds, they were out the door. “To the stairs, don’t take the elevator.”
The phone rang again. Ian paused and pushed back into the room to grab the phone. “Yeah?”
“Don’t come down the stairs on the east side,” Holly whispered. “They’re standing just inside the door.”
Ian tensed. “Where are you?�
��
“I followed them inside the lobby and to the stairwell. They’re waiting for you to come down. There are two guys hanging around the elevator, also.”
“Go outside and wait for us near the car.”
“I saw guns, Ian. They’re trying to hide them and act cool so people won’t look at them twice, but they’re there.”
“We’ll be all right. Don’t let them see you,” he said.
“No. I’m going to leave and go around the corner of the building next door, the one that faces the parking lot. I’ll be able to see the car from there.” He heard her footsteps.
“Do you see anything else?”
“I can see the car now. There are two men dressed in black near it. They don’t have masks on, but they look suspicious.” Holly’s voice squeaked on the last word. She cleared her throat. “That means there are about six of them total.”
“Can you get around to the other side of the hotel and meet us?”
“Yes, but what are we going to do? We need to get the car.”
“We’ll worry about that as soon as we’re all together again. If you need to reach us before we get there, then call the cell.”
“Okay. I—I’m coming.”
Ian motioned for Jackie to follow him. With a raised brow, she didn’t question him, just swept from the room again and kept pace with him as he went to the next set of steps on the opposite side of the building. Ian, Jackie, and Gus made their way down the stairs as silently as possible. Just in case the bad guys were coming up. He told her what Holly had said on the phone.
She thought about it for a brief second. “They’ve got the exits covered,” she whispered. At the next level, she opened the door and led the way onto the floor.
“What’s the plan?” Ian asked.
“Based on what Holly said, we’re going to have to wing it. Top priority is to find a back way out. Head for the elevator.”
“What if they’re coming up?”
“It’s a chance we’re going to have to take. There are people all over this hotel. They’re going to have to be a little cautious.”
“They weren’t very cautious when they were shooting at us in front of Holly’s apartment,” he muttered.
“Touché.” She pressed the button to the elevator and motioned for him to stand to the side. Gus planted himself next to Ian’s leg. Ian watched the elevators in the mirror opposite the steel doors, tension humming through him. “This hotel has an elevator that opens on the bottom floor and into the back of the hotel,” she said.
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