Colorado Hitch (11 page)

“Once she’s dead, I need you to go in and sweep the house,” Grant said.

“Will do,” Roger replied.

Grant watched the video on the main screen, his heart hammering as he saw Billy move up the walkway to Daphne’s door. This operation was frightening for him. This last string tying them to Craig needed to be severed. The man had done so much to try to destroy them, and he’d almost won. With this last person gone, they could be free of the effects of Craig.

Billy rang the doorbell, and Ryan switched the audio over so they could listen to Billy speak. The sound of Billy knocking on the door could be heard over the speakers.

“You sure she’s here?” Billy whispered.

“Yes,” they heard Roger say.

Then the door opened, and they saw Daphne on screen. Billy wore a small camera, which allowed the control room to watch what was in front of him. At the moment, it was Daphne’s face.

“Good afternoon, ma’am. Flower delivery for you,” Billy said.

Daphne lifted her brows and shook her head. “Are you sure? I shouldn’t be getting flowers.”

“Damn it, she’s suspicious. This could get nasty,” Grant said.

“Stay steady,” Roger whispered.

Billy glanced at the card on the flowers and nodded. “This is 8700 Brickyard, right?”

Daphne nodded then frowned. “Who sent them?”

“Well, you’ll need to look at the card. I’m just delivering what I’m told. I don’t know who sends the flowers.”

Daphne huffed out a breath and frowned. “Let me see the card.”

Billy set the flowers down and pulled the card out of the holder, handing it over to Daphne. Grant held his breath, waiting for the transfer of poison to happen. The camera once again pointed to where it showed Daphne as Billy gave her the card. She let her guard down for a second, and Billy reached forward, grabbing her arm. Grant recognized the ring Billy had on his finger. Grant had worn it on more than one occasion, and they’d pulled it out of the vault for this mission.

The second the needle hit its mark, he saw the realization on Daphne’s face. Her eyes went wide, and her nostrils flared. But it was too late.

“What have you done?” Daphne asked.

“Done? I haven’t done anything. Now then, about the person who sent the flowers, let’s look inside the envelope.”

Daphne backed up and tried to shut the door, but Billy bent quickly, picked up the flowers, and followed her into the house. Billy secured the door and kept after Daphne, not pausing for long as he placed the flowers on a hall table. Grant saw him take off the ring and carefully place it in the metal box they stored it in before he slipped latex gloves over his hands.

“Go away,” Daphne said.

“Are you alone?” Billy asked.

“No, I have… I have…” Daphne stumbled and almost fell. She righted herself and grabbed for her phone.

Billy drew close enough to rip the device from her hands. “I don’t think you need to call anyone. You will have a heart attack in just a few minutes.”

“They’ll find you,” Daphne sputtered. “I work for the CIA. They’ll know.”

“That’s fine for you to think that, Daphne, however, we both know I work for the Company. I’m one of them. They’ll sweep this under the rug because you’re an administrative assistant that had a heart attack. They won’t know to look into your death.”

“My neighbors saw you. They’re calling the cops.” Daphne seemed to be begging, but he felt no guilt from her pleas. She’d worked with Craig.

“No, Daphne, they aren’t. You’re on your own,” Billy said.

Grant had to keep in mind that this Daphne person had worked with Craig, helped in the attempt to kill Davis. Who knew how many other innocent people had been murdered because of her. She wasn’t on the side of good. She was messed up, and no matter how disturbing it was to end someone’s life, Daphne Wall had to die. She’d infiltrated the CIA, and they didn’t know who she was working for, if anyone, but she wasn’t to be trusted.

“I’m going in,” Zander said.

Grant saw Marshal stiffen before he breathed out a slow breath. They waited and watched as Daphne fell to the floor. Scrambling for her computer, Daphne moved about three feet towards the device. Billy never lost his focus and kept the computer away from her. She did reach her iPad but Billy took that, too.

Ryan tapped his table and got Grant’s attention. “The men have landed in Florida, retrieved their rental car, and are almost to the house in Ormond Beach.”

“They look like a family on vacation. It’s obnoxious,” Marshal said.

Grant didn’t know how Duff had run Wild Bluff and stayed sane. Maybe that’s why he’d had a heart attack. Doing two operations at once, worrying about six guys at the same time, was crazy. He never wanted to do anything like this ever again.

“I have her computer out,” Zander said.

Grant breathed out a sigh of relief. “Roger, have them bring it home.”

“Will do, Chief.”

He heard Roger relay the message to Zander. Team one was done. Daphne was gone. Billy did a quick search of the rooms, looking in each closet and under the beds. He found nothing of importance. They cleaned up Daphne’s house, making it appear like she’d had a heart attack. Billy grabbed the flowers and checked with Roger to make sure they were clear before he opened the door. As the team left the house in Maryland, Marshal announced that his team was close to Daphne’s house in Florida.

“Roger, make sure to shut down—”

“Locators on the computer. We’ve got it covered. Zander is already working on it with me in the van. Billy is driving us away from the house. We’ll ditch the van and our disguises and will be on a plane out of here soon.”

“You’re good. I’m just stressed,” Grant said.

“I know.” Roger grunted. “How is the other team doing?”

“Good. They’re about to move in. I’ll stay with you, but I’m also going to be doing backup for Marshal.”

“I’ll tell you if anything develops.” Roger’s voice sounded like he was already distracted and thinking of something else.

Grant moved across the room to stand behind Ryan and watch the traffic cameras in Florida. Ryan was working out nicely, but he couldn’t figure out how to get the Florida cameras on screen. Grant bent low and started to hit a button when he heard Roger start yelling in his earpiece.

Chapter Fifteen

Marshal’s hands were sweaty and his shoulders stiff. He forced himself to relax, calming the inner turmoil. His guys would be at Daphne’s house soon and he needed to be able to approach this calmly. Grant had performed amazingly well, and he didn’t feel he would do as good.

Tucker was lead on the mission and had been communicating with him since they'd landed. They were playing a family on vacation, visiting their relatives. All three of them wore loud prints with flowers on their shirts or some other tropical design. He’d almost laughed out loud at a photo Mike had sent him. They looked the part, their disguises matching the other overly-cooked tourists visiting Florida. He’d not really noticed their spray tans before they'd taken off from Colorado, but he guessed he'd still been half-asleep before coffee and hadn’t paid much attention.

“Marshal, we’re turning down Daphne’s street. All appears quiet. We’ll go in, search her house, and leave,” Tucker said.

“Sounds good. The team up north had success.” Marshal glanced over and saw Grant step behind Ryan. He calmed, knowing he had backup now that Grant wasn’t one hundred percent focused on the Maryland team.

“We’re in front of the house, pulling into the driveway. It doesn’t look like any of her neighbors are home. The place is quiet, no one outside. I’ll update you once we get in.”

“Shit,” Grant said as he bent low over Ryan’s computer and tapped out a command.

The big screen went from displaying only the Maryland team to half-displaying Maryland, half Florida. Grant cursed again, but Marshal needed to keep his focus on his team. Then the audio over the main speakers changed.

“Fuck, shit. Goddammit. Shit, shit, shit,” Roger screamed. “Open the door.”

“Too fast, slow down,” Zander yelled.

“Dammit!”

Banging could be heard, then an explosion.

Marshal watched the traffic cameras from Maryland. The van they were driving was on screen and sliding out of sight. As they made a turn, a ball of fire burst out behind them. Marshal gasped then turned his gaze to the screens for his team. He couldn’t see much since there wasn’t a traffic camera near Daphne’s Florida house, so he had to rely on the small pin camera Tucker was wearing.

“Fallback!” Marshal shouted.

“What?” Tucker said.

“Fallback now.” Marshal breathed out, trying to gain control of his emotions and not yell over the mic.

“In the car,” Tucker said to his men. “Marshal, what’s—”

Tucker never completed his sentence as an explosion registered over the line. Marshal jumped up, and Grant turned to stare at him. Their gazes met and he could feel the ice in his veins as he saw fear fill Grant’s eyes. They both had someone they loved out there and this had gone from
good job
to
going to hell
in seconds flat.

“Tucker, give me an update.” Marshal could see the wisps of smoke on traffic cameras in the Florida area, but there weren’t any showing them the front of Daphne’s house. He’d lost the video feed from Tucker.

“Um, give us… fuck, that hurt.” Tucker’s voice was scratchy and he groaned.

“Ryan, I need eyes on them.” Marshal’s hands were shaking as fear filled him.

“No traffic cams on that street,” Ryan replied.

“Fuck, we need to find out what happened. Can we resurrect the camera Tucker was wearing?”

Ryan clicked some buttons but shook his head. “No, it’s no longer transmitting.”

Marshal paced closer to Grant, lifting his brows as their gazes met. Grant shook his head and held up his hand. Doing two operations at once was crazy. Grant had cut the audio shortly after the first explosion, and he didn’t know if Zander was okay. Roger was in Maryland, too, and there was Billy in Maryland, and Tucker on lead in Florida. Were they being too cocky, thinking they could handle two operations at once? Now wasn’t the time for reflection, they could do that later at the debriefing. Right then, he needed to get his men to safety.

Tucker coughed and it sounded like he spat on the ground. “Getting up,” Tucker said.

“Give me a status. Where are your men?” Marshal wanted an account of everyone in the group. He needed to know his men were safe. They were on American soil, which could help them or it could hurt them. Duff had clout with guys in every alphabet-soup department across the country. One of them could rescue their men if Duff asked, but this mission wasn’t Duff’s responsibility. If they failed, it would be on him and Grant. What would they do if they didn’t have Duff?

“I’m up, no neighbors are out. I hear sirens in the distance. We’re going to leave as soon as possible.” Tucker still sounded off, and Marshal wondered how close his guys had been to the blast.

“Your men, where are they?” Marshal clenched a pen in his hand, knowing that if he didn’t put it down the plastic would shatter from his death grip.

“I see Mike,” Tucker mumbled. “He’s standing.”

“Where is Davis?” Marshal turned and met Ryan’s eyes, seeing fear, pain, and confusion fill them almost simultaneously.

Tucker groaned again and coughed. “I don’t know. I need… I’m dropping the line. I’ll call once we’re safe.”

The line disconnected, and Marshal clenched his fist, worried about his crew. He needed to establish communication again, but he knew that in the heat of escape, concentration was key. Tucker had hung up on him and that pissed him off, but if it meant the guys would make it back safely because Tucker wasn’t distracted, then he could deal with his own anger.

*~*~*

“Fuck!” Roger couldn’t believe that the computer had a self-destruct command. How the hell had he not seen it? Now, the device was sitting on the street in the middle of the road. This mission was so fucked up. No matter what they did, they just couldn’t shake the effects of Craig. He was everywhere even though he was gone.

Roger jumped out of the back of the van and ran for the now-melted plastic mess. He scooped it up, holding it by one corner as he carried it back to the vehicle. He prayed no one had called the mini-explosion in. There weren’t any sirens blaring and nothing had been said on the police scanners they were following, but someone could be watching. Thank God for good disguises. For this mission, he had dark brown eyes and blond hair that was longer and pulled up into a ponytail. They’d used makeup to change the texture of their skin, and he had a prosthetic nose in place. There was no doubt that he looked different, and there was little doubt in his mind that even facial recognition software would have issues trying to identify him.

“You okay?” Zander asked as he stepped back into the van.

“Yeah, good. Go, Billy.”

They sped off, and he got back on the line with Grant at the ranch. “Hey, I’m good. The damn computer had a self-destruct.”

“You’ve both been compromised.” Grant’s voice was edged with a harshness he hadn’t heard before. “I need you three to find a way out of DC that doesn’t involve you going back to the airport.”

Roger went still, his mind taking in what Grant had said. They were more than just lovers, they were friends, and he knew all of the different ways Grant communicated. Something was wrong, very wrong.
Both?
What had he meant by that? Both he and Zander, or was it he and Billy, or did Grant mean the Maryland mission and the Florida mission had been compromised. Now wasn’t the time to play twenty questions.

“I’ll figure it out. Love you. We’ll see you in a few days.” Roger hung up and turned to face Zander. “We have an issue. We’ve been told to leave DC but no airports that are close. We’ll head north on the train then switch to car. Eventually, we’ll hit a city where we feel comfortable heading to the airport. We need to change our looks. Zander, what do you have for us?”

Zander pulled out his bag and grabbed the putty. “A different nose, some makeup, and different contacts. We’ll stop by a store and pick up some dye or bleach. Your wigs have to go. We’ll change clothes, change our identities, and disappear. It’s easy to get lost in New York City. We’ll assess the chatter once we’re there and determine what happens next.”

“Okay, Billy, we need to hit a busy shopping center and ditch the van where there are few cameras.”

“This sucks,” Billy said. “Did he say what was wrong?”

“No, he didn’t,” Roger said.

“I don’t have a good feeling.” Billy paused and rolled his shoulders. “I want to call Tucker but he’s in the middle of his mission.”

Roger couldn’t say anything. He had to get both Zander and Billy home safely. If Grant needed them to head south to Florida, they would hop on a plane in no time flat, but they’d been told to head home. Jumping in to help on a mission when they didn’t have all of the information would only get them hurt.

“We’ll call Grant once we get to New York.”

Roger tried to not sound too worried. They couldn’t give into their feelings, even if he was worried like crazy. Grant hadn’t given him any more information other than they’d both been compromised. The guys in Florida were professionals and could take care of themselves. He didn’t need to babysit them, but he did need to get his guys home safely.