Friday. Grimaldi Place, Chevy Chase, MD.NOLAN SPARED YVONNE'S BED one last glance. He didn't want to trudge back to the guest house and pass out on the hard-as-a-rock mattress there. Things with Yvonne were too new to push for some sort of privilege. Plus, he should be present to do his job with the others should the need arise.He clipped his gun on his hip and was ready to go.Yvonne sat in the middle of the bed, wrapped in a fuzzy robe, her wet hair piled on top of her head."Plans today?" he asked."I really need to do some work.""How much longer can you remote in?""Maybe a week or two?" She grimaced. "There's some things I just need to handle personally. Ready?""Yeah."Yvonne swung her legs over the side, giving him a glimpse of her thighs and the maroon and teal plaid shorts she'd put on after the shower. He watched her pad to the window and peer out."Coast clear?" He circled the bed and came up behind her.She leaned back against his chest without u
"Move, stay with me, look at the ground." Nolan powered forward.A loud boom and flash of light sent smoke pouring out of the foyer.Flash grenade. They were breeching the house right fucking now. Sheltering in the utility room was not happening. They'd be sitting ducks.They had to get out of here. Now.He spared a glance over his shoulder.Yvonne was on his heels.Theodore and Douglas brought up the rear with their father between them, practically dragging the stunned man.If the attackers were breeching from one point, perhaps he could slip the family out the side or the back?It was that or hope he had enough bullets to take out all of the intruders.Voices echoed off the marble.There was no time.He had to get the family out now.Nolan darted into the living room. "Shut the doors behind us. Yvonne, take your Mom.""I've got her." Yvonne looped her mother's arm around her shoulders. The woman cried big, tears accompanied by even louder sobs.Nolan proce
Friday. Chevy Chase, MD."WHERE ARE THEY? WHERE did they go?" Samuel pounded his fist on the dash.Everything had gone perfectly.They'd arrived, spent an hour confirming their information about the property, then it was go time. By all accounts they should have taken the family unaware and with no security presence to speak of inside the home.Now Samuel was down at least four men. Six hadn't made it back to the vehicles before they'd left to try following the targets.This was supposed to have been easy clean-up. He was supposed to be enjoying this new chapter of his life. Instead he was rushing around a country he hated trying to squash bugs.***Friday. Safe House, Huntington Terrace, MD.YVONNE'S HEAD SPUN. HER knee had stopped bleeding, but the cut on her left arm still oozed blood. She stared down at the slowly seeping wound soaking her robe, the voices in the SUV melding together.How had she gotten that cut?She couldn't remember.Everything h
Friday. Safe House, Huntington Terrace, MD.NOLAN TWIRLED THE PEN between his fingers while the hold music continued to play. The last thing he wanted to be doing was his job as the team's Communication Officer. Coordinating bullshit was tedious when Yvonne sat across the room.She was still staring into space. Her color wasn't right. He hated the sight of the bandage on her arm and knowing how close she'd come to getting seriously hurt.And for what?To avoid the spotlight for the sake of stock prices or some other bullshit?If he could scoop her up and walk out of here, he just might do it. But Yvonne had a plan, and damn it, he'd said he was going to trust her. Now he had to prove it. Whatever secrets she was keeping, he'd get them out of her, eventually.Somewhere in the last two days he'd changed his tune completely. They'd gone from barely being able to stand each other to something more. Now that he had a chance to do this right, he wasn't going to allow anything
Friday. Landover, MD.LEE STOOD IN THE kitchen of the modest, two-bedroom house considering his options.In the garage, he had the law clerk. That man had already wet himself.In the spare bedroom, he had the hit man. That was going to be a tougher nut to crack, even with the man loaded full of bullets and slowly dying.He wasn't going to get anything useful out of the hit man, but he was still a tool. Something Lee could use to make his canary sing."Bring the Asian guy in the garage." Lee needed to make this happen today. With someone reporting back on him, it was only a matter of time until his clients once more came calling.There had to be progress soon.He pushed open the door to the garage.The man handcuffed and hooded on the chair in the middle of the room whimpered.So far the guy had volunteered the location of his cash, his social security number, available credit card balances and that his mother was on vacation.Two of Lee's other men dragged the As
Saturday. Safe House, Washington, DC.SAMUEL STARED OUT THE window toward the airport. Dawn was just coloring the horizon a dismal gray.It was almost twenty-four hours since they'd failed to capture the Krieger family. Samuel's contacts had run into a wall. No one knew where they were. It was as if the family had vanished.Karuki's face reflected back in the glass."What?" Samuel snapped. "Do you want me to say you were right? That we should go home and hope this dies?""That's not an option," Karuki said.Samuel turned to face the man. "Why?""Police showed up at the office today. They wanted to ask you questions about your brother's death. It would appear it's not wrapped up.""Fucking hell." Samuel dragged his hand over his face.If he could go back and tell his old self to wait sixty seconds to pull that gun, Ito might be dead anyway and none of this would be Samuel's problem. Instead, here he was chasing his tail.Now he had no choice but to tie up the loos
"Mel? Melody?" Nolan took a step back, then another, dragging Yvonne with him.Melody rounded the breakfast bar. "What?"A dark SUV slammed to a stop out front of the house. Another one screeched to a stop behind it.Men poured out, armed and masked.They were outnumbered.Everything slowed to a crawl while Nola's mind raced.There was only so far Nolan would get Yvonne on foot followed by that many people. The fences on either side were too exposed. The house backed up to a drainage ditch with a thirty-foot drop, which had been appealing at the time of selecting this safe house because it ensured one side of the property was protected. Now, that fact put them in a no-win situation.These men were going to take Yvonne. Alone, he couldn't stop them. The best thing he could do for her was to ensure she could be tracked and followed as soon as possible.Yvonne clutched him. "What-""Vee?" Nolan shoved her away from the door. He ripped his Lepta Team bracelet off his wris
Saturday. Unknown Location.YVONNE COULDN'T STOP SHAKING. She wasn't cold, but that didn't matter.What had Melody said that first day about what to do if kidnapped?The words slipped away from Yvonne. At the time she'd been annoyed. She hadn't properly listened. Now she couldn't recall the first thing Melody had said.Nolan had promised her he'd find her. Yvonne wanted to blindly trust those words, but she didn't know if he was still alive or dead.Were these people connected to the Yakuza who'd attacked the house? The same ones who'd kidnapped Douglas?She wasn't going to do herself any good if she kept panicking. She had to calm down. Maybe if she did, she'd be able to remember the presentation Melody had given them.Deep breath.Her shakes subsided a bit.Yvonne drew air in through her nose.Her head stopped buzzing and her field of vision began to grow from the narrow tunnel. Then again, being aware of everything else wasn't necessarily a comforting thing.