Clearwater.
He went back to his bedroom and finished packing. They would look for him at the airport, but he planned to go to Richmond by bus and then catch a train to New York. A woman he’d met years ago was waiting on him. They would live out their lives together in India.
But before he left town, he would get something to his friends at the Bureau--a little parting gift that included a full list of names, several videos and passwords to computer personal accounts and phone records. Clearwater, Meadows and the rest of their murderous motley crew would regret the day they’d ever sicced assassins on him.
THE JEEP’S FOB ALERTEDRoland that their visitors were now less than a mile away. He glanced over at Lennox. “Here’s a gun in case someone gets too close.”
She took the weapon. “What do you plan to do?”
“Find out who sent them. They think they have the advantage, that they’ll catch us sleeping.”
Roland glanced at the fob. “According to this, they parked a half mile away. So they must be walking the rest of the way.”
“How can that fob pinpoint anyone’s location?”
“It’s connected to a satellite. The Jeep is even more technologically advanced than the SUV was.”
Before she could say anything, Roland saw movement in the woods in front of the house. When several missiles were launched at the cabin, he quickly pulled Lennox down to the ground when the missiles exploded and debris went soaring everywhere. Using his body as a shield, Roland covered Lennox to protect her from the flying rubble.
No wonder Randi had warned them to leave the cabin. When the men were certain there was no way anyoneinside could have survived the explosion, they came out of the woods laughing and giving each other high-fives. Roland counted four of them.
“Stay here,” he whispered to Lennox.
Crouching low, Roland stealthily moved through the woods where the men were still celebrating what they perceived as a victory. When he was in close range, he overheard their conversation.
“Man, you think Clearwater is going to pay us a little extra for this?” one of the men asked.
“Don’t hold your breath. Did you notice that he didn’t even get out the car? He expects us to do the dirty work. He only wants to see the bodies,” another man said.
“Yeah, but he also wants us to sift through that debris and find some kind of box, in case it didn’t get destroyed. He wants it if it didn’t,” the third man added.
“Let’s get a move on before the cops come. That explosion was loud, so we’d better get to it,” a fourth man chimed in.
Roland watched the four move toward the rubble. From what he’d overheard, their leader, a man name Clearwater, had hung back and was waiting for word that the job was done.
He watched the men kicking around stuff in the rubble. Shielding himself behind a huge tree, Roland called out, “Looking for something, guys?”
Two of the men jerked around and fired their guns, prompting Roland to fire back, hitting both and bringing them down. The other two took off running through the woods. He ran after them, hoping Lennox did as he’d told her and stayed put.
• ••
Unbelievable, Lennox thought, as she watched Roland bring down those two men, then go after the other two. The cabin had been totally destroyed and she didn’t want to think about what would have happened if she and Roland hadn’t been forewarned. They would be dead, no doubt about it. The thought sent shivers down her body.
She knew Roland had told her to stay put, but after being scrunched in this position for so long, she was uncomfortable. Besides, the stench from the explosion was burning her eyes and nostrils. She wouldn’t go near the cabin until he returned, but it shouldn’t be a big deal if she moved a little to the other side.
Lennox had moved to what she thought was a safe distance when suddenly, she was grabbed from behind and the barrel of a gun was pressed hard against her head.
“Drop your gun and don’t make a sound, Dr. Roswell. It’s been a lot harder to get rid of you than it was your fiancé, but here we are at last. And don’t think your bodyguard can save you. He’s probably dead by now. The two men he followed were leading him into a trap where two more of my men are waiting. Now…where is the box?”
Lennox refused to say anything. She couldn’t. The thought that Roland was dead thickened the air she was breathing and she suddenly felt faint.
The hands holding her tightened their grip and she flinched in pain. “Where is it?”
“It’s not here. I shipped it to someone in Atlanta.”
“Who?”
“A friend,” she lied.