“Ben,” Griffin spoke into the communication headset in his helmet that allowed him to receive radio contact from the team and headquarters via the bones in his face rather than his ear canal. The team would be able to communicate without having to inhale the chemicals. “Tell me you’ve hacked into Homeland’s system and you can track Marin’s signal?”
“Almost there, brother,” Ben told him. “I’m also tracking all of the video surveillance at the treatment center. I’m replaying something now, but I’m not sure whether it’s an animal or Salenko.”
“Where?” Adam demanded.
“About five hundred yards from your current location,” Ben replied. “Near the water treatment tank quad.”
“Damn, it,” Adam said. “We won’t be able to get there from here because of the fire. We’re going to have to go around the long way.”
Griffin was already in the driver’s seat of the Humvee. Adam and Leslie jumped in as he was pulling away.
“It wasn’t an animal kicking up that sand,” Ben said as Griffin sped toward the decontamination tanks. “When I zoom in, it looks like a person, possibly two people. Whoever it is, they’re in an area that wouldn’t normally have personnel there this time of night.”
Adam was relaying information to the rest of their unit. He had Agent Reynolds surveilling the area around the fire, still believing Salenko intended to disappear into the crowd fighting the blaze.
The Humvee took the corner near the tank farm sharply.
“We’re of no use to Marin if we’re dead, Griffin,” Leslie said.
Griffin’s gut clenched at the word “dead.” He hoped like hell that Agent Reynolds was right when he said Marin was worth more to Salenko alive. It was the only thing keeping Griffin sane right now. He pulled up to the water tanks, threw the car into park, and jumped out.
“Where Ben?” he asked as he circled the area.
“I’ve got you on my feed,” Ben said. “Take about ten stops to your left.”
He did as Ben instructed.
“There. Something large kicked up some dust right in that spot,” Ben said.
Leslie knelt down to inspect the pattern in the dirt while Griffin searched around the area.
“Up here,” he called to Adam and Leslie as he began climbing the ladder up the side of the tank.
Griffin scrambled to the top of the concrete tank and paused to suck down a few pulls of oxygen from his rebreathing apparatus. Behind him, Leslie pulled herself up, followed by Adam. The three of them stood silently looking around, pivoting slowly so that they could scour their surroundings. Griffin swore violently. Marin and Salenko where nowhere in sight.
* * *
“That’s why you stole the artwork,” Marin said as she trudged alongside her captor. They were walking parallel to a giant dirt field. Unfortunately, their direction took them away from the fire. She’d been puzzling out Yerik’s story for the past ten minutes. “You said the counterfeiters didn’t need her to print the money any longer. So, you stole art from the White House to keep her busy.”
“To keep her alive,” Yerik snapped.
They continued on in silence, leaving Marin alone with her thoughts. Yerik was a father, doing what he could to protect and rescue his daughter. Hollywood made blockbuster movies about the very same subject. Somehow, the fathers in those movies seemed a lot more endearing than the cold-blooded killer walking beside her.
An SUV rounded the corner quickly, its headlights temporarily blinding Marin. The blade of Yerik’s knife tore through the jumpsuit, poking into the skin at her side. She struggled to keep her body from lurching in front of the oncoming vehicle.
“Careful,” he hissed.
The SUV blazed past them, apparently in route to the fire.
“Don’t you want to call my grandfather?” Marin asked once the road was empty again. “I can give you his number.”
“Be quiet.”
“But the sooner you contact him, the sooner he can arrange to get Elena back to you,” Marin insisted.
She was getting punchy. Her body ached and the wounds on her hands and knees stung fiercely. But she couldn’t give up. The farther he took her away from the fire, the farther he was taking her away from Griffin. And rescue.
The blade sliced along her skin causing Marin to stumble.