“I said you’d stay alive, but I can make you wish you were dead,” he threatened.
Marin held her hand to her side, wisely shutting her mouth. Tears burned behind her eyes, but she kept them at bay, not wanting to give this creep the satisfaction of seeing them. A cool breeze blew onto her face. They were walking toward the Potomac, it appeared. Marin prayed she wasn’t going to have to swim in the river again. A jet plane flew low overhead. Marin could see the lights of Reagan Airport across the expanse of the river. Before they reached the shoreline, however, her captor turned them north. He guided her beneath a grove of trees lining the shore.
“Now, we wait,” he said. He sat down on the damp ground, wrenching Marin down beside him.
Marin said a silent prayer that they would wait long enough for Griffin to find her.
* * *
“I’ve got something on another camera.” Ben’s voice permeated the fog of Griffin’s despair. “Two waterworks employees walking toward the river.”
“A lover’s tryst during the night shift?” Leslie asked.
“Maybe, but one of them is wearing pink shoes,” Ben said. “I’m not sure any woman would want to wear pink shoes around this place.”
Griffin exchanged a look with Adam. They both charged toward the ladder at the same time. Adam was over the side first, skipping every rung as he slid down.
“Hey!” Leslie called as she followed them both down. “Don’t you dare leave me!”
“Tell me where, Ben,” Adam said as he got behind the wheel of the Humvee.
Griffin jumped in the passenger seat, leaving the back door open for Leslie. She climbed in seconds later.
“About a mile on the other side of the facility,” Ben said. “They walked past the facilities workshop about four minutes ago. I’ve downloaded the location to your GPS.”
Adam put the car in gear and whipped it around in the opposite direction.
“I need that Homeland GPS up and running, Ben,” Griffin said. “This would be a hell of a lot easier if you could make that happen.”
“Their computer is not being all that cooperative, but I’m working on it.”
“Work harder!”
“Relax, Griffin,” Leslie admonished him. “Salenko hasn’t gotten far. We’ll find him. And then we’ll get Marin back.”
Adam’s driving was making Griffin queasy. Or maybe it was the fact that he hadn’t found Marin yet that was making him sick.
“I’ve successfully hacked into Homeland’s system,” Ben said. “I’ve got Marin’s signal! Keep headed in the direction I gave you.” They heard him swear. “They’re on the move again. And it looks like the cowboys from Homeland are trying to back them into the northwest corner of the plant.”
“What’s up there?” Griffin asked.
“There’s a fence adjacent to the Naval Research Lab,” Ben replied. “It’s either that or the Potomac River.”
Griffin pulled off the mask to his rebreather and tossed it in the back seat. Marin wasn’t as strong a swimmer as she let on. If Salenko planned to toss her into the water, Griffin was going in after her.
“My team is coming at them from the Navy side of the fence,” Leslie said. She’d dumped her mask, as well. “They won’t let them pass.”
Adam steered the Humvee through a field of sand used to filter the water. They went airborne when they came off the other side of the dunes.
“Reynolds isn’t trained in tactical maneuvers,” Adam complained. “He wants Salenko alive, but I don’t think Homeland really knows what the Ukrainian is capable of.”
“Hey, I don’t care about a pissing match between you and some asshat at Homeland,” Griffin argued. “Let’s just focus on rescuing Marin.”
But when the Humvee turned the corner, Griffin’s breath stilled at the scene before him. Beneath the spotlights of the big filtration tanks, there was a standoff between Agent Reynolds from Homeland and Salenko. And in the middle of it stood Marin with what appeared to be a syringe aimed at her neck.
CHAPTER21
Marin gulped out a relieved sigh.He’d found her.Minutes earlier, Yerik had bolted to his feet, dragging her along with him as he ran beneath the trees. Just as quickly, they’d been confronted by a man ordering them to halt. She had no idea who the idiot was with the assault rifle trained on her, but her body relaxed at the sight of Griffin striding cautiously across the grass. Her captor’s hold tightened around her, however, reminding Marin of the syringe primed near her throat.