Page 77 of One Final Target

“I wish I was kidding. Someone put a tracker in my backpack.”

“What? When?”

“I don’t know. All I do know is that they came after me and drugged Agent Greto. He’s on the way to a hospital in Huntington Beach.”

“Unbelievable.”

Jodie pictured her uncle scratching his head.

“How could this happen? Where was your backpack?” he asked.

“On Estella’s couch until I packed everything up to leave. This is so messed up.”

“Understatement. Where are you now?”

“At the house with a lot of HBPD personnel and Sam.”

Detectives had arrived and asked to talk to Jodie. She and Sam were on the porch waiting for them to finish their survey of the house. She couldn’t help but notice how all the police activity had destroyed the neighborhood’s peace and quiet.

“What is Sam doing there? He didn’t go home?”

“He stayed in Anaheim overnight. I called him and he came. I’ve decided to go with him as soon as HBPD gives the okay. I’m going to stay with the retired cop. It doesn’t matter if Collins knows where I’m at. He can try and come get me there.”

“Jodie, I’m not sure—”

“I’m positive it’s the best place for me. I’ll scour my belongings and make certain there are no more trackers.” Jodie looked at Sam. He and Craig were chatting. Right now, besides Uncle Mike, he was the only person she trusted.

Jodie ended the call as one of the HBPD detectives came out of the house.

“Jodie, can you go over it one more time?”

“Sure.” She went back in the house with the detectives. The tracker was gone, no longer on the floor by the bed where she’d seen it drop. When she got to the part about going through the window, one of them stopped her with a question.

“You never saw either assailant?”

“I never looked back.” She stared at him. “Wait, you know there were two?”

He nodded. “The uniformed officer got back to me. He interviewed a neighbor who saw two figures running from the house after your gunshots. They were not close enough to give a good description.”

“Ah.”

“What is it?”

“I thought I heard someone yell, ‘We’ll catch her’ when I was in the alley. But my pulse was pumping, so I’m not certain. I kept running.”

“Interesting.” He looked down at his phone. “Just got word the agent at the hospital is awake and alert. He was tased and then drugged, possibly a strong sedative.”

“I’m glad he’s okay.”

“Yep, me too. You as well. It looks as if you have nine lives.” He looked from Sam to Jodie. “The two of you are free to go. Be safe.”

Greto’s boss called Jodie as she and Sam were leaving the scene. They’d left before the agent in charge had arrived in Huntington Beach. She explained to him what had transpired at the house, while she and Sam headed for the mountains. He was not a happy camper.

“I have an agent down, Ms. King. This is a whole new ball game.”

“There are a lot of cops working to catch the bad guy.”

“There are going to be a lot more. We’ll be in touch.”

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