Page 4 of Dangerous Mission

She glanced in his direction, and her eyes landed on the Range Rover the president had let him borrow. The windows were tinted, so he didn’t have to worry about her seeing him.

Terri walked to her car and got in.

“She’s on the move,” he told Cy.

“Are you going to follow her, or are you finally going to bug her apartment?”

Cy had shipped him a box of surveillance equipment. Axel hadn’t bothered asking why his friend had so many different cameras and bugs. Terri already hated Axel, and he wasn’t sure how she would take him bugging her place. She was in danger, but it felt like an invasion of her privacy, which was insane, since they placed bugs in places all over the world on a daily basis. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it to Terri. Instead, he started the SUV and followed a few car lengths behind her. “I’m going to see where she’s going.”

Terri used that second to gun it through a light that was about to turn red.

Cy chuckled. “She’s good. But I have her on camera. I was able to hack the department of transportation camera feed. These guys have everything under surveillance in DC. She took a right three lights down.”

The light finally changed, and he sped down the road.

“Looks like she pulled into Darius Steak House, but she hasn’t left her car.”

The clicking of keys came through the stereo speakers seconds before the screen on the Range Rover’s radio changed. It had directions to the restaurant. He was only three minutes behind.

Cy’s voice drew his attention from the GPS to the road. “She’s getting out.”

Axel pressed his foot on the gas. When he pulled into the parking lot, he backed into a space so that he could see the front. Terri wasn’t going in. She stared down at her phone, which had to be her burner because the one the government had provided was turned off before she went into the mall.

“Why is she standing outside?” Cy’s asked.

“Not sure, but I got it from here. Keep me posted on your training exercise.”

Cy sighed. “Commander North knows I’ve been helping you. He’s having me send all the information I have over to Lucas in case we go wheels up.”

Lucas was the computer guru on Xavier’s team.

Xavier Smith owned Rogue Mercenaries. Axel still didn’t one hundred percent trust Xavier, but over the past year, his team had worked with his SEAL team and helped Cy out when his sister was kidnapped.

“Thanks.” He didn’t wait for his friend to say anything else and hit the button on the steering wheel to disconnect the call.

He couldn’t figure out why she was standing outside. Her eyes kept flicking from her phone to the front door.

When the door opened, she moved behind one of the tall potted plants, which didn’t give much cover, but a man walked by and pulled a small woman with him. The man looked to be in his late sixties. The young woman didn’t look like she could even be eighteen. Axel’s heart raced as Terri turned in the direction of the couple.

The parking lot lights gave off enough illumination for him to see, but the farther they headed away from the front of the restaurant, the darker the lot became. His instincts told him something was wrong.

Terri said something, and the older man whirled around and reached for his pocket. The young woman cowered next to him. Terri took a step forward, ignoring the knife in the man’s hand, and grabbed the woman’s wrist. Axel couldn’t stay hidden any longer. He threw open the door and ran toward the back part of the parking lot.

When he reached the scene, Terri was holding the girl with one arm and shoving the man, who was holding the knife to the woman’s side.

“What the hell is going on?” Axel yelled.

The man pressed the knife forward, and the woman cried out. Axel ran toward him as he let go of the knife and took off running. He jumped into the back of a Rolls Royce, and the car sped off.

Axel was torn between following the man and helping Terri. He memorized the license plate and ran back to the women. Terri was kneeling next to the woman, her hands covered in blood. She looked up, and her blue eyes widened before she pressed her hand back to the woman’s side.

“Are you hurt, Terri?”

She didn’t even look at him when she answered, “No, but we need to call an ambulance.”

Axel knew first aid. He bent down next to the woman and pulled her cream blouse out of her pants. The wound wasn’t too deep, but she still needed stitches. He took his shirt off and pressed it to the cut. The woman hadn’t even said a word as tears streamed down her face.

He kept one hand pressed to the woman’s side and pulled out his phone, glancing at Terri. “I’m going to call 911, but I need you to go to my Range Rover and wait for me.”

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