Page 72 of Guarding Bristol

Then he confused her even more by bending to give her one last heartbreakingly tender kiss before walking out and locking the door behind him.

Chapter Twenty-Five

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Anew message fromHawk came through just as Angel got into his car.He’d spent last night in it, sleeping in little snatches in a pullout on the highway.Liana thought he was in Portland on a job for the next few days.He hated leaving her alone for so long, but she’d been in good spirits when he’d spoken to her this morning, and their elderly neighbor across the street was going to check on her.

Possible target address.

He looked it up on a map.It was a condo building just off the coastal highway on the other side of town.

Heading there now, he responded, and started the engine.

It was still early.The traffic was light, but as he drove, he found himself glancing out to sea.The forecasted weather front was already moving in from the west.Overhead, the sky was a solid leaden ceiling of gray, the clouds growing ominously darker on the horizon.Huge waves kicked up by the wind were crested with frothy whitecaps that exploded into tall fans of foam and saltwater when they crashed against the rocky shore.

A strange sense of foreboding grew inside him as he approached the target building.Something about the storm had him on edge.

No one had seen Barros yet, or the woman he’d been with last night.Bristol Moreau.But maybe, if Angel was lucky, there would be some sign or clue about them at this new address.With him and several falcons out hunting Barros right now, it wouldn’t be long before they had a lock on his location.

As he drove along the street the building was on, he scanned all the parked cars for a match with the vehicle Barros had been driving last night, then continued around the block to check the side streets.None of the vehicles he saw matched Barros’s.The underground parking garage to the building was gated and accessible only to someone with the entrance code.He would have to check on foot once he got inside the building.

He parked a block away and walked to it while the rising wind gusted around him, stopping at the front entrance to read the menu board that listed the unit numbers and surnames of the tenants.None of the names matched any of the three he had been given for the construction company that owned the target unit.

But there was one unit on the board without a name, indicating that it was newly available.Exactly as it would be if renovations had just been completed.

That blank space was like an arrow pointing at a bullseye.

His phone buzzed in his pocket.He pulled it out, saw a new message from Hawk.

Found suspect vehicle near a marina close to Crimson Point.Called around and a guy matching Barros’s description just showed up there a few minutes ago.They sent this image as he was leaving.Moving in for a closer look.

Angel still hadn’t seen a clear image of Barros.He enlarged the picture showing a thirty-something male with dark hair.The brim of a ballcap shadowed his face.The image was too grainy for him to see any facial features clearly, except that the guy was clean shaven.Barros had been reported as having a goatee last night but could easily have shaved it off.

What was he doing at the marina?He had to either be meeting someone, or looking to escape by water.

Is the woman with him?

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