Page 66 of Hunted

“The hell I will. I want in on this. And after what you believed, you owe me that much.”

Stryker lowered his gaze, conceding too easily “I owe you a hell of a lot more than that, Romano.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’d like to be alive to close this case,” he said. “So I’ll explain later. For what it’s worth, Romano, I’m sorry.” He clapped Connor’s shoulder. “Come on. I’ve got a friend in the CIA who’s been tailing Darren for days. Had to keep it out of the house, if you get my drift. And also, you should know your friend Dr. Stoltz has a very worried family trying real hard to track her down.”

“She doesn’t have any family,” he said as they hurried to Stryker’s car.

“Yeah, she does. Just doesn’t know it yet. You remember Mike Waters?”

“DEA?”

“That’s the one. He’s her brother-in-law. I’ll explain on the way. Come on.”

Kira Waters’ phone was chirping as soon as she got off the plane at Dulles. So was Michael’s. It was a text message from Michael’s FBI friend, Stryker, who had cc’d them both. “White has Dr. Stoltz. CALL.”

Kira’s blood chilled in her veins. Her sisters crowded close to look over her shoulder at the phone.

“Oh God,” Cait whispered.

Michael beat Kira to the call button, but she took his phone right out of his hand, hit the speaker icon, and held it outward as the others gathered around.

“Stryker,” a man’s voice said when he finally picked up.

Kira angled the phone toward her husband. He said, “It’s Waters, We’re at Dulles and you’re on speaker. What can you tell us?”

“I’m with Romano,” Stryker said. “He handed Stoltz off to his former boss, Darren Wade. He didn’t know Wade wasn’t with the Bureau anymore.”

“Why not?” Kira asked.

“Wade resigned. I suspected he was in collusion with the international terrorist known as Mr. White.”

“Oh my God,” Cait said again.

“Why is an international terrorist after our sister?” Toni asked.

Kira shot Michael a look, and he gave a subtle shake of his head. It bothered her not to tell her sisters about the biological weapon Lexi’s mad scientist fake-father had created.

Then again, not knowing that would probably let them sleep easier at night.

“Thanks, Stryker,” Michael said. “We need to meet up with you, join forces, help with the search.”

“You and Kira,” Stryker said. “Keep the civilians a safe distance out, all right?”

“All right?” Michael asked, looking at the women.

They exchanged glances, and then all shook their heads left and right.

Raining. Great, Lexi thought. A perfect match for her mood. Snowing up north, probably. Raining here. She thought about commuter flights and ice-coated wings, and wondered if it would stop raining by the time she was free to catch a plane back to New York state. And then she shook her head, knowing it didn’t matter. She wasn’t going anywhere. Not until she saw Connor again.

She supposed she was a glutton for punishment, but she couldn’t just walk away without knowing what happened to him tonight; whether he went through with his plan to kill White; whether he came out of the whole thing in one piece. She had to look into his eyes just once and see that it was really over. Because she hadn’t seen that in his eyes tonight. Not at all.

Darren Wade hadn’t said a word since they’d got into the car. He’d offered her a slice of pizza, then eaten one himself while driving away from the bustling streets and into more rural areas. She saw the sign when they crossed into Virginia and wondered just how far away this safe place was.

The car continued steadily onward, wipers slapping water from the glass, headlights piercing the gloom. And then he pulled to a stop in front of what looked like an empty warehouse or equipment hangar at the end of a long road through a lot of nothing.

“What is this place?” she asked, squinting through the windshield, trying to make sense of what she saw. Broken windows, sagging roof. “Why are we stopping here?”

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