Page 29 of Tracking the Alpha
“That I need proper bait.” He saw her teeth gleam in the dark. “A wolf can’t resist fresh meat. Say like a goat or a cow tethered in the woods.”
“You’re going to make him source farm animals?”
“Yes, because while he’s having them brought, it will give me time to snoop around.”
Thus far, her suggestion actually sounded as if it might work, but for one thing. “You’re not a soldier, so I doubt you’ll have much leeway to poke.”
“Sneaking is in my ancestral blood.”
“If you get caught?—”
“My ass is grass. I know. It’s also toast if I don’t bring you in, so I don’t see as I have much to lose.”
She had a point, and he didn’t like it. The hand on his knee squeezed. “You should be happy you’ve got an ally.”
“I don’t understand why you’d go through this trouble for a stranger.”
“Hardly strangers anymore and, besides, we have a common enemy.”
“You are being much too calm about this.”
“As opposed to…” She let the sentence trail off.
“I don’t know. Aren’t you scared? Freaking out?”
“Of course I am, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to have a meltdown. What would that solve? Grandmother always used to say, ‘Don’t cry about the possibilities. Work toward an outcome.’”
“Pretty sure that doesn’t apply to life-and-death situations.”
“Actually, it’s the perfect scenario. I don’t want to die, therefore it is in my best interest to work, with you, to ensure my best chance at survival.”
“Hardly working with me if you enter the compound where we can’t communicate.”
“I’ll only be inside for a few days. Once I get the intel, I’ll head back out to the woods where we can meet up and plot how we’re going to take the place down. Maybe I’ll get lucky and get my hands on some keys and we can fly to the nearest town and spill the beans on what’s happening.”
“The minute word leaks, the general will raze the place to the ground rather than risk being caught.”
“Meaning we need to free the folks he’s got inside first. I’ll keep an eye open for any holes in the security.” She patted his knee as she countered his every qualm.
Why couldn’t he shake the sense of something amiss? Everything she said was right. Her offer to help was exactly what he needed and, at the same time, too good to be true. A sudden thought hit him. What if she lulled him into a false sense of security?
“Why are you suddenly tense?”
Rather than let her know he was on to her, he lied. “I thought I heard something.” With that excuse, he fled the cave and watched it from a distance.
Waited for the betrayal that never came. No soldiers descended on his hiding spot. He didn’t hear them even close.
When Tanis emerged in the morning, looking left and right, obviously seeking him, regret at doubting her intention almost had him calling. Just as he opened his mouth and readied to reveal himself, she pulled out the walkie-talkie, and he heard the click as she turned it on.
The device almost immediately squawked with a voice that made his tummy clench. “About time you reported,” barked General Davidson.
Tanis planted a hand on her hip as she betrayed him. “Target’s den located.”
Chapter Nine
Tanis slept fitfully but not because she lay on a hard rocky floor. She couldn’t help wondering why Barrett abruptly fled. One moment, they’d been talking, planning, and the next, he’d offered some bullshit excuse and left the cave.
By morning, he’d not returned. Did that mean he’d been captured? Had he abandoned her? Did he keep watch outside? She wouldn’t know by hiding in the cave.
