Page 50 of Rhys

“Take me to the shower.”

He laughed and said, “Yes, ma’am.”

* * *

Vanessa staredthrough the set of high-end binoculars. It was two minutes to seven, and Austin still hadn’t shown.

“Where is he?” she asked no one in particular.

The gang was all here. Trace, Greyson, Kellan, and Asher had followed her and Rhys back to D.C. and to the abandoned warehouse on the west side of the city.

She’d used the nearly two-hour drive to go back over the files again. And again.

And again.

The more she read, the more convinced she became that Austin’s motive for building and selling a nuke that would destroy the country—and subsequently the world—was what he viewed as the senseless loss of his son.

Between that and the fact that, despite all of his money and power, he couldn’t prevent his son from being killed, the man had clearly come unglued.

“Heads up, we’ve got movement,” Trace spoke from his hiding spot down the street. “Black sedan, I’m running the plates now.” A few clicks later and, “It’s a rental, but the name on the contract doesn’t match the social. It’s a fake.”

Through her lenses, Vanessa spotted the car in question. It rolled slowly down the street toward the building, coming to a stop in the middle of the empty lot.

“I’ve got two drivers, but the windows are too heavily tinted to see who it is.”

“I can tell you who it’s not,” Grey’s voice came through the comms next. “Kenneth Austin is headed to the same lot from the east. And he’s driving a dark blue panel van.” He could be heard typing way again. It didn’t take long before he said, “No surprise, but those plates are bogus, too.”

Sitting behind the SUV’s wheel, Rhys began snapping pictures with his long-range lens. “That’s definitely Austin,” he confirmed just as good ole’ Kenny got out of the van.

Two of his security goons exited the van, as well.

Upon seeing this, the men in the other car got out and walked over to greet them. Vanessa looked at the one, then the other, her heart dropping when she saw the face of the man who’d been driving.

“Oh, my god.”

“What?” Rhys looked at her. “What’s wrong?”

“See the man shaking Austin’s hand right now?”

He looked through the camera’s lens. “Sure. What about him?”

“That’s John Faraday.”

Rhys spun his head around. “Your handler?”

She nodded. “And he doesn’t look happy.”

“They’re arguing about something. Damn it, I wish we had audio.”

“Just make sure you’re getting their picture. I don’t want there to be any loopholes for these bastards to escape through.”

“Even John?”

She looked over at him with a pointed look. “If he’s in bed with Austin? You bet your ass.”

“I’m pulling up everything I can find on John Faraday now,” Greyson informed them. “Starting with his financials.”

“That’s smart.” Vanessa kept watching. “I know he’s been pretty strapped for the past couple of years thanks to his ex-wife taking him to the cleaners during their divorce. If he is on Austin’s payroll, it should show.”

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