Page 54 of Bulletproof Jack: Hunting Lee Child's Jack Reacher

The operatives had to be at least a little annoyed at this point.

As far as Audrey could tell, they had made no progress of any kind. Which was good.

Even better, it was safe to guess that they’d been thwarted at least three times now. First, with Lucas Stuart. Then, Ashley Westwood. And now Ace Fox.

Three chances to find Liam. Three strikes. If this were a baseball game and there were two outs, their side would be retired.

Team Brax had acted promptly enough after Liam Stuart disappeared to deflect certain failure. So far, so good.

The opposition, whoever they were, had yet to give up, though.

Why would two of Uncle Sam’s operatives be going to Niagara-on-the-Lake? Looking for further intel on Fox and his mission, probably.

Which meant the big man and the Asian woman, and maybe whoever they reported to, didn’t know Fox or what his mission was. The drone project could still be saved.

Which would please Brax no end.

Were they headed to Fox’s hotel? As far as she knew, Fox wasn’t likely to have booked a hotel room anywhere. He liked to slip into places without notice. He used false names and counterfeit identification.

All of which meant these two operatives weren’t likely to discover Fox’s hotel room, even if he’d had one. Which Audrey continued to doubt.

Beyond that, Fox was a pro. He’d never have left anything remotely incriminating anywhere and certainly not where a hotel maid could steal it.

Audrey felt confident that whatever Fox had learned about Liam Stuart and the prototype had died with him.

She’d bet her heirloom diamonds on it.

And never worry for a moment about losing that bet.

Which meant Fox didn’t know where the scientist was or where the prototype was hidden.

If he’d known, he wouldn’t have been searching Westwood’s room, probably.

And Fox would still be alive.

Which he definitely wasn’t.

The only reasonable conclusion Audrey could reach was that nothing about Brax’s project had been compromised. As a bonus, Fox was out of the picture, maybe without collecting payment.

Audrey smiled. Perhaps she could claim his fee. She didn’t need the money, but she wanted it. Money was how these guys kept score. And she intended to win.

There were rules to the game and Audrey deserved no credit for removing Fox from the playing board. Unfortunately. His scalp was one she had no right to claim.

Collecting the fee Fox was owed would be a way to twist the knife of Morin’s failure into his belly, though. Which was great. Morin had crushed her once upon a time. She wanted payback, and she’d get it. One way or another.

Nigel Morin was on his way out. Audrey meant to make that happen. Stealing Fox’s fee from under Morin’s nose would show Brax, once again, how incompetent Morin was.

All she had to do was finish Fox’s job. Find Liam Stuart and the drone. Bring the drone back in time to complete the test. Have the project ready to be deployed.

When Audrey accomplished all of that, Morin would be done.

Brax had promised. And Brax was a man of his word.

His very life often depended on it.

Audrey smiled, quite pleased with the situation. No sweat. She’d completed tougher jobs many times.

She glanced at the screen on her phone again. The pulsing blue dot led her along behind the Ohio SUV. They drove through miles of grape vineyards. Wineries had popped up everywhere, one after another.

---