Page 54 of Built of Second Chances

People moved in from the workout room and feet thumped down the stairs. Everyone except Sam and Tansy appeared.

He grabbed his phone from the pocket he’d stuffed it into. Sam was still on the line. He tapped the screen. “You’re on speaker phone. I’ve got everyone here. Are you at the fort?”

He’d learned that Tansy had a cabin another mile or so further into the property. It was where she worked on her projects, especially the ones that required additional security or quiet.

Sam’s voice came from the phone while the others gathered around. “Yes. A few hours ago, Tansy had an idea about additional security. She’s programmed the drones to take random flights throughout the day and night, to report unusual activity in the air and on the ground.”

Tansy spoke next. “We came out here to work on it. I had to program them to ignore the natural movements of birds and animals. It’s a complicated bit of programming and I didn’t finish soon enough. I’m sorry.”

Flynn shook his head at that. “Nothing to be sorry about. I’ll just catch everyone up. Tessa and I were playing outside with Jetson. She was doing snow angels when the drone flew over. Jetson noticed it before we realized why he was barking. It had ample time to take images of our faces.”

There was a beat of silence while everyone absorbed the implications of that.

Sam spoke again. “We’re packing up here. The drone hovered for a few minutes and then headed south, but not toward Phail, somewhere west of that. We’ll be there soon, but that’s the basics.”

The phone cut off and Flynn imagined they were running. It wouldn’t take them long and they knew how to hide in the bush.

Aisling spoke up. “Graham and I will go grab the laptops from Midnight Security. Might be easier to monitor the security system with them as well as our phones.”

Joe held up his phone. “I’ll call Shanice Williams.” The lead agent in Bedford would be able to help if needed.

Marcus nodded. “I’ll alert nearby deputies.”

Flynn’s heart swelled with pride for this team. He definitely wanted it to be his permanent home. “I’ll call my boss in Houston and fill her in. See if she’s got any new intel on Pavic or has heard about any movement.”

The team spread out and Flynn headed to the workout space to get some quiet. He’d have to explain the entire mess to Jenkins and hope she wouldn’t be pissed he’d been working on something without keeping her in the loop. Being on vacation wouldn’t cut it as an excuse.

It took him over thirty minutes, but he talked her down from squashing him like a bug. She already had people checking out Pavic’s empire and the ghost floor, and would update him with any new intel.

He realized he should have suggested Tessa call John Tynan, her US Marshal handler and clue him into the situation as well. Damn. She’d probably thought of it on her own.

He headed back to the main room to find the team working on different laptops. Tansy and Sam were back. The FBI men stood to the side, so he moved that way to catch them up on his call.

Joe nodded as he summed up what Jenkins was working on. “Shanice Williams is mobilizing a small unit to Phail. They’ll come in like a group of friends vacationing.” Williams was the lead agent over in New Hampshire, the closest FBI office.

Flynn looked at his friends. “We’re all assuming an attack will come quickly?”

Nico nodded. “If it’s Pavic or one of his men, and there’s no reason to think it might be someone else, then we have to assume he’ll react as soon as he has enough information.”

It was good having a profiler at your back and they all listened as Nico continued. “I doubt it would be Grigor Pavic, but it might be Karlo or Martin acting as his peon. Because they’re not in the system, they’re both likely candidates. Grigor is the type to ensure that his people fix their own mistakes. And he would view Tessa being alive as a mistake. It could be another thug, but everything I’ve been reading leads me to believe it’s Karlo using his new persona of Karl Kuzmetzov out there.”

Nico’s voice dropped. “I don’t have any evidence pointing to Martin being alive, but we should remain alert to that possibility as well.”

Flynn wondered how Tessa would feel either way. It seemed there were only a few possibilities. Either her father had set her up to be killed or he’d been killed in the blast. It was possible Martin was deep undercover, but Flynn suspected that Grigor’s own son was the one who’d set up Tessa and caused the explosion along with her father’s death.

No matter how this turned out, this was going to be difficult for her.

Flynn scanned the room to find her when Tansy called out. “Our drone has caught activity in the southwest quadrant. An SUV has pulled over beneath the trees near the fence.”

Off the highway, away from Phail.

Sam moved to stand behind Tansy where he could see the screen. She pointed at something and he nodded. “Looks like a small team. Maybe three or four.”

Joe called out. “How much time do we have, Tansy?”

She frowned at her screen, then looked up. “Probably less than fifteen minutes if you want to be in place before they arrive.”

Her brother nodded. “We do. Grab whatever you need from your rooms and be back here in five minutes.”

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