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“I don’t care. I’ve got to go out there and find—”
“Place is closed.” He spoke with one eye on the television, then finally gave her his attention when a commercial flashed on. “It’s Thanksgivin’, you know. S’ holiday.”
“Surely there’s a skeleton staff. I—”
He interrupted her again and she wondered if he ever let anyone complete a sentence. “Who you lookin’ for?”
“My parents. Robert and Selena Mission,” she answered. “They’re scientists at the—”
“Never heard of ’em.” He returned to the television as if she’d already gone. Helpful? Her father gave everyone the benefit of the doubt but his description had really pushed the limit this time. Alexis gave up. She’d just have to go somewhere else. As she opened the door to leave, the old man spoke one more time.
“Up the highway. Go left. Ten miles outta town.”
HE DROVE by the house slow and easy, the paneled van inconspicuous to any curious eyes. The windows in the small brick home were dark and the place looked empty. Relief eased some of the tension in his body, but not all of it. He had a lot of work ahead of him and not enough time to do it in.
Turning left at the end of the street, Gabriel O’Rourke circled back and parked a block over, in front of a home with a For Sale sign in the yard. Opening the vehicle’s double back doors, he pulled out a canvas bag printed with a plumbing logo that matched the sign on the van. He let his eyes search the street while acting as if he was getting out more tools. Everything looked quiet enough. Gabriel went to the front porch of the house. Pretending he had a key that didn’t work, he stood for a moment, then shook his head in a frustrated way and headed for the back. It took him thirty seconds to jump the fence on the side and shed the white plumber’s suit. Thirty seconds after that, he’d jumped the rear fence as well, landing in the Missions’ backyard, now dressed in black. He opened the metal panel on the side of their garage and threw all the switches, shutting off the power. The shadows covered his progress a moment later.
As soon as he stepped inside, the awareness hit him. Something was different. Someone had been in the house and had just left. The air still shimmered, as if disturbed by a recent passing. He cursed silently, but he wasn’t surprised. Everything that could go wrong with this operation had gone wrong.
Placing the canvas bag on the floor, Gabriel removed his .38 from his waistband. With noiseless steps he checked out the interior, foot by foot. Until he came to the extra bedroom. When he saw the bags, he spoke out loud, his violent curse breaking the silence like a rock shattering a window.
The girl had come back. Dammit to hell, she’d come back!
He stared at the bags but he didn’t move. For the love of God, if she’d just been a little earlier…or if she’d only told them she was coming…things would have been so different. He uttered another oath and closed his eyes, allowing himself a moment of regret.
Why in the hell hadn’t he listened to his gut? From the very beginning, he’d had a bad feeling about this operation. Civilians involved. International technology. Bad guys who went beyond bad. The ill-conceived fiasco had been doomed from the start, but he’d ignored his instincts.
He had thought it couldn’t get any worse, but with Alexis Mission’s arrival, the whole situation had gone from catastrophe to meltdown.
Pulling a radio from his vest, he spoke in an urgent voice, ordering a perimeter setup. He didn’t have a lot of men, but those he had were the best. They’d give him as much time as they could.
Disconnecting, he considered the solutions one by one, rejecting ideas as soon as they came to him. The Missions had told him about their daughter. They’d described her as smart and artistic, stubborn and headstrong. They’d emphasized the stubborn part. He had to keep that foremost in his mind.
Putting his weapon away, he searched the room with quick, efficient moves. She hadn’t unpacked, thank God. He put away the towels and blanket that had been left on the bed, then he grabbed her duffel and went down the hall, checking the other rooms. As he worked, he felt the weight of what he carried in his pocket. The rings weren’t heavy but his burden was.
Climbing into the Agency’s helicopter a few hours before, Selena Mission had yanked off her wedding band and given it to him, turning to Robert and demanding he do the same. “These are for Alexis,” she’d said. “She can keep them until we see her again…”
Obeying his wife, Robert Mission had handed over his ring. The scientist had then gripped Gabriel’s hand so hard, he’d left a mark that was still there. Selena hadn’t accepted the truth yet, but the two men knew. The chances of the Missions ever seeing their daughter again were nonexistent, especially if Gabriel was successful in his lies. And he’d better be. Everyone’s lives—including hers—depended on it.
“If she doesn’t show up—” Robert had said.
“I’ll find her.”
“And if she does…”
“I’ll tell her.”
“The story we agreed on.” Robert’s voice left no room for argument.
Gabriel had lied many times in his life, had a lot of regrets, too. He didn’t want to add this one to the list, but he didn’t think he had another choice. He asked the question anyway. “Look, are you sure this is—”
Mission shook his head violently, not even allowing him to finish. “It’s the only way. She’s smart but she’s stubborn, too obstinate for her own damn good. If she has any inkling of the truth—any idea that we’re still alive—she’ll come looking for us, no matter how well you guys hide us. It won’t matter.” He paused. “You’ve got to stop her, otherwise she’ll keep going until she finds us. And you know better than we do what that means…”
Robert Mission’s voice had broken at that point. “She’s…she’s the best part of us, O’Rourke. Please…please make sure she’s taken care of. Promise me you’ll make sure she’s—”
Gabriel had kept his expression stony but he’d nodded and given his word. Then he’d prayed the girl wouldn’t show up.
Obviously his prayers hadn’t been heard. Now he had to take care of business.
“I CAN’T LET YOU GO inside, ma’am, I’m sorry. This is a restricted area.”
“But you don’t understand! I’m looking for my parents. I’m sure you know them—Robert and Selena Mission? They work here.”
The guard pulled his cap down over his eyes, the furry earflaps doing little to keep him warm. In the distance, Alexis’s headlights shone on a fifteen-foot-high barbed wire fence, a low office building barely visible in the empty stretch of loneliness before her. Piñon trees with low twisted branches added their shadows to the scene. She stared at the facility in amazement. When had think tanks become equipped with security like this? The other places where her parents had worked had looked like college campuses.
The guard leaned down. “We’re closed. No one’s working here tonight.”
“But do you know them? Have you seen them?”
He shook his head, his gloved fingers going to his jacket and pulling it closer. “I don’t know anyone who works here. I man the gate when everyone else is off. I’m sorry I can’t help you, but I have my instructions. You’ll have to move along.”
Alexis rolled up her window. There was nothing she could do but turn around and head back into town, her fear and frustration growing. She drove slower than before, the roads slicker and more dangerous than they’d been earlier, a thin layer of ice covering the highway. By the time she reached the house, she was a nervous wreck, her stomach in knots, her hands cramping against the steering wheel. She turned the corner, praying she’d see lights, but the house was as dark as she had left it. A wash of unbelievable disappointment came over her. Where in the world had they gone?
She angled the car carefully into the driveway and shut off the engine, sleet now pinging against the metal roof in an uneasy rhythm. She didn’t know what to do other than try the police department again. She should have filed a report earlier, but she hadn’t wanted to seem foolish. Looking silly was the last thing she cared about now.
She gathered her purse, then opened the car door and dashed to the front porch in the freezing night. Fumbling with the keys she’d grabbed on the way out, she found the right one, unlocked the dead bolt and walked quickly into the entry.
For reasons she couldn’t explain, the shadows inside seemed thicker than they had before, closer somehow, pressing down against her and making it tough to breathe. She wanted to call out but she knew no one would answer, so she didn’t bother. Her fingers found the light switch a second later and she flipped it up. But nothing happened. Her mouth went dry as she tried once more. The darkness remained, indeed, seemed to increase.
She took a step into the living room then stopped abruptly.
A man dressed completely in black sat in her father’s chair. Alexis stared at him in shock, a sense of dread coming over her with such intensity, she felt her entire body go hot, her blood turning to needles as it coursed through her veins. In the space of a heartbeat she was more scared than she’d ever been in her life. She couldn’t move, couldn’t talk, couldn’t do anything but stare at the stranger. An aura of foreboding hung above him like a hangman’s noose.
He looked at her through the gloom and spoke in a low voice. “You’re Alexis.”
Wishing she could answer another way, she nodded slowly.
“I’m Gabriel O’Rourke. I’m here to explain.”
CHAPTER TWO
FROZEN IN PLACE, Alexis Mission stared at him, her eyes filling with fright. She was, he realized, trying to decide if she should scream, run or sit down and listen.
While she made up her mind, he took his own measure of her.
She wasn’t at all what he’d expected.
The obstinacy and intelligence the Missions had told him about shone in the girl’s eyes but they had said nothing about her appearance. She was beautiful…or was she? The shining brunette hair hung around a face with features that didn’t mesh. The eyes were too big, the nose too straight. Her lips were too full as well. Taken one at a time, each component was attractive but she needed to age, he realized, for everything to fit.
Because she was young. Oh, God, she was so young…
Without any warning, she darted toward the phone. He jumped up but she punched two numbers before he could stop her, his fingers around her wrist, his face inches from hers.
She held on to the receiver and looked at him defiantly. Her attitude made him think of her mother. Selena had never let fear stop her, either.
“Take your hands off me and let go of the telephone,” the girl said with determination.
He didn’t answer—or release her.
They were standing close in the darkness, the skin beneath his fingers warm and smooth, her wrist bones fragile in his grip. He could have snapped them without any effort.
“What do you want?” she whispered. “Who are you?”
“I work for the government.” He rattled off an acronym, but he knew it meant nothing to her. Robert and Selena wouldn’t have told their daughter about him because that would have meant telling her about themselves. And they would never have done that.
Taking the phone away from her, he put it back in the cradle and dropped her arm. But he didn’t step away.
She rubbed her wrist. “I want to see some ID.”
“We don’t have time for a dog and pony show. I have to get you out of here.”
“Get me out of here… What on earth are you talking about?” She started shaking her head. “I’m not going anywhere with you—”
He reached inside the pocket of his jacket, pulled out a leather wallet and flipped it open, handing it to her. She studied the card and the authentic-looking seal, comparing the photo to his face. The documentation meant nothing, but he carried it for people like her, people who kept their wits about them when he showed up. The Agency he worked for didn’t hand out IDs or have a fancy office. It didn’t even exist—at least not in a way that meant anything to others.
Looking unconvinced, she returned the credentials. “Where’s my family? What have you done to them?”
The lie tasted bad and he cursed himself for what he was about to do. The girl’s future held nothing but trouble, thanks to him. Along with confusion and anger. Grief and loneliness. He told himself again he didn’t have a choice, but that knowledge didn’t make the task any easier.
Plan your work and work your plan… His da would of been proud of him, he thought bitterly. Never give up, never say die. The old man had been full of useless clichés and he’d drilled every one of them into his sons—usually with a hard fist for punctuation—thinking they’d bring them the success that had always eluded him. His theory hadn’t worked.
The girl made a sound of distress, breaking his thoughts.
“Relax,” he said. “I haven’t done anything to them and I’m not going to do anything to you, either. If I’d wanted to, I would have done it by now.”
She moved back a step, away from him as much as possible, her eyes wary, her body still poised to flee. “Where are they?”
“There’s been a problem.”
Her expression shifted. “Are they okay? What’s happened? Where are—”
He interrupted her. “Your father saw something he shouldn’t have this morning. He saw someone get killed. And the murderer saw your father…”
“A murder… Oh my God!” She lifted her fingers to her neck. At the base of her throat, a slim gold chain glistened. His eyes went to the tiny heart it held. All at once, in spite of her bravado, she seemed too vulnerable to Gabriel, too defenseless to handle what was coming next. “But Dad’s okay, right? My family’s—”
Before she could finish her sentence, she halfway turned to the door, then stopped in confusion and looked at him again, her eyes filled with worry. Cold had seeped into the house since he’d cut off the power and her words came out in quick bursts of vapor. “I should go to the police station. That’s where they are, isn’t it? I’d better—”
“No.” Seeing his expression, finally sensing something, she stood still, his one-word answer hanging in the chilly living room between them.
He pointed to the couch. “Sit down.”
Surprising him, she followed his command.
“You can’t see them.” He held her eyes in the darkness, his words slicing through the moment with the sharpness of a razor held to a throat. “They’re dead.” He waited a second. “They’re gone. All of them.”
She blinked against the pronouncement, her expression a study of misunderstanding. “I don’t…” She shook her head slightly, her hair gleaming against the chenille upholstery of the sofa. She licked her lips and started over. “What do you mean, they’re ‘gone’? They can’t just be ‘gone.’ They have to be somewhere—”
Gabriel wasn’t sure why he moved to take her hand, but he did. Sitting down beside her, he reached out. Whatever his reason had been, though, it didn’t matter. She snatched her fingers away before he could touch her. He spoke quietly. “The shooter killed them.”
Unable to speak, she shook her head again, her fingers now spread across her open mouth.
“He couldn’t leave anyone who might testify against him later.”
“But Toby…Mother…”
“They were waiting for your father and saw what happened. The killer saw them, too.”
Her eyes deepened to a darker color, denial her only defense. “No,” she whispered, shaking her head again. “No. This…this can’t be happening. I—I don’t believe you…”
Reaching inside the pocket of his jacket, Gabriel pulled out an envelope and handed it to her. Her fingers trembled as she unfolded the flap.
A moment later, she looked up from the wedding bands, her eyes so similar to her father’s, they threw Gabriel for a moment. “Th-this doesn’t prove anything. Y-you could have stolen them, for all I know.”
“I didn’t steal the rings. I had them with me because I was going to mail them to you later.” He paused. “I assumed your mother would have wanted you to have them.”
The girl’s reaction was a living thing; it sucked the air from the room and then from him. Gabriel fought the sensation and overcame it, but not without a struggle, which surprised him. He puzzled for a moment over why. Maybe it was the way she looked or maybe her youth. Either way, he didn’t know and he didn’t care. He couldn’t care.
“We have to leave.” He glanced at his watch then stood. Looking down at her, he came as close to the truth as he had all night. “The man your father saw—he’s associated with some very bad people. If they figure out you exist, they’re going to come after you, too. They won’t quit until they find you, and after they’ve used you up, they’ll kill you. If I can get you out of Los Lobos quickly enough and under some kind of protection, that might not happen.” He paused. “Emphasis on ‘might.’”
Alexis stared at him, her gaze so pointed it made him uneasy. “That doesn’t make sense. If my family was killed because they witnessed a murder, why would the killer—or anyone associated with him—come after me? I didn’t see anything.”
Gabriel wasn’t surprised she could analyze the situation while mired in grief. Robert had told him the truth.
“It doesn’t make sense,” she insisted.
“Of course it doesn’t make sense.” Gabriel made his voice harsh. “Do you think the baby could identify him?” He didn’t wait for her reply because he wasn’t going to get one—he’d shocked her, and that was exactly why he’d spoken as he had. “This man is a killer. He enjoys it. The people he surrounds himself with enjoy it, too. Killing is entertainment for them.”
Devastated by his words, she sat on the sofa, stunned and silent. The expression on her face made Gabriel feel ill but he ignored the sensation. “If you hadn’t shown up, this might not have been a problem, but you did, so now we have to deal with it. That’s why I’m here.”
Without waiting for her to reply, Gabriel moved toward the window. A car moved slowly down the street. Relatives looking for a holiday gathering or something else? His jaw tensed and the rest of his body followed. He turned away from the glass, a new urgency coming into his voice. “Get up and get ready. It’s time to leave.”
The speed of her movement took him so off guard, he automatically reached behind him, toward the .38. She flew at him, her hands clawing at his face.
“You’re lying to me!” she screamed. “You did something to them yourself! You’re the one who killed them!”
He gripped her arms and forced them down, slapping his fingers over her mouth to cut off her words before they had the chance to go any further. Above his hand, her eyes were huge.
“I did not kill your family,” he growled. “Why would I stick around here and wait for you to show up then tell you what I’d done? Does that even sound remotely logical?”
