She said, “If Gregg’s in that car—”
“If he’s in that car,” he said, “believe me, they’re not taking him. But we don’t know yet that he’s actually in that vehicle.”
“But weren’t they supposed to bring him?”
“Yes,” he said, “somebody was to bring someone. But that doesn’t mean this is the same group. We may be dealing with a separate group here.”
“I don’t like all this secret spy stuff,” she said mutinously.
Charles gave a chuckle. “For somebody who doesn’t like it, you’ve spent quite a lot of time in the industry.”
“Sure, but behind the scenes,” she said. “I don’t have to deal with this stuff, person to person.”
“It’s good for everyone to deal with it like this, to some degree,” Charles said. “You really don’t understand what’s going on in the world, until you see it at this level.”
She had to agree with him, but she didn’t like it. As she watched, the two men who had killed the other two now turned, looked up at the apartment, had a discussion, and then made their way into the apartment, as if to check it out themselves. And, as soon as that happened, both Kano and Garret, without a word, silently opened their doors and disappeared.
She looked at Charles. “Now where are they going?”
“To check out the contents of the two vehicles,” he said.
She sagged back in relief. “Oh, that makes sense,” she said. “I just … I’m not used to thinking along those lines.”
“Nobody does,” he said, with a gentle smile. “It’s not a life that any of us particularly want to have access to or to get used to.”
“So true,” she murmured. She watched as the men went to the first vehicle, bent down over the two men on the ground, and, when that obviously didn’t interest them, she presumed that they were both dead. Garret opened the driver’s seat and pulled the lever to release the trunk. Kano was already there; he lifted it up, said something to Garret, and they closed it.
“Oh no, oh no,” she said. “He’s not in there. They checked inside the vehicle, but there was nothing. So now what?”
“I don’t know,” Charles said in a worried tone.
“And what if somebody else comes?” she said.
“We’ll have to see,” he said.
“I didn’t even know you gave them handguns,” she said.
“I didn’t want them to come out without weapons,” he said, “and you can see why.”
She did see why; she just didn’t like anything about it. The two suddenly disappeared into the trees, and she understood a moment later, as the two killers were coming back.
“It’s like watching a horror movie,” she said, “without any guarantee that you’ll like the ending.”
Charles chuckled. “That’s a good way to look at it,” he said. “This is action all the way.”
“Still pretty stressful,” she muttered.
“Definitely stressful.”
As they watched, the two killers got into their vehicle and started it up. Charles got out of the back seat, stepped into the front seat, and turned on the engine. The vehicle drove past slowly. Charles completely ignored them as they drove away. He prepared to pull out, turned the vehicle around, and Kano and Garret both got in. Just like that, Charles was now the driver. And he gunned it, taking off after the other two men.
“Is this safe?” Astra asked.
“Maybe not,” Garret said, “but we can’t take any chances on losing them.”
“Why would they kill the other two men like that?”
“I’m speculating here, but I think that somebody else is after my brother. Either after him or has a better use for him.”
“Oh, my God,” she whispered and sank against the back seat. Garret was beside her with Kano in the front with Charles. Garret reached over, snagged her up, and pulled her in tight against him.
“We’re working on this,” he said. “We’ll find my brother.”
She nodded slowly. “I don’t doubt that,” she said. “I’m just a little concerned about what I’m supposed to—with what happens in the meantime.”
“We’ll find him. And we have to trust that he’s alive and that he’s somewhere nearby.”
She nodded. “This is really a cat-and-mouse game, isn’t it?”
“It is, indeed.”
She gave a heavy sigh and sank against him. He tucked her up even closer and murmured against her hair, “I promise we’re doing everything that we can.”
She nodded. “I know,” she whispered. “I’m just really glad my sister isn’t here.”
“I am too,” he said. Just then somebody’s phone went off.
She looked around, but it was coming from the front seat. “Charles, is that your phone?”
“It is, indeed.” He tossed it to Kano, giving him a number to unlock the phone.
Kano said, “It’s your house.”
With that, Charles gave him another number to dial into the security system.
Kano was reading now. “According to the printout, the front door’s been opened.”
At that, Charles’s gaze shifted, looking at Kano in surprise.
“From the inside,” he said grimly.
“Amy,” Astra cried out. “Damn it.”
“Yes, Amy has left the building.”
“Why would she do that?” Astra asked. “I thought we left her leashed inside.”
“Unfortunately it was always a possibility,” Charles said.
At his tone of voice, she sank back, looked at him, and asked, “In what way?” Nobody wanted to say it outright. She turned and looked at Garret head-on. “You expect my sister is a part of this?”
“We’re not sure what we’re expecting, but Charles left the door available as an option to see what she’d do,” he said. “But she needs to have a damn good reason why she left secure surroundings.”
“How about the fact that we left her alone?” she said.
“And why is that?” he said, sending her a hard look.
She shrugged. “Because I didn’t want to be left behind. I wanted to be out here, to see what was going on. Besides, it was good for Charles to have somebody here.”
“Yes,” Garret said, “but it was also good to have you at home, with her.”
“If you’re thinking that I could have kept her in the house, I think you’re wrong.”
“Really?” Charles asked.
“Yeah, my sister’s always been the one to do things her way.”
Garret thought about that for a long moment, then nodded. “Good point,” he said. He looked at Charles. “Do you have any way to track her, once she’s left … left the building?”
“Yes,” he said, “at least for a little bit.” He added, “I wish I could set it in motion.”
“Tell me,” Kano said. “Just walk me through it.” After a little bit of difficulty and backtracking, finally he managed to get it set up.