Chris lifted a hand in the air. “And meeting with a Russian mobster in a series of foreign tunnels sounds about as smart as the hot woman going down into the basement when she hears a creepy noise at night.” He made a stabbing motion in the air. “No bueno.”
“I know it sounds crazy, but I think we can make it work if you’re up to it. I promise.” Ana’s confidence she’d lost last night after the encounter with his brother had apparently returned. A determined woman on a mission. “You all have a lot of aces up your sleeve, is getting us on a plane to Budapest while I’m a fugitive one of them?”
“I know a guy who knows a guy,” Chris teased.
“And if Porter doesn’t show with Anthony tomorrow?” There’s still that giant question mark to consider.
“We fly to Budapest either way and bait Grigory into believing we have the key,” Harper answered before Ana could respond. “One way or another, we’re taking down the Volkovs.”
“And clearing Ana’s name,” A.J. added in case his team needed a reminder.
“Right,” Harper said softly. “We’ll go make some calls. See about that plane.” Harper was already on the move.
“Maybe study the location of the safe house again,” Chris added, following Harper. “There’s way too much ground to cover and—”
“Wait.” The blood practically drained from A.J.’s face. “I want the plan to use this meeting tomorrow as bait for The Huntsman off the table.” He glared at his team now crowded by the doorframe leading to the hall. “It’s the only way I go tomorrow. We can’t risk something going wrong. We locate the sources another way.”
“Maybe he’s right,” Ana said, and his shoulders dropped in relief. “One issue at a time.”
“You’re sure?” Harper raised a brow, and Ana nodded. “Okay, I’ll loop Jessica in on the change of plans.”
When his teammates were gone, he snatched Ana in his arms and pulled her tight to his chest, unable to stop himself. “How would you feel about being Echo One tomorrow?” he whispered into her ear.
She pulled back to find his face. “Isn’t that team leader?”
He smiled, doing his best to lock up his nerves. “This is your mission, isn’t it?”
“True.” Her hardened expression loosened a touch. “You sure your people are up for tomorrow?”
He stroked her back to calm her. Hell, to calm him, too. “We do this all of the time. You wouldn’t sleep at night if you knew the messes we wind up in. This is honestly a piece of cake. I mean, not that I don’t want you sleeping at night from worry. But you know what I’m saying.”
She pushed up on her toes and tipped her lips like an offer to kiss her, and that’s exactly what he did, to hell if anyone walked in.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“Echo One, that’s a good copy.”
Echo One. Ana’s lips would’ve twitched into a smile at A.J.’s use of her call sign if she weren’t so nervous as to whether Porter would show with the forger, her father’s old friend. When she’d worked with A.J.’s team last year, she’d been on the outside looking in, wondering what his team knew and how they knew it. It was an entirely different feeling to truly be part of his unit.
A.J.’s team was down a man, the real Echo One, and there was way too much ground to cover. They were surrounded by miles of woods in the middle of nowhere. A.J., Ana, Harper, and Roman had arrived on-site last, but Chris and Finn had spent almost the entire day at the cabin ensuring no one showed up ahead of time to set any traps.
Hopefully, The Huntsman wouldn’t follow Porter to the meet. Well, assuming Porter actually escaped from him on Monday.
But no, Porter was a trained operative. He’d been in the Army nine years before joining the Bureau. She had to keep telling herself that at least.
Ana went to the window at the back of the cabin and opened the blinds a few inches. It was nine at night, and there was still a sliver of visibility outside, but the room was growing darker, and Ana needed a bit more light to see. The guys, on the other hand, had their night-vision goggles if needed.
Besides, leaving the blinds closed wasn’t going to do much to keep her safe, anyway. If Ivan did show up, he’d most likely have thermal imaging to locate her inside and could take her out with a sniper rifle if that was his plan.
She moved to the front of the cabin, which was one open space. The kitchen, sitting area, and bed occupied the same room. No place other than the bathroom for anyone to hide, and she’d already checked there.
There was no one hiding beneath the floorboards, either. They’d used thermal imaging to be sure there were no heat signatures.
Chris, who Ana had learned was Echo Three, was in a tree stand on overwatch on the east side of the property. Roman, Echo Four, was in another tree stand on the west side. Finn had the north side.
A.J. was on Grant’s BMX bike, well-hidden in the thickly wooded forest on the south side of the property, prepared to be mobile if needed.
Harper was in an SUV one mile out, but she was in Ana’s ear on comms as well.
And Ana, well, she was the sitting duck waiting for Porter. She didn’t feel that way, but A.J. was worried about her. And despite having all four directions covered, there was still a lot of land for a sharpshooter.
“He’s late. Did we get all the prep work done for nothing?” She recognized the voice as Finn’s.
“Oh come on, the twelve hours out here you got to spend with me today was some good bonding time,” Chris’s voice came over the comms, humor in his tone. “I got to learn just how much you hate critters.”
“And if you screw with me about that later, you’re gonna get it,” Finn returned.
“He’ll be here,” Ana said when the line went quiet. “Porter said ninety-six hours from Monday, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be to the tee.” She peeked through the slit in the blinds and looked out front toward the road that led to the cabin.
Their private flight to Budapest, courtesy of the President (and yeah, that was crazy), was scheduled to leave later that night, so hopefully Porter would arrive soon since POTUS was doing them a huge favor. Was the President even aware Ana was accompanying the team on that flight? Knox may have been Bennett’s son, but surely the President wouldn’t risk his neck by aiding a fugitive to “escape” the country?
Well, unless. Ohhh. President Bennett wants the ledger. Of course. And from the sounds of it, people were willing to do anything and everything to get their hands on the list. Her parents had to have known the power it wielded, and yet, they’d risked stealing it . . . putting their lives, and Ana’s life, on the line. And for what? Money?
“This is Three, we have incoming,” Chris announced a few seconds later. “Black Jeep inbound.”
“Roger,” A.J. answered.
“I have eyes on the driver and passenger,” Chris added. “Confirming both targets are inside the vehicle. Target two matches the description you provided.”
Target two. Anthony Vincenzi. An Italian, not Russian, forger. It made sense her parents sought someone who wasn’t Russian to work with over the years, she supposed. Part of her looked forward to seeing him again. One of the last people from her past still alive.