“We’re cooperating with them,” Mitch said grimly.
Unseen by his section leader, Walker exchanged a grin with Mark. Nothing like an inter-agency pissing match. The Feds hated their organization and the feeling was returned.
“Has Lukas received any phone calls?” Mark asked.
Walker gritted his teeth at the way Mark said Lukas’s name, the breathy yearning he wondered if Mark even knew was there.
“Not that he could identify,” Mitch said. “There’s something else you need to know.”
“What?”
Both Walker and Mark answered at the same time.
“Intel has picked up Russian chatter. Your name was mentioned.”
Mark expelled a breath. “So it’s him.”
“Yes,” Mitch said.
“Who?” Walker asked.
Mitch answered his question. “Sergei Polikov. Into drugs, guns, prostitution, trafficking girls, and any other scumbag business he can stick his nose into.”
“At least we know who we’re dealing with,” Mark said.
Mitch grunted. “Walker, you’re not dealing with amateurs. If they come for you, it will be with everything they’ve got.”
“I understand,” Walker said.
“I think Rees should take over. He’s had experience with Polikov before.”
No! He didn’t want to relinquish Mark’s care to anyone else. But it wasn’t time to be precious. He didn’t have the experience. Mark needed to be in the care of agents with more than one fucked-up training mission under their belt. Walker opened his mouth to agree reluctantly.
“No,” Mark said. “Walker looks after me.”
Walker’s heart leapt at his defense, but his head knew he needed to think straight. “Mark, you need someone who knows what they’re doing. This is beyond my experience.”
“At least one of you is thinking with his upstairs brain,” Mitch said.
“Walker, or I go home,” Mark growled.
“Don’t be so fucking stupid.”
Walker heard a thump and what sounded like something thrown at a wall. Mitch’s frustration was evident in his voice.
“I trust Walker to take care of me,” Mark said, looking at Walker. “Jake trained him, therefore he’s one of us.”
“You’re an idiot,” Mitch growled, “but I haven’t got time for this. Walker, he’s yours. What are you going to do?”
Walker sucked in a breath. Okay, this was just another exercise. It didn’t matter he wasn’t the brains of the outfit. “The safe house is compromised. I need my team.”
“Done,” Mitch said.
“Pull Raines off my tail. He can’t protect me alone.”
Mark turned to look at him. “That leaves us with no protection.”
“Do you trust me?” Walker asked, not taking his eyes off the road. He didn’t want to see Mark’s expression.
But the response was immediate. “I trust you.”
Walker allowed himself a quick grin. “Mitch, I need you to tell Doyle the following.”
“Yes?”
“Ghost, north 3, Jaws, night.”
“Ghost, north 3, Jaws, night,” Mitch repeated. “Will do.”
“And get Raines off my ass.”
Walker could still see him in the rearview mirror.
Mitch snorted, and the connection was broken.
The silence in the car stretched on for a long while, then Mark said, “You’ve trained for this, Walker.”
“I have,” Walker agreed, his tone grim.
“Doyle will understand?”
“Yes.”
It would be the last thing Doyle would want to hear from one of his team, but he would understand.
Walker pulled out his earpiece and threw it out of the window.
“You think the agency compromised us?” Mark asked.
“I don’t know. That’s not my job to find out. My job is to keep you safe.”
“Were they coordinates?”
Walker glanced at him. “It’s on a need to know basis, and only my team needs to know.”
Mark pressed his lips together, but he didn’t argue.
Good. Walker looked in the mirror. Raines was gone. Time to put plan B into operation.
“We need to swap vehicles.”
“You gonna steal one?”
“And get the cops on our tail?” Walker scoffed. “Nah, I’ve got a better idea.”
There was no one following him. He threw the phone out of the window into the path of a semi coming the other way.
“Mitch is gonna kill you,” Mark muttered.
Walker didn’t care. He drove maybe six miles before he turned off the I-80 and drove for another five miles before he pulled into an old junk yard, making sure the car was out of sight of the road.
Mark raised an eyebrow. “You wanna put a car together from spare parts?”
Walker grinned at him. “Kinda. Brace yourself.”
“What for?”
Even though he knew it was coming the scrabbling claws and the large head of a mastiff hound slobbering over the front passenger window made him jump. Mark yelped and jumped away from the window.
“Jesus, what the hell is that?”
Walker grinned as Mark’s voice cracked. “This is Ruby. She’s very friendly.”
“She could eat me.”
“Only if she was hungry.” Walker snorted at the horrified look on Mark’s face. “You’ll be fine, man. She gets fed four times a day plus, you know, anyone stupid enough to break in as a snack.”
Walker opened the door and whistled. Ruby rushed around the front of the vehicle to greet him. “Ruby, Ruby, Ruby!”
She leapt at him and even prepared, he staggered back. Ruby was enormous, except in her head. She was convinced she was a tiny dog, ready to be picked up. Walker was one of the few who could oblige.
“Jesus, Ruby, what’s he been feeding you?” He tried to dodge her frantic licks. By the time he managed to get her paws on the ground, he was covered in doggy slobber.
Mark chuckled. “You need to wash your face.”
Walker wiped himself, grimacing at the mess Ruby had made of him. “She loves with tongue.”
“I can see that.”
“What the hell are you doing here, boy?”
Walker turned at the booming voice to see a balding middle-aged man limping toward him, a scowl on his face.
“Hi, Uncle Pete.”
He could see Mark’s blink of surprise, then he stepped toward his uncle, his hand outstretched.
Pete ignored his hand and dragged him into a rough hug, knocking the breath out of Walker. He was a similar height to Walker, but the hard muscle of his youth had softened into a pot belly. He stepped back and Walker dragged air into his lungs.
Pete studied him, lines between his brows. “What do you need?”
This was one reason Walker loved his family. He needed help and Pete obliged without endless questions. “I need a vehicle. Something inconspicuous.”
“Bulletproof?”
“Yeah.”
Now Mark’s eyes were wide.
“Who’s he?” Pete rasped, his gaze now on Mark.
“He’s in trouble.” Walker wasn’t going to give his uncle any information that could be tortured out of him. “We need to get back on the road.”