But his hand slowly went to his side pants pocket, and she quickly snatched what he’d been directing her to—his iPhone.
“A tracker is on there. They are still alive,” Ivan said, his voice even weaker this time. On the verge of losing consciousness. She brought the phone to Ivan’s face for an ID, and A.J. shone a light Ivan’s direction so it’d work. “I was to track Porter and wait until he met with you. Kill him, then follow you to the Volk . . .”
“Damn it,” Ana said, fingers on his pulse. “We’re gonna lose him if we don’t do something.”
Roman knelt by Ivan, removed his vest, and began compressions.
A.J. pulled Ana back and pinned her to his side as she studied the phone. “The tracker app.” She showed him the screen with three blinking lights in three locations on a map of the U.S. She had to have hope that Katya and the others were alive as Ivan had said.
“The last call he received,” A.J. said. “We should call the number.”
Her hand trembled, the flames growing higher, not even ten feet away from where they were.
“You all need to get out of there. The sirens are closing in on you. A helo will be touching down in a field nearby to airlift Porter and Ivan to the hospital. Ana’s still a fugitive,” Harper alerted them.
“Shit. Ivan’s dead,” Roman announced a breath later. “I’m sorry.”
“What’s the status on Porter?” Ana sputtered.
“Still got a pulse,” Finn answered. “But I’ve gotta leave him now.”
“We need to move out to our exfil site.” A.J. reached for Ana’s arm, urging her to stand. “Harper, get ahold of someone you trust,” he began as they stood. “We need a plausible reason for Grant’s bike being here and in flames.”
“Roger,” Harper said.
“Come on, we gotta go.” A.J. kept hold of her as they started moving fast in the dark. They followed close behind Roman and Finn since A.J.’s helmet and NVGs were broken, and he couldn’t guide them out of there on their own.
She kept the phone active as they moved so it wouldn’t lock again. “I need to call the number,” she said as they neared the exfil site ten minutes later, and A.J. nodded in agreement. She re-dialed the last number on the “Recents” list and set the call to speakerphone.
Two rings and then an answer. “Is it done? Is he dead?”
Ana froze, her stomach sinking, and then she quickly killed the call.
“What? You recognize the voice?” A.J. asked, alarm in his tone.
Ana tightened her free hand at her side. “Yes,” she whispered. “Deputy Assistant Director Winters.”
Chapter Thirty
A.J. quickly rose at the sight of Ana boarding the private plane and swatted away Finn’s hand. Echo Five had ordered A.J. to the long couch on the left side of the Learjet 60 and started tending to his injuries as soon as they’d entered the plush cabin of the aircraft. There were ten more seats on the opposite side of the aisle to accommodate the team. Roman and Harper were already on board and in the cockpit talking to the pilot, and Chris was on a call with Wyatt a few seats down from where Anthony sat.
Ana walked down the narrow aisle toward A.J. “You need to see a doctor about your head when we’re back,” she scolded. “That’s an order.”
Finn secured a bandage to A.J.’s temple, hiding the gnarly cut he’d gotten when he was thrown from the BMX, and then pivoted his focus to Anthony to check for damage.
They hadn’t had a chance to question the forger yet, in too big of a hurry to get away from the safe house before the fire department showed up. A.J. would feel a lot safer once their plane was in the air.
A.J. followed her down the aisle to a pair of empty seats and ushered her to the one near the window.
“Any news on Porter?” Her voice was soft yet resolute, and he was unsure whether she was feeling angry, sad, or a combination of the two regarding Porter.
“He’s still in surgery. We probably won’t know his status until we land in Hungary.” A.J. reached for her hand and clasped it in his. They’d both changed clothes upon arrival at the private hangar west of Atlanta. Opting for comfort on the long overnight flight to Hungary.
He’d swapped his military camo fatigues for jeans and a long-sleeved, black button-down shirt, and Ana had on jeans and a scoop-neck