Nick UnCaged (Santuary #4) - Abbie Zanders Page 0,71
options.
She knew what she should do. She should turn around and head to her motel. Alternately, she could wait until they emerged and see where they went.
Bree had never been particularly good at doing what she should do. And this was a chance to prove she had what it took to get the juicy assignments. Who knew when she’d get another opportunity?
So, with her heart in her throat and her stomach filled with butterflies, Bree did what any good journalist would do. She turned off the car, got out, and started making her way down the access road on foot.
Chapter Forty
Cage
Cage had been set to take one of the vehicles and drive down to Oakport the moment Ian told him where she was. Then, Church invited them all to stay for dinner and offered Sean and Nicki a tour. By the time they left, it was growing dark, and Cage was rethinking his plan.
Bree hadn’t bothered to let him know that she was still in town, which meant she probably didn’t want him to know. If he just showed up at the motel, she’d want to know how he’d known where to find her. Exactly how would he explain that?
No, the best thing he could do would be to keep an eye on her without her knowing, just like he had the first day he met her—when he climbed up on the ridge while she waited for a tow. Then, if the opportunity presented itself, their paths could cross accidentally on purpose, and he could take it from there.
He was thinking about how to do that when one of the perimeter alarms went off. He sent off a text to Church.
“What’ve we got?” Church asked a short while later, joining Cage in the war room.
“Someone’s breached the perimeter near the southwest access road,” Cage answered.
He tapped a few keys and adjusted the camera angles, focusing on the big black pickup. Two men, one of them Lenny Petraski, moved to the back of the bed and pulled out two crates from beneath the cover. The other guy wasn’t as easily identifiable. His black hoodie was pulled up, concealing any distinguishing features in shadow.
“Good thing you got those cameras up when you did. Looks like ammo,” Church said, taking a seat beside Cage and peering at the screen.
“Makes sense. Assault weapons aren’t much good without ammo.”
“You’re recording this, right?”
“Every second.”
“Good,” Church said, nodding. “It’s harder to deny something when you’re caught on camera, doing it.”
Another image came to life, the camera inside the entrance activated by Lenny’s and his friend’s movement into the chamber. It showed them stacking the boxes beside the others already there.
“Want to listen in too?” Cage removed the wireless earbud and switched over to speaker mode.
“You sure this place is secure?” the other guy said as Lenny swung the beam of his flashlight around, giving the place a once-over.
Then, Lenny turned the beam right into the face of his companion.
“That’s David Yocum,” Church said.
“The National Guard guy from Sam’s apartment building before she moved up here?”
“One and the same.”
“Guess he’s gone over to the dark side, sir,” Cage quipped.
Church’s lips quirked. From what Doc had told them about the night Sam’s apartment had caught fire, David Yocum had looked at Church like a teenage girl backstage at a boy band concert, snapping to attention and calling him sir. They’d been ribbing Church about it ever since.
“Yeah, it’s secure,” Lenny replied to Yocum. “It used to belong to Dwayne’s grandfather.”
“Used to?”
“He sold it to some guy in New York, like, fifty years ago or something. Probably forgot about it, if he’s even still alive.”
“Looks like someone’s operating on outdated intel,” Cage commented to Church with a smile. “Good to know we called that one right.”
“Who else knows about this place?” asked Yocum. He looked nervous, his gaze going from left to right as they went back to the truck.
“Nobody. Jesus, will you relax? I said it’s secure, didn’t I?”
“Yeah, but what about Luther? Isn’t he going to be pissed when he finds out we’ve been skimming inventory off the top?”
“Fuck Luther, man. The guy’s an idiot, and he’s become a liability. Besides, he’s got his hands full, trying to keep the IRS off his ass and Kylie Handelmann’s dad from shooting his balls off for knocking her up. He’s not going to notice if a few crates go missing. He’ll just assume he fucked up.”
A second monitor started blinking in the war room, indicating another perimeter breach.