Red After Dark (Blackwood Security #13) - Elise Noble Page 0,70
didn’t. Not only because of Nick and Ana and Black, but because Emmy had made her decision, and even if Alaric disagreed with what she’d done, he had to respect it. Respect her and her abilities.
“Oh, hell.” Just when he thought things couldn’t get any worse, they did. A relic of a motorhome pulled up beside the Pontiac, blocking their view. Memories of the Emerald fiasco came rushing back. Alaric hated being out of sight of the target car, but at least the goons were still in the kiosk, chatting as they got coffee from the machine at the back then headed for one of three tables near the front window. Talk about unprofessional. Did they have no sense of urgency? The short guy laughed as he added sugar and stirred. Alaric felt as if his own sense of humour had departed for good. “Move the RV, asshole.”
“We’re okay,” Nick said. “We can see in front and behind. Nobody’s coming or going.”
But the newcomers’ presence totally ruled out rescuing Emmy. Until that moment, Alaric had held onto a modicum of hope that somebody would come to their senses and abort the mission, but they couldn’t very well haul an unconscious woman out of a car with an audience.
“Yeah, great.”
The couple in the camper seemed to be in no hurry as they climbed out. Were they a couple? Or father and daughter? The guy was in his mid-forties at a guess, and he’d forgotten to shave for at least a week. His Hawaiian shirt was out of place in Kentucky, as were his flip-flops, but he didn’t give two hoots as he chatted with his blonde passenger in front of the hood. At first glance, Alaric thought she might’ve been Emmy, but a closer look told him she was a year or two younger, her nose thinner and her chin sharper. Then she lit up a cigarette. Emmy had quit smoking years ago.
Nicotine addict or not, the woman was in better condition than the rust bucket of an RV. A pair of denim cut-offs showed off shapely legs, though they weren’t as good as Beth’s. The girl blew her companion a kiss as he walked to the gas pump. Definitely not father and daughter, then.
“When our targets leave, Evan will take over as lead car,” the controller ordered. “Ana, slot in behind Isaiah. Nick, you’ll have five minutes if you need to get gas or take a comfort break.”
Time seemed to slow as Alaric waited. The blonde pranced into the kiosk to pay and came out with an armful of candy. When the RV departed, the Pontiac was exactly where the goons had abandoned it, sitting in semi-darkness since one of the lights in the overhead canopy was out.
“They’re leaving,” Nick said. “Everyone ready?”
Murmurs of affirmation came over the radio. The others would have had a chance to stretch their legs out of sight while they waited, to relieve themselves in the undergrowth and take on water for the next part of the journey. Surveillance sucked.
It was midnight when they reached the Devane estate in Fairfax County. Ten-foot-high walls surrounded a two-storey house set in twelve acres of manicured grounds. They couldn’t see the building in the dark, but Mack had emailed satellite photos of the property plus pictures of the interior she’d found on Kyla’s Instagram account and in the society pages back when Kyla’s parents used to host parties there.
Nick parked the Tahoe under the sweeping branches of a weeping willow, out of sight of vehicles passing on the road. The other Blackwood drivers were all in the vicinity, no doubt doing the same thing. Now what? Was Ridley inside already? If so, Emmy was in ever-increasing danger. With eight two-person teams, they had enough manpower to go in and get her out. Why were they waiting?
“Xav will enter the property to take a look,” the controller said. “Everyone else, hold the perimeter.”
Alaric’s phone buzzed again. He didn’t need the distraction, but what if it was Beth? He’d never forgive himself if she had a problem and he ignored it.
She’d sent him a message.
Beth: Have you seen this?
Two links to breaking news stories followed. He clicked on the first.
Has Kyla Devane’s past come back to haunt her?
In a stunning revelation, local sources in Woodford County have reported that the body of senatorial candidate Kyla Devane’s teenage rival has been found in a submerged car just miles from her home. Homecoming Queen Piper Simms disappeared two days before her big