Page 133 of The Deadly Shallows

Gower bent forward at the waist, getting closer to Valdez’s face. “Don’t take that tone with me. I pay your salary. Don’t forget that.” Gower straightened. “If this whole thing goes south, you’re the one whose car was seen following that agent and girl.”

“And you’re the one who ordered me to follow them, among other things,” Valdez barked back.

Gower inhaled so deeply his entire torso lengthened. He raised his index finger, pointing it at Valdez. “Don’t make me . . .”

“Don’t make you what exactly?” Valdez cracked his knuckles.

Another set of headlights swept across the drive, and Austin and Caleb flattened against the gravelly pavement, the loose pellets of asphalt biting into her cheek. Caleb’s breath mingled with hers. She wasn’t sure if it was her heart pounding or his. If this were any other moment in time . . .

“Finally,” Gower said as the hum of the engine’s motor stopped.

“About time,” Valdez said as a car door opened and shut.

She eased back up onto her elbows, and Caleb did the same beside her.

A short man who wobbled as he walked joined Valdez and Gower. He reminded Austin of Paulie, Adrian’s brother in the Rocky franchise. The man wore a dark flat hat, dark sweater with his white undershirt sticking an inch out of the bottom, and a pair of loose-fitting jeans.

“About time, Sid,” Braxton said, tapping his watch. “We have a problem. Do you not get that?”

Sid frowned in the light fanning out across the warehouse’s loading dock. “What kind of problem?” He hitched up his jeans.

Gower looked at Valdez like Is this guy serious?

“He was your hire.”

Gower grunted as he scanned the area. “Let’s go inside. We never know if they’re watching.”

“They?” Sid asked.

“The two investigators who paid me a visit,” Gower said.

“Whoa!” Sid exclaimed. “You didn’t say anything about investigators.”

“Inside!” Gower growled, then turned and walked back into the warehouse, followed by Valdez. Sid shifted from side to side for a moment but finally followed suit.

Austin released a sigh of relief, then looked at Caleb. “We gotta get closer.”

“I hate to say this, but you’re right,” he agreed.

She winked before rolling out from under the trailer.

Caleb rolled out and met her on her side of the trailer. When they reached the warehouse door, the men’s voices were clear. She prayed they hadn’t missed anything vital.

“. . . agent and PI are getting too close,” Gower said. “Sooner or later, they’ll show up with a subpoena. I know it. And if it’s while we’re moving the cargo, we’ll end up in jail.”

Austin leaned forward just far enough to get a glimpse inside.

Gower paced in a square of his own making. “Do you realize—” he yelled, then paused, clutching his hand into a fist, and taking in torso-raising inhales. “Do you realize,” he began again, his voice far more level and controlled, “the amount of TCEP we still have? We need to get rid of those barrels ASAP. We have close to a hundred left.”

Gower snapped his fingers, and three security guards Austin doubted were legit entered the area, forming a triangle around the men—each armed, each in military at-ease stance. “I’ve taken the liberty of hiring some extra help to aid us in this endeavor.”

Sid’s eyes widened. “I’ll resume dumping, but it’s going to take a ton of time with that quantity.”

“Which is why we’re going to move the barrels by railcar,” Gower said.

“Railcar?” Sid frowned. “I don’t get it.”

“Isn’t that far too visible?” Hector asked.