Page 106 of Falcon’s Forever

Falcon

The first sign something's wrong comes just after eleven that night, when Condor sends a message through the security channel asking me to get to the south fence without using the radio.

That alone is enough to sharpen every instinct I've got. Condor loves radios. Loves technology in general, anything that comes with unnecessary menus and passwords. If he's telling me not to use one, whatever he's seen has made him careful.

I'm halfway through the common room when Zip looks up from the sofa. "What happened?"

"Condor wants me south side. Quietly."

He's on his feet before I finish. "I'm coming."

"No argument from me."

We take the rear exit instead of the main path, cutting between the garage and the old storage building. Neither of us runs. Running gets noticed, and I don't know yet who might be watching.

The compound's quieter than usual without being asleep. Harrier's still in the garage with two prospects, tools clanging somewhere behind us. A light's on upstairs in the temporary rooms, near where Cara's staying. I know that because I checked earlier, and I'm not going to pretend I didn't.

Condor is crouched behind one of the newer camera posts when we reach him, his tablet braced against his knee. Rook is farther down the perimeter, where the fence turns toward the north access road.

“Thermal picked up two bodies about six minutes ago,” Condor says.

“Inside the perimeter?” I ask.

“No.”

I crouch beside him and look at the tablet. “Distance?”

“Forty yards past the fence,” he replies. “Maybe fifty.”

“Are they moving?”

“Slowly.”

I look toward the trees and can’t see anything, which is the problem with darkness. Once you know someone is hiding in it, every shadow starts looking human.

“No vehicle?” I ask.

Condor shakes his head. “No engine signature nearby.”

Rook joins us. "They're circling toward the north corner."

I picture the property in my head. The north corner's closer to the women's side of things, that’s not accidentally.

Zip and I exchange a look. "Same approach as before?" I ask him.

"Looks like they're checking response," Rook says.

I crouch by the fence, and nothing moves. Then a shape shifts between two tree trunks. Human. Not lost. Another shadow behind it, a second later.

Zip sees them too. "Two confirmed."

I reach for my phone instead of the radio, in case it can be traced the way Condor's worried the other one can.

Falcon:

Two bodies north approach. No breach. Holding.

Vulture's reply comes fast.