Page 35 of Fox in Plain Sight

So did he. With a last look at her, he closed the shed door, when his fellow Stargate agent handed him a chain.

“Loop it through the handle and that hook, then tie it.”

Nick did as he was told. When it was done, he turned back to the man.

“This way.”

They walked to a small hedge, where the guy stopped. “This’ll do. She won’t be able to hear us here.”

Nick stopped and pivoted, watching to his surprise how the man holstered his gun and adopted a more relaxed stance.

“Name’s Yankee.”

“Fox.” Suspiciously, Nick glanced at the gun now on Yankee’s hip. “What changed your mind about me?”

“Overheard you talking to that woman for quite a while. Told me enough to know you’re clean.” He motioned to the shed. “Doesn’t mean I was gonna reveal who I am in front of her. Neither should you. Can’t trust anybody. Nice attempt though with her. She might play ball if we’re lucky.”

He ignored Yankee’s last comments and asked instead, “And how am I gonna know whether you haven’t turned against Stargate?”

“’Cause I’m telling you.”

“Not good enough.”

“You’re still alive. Could have shot you a hundred times over and you wouldn’t have known what hit you.”

Nick couldn’t argue with that, though that didn’t mean he liked the guy’s modus operandi. “Enjoy that macho stuff much?”

Yankee grinned from one ear to the other, looking overly smug. “It gets the job done.”

“Don’t think Michelle appreciated it much,” Nick said dryly.

“I’m not really concerned with what a civilian is thinking. I’ve got more important things on my mind.”

“Which would be?”

“The Stargate agents are under attack.”

“No shit. You’re only catching onto that now? Where were you three years ago?”

“In the same situation as you: running for my life. I’m sick of running and hiding. It’s time to act.”

“Why now?”

“Because the shit just hit the fan.” Yankee glanced around, listening, looking, before turning his face back to Nick. “Echo is dead.”

Though he didn’t know the person Yankee was referring to, Nick assumed the name was a code name. “A Stargate agent?”

Yankee nodded, a sad expression on his face. “He’d gone bad. Worked for our enemies. By the time he changed his mind and wanted to make good, it was already too late. But what’s done is done. Can’t wallow in the past. I know something big is coming. Something real bad.”

“What is it?” Nick asked, drawing in closer, curious now.

“You have the dream, too? The dream about the inferno, the destruction?”

Shocked, Nick stumbled back a few paces, his mouth gaping. How could Yankee know about the horrific premonition that haunted his sleep?

Yankee nodded to himself. “So you do. Echo had it, too. That’s why I figured all of us have that same dream.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “Anyway, after talking to Echo before he died, I realized that we see slightly different parts of that premonition, and it made me think that maybe others do, too. If we have all of the parts, maybe if we piece them together something might start making sense. That’s why I started looking for others from the program.”

“So what do you want from me?”