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Chapter Two
Rendezvous with the Cleaner
Rex
"Well, this is a clusterfuck." Emmett is not amused; I think he's all jacked-up with wanting to get out of here and meet up with Lark. The doctor just sits stoically, a bit shell-shocked from the near-miss.
"Are you not concerned about Lark, even a bit? We haven't seen her in weeks, and now on top of it, all this happens!" He swings his arms out to either side of him indicating the totaled SUV and bevy of law enforcement crawling around the scene. At least the two in the truck that hit us have already been arrested and removed. Now we just have to sneak out without being tailed.
"Knock it off before anyone notices what's going on. Marcus is on his way, and we need to get away from all the personnel long enough to meet him. I'm going to go check in with the AD, and then we're going to get out of here. Can you handle Brent?"
"Yeah, yeah. I got him alright. I had my hopes up for a minute that we wouldn't have to deal with him anymore. Now he's coming with us." I can't blame Emmett. Brent seems to have been targeted a little too accurately.
The doctor stares at me, then answers, "I thought this was put behind us. I just want to get where we're going and for it to be over. And you two really haven't talked to her since you've been rescued?" I don't like his curiosity. Something doesn't sit right about it, and from the way Emmett narrows his eyes at the question, I don't think I'm the only one thinking it.
"No, we haven't. Not that it's really any of your business," Emmett shuts him down quickly.
"You don't have to be so touchy about it. I was just asking." I ignore the doctor’s rebuttal and leave him to Emmett. I have to go deal with our superiors.
"Sir, as I already explained–" The AD… cuts me off again.
"Yes, Special Agent Baelor. I've heard your excuse multiple times. You're going against a direct order, and I could have you detained and up on charges." The AD is pissed.
Trying yet again to explain and keep my patience, I lay it out. "Brent's safehouse was compromised, so we had to take him to ours. Then we got wind that a raid was imminent and made a last-minute decision to relocate. Before we got ten miles from our position, we were intercepted. The elder Vitti is out for blood, and he wants his son and Lark and the rest of us dead. Someone is leaking the information as fast as we're relaying it to each other. Until the leak is plugged, Emmett and I need to go off-grid. Set up a check-in time. One of us will keep it; we haven't let you down yet. Even when it impacted our personal lives. We'll take Brent, and you can start hunting a mole." I'm really hoping he'll let it go at this point since I'm running out of ways to refuse.
"So you still won't tell me where Ms. Jones and her companion are, or if you're even meeting up with them?" The AD is almost as obsessed with my girl as the other saps, and I don't like it. Not one bit. At least on this subject, he can't force compliance.
"I don't know where they are. Last I knew, and it's the same that you know, is that Marcus and possibly Apollo took off with her and Braeden after word got out that Robert Vitti escaped." Thank fuck Marcus refused to tell anyone where they were taking her. I can’t be held on charges for something I don’t know.
"Fine, but I expect updates at the agreed-upon time, and the instant you know where they are, you call it in. Can't have key witnesses running around willy-nilly unprotected." He might sound sincere, but my trust in him was lost when he targeted Lark. Regardless, I'll be respectful and toe the line until I get out of his reach.
"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. I'll be in touch soon." I make my escape before he can change his mind, meeting back up with Emmett and Brent.
"All good?" Emmett asks when I reach them.
"Yep. We're not far from that gas station/laundromat combo. Let's go run everything we can through the dryers and search the rest. You still have that nifty cleaner on you?"
"Got it right here." Emmett pats the upper pocket on his tactical vest. Apollo and Marcus have the best toys, and that little piece will scrub any spyware on any device it's hooked up to.
We're folding the last of our overly dried laundry into our bags when Emmett's phone goes off. Brent and I immediately zero in on the device in his hand. After glancing at it, Emmett tucks it into a pocket, giving us an infinitesimal nod.
It's go time. Finally.
We silently file out of the self-service laundromat that had thankfully remained empty most of the time we'd been there. It’s fully dark outside now, and even if Emmett hadn't jammed the cameras, I doubt they would pick anything up once we were out of the pools of light the streetlamps cast.
Emmett leads us around the backside of the building to the deserted alley where a dumpster sits inside a three-sided corral. Beyond it, an idling blacked-out SUV awaits us, and the cargo door lifts when we're almost to it. We toss our bags in, and Marcus tells us to all get in the back rows.
We barely have the doors shut with all of us choosing to sit in the middle row when Marcus tosses us oversized sleeping masks.
"Put them on. I'm not taking any chances with Apollo or Lark." The man sounds annoyed, and he's not the only one.
"Well, hello to you too, Marcus. And she's my girl, so I don't know why you'd think I'd cause her harm by revealing her location," I grumble but put the mask on.
"Brent, put it on. And Rex, last I checked she's not your girl and would have been happy to nail you in the junk like she did Apollo." Marcus drops the bait, and I grit my teeth to keep quiet.
"Marcus, Apollo wouldn't make me wear this. He trusts me." Marcus snorts at Brent's claim.
"Even if he does, I don't. Put it on or get out and take your chances with another FBI safe house." Marcus stops the vehicle, and I hear the locks disengage.
