AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We have to meg them,” Luke had said.
Chase and Shay were stunned, but their twelve-year-old was right.
Chase concocted an elaborate ruse they’d all play out for the benefit of Ava, their home’s electronic informer. Afterward, the entire family would flee through the tunnel. Shay and the kids would make their way to Wade’s ranch.
Once everyone knew their roles, Chase canvassed the neighborhood for a van or a tail or anything out of place. He spotted nothing, but it did little to settle him. He kept walking until it was time to go home.
And go through with it.
The Academy Award for Best Actor goes to… Chase Weldon, he thought ruefully.
Except he hadn’t been acting. Not completely. Aiming a gun—even one loaded with blanks—at his wife and children took a toll on him. The whole episode sickened and enraged him. It had taken all of his willpower not to put a bullet in Gillen’s head the moment he saw him.
He was still angry, but the adrenaline of the evening had long since faded by the time an Arlington police officer arrived at dawn to unlock his cell. The officer was accompanied by two clean-cut men in suits.FBI, thought Chase.
“Took you long enough.”
They introduced themselves as the special agents Shay had met with the day before. Most agents Chase had known over the years presented as unflappable, but these two looked sheepish. Which meant they were really freaking out on the inside. Yesterday, Shay had given them evidence of corruption by Avalon Communications. A day later, a hit squad tried to execute the whistleblower and her family, and Avalon’s CEO was murdered via sniper.
Not the Bureau’s finest hour.
“Where’s Teague?” demanded Chase.
The special agents looked at each other. One cleared his throat and said, “In the wind, I’m afraid.”
The other spoke up. “Mr. Weldon, it took us a few hours to sort out—”
“Save it,” snapped Chase as he strode past them. “Take me to my family.”
CHAPTER 31
ALEX TEAGUE WAS still out there, but Chase’s family was alive. So tonight they were celebrating at a pizzeria near Dupont Circle. Chase was still unsettled—they all were—but they laughed and toasted each other and were more raucous than any of the other tables.
They didn’t care.
Chase hoisted a beer. “To my children, the cleverest, bravest kids ever…”
Madison and Luke’s cheeks grew red, but they raised their glasses in return.
“And to my bride…” said Chase, but his throat caught.
Shay rubbed his back. He had been trying to keep it light and breezy, but his emotions betrayed him. The dark thoughts still came for Chase when he stopped moving. He remembered the Voice, mocking him:Women and children first.As if it were a slight. But in the Weldon family, “women and children” was a superlative.
As Chase tried to recover, swallowing the lump in his throat, Luke raised his glass.
“To Dad, who landed his first big client… and then killed him.”
Madison did a spit take, spraying her soda across the table. Shay threw her head back and laughed.
“Hey,” said Chase, pointing at his son. “Technically, I only shot him in the foot…”
His family howled. The table next to them left abruptly. They laughed harder.
On the walk home from the pizzeria, Shay and Luke strolled ahead. Chase hung back with Madison.
“Mads,” he said quietly, “how goes the hunt?”
The FBI had raided Avalon’s offices the morning following Gillen’s death, confiscating workstations and files, but that wasn’t a problem for Madison. Thanks to a backdoor she installed, FIRST still had full access to Gillen’s files, accounts, and shell corporations. “Teague mentioned islands,” Chase had told her. “There will be a boat, I’m sure of it.”
