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Behind her, she heard tires on gravel. She turned, expecting to see Chris’s blue 4Runner approaching the house. With disappointment, she watched a black pickup truck approach the cabin and stop near one of the outbuildings.
Was it the owner of the house? If that were the case, she was better off here, in the woods, where she didn’t have to show her face.
The owner couldn’t enter the rental while in use, and Chris had specifically asked if any yard maintenance was scheduled and was told no, so maybe they were there to grab something from the maintenance shed and would leave quickly.
She hoped they would, anyway, because it was chilly in the woods. She hadn’t planned to be outside for long.
As she watched, a person got out of the passenger seat and approached the house, which was positioned sideways on the property line, so the front would have the most southern exposure. From her spot in the woods, she could see the back and side, with an angled view of the driveway in the front. She tucked herself in the trees, then shifted until she had a clear line of sight.
The person disappeared from view, and she assumed they went to the front door. After a long interval, she spotted a man circling around to the back. He walked stiffly, carrying a satchel and wearing a bulky coat.
Was he a US Marshal? Had a warrant been issued? Was she now considered a fugitive?
No. Freya would have called her.
Diana pulled her burner phone from her coat pocket. No messages. No missed calls.
She again studied the man. He wore a knit hat and was too far away for her to see his features as he hunched down below the bedroom window of the rental house. She raised the phone and hit the Record button on the camera. He didn’t look like he was serving a warrant. For starters, he didn’t knock or announce himself. She glanced toward the pickup truck and realized it was parked pretty far down the driveway, where the outbuilding would block the view of the vehicle from the house.
The man approached the frosted bathroom window. The light was on because it was the same switch as the fan and the bathroom had been quite steamy after her shower. She’d forgotten to turn it off before she stepped outside.
Now it looked like the man was trying to figure out if someone was inside the bathroom.
The light and fan noise must have convinced him someone was, because he crouched down and pulled something from the satchel and placed it under the window, then hurried around to the front. He then ran down the driveway and climbed into the truck’s passenger seat. The vehicle moved in reverse down the narrow drive, not bothering to pull closer to the rental, where there was a wide spot for turning around.
Diana’s heart thudded as she turned the camera back to the house and the exterior bathroom wall. She zoomed in on whatever it was that had been placed beneath the window, but all she could make out was a pixelated blob. She reversed the zoom and panned the wall, then watched in horror as the entire backside of the cabin burst apart. The roar and shock wave shook the trees and knocked her off her feet.
Chapter Forty-Five
Rand’s vacation had taken a sharply unexpected turn today. He’d certainly never expected to find himself in his SUV following a pretty but timid woman to her apartment so she could drop her car before they went to the auction house together. Kira Hanson sure was skittish. Always looking down. Flushing red like a lightbulb every time she looked at him.
She reminded him of the young women at the bar last night. Too young by far, but they hadn’t been shy.
He wondered how old Kira was and then reminded himself that was a moot point. This wasn’t a fix up. He was helping a friend. Well, several friends, because Chris was a friend now too, and if the SEAL had something going with Diana, she’d fall under team protection too. Hell, they’d been sent on two missions to save her. She was practically a team member.
This was about Diana and Morgan and Freya and not the shy woman who could pull off the sexy librarian look if only she were about ten years older…
There was no parking in the Adams Morgan neighborhood where Kira lived, so Rand pulled into a spot by a fire hydrant while she circled the block several times. After ten minutes, she finally came walking up to his passenger side and tapped on the window. He popped the lock, and she climbed inside.
“Sorry. Finally found a spot five blocks away.”
He shrugged. “Must be tough living here.”
“I usually take the Metro. Would have today but the meeting was requested last minute and it was faster to drive.”
He pulled out into traffic. “How long have you been working for FMV?”
“A few years. Just random contracts here and there, you?”
He shook his head. “I’ve never worked for them. I’m not now. Just volunteering.”
“How do you know Freya?”
He found it interesting that she’d singled out Freya, not Morgan. Most people who knew him always wondered how Morgan fit in the mix. “You know about Freya’s previous career?”
Her gaze remained fixed at her feet. “The CIA thing. Yeah. Our parents were colleagues. I’ve known Freya since seventh grade.”
“Seventh grade for you or for her?”
