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“Look! Fire!” someone shouts.
“Hadley, move!” Nick screams.
Hadley’s bodycam shakes as he runs. As soon as he gets outside, we see a small pillar of smoke rising from a green car.
“It’s the target’s vehicle!” he says. “The smoke’s coming from the front seat. I don’t see any flames.”
“Can you get us a closer look?” Nick asks.
Hadley approaches, taking off his camera and pointing it directly into the vehicle.
“Are you seeing this?” he asks.
Smoke rises from two cell phones, or what’s left of them.
“They’re not here,” says Nick. “They must have had help. Jesper, I need satellite footage from the moment they parked at the rest stop. Look for any group of three or more leaving the building, or any individuals. Hadley, Swarzak, get back on the road, now!”
Fuck! Fucking goddamn shit!
We can figure out which car they used to drive away, but it’s going to take time to analyze the satellite footage. It’s entirely possible they’ll leave our coverage area before we track them down.
“We should have grabbed Zimmerman and tortured him until he told us everything,” I growl.
“You want to find Death?” says Nick. “This was the way to do it. Zimmerman didn’t know, or he’d have driven himself.”
“We should have stayed closer. Or had a helicopter in the area.”
Nick shakes his head.
“It would have spooked them. They’d have turned around and made another plan.”
“Do you know what just happened?” I ask him, reaching into my jacket pocket. “They humiliated you. They knew we’d track the cell phones. They knew they were being watched. What do you want to bet Death is laughing right now? He had a plan to bring in his asset and it went perfectly. This was a giant fuck you to me. To us — and you, Nick. This is your fuck up.”
“What do you want from me, Anton? You said it yourself: they had a plan. We didn’t. You should be glad this failed. You wanted us to storm Death’s base without any idea of what was waiting inside? When the fuck did you get so stupid?”
How dare he.
“This was a chance to find them and end them. You’d rather pass it up and give them another chance to attack us? This bullshit could have ended today.”
“I wouldn’t count on it,” Nick snorts. “Considering their love for setting traps, you would have walked us right into a kill-box. Anarchy, Inc. just spared them. They’re lucky you fucked up this job. The next time they’ll probably die because of your-”
“Juniper.”
“-impatience and… reckless… ness…”
“Fuck you,” I snarl.
Nick slumps in his seat, shutting his eyes as he passes out. The tranquilizer overdose should have stopped his heart by now.
Fucking idiot.
“Sir, we’re getting a call,” says Jesper. “It’s from Death.”
“Put him through and trace it.”
I don’t want to take the call. Odds are, he’s calling to gloat and the trace won’t work. We have to try, though.
Death’s silhouette appears in a new window on my tablet, and he’s not alone. Kate sits next to him. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Death’s probably been milking her for information — maybe in exchange for protecting Zimmerman.
