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He took a step back, startled, perhaps a little afraid.
“Watch your back. You can’t kill anyone special to me if you’re fucking dead, which I won’t hesitate to do.” She surprised herself by the calm voice she spoke it in. The scary thing was, at that moment, she meant it.
“You will be quite the asset to my team,” he said. Then he brushed past her and left the room. He didn’t look back as he retraced his steps to exit through the lower-level west doors.
“I’m primary on the target,” Garcia reported. “Crash, fall in a distance behind me and watch for surveillance on me. Powder, Bubbles, are you in position?”
After all three men replied in the affirmative, Jimmy Wilson rose from his seat. He spoke as he opened the cubicle door. “I’ve got to find the john; I’ll be right back.” He barely glanced at her as he passed her and walked towards the downstairs circulation desk. “I’ll watch your back, Lah-lee, and make sure no one is following or waiting for you. We don’t know how big this network or his team is.”
“Thank you, Taco,” she whispered.
“Exit the building the way you came in and get in the car. Drive off campus but watch your six. Don’t go back to the hotel,” Garcia said. “Bubbles, report any surveillance on her, but don’t engage unless she’s in danger.”
“Roger that, Razor,” Michael replied.
“Moving to the stairs now,” Laura Lee transmitted.
As she climbed the stairs, her chest relaxed, and it was only then that she realized it had been tight the entire time she’d been in the room with Harrison West. She could already feel the adrenaline receding and she knew exhaustion would follow.
Oscar
The cool night air slapped her face like a bucket of icy water hitting her as she emerged from the library. It had been dark when she entered, but for some reason, the area seemed darker, the parking lot more desolate. She could hear the faint cheers of the crowd drifting over from Grass Stadium on the light breeze that sent a shiver down her spine.
She reminded herself that Mike Rogers was inside the SUV waiting for her and that Michael Cooper was somewhere nearby. Both Garcia and Sebastian Roth were following West. He couldn’t circle around and surprise her.
She forced her feet to propel her towards the rental car, her head on the swivel, just in case. There was no chatter coming through her comms. Were they working? “Nearly to the SUV,” she whispered.
“I’m inside,” Mike replied.
She breathed easier. When she pulled the door open, she saw the top of his shaved head in the back seat, just below the driver’s headrest. She re-closed the door quickly and hit the lock button. “I’m inside the car,” she broadcasted, turning the engine over. As she shifted to reverse, a figure appeared in her rearview mirror. It wasn’t Michael or Jimmy. It wasn’t anyone she recognized. He stared directly at the back of the vehicle. He wouldn’t see her through the tinted windows, but she saw him clearly. Asian male, mid-twenties, longish black hair, intense stare. “Bubbles, you see him?”
“Affirmative,” his whisper replied. “Got a couple good pics of him. Pretend you don’t see him and drive away.”
Laura Lee’s heart raced. Could she back up far enough to swing out of the parking space without hitting him? Her hand shook as she turned the wheel, cutting it hard to the left to miss him. She nearly hit the car next to her in the process. Without looking for him, she shifted to drive and inched forward, making sure she didn’t clip the car beside her. Once clear, she pressed her foot to the accelerator and sped from the lot.
“You’re clear,” Michael Cooper’s voice came into her ear. “He walked towards the interior of the campus. No one followed you by vehicle.”
“But keep an eye on your rearview, just in case,” Garcia’s voice chimed in.
“Where am I driving to?” she asked.
At Ops, Dupont heard the shakiness in her voice. He couldn’t say what he wanted to, nor could he say anything in a way that would bring her the most comfort over open comms. He was incredibly impressed at how she’d handled herself. He hoped to have time to talk with her on the phone later that night. It would depend on how long Delta Team’s Op took.
“Get on the expressway and head towards your mother’s house. Pull into the parking lot of the convenience store we stopped at when we were there,” Garcia instructed. “Bubbles, send those pics to Ops. Circles, have the Digital Team work on getting us a name to go along with the pic.”
“Roger, will make it a priority,” he replied. “I’ll make a report to Big Bear too once he’s out of his meeting in South Carolina.”
“Thank you, Circles. Crash and I will stay on the target a while longer. Report on target two, Moe.”
As Laura Lee drove the route she knew well, she listened through the comms to Carter Tessman’s report. Liu and his wife still sat in the restaurant eating a leisurely meal. They were having their dessert with coffee now. Liu had neither received a call or text, nor had he initiated one. Tessman reported that his phone was in his pocket.
“So, maybe he wasn’t the partner West was referring to,” Laura Lee said her thoughts aloud.
“We know nothing yet,” Garcia said.
When they arrived at the small strip mall the convenience store was in, Rogers directed her to park at the far end of the lot. Hidden in the shadows far from the light coming through the store window and the couple of lights on poles in the parking lot, he could finally sit upright in the backseat. Laura Lee’s eyes locked onto his in the rearview mirror.
“Are you okay?” Rogers asked softly.
