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Chapter 19
The persistent chime of her phone woke Maria from a deep sleep. She came awake instantly, this particular skill another by-product of her years in the military, when a few seconds disorientation could mean the difference between life and death.
The caller-ID read “Jake,” and a glance at the time indicated it was 2:46 am.
“This can’t be good,” she said punching the answer button and skipping any pleasantries.
“It’s not. You have to get out of there.”
Maria sat up, threw the blankets off, and turned on the bedside lamp. Teag rolled over, throwing an arm across his eyes.
“Talk to me, Jake. How much time do we have?”
“Not sure,” Jake said. She heard the sound of his fingers busily tapping away at his keyboard. “I tried to think of ways Ivanovich might try to track you guys and finding the location of FBI safehouses would be one lead I’d chase.”
“Isn’t that intel locked down?”
She tugged on her cargo pants and opened the nightstand drawer. Pulling out her gun, she checked it, then shoved it into her waistband.
Teag was now sitting up on his side of the bed, staring at her.
“Get dressed,” she mouthed to him.
“It’s totally protected, but Ivanovich didn’t even try to hack into that database. Instead, he accessed the dispatch system and tracked the locations of agents who work protection details. I put an alert on Special Agent Deluca. If anyone accessed his car’s GPS, I’d get a notification. I just got a notification.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. Someone knows exactly where Deluca’s been for the last week.”
“And you think that someone is Ivanovich.”
Jake blew out a frustrated breath. “I can’t be sure, but who else would it be? Unless someone’s in trouble, this isn’t information that gets reviewed so thoroughly. Regardless, whoever it is can clearly track Deluca to your location on three occasions in the past seven days.”
“When did you get the alert?” Maria asked, stuffing a few items from the bathroom into her go-bag. She hadn’t allowed herself or Teag to completely unpack in case they had to make a hasty run for it, like now.
“An hour ago. I’ve gotten a bunch of alerts this week that turned out to be false alarms, meaning there was another, legit explanation for them, but I can’t find any reason someone would be tracking Deluca’s movements unless they’re using him to find you.”
“Okay, we’ll be out of here in five minutes,” Maria said, glancing at Teag, who winced as he tried to shove an arm through the sleeve of his shirt. Maria hustled over to help him finish dressing.
“I’ll let Cam know, but don’t wait, just go,” Jake said.
“I’ll text you when we’re clear,’ Maria said, ending the call and shoving the burner in her pocket.
“I assume Ivanovich found us,” Teag said, rather calmly all things considered.
“Not sure, but we aren’t taking any chances.”
Maria knelt at the edge of the bed to help Teag tie the laces of his running shoes. She knew he was always the stiffest when he first woke up, and he breathed a sigh of relief when she took over. Straightening up, he rubbed a hand over his chest.
“You okay?” Maria asked.
“I’ll be fine. Let’s just get out of here.”
No sooner were the words out of Teag’s mouth when the lights went out. Maria had only turned on the small bedside lamp and the bathroom light, but when both cut out, and the hum of the air conditioning unit went silent, she knew they’d lost power.
“Get down on the floor,” she whispered urgently to Teag.
When she felt him slide off the bed, she crouched beside him and pulled out her gun. “Stay low and crawl to the wall. Stay below the windows.”
