No Place to Hide (19 page)

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25
7:45 A.M.
NEW YORK CITY

The night had been a long one of planning and gathering supplies needed to pull off the plan. Holly had done an excellent job of finding what they needed while Ian and Jackie kept their heads down.

Once everything had been finalized, they’d grabbed a couple of hours’ sleep and now they were nearly ready.

Ian closed the expensive men’s satchel that he’d just finished packing. “Three bombs and a detonator.”

“Bombs?” Holly stood at the door, twisting her fingers together.

Ian gave his cousin a grim smile. “Not real ones. They’re a combination of the stuff you gathered last night.”

Holly looked at the table that held the leftovers. “So you were conducting science experiments while I slept?”

“Exactly. They won’t hurt anyone, but they’ll create a lot of smoke.”

Holly nodded and blew out a breath. “I think I figured out part of this code.”

Jackie’s pulse jumped. “Really?”

“Yes.” Holly walked to the table and set the paper in the middle, then slid into the chair.

Jackie sat next to her. “Show us.”

Holly pointed to the first line,
NYonSTBY
. “I think this means what it says. Something is going to happen in New York and people are on standby—meaning maybe they’re waiting for further instructions or something.”

“Okay. What else?”

“This.” She tapped the paper. “The key to the code is simply a computer keyboard. If you use each letter to the left of the one in the code, this is what you get.” She pushed the paper across the table to Jackie.

Over each letter, Holly had written the letters to go with the coded letters. “Smallpox delivered,” Jackie breathed. “Smallpox?”

“This must have something to do with the smallpox vaccine the government’s encouraging the public to get,” Ian muttered.

“‘Smallpox delivered.’ Delivered where?” Jackie frowned.

“Somewhere here in New York,” Ian said. “It has to be.”

“But why would you have to code a message about delivering a smallpox vaccine?” Holly asked.

“It didn’t say vaccine. It said smallpox. What if it’s not the vaccine?” Ian murmured.

“But what else—”

Jackie snapped her fingers. “The family that was murdered. The man worked at the CDC in Atlanta.” That whole thing had been bugging her since she saw it on television and then saw the government’s encouragement to get the vaccine.

“Yes.” Ian drew in a deep breath.

“Someone got some of the virus and delivered it to be used here in New York,” Jackie whispered. “There are only two places in the world that hold some of the virus. The CDC in Atlanta and the equivalent of the CDC in Russia.”

“And most of the population under thirty-five years of age hasn’t had the vaccination since it was deemed unnecessary once the disease was considered wiped out,” Ian said.

“But someone stole the virus from the CDC and they plan to use it,” Jackie said.

“As a bio-weapon,” Holly said. “Which is why the government is covering their tails and issuing the suggestion that people get vaccinated now. What do you want to bet they’re keeping it hush-hush while they try to find that missing virus?”

Ian blinked. “You’ve become suspicious in your old age, cuz.”

“I agree with her,” Jackie said. “But where? How? Who or what’s their target?”

Ian shook his head and looked at his cousin. “What about the rest of it?” She rubbed her temples and winced. Ian touched her arm. “Your head still hurting?”

“Yes. I’ve been having migraines. I have some medication I can take once Ron gets here.” She sighed and blinked. “As for the rest of the code, I may have it soon. I tried the same pattern for the other letters, but it’s not working. It looks like each line is a different pattern, but I still think it’s all connected to the keyboard. I’ll keep working on it.”

Ian nodded. “All right, Ron will be here soon. Use his phone to call if you figure it out.” He paused. “Actually, call once you and Gus are safe with Ron in Virginia, okay?”

“What about Lucy? I didn’t call last night. I know she’s got to be wondering why. And so is my friend she’s staying with.”

“Ron’s arranging to bring Lucy to you,” Jackie said. “She should arrive at the cabin about the time you do.”

Holly frowned. “Wait a minute. So far no one has tracked Lucy to my friend. If the FBI or someone go asking, I’m sure someone might mention her name and they’ll find her that
way, but so far no one has done that. Wouldn’t it be safer for her to just stay put?”

Jackie bit her lip. She paced the perimeter of the room, then stopped. “I’m sure the FBI know you’re with us by now.”

“I’m okay with that,” Holly said.

“And even if they figure out you have a daughter, which I’m sure they saw pictures when they trashed your apartment, there’s no reason for them to believe she’s not with you now. With us.”

“Okay.” Holly gave a slow nod. “That makes sense.”

“I say leave her there. But, your friend will be worried and wonder why you haven’t called. Does she know about your . . . ah . . . business trip?”

“Yes.”

“Then I would say you can use one of the throwaway phones to call her. No one knows about her, they wouldn’t have any reason to be keeping tabs on her number.” Jackie gave a decisive nod. “Let Lucy stay there. I think it’s safer than dragging her into the middle of this.”

Ian took a deep breath. “I guess that’s it then.”

Jackie handed one of the remaining cell phones to Ian and pocketed the second one after a glance at the screen. “It’s time. Wainwright should be eagerly anticipating our meeting.”

“I feel like I should be doing something,” Holly said.

“You are, you’re deciphering that code. Ron will be here soon and you’ll be safe while you work.” Ian hugged his cousin for a long moment.

“I think I want to stay.”

“Your dad already hates me. I don’t want to give him a reason to try to kill me too.”

Holly pulled back and for the first time since Jackie had seen her in the doorway of her apartment, she had some color in her cheeks and a faint smile on her lips. “He wouldn’t.”

“Maybe not, but I don’t want to be the reason you two never reconcile.”

The smile faded and Holly’s eyes narrowed. “You wouldn’t be the reason. He did that all by himself.” Then her features softened. “But we’ll have to make our peace sometime soon before I . . .”

“Before you what?”

“It’s not important. We’ll talk later.”

Jackie felt awkward listening to the conversation, but it wasn’t like she could avoid it.

Holly sighed. “What time is Ron going to be here?”

Jackie glanced at the clock on the wall. “Any minute. He’s been hanging out at my grandfather’s place in Virginia coordinating all kinds of help should we need it.”

Ian stared at her. “Why haven’t the cops been able to connect Ron as the one who’s helping us?”

“Because Ron doesn’t have any connection to Operation Refuge. He’s strictly off the books and doesn’t leave a trail anywhere.”

“Why?”

She shrugged. “He has his reasons. I’m not at liberty to share them.”

A knock sounded at the door and Ian checked the peephole. He opened the door and Ron stepped in.

He opened the door and Ron stepped in. His eyes landed on Holly and he gave her a smile. “Time to go, little lady.”

Holly hugged Jackie, then Ian one last time. “Please be careful.”

“We will.”

“See you soon.”

“Real soon.”

As soon as Ron and Holly were gone, Jackie dropped an extra clip of bullets into her blazer pocket. And hoped she didn’t need them.

10:15 A.M.

At 26 Federal Plaza, on the twenty-third floor, Elizabeth hovered over the shoulder of FBI cryptologist Tyesha Lee. “Well?”

The pretty black woman turned from the printout and looked up at Elizabeth. “Well, your stalking me isn’t going to inspire me to get this figured out any faster. I’ve been working on it all night and I’m a bit cranky. You might want to keep your distance.” Elizabeth dropped back a centimeter and Tyesha sighed. “I ran it through the system and got nothing, so it’s definitely a homegrown code.”

“Can you crack it?”

“Of course.” Tyesha shot her an insulted look. “It’s just going to take a bit of time.”

Elizabeth surrendered. “Sorry. Call me when you know something.”

“You know I will.”

Elizabeth headed for the door, then stopped. “Hey, Ty?”

“Yeah?”

When Elizabeth didn’t speak, Tyesha lifted her gaze to meet hers. “I think this one is time sensitive,” Elizabeth said. “Don’t
ask me why, but I think the sooner we know what this says, the better.”

“Sure, Liz. It’s my priority, I promise.”

“Thanks.”

Elizabeth checked her phone as she headed for the elevator. Her gut said Jackie had told her the truth last night. She and Ian were innocent victims in a super-powered game headed by super-powered people.

People who had a lot to lose because Ian had seen that email. Only now she had it. And she would have it decoded within hours. Hopefully. Cedric Wainwright. She had people looking into him with a magnifying glass. If the guy had any dirt to be found, they’d find it.

Her phone rang. “Hi, Mom.”

“Elizabeth, honey, how are you?”

“Working a case as usual, but fine. You?”

“I’m lovely, dear, thank you, but I’ll get to the point. I haven’t heard from you about Thanksgiving. It’s tomorrow, you know.”

“I know.” Actually she’d forgotten.

“Wonderful. Then can we expect to see you? And maybe a friend? We plan to go to the parade first thing in the morning, then head back to the house to eat.”

Elizabeth grimaced. A friend. As in a male friend. As in a boyfriend. And the parade? No thanks. “I’m sorry, Mom. This case is taking all of my time and attention. If I can be there, you know I will.” A heavy sigh filtered through the line, firing the guilt Elizabeth felt every time she missed a holiday or family celebration. But she had a job to do. A job she loved. But she loved her family too. “I’ll do my best to make it to lunch, all right?”

“All right, dear.”

She heard the resignation in her mother’s voice and closed her eyes. “Love you, Mom.”

“Love you too, dear.”

Elizabeth hung up only to find her phone ringing again. She stepped off the elevator and headed for her car. “Yes, Sam, what do you have?”

“We found the phone Sellers used to call you. She left it at a bar on Garrison.”

“Of course she did. She wouldn’t carry it back to where she was staying. They must have an abundance of throwaway phones.”

“Where are they getting their money?”

“We checked their bank accounts before we froze them. No significant withdrawals were made prior to Lockwood going on the run, so either he had a lot of cash on hand at home . . .”

“. . . or someone’s helping them. Someone in Operation Refuge is staying in touch with them.”

“But who?” Frustration bit at her. “We’ve got eyes on all of them. They’re talking back and forth about what’s going on, but I would expect that. However, no one has left town or met them.”

“What if it’s someone not affiliated with Operation Refuge?” he asked.

“It almost has to be.”

“There’s no telling.”

“Right. The best we can do is keep looking and hope someone spots them and calls it in.” Her phone beeped in with yet another call. “Let me catch that. It’s the SAC in South Carolina. I need to talk to him.” She hung up with Sam and pressed the screen to answer the incoming call. “Elizabeth Miller.”

“Elizabeth, this is Cole.” Cole didn’t stand on formality. As long as you did your job and respected the chain of command, he was pretty laid-back. In an intense kind of way.

“Hi, Cole, what have you got?”

“Have you been in touch with either Jackie Sellers or Ian Lockwood?”

“Yes. You know I have.” She’d dictated the conversation with Jackie and emailed it to him, to Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Wilson in Atlanta, and to the ADIC in New York, Scott Mitchell.

“No. I mean since the last conversation.”

“No, I would have let you know. But I expect to hear something soon.”

“Try to set up a meeting. We need to get him and his accomplice off the streets as soon as possible. We’ve got to get some answers.”

“What’s happened?”

“A Dr. Jason Arnold was found in his office here in South Carolina with a bullet in the back of his head.”

Elizabeth sucked in a breath. Another death? “Who’s Dr. Arnold?”

“He’s a veterinarian.”

“A vet? As in someone who’s a doctor for animals?”

“You get the gold star.”

And then she knew. “Ian’s dog.”

“The dog, Gus, was once a service animal to Gina Lockwood, Ian’s sister. When she died, he took in the animal.”

The light went on. “And Gus has a GPS tracker embedded in him, doesn’t he?” Elizabeth asked.

“Nothing gets past you, does it?”

“Save the sarcasm. So now whoever is after Ian and Jackie has Gus’s code,” she said. “And Gus is going to lead them straight to them.” She paced. “We need to beat them there.”

“We have the code and are running it now.” Cole paused. “We’re not sure how much of a head start the others have.”

“He’s innocent, you know,” Elizabeth murmured.

“No. I don’t and neither do you.” He paused to take a sip of his drink. “But I must say I’m starting to lean in that direction.”

“When . . . if . . . Jackie or Ian call me, I’ll let them know about Dr. Arnold.”

“And get them to meet you. Set it up and get them in custody. If he’s innocent, we can protect him.”

“Right.” Elizabeth pressed her fingers against her eyes. “He’s innocent, I know he is.”

“I don’t know. Could be he’s as guilty as they come, and his partners just want him out of the picture for some reason.”

“Or he’s innocent and is running from everyone until he finds a way to prove it.”

“Or that.”

“Well, the vet’s not dead. Seriously wounded with a bullet in his skull, but he’s still breathing.”

“So when he wakes up, he can probably ID his shooter.”

“If he’s not permanently brain damaged.” She heard talking in the background. Cole came back on the line. “We just got an ID on another man found murdered in the vet’s office. Victor Stroebel.”

“Who’s he?”

“He has connections with Wainwright Labs. His sister married Cedric Wainwright.”

Elizabeth frowned. “Jackie is convinced Wainwright is behind the attempts on their lives, but why would the man take out his brother-in-law?”

“Maybe he doesn’t want to split the profits from whatever they’re doing?”

“We need to find out if the bullets match Stroebel and Arnold.” She thought for a moment. “And see if they match the Goff family and Daniel Armstrong.”

“All right. Working on it. And speaking of the Goff family and Daniel Armstrong.”

“Yes?”

“They match. It was the same weapon.”

Elizabeth let out a puff of air. Her hunch had paid off. “All right. Keep me updated. We’ve got to find that dog before the wrong people do.”

“I just got a text.” His voice sounded farther away, as though he were looking at his phone. “Says they’re in Virginia. I’ve contacted the Richmond office and they have agents on the way to the GPS coordinates.”

“Virginia?” Her frown deepened. “That can’t be right.”

“Why not?”

“Because Jackie said something was going down in New York. She and Ian are here in New York.”

“Not according to the dog’s GPS.”

“You follow that. I’m going to stay here and wait for Jackie to call me.” She looked at her phone. “Come on, Jackie, call me,” she whispered.

They were ready.

“Thank goodness for the city that never sleeps,” Jackie muttered. She adjusted the collar of her pin-striped blouse and tugged at the waistband of her black slacks. Not her usual attire. But she’d be comfortable and confident wearing it. Or die trying. Hopefully not literally.

Ian sported a dark blue Versace suit, and frankly Jackie thought he rocked it. She shoved aside the desire to take his hand and suggest they just run away to a deserted island and live happily ever after.

She scoffed, shocked at the turn of her thoughts. Happily
ever after would be great, but if she didn’t want to spend it behind bars, she’d better get focused.

“You all right?” Ian asked.

“Peachy. You?”

“The same.” He swallowed hard and tugged at his tie. “You made the appointment?”

“Eleven o’clock sharp.”

“What if he recognizes you?”

She lifted a newly arched brow and looked at him over the top of the black-framed glasses. “Would you recognize me?”

Ian sighed. “I don’t know. Probably not. If I was suspicious of you, then yes, I would see the resemblance.”

“Then let’s hope he doesn’t suspect anything.”

Ian watched her, his eyes intense, new lines etched on his face. “Are we really going to try and do this?”

“Absolutely. And we’re not going to try, we’re going to do it.” She studied him. “You don’t look anything like Ian Lockwood.”

“I hope that’s a good thing.”

“Today it is.”

They walked out the door and Jackie couldn’t help winging a small prayer heavenward. She figured it couldn’t hurt. And if it helped . . . well. That would be a very good thing indeed.

10:30 A.M.

Ian wanted to fidget. Instead he held himself still, gripped the satchel, and took a deep breath. The back of the cab smelled like pine cleaner and reminded him of the lab. A wave of homesickness rolled over him. He wanted his life back. “Are you going to text Elizabeth Miller and let her know what Holly deciphered?”
he murmured. He kept an eye on the rearview mirror, making sure the cabbie couldn’t hear him.

“Yes. As soon as we’re finished with this.”

“What if we get caught?”

“Then we have some leverage to get someone to listen to us.” She reached over and gripped his fingers. “You can do this, Ian.”

The look in her eyes, the determination to help clear him, and her willingness to put her life on the line for him did him in. His head dipped and he swooped in to land his lips on hers. Jackie froze and for a moment he did too. Then he felt her lips soften, respond, and he kissed her the way he wanted to back in high school. Every word he never said, every emotion he ever felt, came out in the kiss.

When he lifted his head, the stunned look on her face nearly made him smile. If only—

The cabbie cleared his throat. Ian jerked but didn’t turn away from Jackie. “I’ve wanted to do that for a long time now.”

“Well . . . ah . . . well.”

He smiled. “Yeah. Me too.”

“You folks getting out or you need me to drive you to the nearest church and preacher man?”

Jackie’s face lit up like Rudolph’s nose on Christmas Eve. Ian wanted to laugh. And couldn’t. His throat closed. “I don’t want to die without telling you how I feel about you, how I’ve always felt about you,” he whispered in her ear.

The color drained from her cheeks as fast as it had appeared. She placed a finger over his lips. “Don’t. Don’t say anything else. Let’s focus on what we need to do here.” She frowned. “And don’t talk about dying.”

He gave a slow nod. “Right.”

Jackie straightened her hair, handed him a tissue from the
purse she’d clutched on her lap, then reapplied the lipstick he’d just kissed off.

Ian felt the heat climb into his face as he swiped his lips. He looked at her. “Better?”

She gave a brisk nod. “Yep.”

Ian paid the patient cabbie and gave him a generous tip. “Can you hang around for about thirty minutes?”

The man counted the money and nodded. “If there’s more where this came from.”

“There’s more.”

“I’ll circle the block and find a place to park. Meet you back here in thirty.”

“Or before.”