A rumble just behind her head startled Alex. She spun and found herself face to face with Khan. He was staring at her in what seemed like an impatient way, as if he were waiting for her to move. His nose pointed over her shoulder toward Einstein.
“Oh,” she said as she realized he was trying to get into the car. “Sorry, Khan, I need you to stay.”
She’d never seen an animal look so offended in her life. He didn’t move, just stared into her face as if demanding an explanation. She was the more surprised of the two of them when she suddenly threw her arms around his neck and buried her face against his shoulder.
“I’m sorry, big guy,” she whispered into his fur. “I wish I could take you with me. I owe you huge. Take care of the others for me. You’re in charge, okay?”
She leaned away, stroking the sides of his thick neck. He looked slightly mollified and took an unwilling step back.
“At ease,” she said quietly; she patted him once more, then turned to the Humvee. Daniel was already belted into the passenger’s seat.
“Are you all right?” Daniel asked quietly as she climbed in. It was obvious he wasn’t talking about physical injuries.
“Not really.” She laughed once, and there was an edge of the hysteria she was fighting in the sound. Khan was still watching as she pulled away from the house.
Once through the gate, she donned the goggles and turned the headlights off. It was safer to drive the Humvee across the open plains rather than stay on the only road that led to the ranch. Eventually, they reached another road – it was even paved. She ditched the goggles and put the headlights on as she turned northwest. She didn’t have a destination in mind, only distance. She needed to get as far away from Kevin’s ranch as possible before the sun rose.
CHAPTER 20
Kevin picked up on the first ring.
“Okay, Oleander, where do we stand?” was his greeting.
“We’re headed north in the Humvee. I’ve got Daniel, Einstein, and Lola with me. We managed to scavenge some of what we need, but not much.”
She heard him blow out a relieved breath when she said Einstein’s name, but the edge was still there in his voice when he asked, “The Humvee? The truck is blown?”
“Yes.”
He thought for a second. “So, only night driving until you can find something new.”
“Easier said than done. We’ve both got major face problems.”
“Yeah, I saw Daniel on the news. But yours can’t be that bad anymore. Throw some makeup on.”
“It’s gotten slightly worse over the course of the evening.”
“Ah.” He clicked his tongue a few times. “Danny?” he asked, and she could hear the tension he was trying to hide.
“Not a scratch.” The hands didn’t count; they’d done that to themselves.
“She made me stay in the car,” Daniel yelled loud enough for his brother to hear.
“Good job,” Kevin responded. “How many were there?”
“Six.”
He sucked a breath in. “Agents?”
“No, actually. Get this – they put a hit out with the Mob.”
“What?”
“It was mostly muscle, but they had at least one authentic professional in the group.”
“You took out all of them?”
“The dogs did most of the work. They were magnificent, by the way.”
He grunted in acknowledgment. “Why’d you bring Lola?”
“Shot in the leg. I was afraid that if someone found her, they would put her down. Speaking of, should I call Animal Control?” she asked. “I worry that when the firemen get there…”
“I’ll take care of it. I’ve got a contingency plan in place for them.”
“Good.” She would never think of herself as the most prepared again. Kevin was the king of prepared.
“What’s your plan now?”
She laughed – and there was the sound of hysteria again. “No idea, actually. I’m thinking we camp out of the Humvee for a few days. After that…” She trailed off.
“You don’t have a place?”
“Not one where I can park this beast or hide two large dogs. I’ve never felt so conspicuous in my life.”
“I’ll think of something.”
“What took you so long to call?” she asked. “I thought you were dead.”
Daniel gasped. He stared at her, shocked.
“Getting set up. These things take time. I can’t be everywhere at once – I had to plant a lot of cameras.”
“A call would have been nice.”
“I didn’t know you guys were going to blow everything.” His voice got suddenly much lower. “What did the idiot do? No, don’t answer. I don’t want him to hear. Just yes or no. Did he call someone?”
“No,” she snapped, irritated.
“Wait – the truck is blown… he didn’t leave the house, did he?”
She wanted to say, No one told him not to, but Daniel would know they were discussing him. She didn’t respond, keeping her eyes straight ahead, though she wanted to sneak a look at Daniel to see if he’d heard any of it.
Kevin sighed. “Not an ounce of common sense.”
So many things she wanted to say to that, but she couldn’t think of a discreet way to phrase any of them.
He changed the subject. “Arnie… Was it bad?”
“No. He didn’t see it coming. He wouldn’t have felt anything.”
“His real name was Ernesto,” Kevin said, but it felt like he was saying it to himself rather than to her. “He was a good partner. We had a good run. A short run, but a good one.” He cleared his throat. “Okay, now tell me everything that happened.” Then lower: “Except whatever he did to set it off. He’s probably traumatized enough.”
Alex ran through the events of the evening, keeping it clinical and glossing over the gruesome parts. When she said simply, “I questioned him,” Kevin would have a pretty clear picture of what that meant.
“So what happened to your face?”
“He was very flexible. And he had some kind of throwing blade in the lining of his sleeve.”
“Hm, that’s rough,” he said gloomily, and she knew what he was thinking. Facial scars were bad news when you wanted to keep a low profile. They were too easy to remember and recognize. Suddenly the search changed from Have you seen a short, nondescript female, unknown hair length or color, or a man fitting that same description? to Have you seen a person with this scar?
“Well,” she concluded, “it appears the people in charge pegged you for the win. I won’t pretend I’m not insulted. We’ll have to tweak the plan. The bait has to come from you, and it needs to go to the right person. Do you have any idea who that would be yet?”
Kevin was quiet for a minute. “When word gets back to my guy about what happened tonight… well, we might not need the e-mail. He’s going to have to talk to your guy about this. I’m ready – I’ll see them do it. Then we can decide if we need more.”
“Sounds good.”
“By the way,” he said in his covert voice, “I know you sanitized the story for the kid. I want the whole thing when I see you again.”
She rolled her eyes. “Right.”
“Look, Ollie, don’t let this go to your head, but… you did good. Real good. You saved Danny’s life. Thank you.”
She was so surprised, it took her a minute to respond. “I think we’re quits. Without your dogs or your Batcave, we wouldn’t have made it out. So… thank you.”
“You could have taken off as soon as you saw that first newscast. You knew they thought you were dead, but you stayed to keep a virtual stranger safe, though I’m sure you’d love nothing better than to be rid of both of us. That’s honor, right there. I owe you.”
“Mmm,” she said noncommittally. They didn’t need to discuss everything tonight.
“Let me talk to him before you hang up,” Daniel whispered.