Disavowed(90)

Will raised their joined hands in the air and the crowd cheered again. They saw in him a strong, capable leader, the kind of man they wanted leading this country.

And he was suddenly terrified that it was all a lie.



****



“He’s leaving.”

Briar shifted in the front passenger seat of the SUV at Matt’s words. “He’s early. Think he knows?”

“Maybe.”

The country club was less than thirty minutes from his house by car. The remaining evidence needed had come through just over an hour ago, and Alex had called to say that he had all the necessary warrants. They’d briefly discussed changing the timeline, taking Balducci down as he left the country club instead, but they’d decided to stay with the original plan and take him at his home to minimize attention and possible collateral damage.

Once they cornered Balducci, no one was certain how he’d react, or how far he’d go to escape.

With everything in place and all going according to plan thus far, the HRT boys had a green light. All they needed was for Balducci to arrive home and the team would show up in their vehicles, now parked two miles up the road.

After that it would be over in a matter of minutes. No muss, no fuss, no witnesses and no media. With such a high profile case, that was of paramount concern for all the agencies involved. The higher ups at the CIA were still in the dark and would shit themselves when all this came to light within the next hour or so.

The beautiful, brick house was still and quiet, only one security agent patrolling the grounds. He was a new addition, added by Balducci only a couple days ago. Another sign he likely suspected something was up. No one else had come or gone from the house all night, and between her, Matt and Alex, they’d made certain to track everyone entering or leaving the upscale neighborhood.

Briar zipped her jacket all the way up to her chin and tucked her hands into her pockets. It was freezing out and after parking down the block in the shadow of a burned-out streetlight they’d left the engine off to avoid drawing unwanted attention.

“Cold?” Matt asked, reaching across the center console to fish her left hand from her pocket. He took it between both of his and rubbed, raised it to his mouth to blow on it. She smiled at him, wondering if she’d always be surprised by his thoughtfulness. Even here during surveillance with an imminent op about to happen he was concerned about her comfort.

“Better now, thanks.”

He kissed her fingers absently, tucked her hand back into her pocket and repeated everything with her right hand. Lowering it from his mouth, he reached up with one hand to tap his earpiece. “Copy that. Got him on screen.”

He tapped the handheld tablet on his lap, bringing up a GPS signal from the transmitter an FBI agent at the party had planted on Balducci’s vehicle. “Looks like he’s still headed home,” he said to her.

Briar nodded, watching the beacon on screen. “The agent’s still tailing him?”

“Yes.” He tapped his earpiece again, changing the frequency. “You got him?” he asked whoever he was speaking to, presumably Alex, who was three blocks south near the entrance to the exclusive subdivision. Two more agents were posted in other locations as a precaution.

Balducci’s last minutes as a free man were still passing by far too slowly for her liking.

Together she and Matt watched the beacon in silence. Tuck and the others would be watching the same transmission from their vehicles.

The anger was still there, burning deep and hot. She hated that Balducci might live out the rest of his days in a heated cell being fed three square meals a day at U.S. taxpayers’ expense. But at least if he was in jail the world would know what he’d done and he wouldn’t get to take the easy way out by eating a bullet.

A few minutes later his vehicle took the expected exit off the I-95. Anticipation swirled through her veins.

Matt spoke again. “Copy.” He met her gaze. “Almost over.”

Her hands fisted in her pockets. She wanted so badly to be the one to lead the breaching team into the house, be the first one to corner him, take him down. But it wasn’t to be.

Less than two minutes later the vehicle on screen made an unexpected turn.

“He’s heading east,” she said, unable to keep the tension out of her voice.

“Keep him in your sights,” Matt warned someone via the earpiece, his body tensing beside her.

Watching the vehicle on screen, Briar already knew what was happening.

He’s going to make a run for it.





Chapter Twenty-Four





Will’s foot pressed harder on the accelerator. His heart was pounding almost out of control and his palms were slippery with sweat on the steering wheel. The security people at the country club parking lot had assured him no one had been near his car while he was at the party, so there was no chance it had been bugged.