Now Will wasn’t so sure. He couldn’t see anyone behind them, hadn’t noticed anyone following or watching them since leaving the country club, but the closer he got to the airstrip, the more certain he was that he was walking right into a trap.
His wife turned her head to look at him, frowned. “Will, what’s wrong?”
Everything. If he was right and if the CIA or NSA managed to unravel everything, he didn’t know how to fucking fix it. “Nothing. But we’re not going home yet.”
“Why not?” she asked, sounding disappointed as he sped down the highway. Christ, he could feel eyes on him. Tracking his every move.
He took the first left, taking a different route than he’d originally planned. “I’ve got a surprise planned.”
Her frown disappeared and he could all but feel her excitement. “What kind of surprise?”
“A trip.”
“A trip? But I haven’t packed—”
“I already did. Bags are in the trunk.”
“We’re flying somewhere?”
He nodded, sped up more. “Southern Spain.” From there he could slip across the Strait of Gibraltar into Morocco, get in touch with some of his contacts and find out what the hell was going on.
If he could just make it onto the jet awaiting them.
Barbara gasped. “Really?”
“I know you’ve always wanted to go there.” It sounded like a lame reason even to his own ears but he didn’t know what else to say without tipping her off that something was wrong.
“Yeah, I have,” she said, sounding as excited as a child who’d just been told they were going to Disneyland.
He kept checking the rearview and side mirrors to see if anyone was following them. Thankfully traffic was light and it didn’t seem like anyone was mirroring his movements.
Still, he couldn’t shake the building anxiety as he took the next freeway on-ramp and sped off toward the airport.
****
“Shit, where’s he going? Something must’ve spooked him.”
Lying on the floorboards in the back of the minivan the FBI agent was driving, Georgia braced as the vehicle did a tight turn and pulled over to the side of the street. She’d slipped her evening gown off, leaving her in her black bodysuit, then broken into the van while the agent had been talking with the security guards. She’d stashed her boots and weapons behind an ivy-covered trellis on the grounds, not far from the entrance.
Security had been a joke. A little flirting and an excuse for not having her I.D. with her and they’d let her walk right into the room without any trouble. She couldn’t be sure, but for a moment during his speech she’d been certain Balducci had seen her at the back of the room. She hoped he had. She hoped he’d seen the hatred inside her and that it had sent a bolt of pure terror through his blackened soul.
She’d trusted him once. And now he’d betrayed her and everything she stood for.
Tonight she would make him suffer for everything he’d done to her. For setting her up by lying to her about Briar. For killing Frank and then sending someone out to hunt her. All to hide the evil he’d covered himself in.
And to find out he planned to run for the Senate?
She’d see him in hell first.
Her hand tightened around the grip of her pistol as the agent hit the gas and took off in pursuit. In the rear window she could clearly see the reflection of the GPS display on the tablet he was using to follow the other vehicle. The van was almost a mile behind already. Balducci seemed to be headed east. To an airport?
Suddenly the agent slowed and pulled over to the curb. He spoke to someone via the earpiece he wore. “Roger that. Holding position.” He blew out a breath, dragged a hand through his hair in agitation. “How the fucking hell did he see me?” he muttered to himself, sounding disgusted.
No more waiting.
Georgia surged up and jammed the Taser against the side of the man’s neck. He yelled in surprise then jerked uncontrollably as the voltage coursed through him. Dropping it, she slid between the front seats to grab his arms and secure his hands behind him, took out his earpiece and stripped his phone from his pants pocket. He groaned and shifted slightly but was too out of it to stop her.
Making sure no one was around to see, she opened the driver door and dragged him out, dumping him behind another parked car before jumping behind the wheel and taking off. She checked the position of the GPS beacon and stomped on the gas, speeding through the darkness toward her target.
Once she got Balducci she would use another of her fake IDs to make her way south and get across the border into Mexico. He’d cost her too much.
Even if she had to start over in a foreign country and live the rest of her life without ever setting foot on American soil again, it would be worth it as long as he was dead.