Robie’s position before Robie had.
He stopped at one door, knocked.
Footsteps came his way. The door swung open.
A man in his mid-fifties with white close-cropped hair stood before him. He and Robie were about the same height. The man was trim, his shoulders broad; he seemed to have retained much of the strength of his youth.
When he shook Robie’s hand, that strength was clearly evident. He ushered him in and closed the door, but not without first taking a look down the hall, ostensibly for any threats. Even here, Robie would have done the same thing. It was just a part of you at this level.
The room was small, efficiently laid out. No personal mementos were evident. The man sat behind his desk, on which was a small laptop. Robie sat across from him, settled his hands over his flat stomach.
“It’s been a while, Will,” said the man.
“I’ve been kind of busy, Shane.”
Shane Connors said, “I know you have. Good work.”
“Maybe, maybe not.”
Connors cocked his head to the left. “Explain that.”
Robie took ten minutes to walk him through the recent developments. When he was done the other man leaned back in his chair, his gaze solidly on Robie.
“I can get the squad makeup right now. But once you get that, what are your plans?”
“To follow it up. There’s a maximum of seven of them left. Local ones will be the focus, of course.”
“I can see that.”
Connors leaned toward his laptop, hit some keys, and then sat back. “Give it ten minutes.” He continued to look at Robie. “It’s been twelve years for you.”
“I know. I’ve been counting too.”
As though on cue, Robie could hear the tick of a clock coming from somewhere in the office.
Connors said, “Looked down the road?”
“I’ve been looking down the road since the first day.”
“And?”
“And there are certain possibilities. But nothing more than that.”
Connors looked disappointed by this, but he said nothing. His gaze went to the laptop. For the next eight minutes both men stared at it.
When the email fell into the electronic mailbox, Connors hit a few keys and a printer resting on the edge of the desk whooshed. Some papers slid out. He picked them up but did not glance at the pages before passing them to Robie.
“I need a fresh car. Untraceable,” said Robie. “I can leave my bike as collateral.”
Connors nodded. “It’ll take two minutes.”
“Thanks.”
He made a call. Two minutes passed. The computer dinged. Connors nodded again.
“Done.”
They rose.
Robie said, “I appreciate this, Shane.”
“I know.”
Robie shook his hand. As he turned to leave Connors said, “Will?”
Robie turned back.
“Yeah?”
“When you look down the road next time, look farther than a place like this.”
Robie glanced around the office, settled his gaze back on the man, and gave a slight nod. Then he was walking down the hall, the papers clutched in his hand.
CHAPTER
79
BEFORE STARTING UP THE CAR, a trim, tan Chevy, Robie looked at the pieces of paper. There were only three names on them, because of the seven squad members other than Wind, Getty, and Broome, four had died, all of them years ago. That made Robie’s job a little easier. At least potentially. There was something else that made it easier still. All lived locally. Also included were their current addresses and a brief military history of each. The military kept impeccable records.
He slipped the papers into his pocket, started up the car, and raced past the guard on his way out of the small government complex. As he retraced his route back to Virginia, he thought about Connors in his little cage back there. Connors had taught Robie pretty much everything he knew. The man was a legend in the field of sanctioned assassinations. When he’d officially retired and Robie had gone full throttle, operating all over the world, he and Connors had lost contact. Yet Robie could still vividly remember the first mission the two had performed together. After the kill was done, Connors had kissed the barrel of his rifle. When Robie asked him why he had done that, Connors had replied simply, “Because it’s the only thing standing between me being here and me not being here.”
There were a few men who could not be bought under any circumstances. Shane Connors was one of them.
Robie made sure he wasn’t followed and zigzagged the last ten miles of his trip just to be certain.
He got back to the farmhouse early in the morning. Vance was awake with gun in hand and a serious expression on her face. Julie was asleep on a couch in the back room of the first floor.
Vance had seen the car pull up. “Where’d you get it?” she asked when he came into the house.
He held up the pieces of paper. “Same place I got these.”
As they stood in the doorway gazing at the sleeping Julie curled up like a cat on the couch, Vance said, “She didn’t want to go upstairs. I don’t think she wanted to be that far away from me.”
He walked into the kitchen. Vance followed.
They sat, looked over the names and current addresses.
“Three individuals. Two guys and one woman,” said Vance. “How do you want to do this? Split up again?”
“Don’t think so. They’ve been warned by Julie’s comments. They probably know what we’re going to do.”
“So they’ll anticipate we’ll go after these folks and they’ll be waiting?”
“Maybe something a little more efficient.”
“Like what?”
“Like maybe they’ll make all three disappear.”
“You mean kill them?”
“If they kill two, then they’ve done our work for us. They left the one who really matters. If they make all three go away, we’re in the same boat as before.”
Vance set her gun on the table and rubbed her eyes.
“You need to get some sleep,” said Robie.
“Look who’s talking,” she shot back.
“I’ll take the first watch. You can catch a few hours.”
“It’ll be eight a.m. You won’t go to sleep then.”
“I actually feel pretty rested.”
She squeezed his arm.
“What was that for?” he asked.
“Just checking to see if you’re actually human. Despite your ability to bleed.”
He said, “So we go after these people one by one, knowing that they’ll be waiting.”
Vance added, “So they really have the upper hand. Like you said, they could just make them disappear.”
“They could, except for one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“If they need one of them for some reason to do something.”
“Like what?”
“If I knew that I wouldn’t be sitting here trying to figure it out.”
“What do we do with Julie? We can’t leave her here. And it would be really stupid to take her on something like this.”
“It might be stupid, but I’m going anyway.”
They glanced over to see Julie standing in the doorway looking at them with sleepy eyes that still managed, at their edges, to look angry and even betrayed.
Vance said, “Boy, you’re really good at eavesdropping.”
Julie retorted, “It’s the only way I find out anything with you two.”
Robie said, “It’s dangerous.”
“What else is new?” Julie replied in an even tone. She sat at the table. “I’ve been shot at, nearly blown up, seen my parents killed. Chased on foot, chased by car. So really, your ‘dangerous’ argument falls pretty flat.”
Vance glanced at Robie and a smile tugged at her lips. “At certain levels her logic is awfully compelling.”
“So the logic is, since you’ve nearly been killed a few times,
the smart thing is to put you in another situation where you’ll probably get killed?” said Robie.
“Don’t feel you’re responsible for me, Will, because you’re not,” replied Julie. She tucked her hair behind her ears and glared at him.
Vance’s smile faded. “Okay, you two, the last thing we need is to turn on each other.”
Robie said, “I am responsible for you. I’ve been responsible for you ever since we walked off that bus.”
“Your choice, not mine. I’m a victim of circumstance.”
“But you’d still be a victim.”
“I want to find out why my parents were murdered. That’s all. Anything more than that I don’t care.” She looked at Vance and then at Robie. “So don’t feel you have to care about what happens to me. Because you don’t.”
“We’re just trying to help you, Julie,” exclaimed Vance.
“I’m not your little do-gooder project, okay? Foster kid off the street you want to make all well and good. Forget it. That’s not what this is about.”
“You’re stuck with us, Julie, whether you want to be or not. And if it weren’t for us you’d be dead,” added Robie.
“I feel like I’m already dead.”
“I can understand that. But feeling dead and actually being dead are two totally different things.”
“Why should I trust anybody?” she retorted.
“I think we’ve earned your trust,” Robie snapped.
“Well, think again,” Julie shot back.
She stood and left the room.
Robie said to Vance, “Can you believe that crap?”
Vance stared across the table at him. “She’s just a kid, Robie. She’s lost her parents and she’s scared.”
Robie immediately calmed and looked guilty. “I know.”
“We have to stick together to get through this.”
“Might be easier said than done.”
“Why?”
“Events might conspire to tear us apart.”
“Events?”
“Your loyalty should be to the FBI, Vance. Not me.”
“Why don’t you let me decide that for myself.” She put a hand over his. “And me being here shows exactly where my loyalties lie, Robie.”
Robie stared at her for a moment and then got up and walked out, leaving a surprised Vance staring after him.
CHAPTER
80
ROBIE WENT OUT into the barn, uncovered a box on the workbench, and took out a pack of Winston cigarettes. He popped one out, lit it up, and put the filter to his mouth. He drew in the carcinogens and then exhaled them.
Lung cancer slow or bullet fast. What’s the real difference? Time? Who gives a shit?
He took another pull on his smoke, stretched out his neck. He took one final puff, ground the cigarette out on the workbench, and left the barn, locking the door behind him.
He stared up at the small farmhouse. There were two lights on inside.
One room where Julie was.
One room where Vance was.
He was separated from them by about fifty feet.
He was actually separated from them by about fifty light-years.
I am a killer. I pull triggers. I end lives. I do no more than that.
He turned and pulled his gun so fast she threw up her hands to shield her face.
Vance slowly lowered her arms and gazed at him.
He eased down his gun and said, “I thought you were in the house.”
“I was in the house. But I decided to come and check on you.”
“I’m just fine.”
She eyed the gun. “Fine, if a little edgy?”
“I prefer to call it being professional.”
She folded her arms across her chest, took a breath, exhaled, and watched it turn into mist in the chilly air. “We all are in this together, you know.”
He holstered his weapon but said nothing.
She moved closer. “You know, I understand guys who keep it all bottled up inside. The silent, stoic warrior. The FBI sure as hell has enough of them. But it does get old after a while. And a little grating, particularly at times like these.”
Robie looked away. “I’m not like anybody at the FBI, Vance. I kill people. I’m ordered to do it. But I carry out those orders. No remorse. No nothing.”
She said, “So why didn’t you kill Jane Wind and her son? Why did you take the time to get her other child to safety? And you did it while people were trying to kill you. Explain that to me.”
“Maybe I should have just killed them.”
“If I thought you believed that I’d shoot you right now.”
He turned to see Vance pointing her pistol at his chest.
“So are you just a killer, Robie? Don’t give a damn about anything or anyone else?”
“Why do you care?”
“I’m not sure why. It just seems that I do. Maybe I’m just stupid. I just swore an oath of loyalty to you back there. But it didn’t seem to register with you. I wasn’t expecting you to jump up and cheer when I put you above the FBI and my professional career, but I did expect some type of positive reaction. Instead you just walked out.”
Robie turned and started to walk back toward the house.
“Do you always just walk away when the questions get tough?” she snapped. “Is that your way of handling things when the going gets shitty? If so, it sucks. I expected better from you.”
He turned back around, settled his hands in his pockets, and rocked back and forth on his heels. He took several shallow breaths and stared at a spot directly over Vance’s shoulder.
She walked toward him, sliding her gun back into its belt holster. “I thought I came here to be part of something. Please don’t tell me I was wrong about that.”
Robie glanced at the house. “She’s only a kid. She’s in way over her head. She shouldn’t be involved in this at all.”