The Innocent

He grabbed the wheel from Vance and slammed the car into a hard right turn that took it off the road, over the curb, and into someone’s front yard.

A split second later the gun pointing from the SUV roared a dozen automatic times. The rounds missed the Beemer, but behind them the car that was parked nearest the intersection exploded.

The SUV couldn’t make the turn and continued to speed down the road. Then came the screech of brakes and gears reversing.

Robie worked the wheel and the Beemer jumped the curb and landed back on the road. He took his hands off the steering wheel and looked back.

“What the hell was that?” demanded a shaky-looking Vance.

“It’s called a Sledgehammer,” said Robie. “Assault combat shotgun. I recognized it from the big ammo drum. It must’ve ignited the fuel tank on that car back there.”

He pointed up ahead. “Take the next left and then a right and then hit the gas hard. By the time they get back on our tail we’ll be gone.”

Vance did as he instructed and they were soon alone on a road leading west away from all the shooting. They could hear sirens seemingly coming from all directions.

Julie sat up and buckled her seat belt after wiping shards of automobile glass off the seat and out of her hair.

Robie glanced at her. “You okay?”

She nodded but didn’t say anything.

He looked around. “You left your backpack at the safe house?”

She nodded again.

Vance said, “What changed, Robie?”

He looked at her after easing his gun back into its holster.

“Come again?” he said.

“They didn’t want to kill us before, just scare the shit out of us or intimidate us or who the hell knows what. But now it seems pretty clear they want us gone. So what changed?”

“Could be lots of things,” he answered. “Without knowing the endgame it’s hard to know what makes these folks tick. Or what part any of us play in all of it.”

“So we need to figure out the endgame,” said Vance.

“Easier said than done,” replied Julie.

“What changed?” This time the query came from Robie.

Vance and Julie looked at him. “That’s what I just said,” replied Vance.

He didn’t answer. He just stared straight ahead.

He would’ve smiled, only he didn’t because it might lead to nothing.

But finally, finally Robie might have something.

CHAPTER 78

Robie directed Vance to his hideaway farmhouse. At his demand she had turned off the GPS chip in her phone. Vance had called in to her supervisor on the drive over and reported what had happened. One FBI agent was dead on the scene, the man Robie and Julie had seen. The other agent was nowhere to be found. In fact, the Bureau could not confirm that he was in fact the agent that had been sent to Virginia to protect Julie.

Vance dropped the phone into her lap with a grimace of disgust. “Dammit! Get the little shit right and the big shit doesn’t happen.”

“You have to go off grid,” said Robie. “You okay with that?”

“Does that mean you actually trust me?”

“They were willing to kill you back there too.”

“I have no problem going off grid so long as there’s a plan.”

“It’s evolving. But I need some information.”

“What kind?”

He looked at Julie, who sat in the backseat staring at him.

“What changed was Julie came up with the right answer.”

“What answer?” Julie asked.

“It was a timing issue, really. As soon as you said it the red dot appeared on your chest. That’s when we both might’ve become expendable.”

Vance looked at Julie. “What did you say?”

She said, “That my dad and Mr. Broome and Rick Wind were part of a squad. And a squad has nine or ten soldiers in it. So maybe they talked to someone else in the squad. And that’s where all this started. I mean, if the three of them kept in touch, maybe some others did too.”

Robie nodded and looked at Vance. “So the safe house wasn’t just unsafe. It was also bugged. They could hear everything we were saying. And the second Julie said that, the dot appeared.”

Vance said, “You really think that might be it? The other members of the squad?”

“I think we need to find out whether it is or isn’t, and we need to do it fast.”

“You can get that info pretty quickly from DCIS.”

“I could. But since DCIS has been infiltrated I don’t want to tip my hand.”

Vance slumped back as she drove and thought about this. “And the Bureau might have been infiltrated too.”

“Might have been!” exclaimed Julie. “What part of tonight did you miss super agent Vance?”

Vance grimaced. “Okay, was infiltrated.” She looked at Robie. “So what do we do?”

“I know someone who might be able to help,” he said. “An old friend.”

“You sure you can trust this person?”

“He’s earned that trust.”

“Okay.”

“But I have to leave you to go see him,” said Robie.

“Do you think it’s a good idea to split up?” asked Vance nervously.

“No,” he replied. “But it’s the only way this will work.”

“How long will you be gone?” asked Julie anxiously.

“Only as long as I have to,” he replied.