It was Porter’s man Crowe. Before Travis could react, he heard the plinking of glass and a sharp object pierced the side of his neck.
Fuck, tranq dart. He yanked it off, but it had already done its job. He was fading and slumped on the steering wheel, blasting its horn. Glass shattered and he was pulled back into his seat. He heard Crowe talking to him, but it sounded like words spoken in a vacuum. Finally, darkness claimed him.
18
Caitlin glared at Sam.He wouldn’t let her leave.
“Travis and I are over, Sam. You don’t have to protect me anymore.”
“Those were not my instructions, Caitlin,” Sam said firmly. Folding his arms across his chest, he leaned against the door. “I was specifically told not to let you step one foot out of the house. You can call Nate and verify my orders if you want.”
He held out his phone. She ignored him and headed back to the stairs. After crying her eyes out in her old room, she marched back to the master bedroom and grabbed her backpack, stuffing some of her old clothes into it. She was determined to leave everything that reminded her of her life with Travis. She could make it on her own. She had some American dollars that could get her by for a few months. She’d jump on a Greyhound bus and head west. Except she was leaving her heart behind. An overwhelming pressure squeezed the hollow muscle, gripping her chest in a painful vise. She had fallen in love with Travis Blake. It was a beautiful feeling until it wasn’t. She could almost taste the bitterness that consumed her.
Her own phone buzzed. By God, if it was Travis calling before he boarded the plane, she was going to hurl her phone against the wall.
She stared at the number; it was unknown. Intuition compelled her to answer.
“Caitlin?”
Porter.
“You fucking asshole.”
“You’ve always had a mouth on you. Go to a room where no one can hear you.”
Caitlin had no idea why she complied. Something in Porter’s voice brooked no argument. She went to their bedroom.
“What do you want?” Caitlin asked.
“What else? The coordinates.”
“Travis just told me I had three weeks to think this over.”
“Did he also tell you that I was doing this for world peace?” There was mock amusement in his tone.
“You lied to him!”
“What? About the pictures? No. Those weren’t a lie. I just didn’t tell him the whole truth.”
“What?”
“Those were taken when you and Cooper were doing undercover work.”
“And the man he’s visiting in Virginia Beach?”
Porter sighed. “That’s a wild-goose chase. We just wanted him out of the picture and to be out of reach for a while. But we had contingency plans in case he changed his mind. Worked out better, actually.”
“What do you mean?”
A text message pinged. Caitlin opened it and gasped. Travis was bound and gagged in a trunk of a car. He also looked unconscious.
“You bastard! If you hurt him—” Caitlin cried. “No, you won’t hurt him. You’re just bluffing.”
Porter sighed again. “My dear, I’m willing to unleash seven tons of weaponized plutonium to the highest bidder. You think I’d even blink about sending his fingers to you a piece at a time? If it’s any consolation, Travis changed his mind. He didn’t go to the airport and was at the BSI parking garage when my man got the jump on him.”
Caitlin felt bile rise in her throat. Why was everything going so wrong? Her words, when they came out, were a garbled whisper, “Take me.”
“Oh, we will. We just need to get rid of your guard dog.”
