Relief washes over me. At least Durango is safe for now. If someone is watching him, they will know where he works and might follow him home. I grab my phone and send him a text message asking him to promise me he won’t walk home alone.
I get a response an hour later that he will be careful. I roll my eyes. Of course he won’t ask someone to walk him home. He’s trained for this. I keep telling myself that over and over.
After a few times, I feel a little better. I grab my laptop and get back to work. I’m fortunate that, as a computer programmer, I can work from any remote location. I spend the rest of the day catching up on work.
Durango sends me a message when he leaves work. I’m thankful for that. That means he’ll be here soon. And if he’s not, I’m going to insist Axel go out and look for him.
CHAPTER 22
Durango
I chuckle to myself,thinking of Willow’s text asking me to have someone walk with me. Thunder had to leave on an assignment, and no one else was around when I left. Honestly, I don’t need a babysitter. Hell, I’ve escaped much worse than someone potentially following me.
As soon as I got in earlier, I called Harding to find out if anything new developed with the Belarus assignment. My gut says that’s not resolved. Most likely, I’m being paranoid since Damien divulged so much information to me. Considering we still don’t know who shot him or if someone with us was involved, anyone could have overheard him talking to me and want what he shared. Or what they think he shared.
But how would anyone find me here in New York? I don’t use my real name on assignments.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I grab it. Harding. Finally.
“Hey—”
“Durango, I got your message,” she cuts me off. “As I mentioned, the authorities in Minsk released Nancy and Sylvia. We have no idea where they are. Also, the weapons are gone. A team went to the coordinates you gave me, but there was nothing there.”
I stop. “Wait, did they follow the instructions about going to the house and then going down into the basement?”
“They did. There was evidence someone had been there recently, but there were no weapons.”
The hairs on the back of my neck go up. “I think I’m being followed again.”
I spin around but only see a mother and her young daughter. They walk past me.
“Again? Is this why you sent me that photo? My search turned up nothing on him.”
“I thought he was following me, but I could have been wrong. Did Nancy and Sylvia leave together?” I ask.
“That’s what my contact told me.”
“Huh. That seems odd to me.”
“Me too,” Harding says. “If some woman admitted to having an affair with my man and was pregnant, I wouldn’t willingly go anywhere with her. Unless I was going to hurt the woman.”
I move toward the building, place my back to the wall, and watch the people all around. The sense someone is watching me is strong.
“Why did they release Nancy and Sylvia?”
Harding sighs. “I was told there was no evidence either was in danger or responsible for Damien’s death, so they had no choice but to let them go.”
“Have you made any progress in figuring out who killed Damien?”
“No, and frankly, I don’t need to. His boss is Stanvich, and the weapons are missing. That’s what I’m focusing on.”
Two men speed past on bicycles. No one has even glanced in my direction while I’ve been watching.
“But what if the person who killed Damien is the one who took the weapons?”
She sighs. “Okay, this is just between us, but my working theory is that Stanvich is somehow behind Damien’s death. He wanted to take out any loose ends that could connect him to the weapons.”
“Except Damien told me.”
