Maybe Syd wasn’t looking in all the right areas.
“If Devast knows you’re with me, he could be tracking you,” she said. Literally, damn it. He could have a direct feed into the small tracking device that she’d implanted in Drew’s back. “If the EOD is compromised,” she said as more bullets flew, “then you’re compromised.” Because Devast had definitely outed his identity. “We have to deactivate the tracker.”
The only way to deactivate it was to cut the tracker out of Drew.
“Not yet. I want him tracking me.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her down the hallway. “First order of business—staying alive.”
Wait! He knew Devast was following his GPS signal? His mocking challenge for Devast to “track” him made chilling sense to her.
Drew led Tina into a back room. The windows were boarded up. As far as exit strategies went, this sure wasn’t looking like a good one to her.
He tossed aside the faded rug that had been spread over the floor.
With the rug gone, Tina easily saw the trapdoor in the floor. “Is that a basement?”
He hauled up the trapdoor. The hinges groaned. “It’s our escape plan. You didn’t think we’d actually bring you to this place without being sure we could get you out alive?”
The sound of gunfire still thundered from the other rooms. “But what about Rachel and Dylan?”
“They’re coming. They’re just leaving a little something for Devast.” His eyes glittered at her. “We needed to buy some time, so we had to lay the trap.”
What?
“After what he said on the phone back at the hotel, I figured he was tracking me, and I wanted that SOB to follow me here.” His fingers tightened around the door. “Because here, the guy will realize that he can’t just stand back and let his flunkies chase after us.”
Rachel and Dylan burst into the room. “They’re set. Let’s go.”
What was set?
“We’re going to use some of HAVOC’s own techniques against them.” Drew took her hand. “There’s a tunnel under this house. Stick with me. Stay low.”
A tunnel? With dust and mold and— Breathe. In. Out. She had her medicine. This was fine. She could handle a tunnel. She had to. Tina nodded quickly and hurried down with him.
There wasn’t any dust. No mold, either. Just a small, narrow tunnel, maybe three feet tall and three feet wide. She had to crawl, and she did it, double-timing her movements so that she could get out of there as fast as possible.
The sound of their breathing seemed loud in that small space. Rachel was leading the group. Tina was right behind her, with Drew following close. Dylan closed in the back.
“We’re clear,” Rachel said. She’d stopped. She shoved open another trapdoor, one that led them into the darkened interior of yet another house.
Tina scrambled from the tunnel. Drew grabbed her hand. “Easy. We’re about a quarter of a mile away, and we don’t want to do anything that would give away our position.”
So they stayed in the dark. She quickly realized that they’d already stocked this house. Food. Water. First-aid equipment. Binoculars. Night-vision equipped, of course. These agents were definitely prepared.
Rachel took the binoculars and peered through the thin blinds that lined a narrow window. “They’re surrounding the house. Do it.”
“Do what?” Tina asked, almost afraid to find out. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness enough for Tina to see Dylan pull a small box from his pocket.
“Time for Devast to experience some HAVOC of his own,” Drew said. His arm brushed against hers.
Dylan pressed a button. An explosion seemed to rock the street. Through the blinds, Tina saw the flare of fire flash high up into the night.
The house they’d been in had just exploded.
“They’re falling back,” Rachel whispered.
Yeah, because the fire was driving them back.
Drew’s fingers slid down her arm. “He tried to kill you with a bomb before, so we just gave him what he wanted.”
She turned toward him, frowning. “Are you sure Devast is going to believe this? You think he’ll buy that I’m dead?”
He pulled a knife from the sheath strapped to his ankle. “No, I think the explosion will just make him even angrier. And when he sees my GPS signal moving fast soon, he’s going to track it. He’ll come after me with everything he’s got.”
Instead of letting Tina be the bait in this deadly game, Drew was using himself. “Why?” she whispered.
“Because I don’t want you in his sights.”
And she realized why he hadn’t told her about this plan sooner. Because he didn’t intend to use her to finish this investigation. She’d agreed to cooperate, but he was the one calling the shots. He wanted her out of Devast’s path, and he’d just blown up a house to make sure Devast couldn’t get to her.
Drew offered her the knife, handle-first. “I need you to cut the tracker out of me. You know it emits a signal that covers a one-mile radius, not an exact location, so, for the moment he’ll think I could be in that blaze.”
Her fingers closed around the knife. “What are you going to do with the tracker?”
A muscle jerked in his jaw. “Rachel and Dylan are going to take it. They’ll lure Devast into Mercer’s web, and I’ll take you out of here. No signal will link back to you and me. You’ll be safe.” His eyes glittered at her. “My job is to protect you. That’s what I’m doing.” He stripped off his shirt and turned his back to her.
Rachel and Dylan hurried into the other room, saying they had to check in with Mercer.
The knife’s handle was cold. Her fingers were slippery with sweat. She rose onto her toes. She knew exactly where Drew’s tracker was located because she’d been the one to implant it. The blade sliced over his skin.
The guy didn’t flinch.
Carefully, she pulled out the tiny device.
“Here.” Rachel was back with bandages. Tina gave her the tracker and began to patch up Drew.
“We’ll rendezvous just like we planned?” Rachel asked him as she pocketed the tracker.
“Dawn,” Drew agreed with a curt nod.
Rachel glanced toward Tina. “This is the best way. Mercer agreed. The big boss wants to make sure Devast can’t ever threaten you or anyone else in the EOD ever again.” Rachel nodded once more and then she was gone.
Tina smoothed the bandage over Drew’s back. The knife was still in her left hand. His blood was on the blade.