Geri Krotow - Secret Agent Under Fire

“He had backup and got away.”

“I’ll be seeing Abi when I get to my office. She’s not going to be in a great mood then, I take it.”

“Most certainly not. And her run-in with Keith Paruso didn’t help.”

“Keith?” Claudia laughed. “He strikes me as incredibly personable, especially considering what he’s been through since last year.”

“Personable to you when he thought you were an admin assistant for the PD’s social media, sure. But on the morning after being up all night waiting for a suspected serial arsonist to strike, and then not catching the criminal?”

Colt laughed with her. His laugh reminded her of how he chuckled whenever he visibly aroused her, how his strong profile had been backlit by the sunset this weekend at the shore. When they’d had dessert before dinner and gone to her private back deck to make love before the day was done.

“Claudia?”

“Sorry. I was just thinking about something else.”

“I know. Me, too.”

Chapter 3

They’d run all around him but never found him. The “rabbit” Mr. Wise had hired, the decoy who made it look like someone else had set the fire, was long gone on the ATV. His back and thighs ached from being in such an uncomfortable position for hours, waiting to verify that the blaze had been set and the message sent to the ignoramuses who were Silver Valley PD and Silver Valley FD. He felt smart, clever that he’d evaded them and was able to get here, to the safe haven Mr. Wise had made for them.

The trailer park looked like any other mobile home neighborhood in America. Neat roads, similarly decorated miniature front yards with flags and animal statues—no silly decorations like gnomes or fairies. Mr. Wise said they were of the devil. But the real difference in their neighborhood was the people. They were all saved from society’s ills, all living together in the New Thought community for the same purpose. To save the people of the world from their sins, their evil. Mr. Wise said their job was to warn folks.

“What do you mean he was seen by the police?” Leonard Wise’s eyes bulged from red-rimmed sockets and his hands were gnarled balls of flesh and arthritic bone as they rested on the recliner he sat in. They were in the trailer no one was ever allowed in without the escort of Wise’s two main brothers. He figured they were like bodyguards, but Mr. Wise was doing what was right for the people of Silver Valley. He needn’t fear their wrath or harm from them.

But Lionel feared Mr. Wise right now.

“Sir, I don’t mean to alarm you. They got away. The plan went as predicted.”

“Predicted?” Spittle flew out of Wise’s mouth, and one of the New Thought sisters who stood behind the recliner reached forward and gently dabbed the old man’s mouth. He batted her ministrations away. “Leave me, woman! Both of you, go!” The women, no older than Lionel’s teenage granddaughters, scuffled out of the room, eyes downcast.

Who was going to wipe Wise’s mouth now?

“We don’t leave our mission to prediction! I’ve told you once, I’ve told you twice, I’ve told you a million times to eternity, Lionel. When I give you an order it’s not for me, for anyone, but for the good of the people! And the evil is rising in Silver Valley. We can’t afford any mistakes. And it was a mistake this morning, I say! If the law-enforcement demons got that close to our decoys, you failed! Why didn’t you stand up and let them get you while you were at it?”

Sweat that had gathered on his upper lip and in the middle of his back started to bead and drip off him. Lionel fought to retain control of his bowels. Mr. Wise didn’t mean...

“Get him out of here! You will repent, Lionel, repent!”

Lionel heard a scream that sounded like a woman in childbirth but also on the brink of death. As the brothers surrounded him and grabbed him by the arms and legs, he realized the sound was coming from him.

“No, no, not the place of peace! Please, I tell you, the operation went fine! Please!” He started to sob but it was too late. In a few short minutes he was shoved into the back of a windowless van and shaken about as it made its way up into the deepest parts of the Appalachian Mountains that surrounded Silver Valley.

* * *

Abi was summoned to Trail Hiker headquarters the day after she’d allowed the arsonist to escape. Claudia hadn’t seemed upset with her yesterday at SVPD headquarters, but then again, Claudia was a professional. If she were about to reprimand Abi or, worse, fire her, she wouldn’t do it in front of anyone else. Especially not at SVPD or anywhere outside of Trail Hiker spaces. After all, it was a secret agency that didn’t officially exist.

Inhaling deeply, she steeled herself against self-recrimination and entered her personal code into the outside door lock, after which she entered a very small, confined space in front of the real entry. As she peered into the retinal scanner and placed her finger atop the print reader, she tried to convince herself that she wasn’t about to get fired. Claudia might be angry at the situation but Abi hadn’t been hired so much to apprehend the suspect in the field as to get inside his or her mind.

The door beeped before the loud clicks of several locks opening. When the light panel glowed green, Abi turned the lever handle and opened the twelve-inch-thick steel door into the reception area. She still wasn’t used to the plush appointments in the Trail Hikers headquarters office. Located in an office park on the outskirts of Silver Valley, it was minutes from Harrisburg and within twenty miles of several local, private runways. Trail Hiker agents were flown all over the world to participate in time-critical missions. It was far enough from the obvious headquarter sites like New York City and DC to be safe from prying eyes and collateral damage from a terrorist strike, but close enough to get to either place quickly.

Apparently there were a lot of missions at the moment as she felt the practiced, faux-casual glances of several persons seated on the leather chairs in the waiting area. She stepped to the high desk and spoke quietly.

“Hi, Laurel. I’m Claudia’s eight o’clock.”

“Yes, good morning. She’s on the phone. As soon as she’s free I’ll let you in.” Laurel was strikingly beautiful and looked like she could be a supermodel if she wanted to. But Abi suspected she was also trained to handle the worst of situations—all associated with Trail Hikers needed to be able to pull for the team. It was what had appealed to her when Claudia had first approached her for TH work. Abi had been certain she was done with law enforcement but knew she was going to miss the camaraderie she’d come to rely upon in the FBI. And, since her TH work was supposedly part-time, the generous paycheck and benefits allowed her to pursue her other passions as she’d never been able to do as an FBI agent.

Problem was that she had no idea what her passions were. She’d signed up for a yoga class, taken floral arrangement workshops, worked at the local pet rescue, but none of those endeavors had sparked any sense of her true calling.

Not like working for the Trail Hikers did.

“Claudia’s ready for you, Abi. Go on in.”

“Thanks.”

The thick, soundproof doors clicked shut behind her as she entered Claudia’s sleekly decorated office. CEO of Trail Hikers, Ltd., and retired US Marine Corps General, Claudia Michele looked ready to take on the biggest shark of Wall Street in her Armani suit and designer pumps. While her shoes weren’t five-or even four-inch heels, Claudia wore them better than women decades younger.

“Good morning, Abi. Have a seat.”

Claudia’s perfectly manicured hand motioned to the chrome-and-leather set of chairs in front of her executive desk. Abi held back a grin. She doubted Claudia’s manicurist knew the same hands had probably not only fired deadly weapons but were able to kill without any weapons other than Claudia’s skill and quick thinking.