Hill, Gerri: Angel Fire

Cameron glanced at Rowan. “Not really.”

“The man’s name was Charles McDaniel,” Rowan said.

“The name on the credit card,” Eric said, nodding. “Not a coincidence.”

“Wait a minute,” Tori said. “If he had this house all along, why the hell did he hide out at an abandoned property?”

“I don’t know,” Cameron said. “Maybe he was just trying to lay low for a while. This rental property is in a residential area. Since his face has been all over the news, maybe he didn’t want to take a chance on being seen.”

“Have you contacted Murdock? We should get the other agencies involved,” Reynolds said.

“No way,” Cameron said. “Do we want another incident like we had at the house?” She shook her head. “We do surveillance, we do a stakeout.”

“I think we should—”

“Reynolds, it’s a residential area. You get a hundred cops out there, what do you think is going to happen?”

“What does Murdock say?”

“He says it’s my call,” Cameron said. “It’ll be a goddamn bloodbath if we storm the place.”

“If we surround the house, give him no escape route, then—”

“Angel won’t go down without a fight,” she said.

“Then what do you suggest?”

Cameron glanced at Sam, then at Reynolds. “We need to take him out. Quietly. Not give him a chance to kill anyone else.”

“Make him the target?”

“Yes.”

Reynolds eyed her. “And you’ll do this?”

Cameron let out a deep breath. She’d long ago given up her role as a sniper. But when she’d spoken to Murdock earlier, they agreed that trying to take him by force would only result in more deaths. There had been enough killing. There was only one more person who would die. And that was Angel Figueroa. So she nodded, taking the time to look at each of them. Andrea acknowledged her decision with a subtle nod, and she was surprised that Sam did as well.

“Okay. Then what’s our plan?” he asked.

“We’ll do like we did at that old waterpark in Barstow. Go in after dark. Wireless earpieces and wrist mics again,” she said. “Rowan’s been working on it already.”

“What about surveillance?” Eric asked.

“I’ve put together a series of satellite images of the area,” Rowan said. “You can get familiar with it and decide how you want to stake it out. It’s an older neighborhood. One thing that probably made it appealing to him is that there are very few streetlights. None near the house.”

“We’ll need another car,” Cameron said. “I want three posts. I think we can cover several blocks and still be safe.” Cameron looked at Sam. “And I think you should stay here with Rowan.”

“No,” Sam said with a quick shake her head. “I understand this is an FBI mission, but I’m going with you. I’ll stay in the car like before, but I’m going.”

Cameron had figured that would be the case, but she thought she would suggest it anyway. So she nodded, then pointed at Eric. “I’ll leave it to you to get us another car.”

“You got it.” Eric paused. “Will we use the thermal imaging like we did in Barstow?”

“We’ll need to, yes. It’ll probably be the only way I get a clean shot,” she said. She glanced over at Tori, who had been exceptionally quiet, then to Sam. “I know this seems nothing like police work,” she said. “But we’ve been given the go-ahead to take Angel out. I’m not really crazy about it…but it is what it is.”

Sam met her gaze head on. “If you’re giving a disclaimer on my account, don’t bother. I know what the situation is.”

Cameron nodded. “Just so you know, we did toss around the idea of you negotiating with Angel.”

Sam gave her a half smile. “I don’t think that would make any difference.”

“No. Probably not.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

Tori shifted in her seat as Cameron pulled to a stop a block and a half from the rental house.

“Appears to be the same white Ford,” Eric said.

Tori touched her earpiece, pushing it more securely into her ear. “Wonder why he didn’t ditch the car?” she asked.

“Maybe he thought it was safer to keep it than try to get another one,” Cameron said.

“How long do we wait?” Reynolds asked.

“Full dark,” Cameron said.

Tori leaned back in the seat and tried to relax. Full dark would be another twenty minutes, at least.

The house was on a corner lot. The neighborhood was older and appeared to be mostly rentals. The nearest streetlight was two blocks away. Past the house in the opposite direction, Reynolds and Eric were parked. And down a side street, behind the house, Andrea and Sam were in the new rental car Eric had picked up. She and Cameron had a visual of the house and she assumed Eric and Reynolds did too.

Tori had really hoped that Cameron would insist that Sam stay behind. Hell, she had mentioned it herself, but Sam had been adamant about going. Tori wasn’t sure if it was because Sam wanted to be there in case something happened to her or if Sam wanted some sort of closure because of Angel. She knew Sam was harboring some guilt over Angel’s escape. If things worked out the way Cameron planned, this whole thing would be over with tonight. And soon.

“I can’t get crap with this thing,” Cameron said. “We’re too far away from the house to zone in.”

“The thermal imaging?” Eric asked.

“Yeah. Hell, I’m picking up signals from all over. The neighbors appear to be having dinner,” she said.

“Why did you let Eric have the night vision goggles?” Tori asked.

“Because she’s got that toy,” Eric answered. “I’ll need to get closer too, though.”

Cameron held up the monitor for her to see. “I think this might be the house,” she said, pointing to a cluster. “If so, there’s more than one person in there.”

* * *

Andrea glanced over at Sam who had become increasingly quiet. Her blond hair rustled in the breeze as she continued to stare out her opened window. They had turned their mics off when they’d first headed out and conversation between them had come easily. She found Sam to be quite engaging, and she knew that if given the chance, they could become friends.

But there was one thing they had not mentioned. The plan was to take out Angel. Plain and simple. Sam had been noncommittal during the planning stage for tonight’s mission, simply listening and not contributing. Part of that, of course, was that she was not FBI and not really a part of the mission. Andrea wondered if there wasn’t more to it.

“Do you have reservations about all this?” In the shadows, she could barely make out Sam’s expression, but she saw her nod.

“I’m a cop,” Sam said. “Only on TV is the only option shoot to kill.”

“I know what you mean,” Andrea admitted. “I told you how I felt about being judge and jury. It’s not something I believe in. And for all of Cameron’s bravado, she hates it too. Her training, her experience in the military has prepared her for this, though.” She sighed. “It’s disturbing to think that we’re staking out this house, waiting to move on it so that we can kill him instead of capture him.”

“Yes, it is. It seems so far removed from law enforcement,” Sam said.

Andrea nodded. “Murdock’s teams are far removed from it. I’ve only met Reynolds’s team, not the other. I know Cameron, of course. And Reynolds, he would never take advantage of the carte blanche Murdock gives them. But I would imagine it puts a lot of pressure on Murdock to make sure he has the right people on his teams.”

“And not have someone who thinks they are always above the law? Yes, I guess it is a fine line to walk.” Sam tilted her head, watching her. “Do you think that may be why Cameron is ready to settle down and leave the FBI?”