“And someone’s coming.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know,” the agent said. “The voice was all garbled. But someone definitely picked up.”
A low metallic groan had everyone turning toward the entrance. The gate was tall—at least fifteen feet—and it slid open slowly on a rusty wheel.
A stocky man in a white hard hat walked out. He wore mud-streaked jeans and a fluorescent orange vest. He stopped short when he spied the group of cops in tactical gear. His hands shot into the air, and he let loose a stream of Spanish.
“Shit.” Raddick looked around. “Anyone speak Spanish?”
Driscoll walked over and started talking to the guy, clearly trying to calm him down. The man kept his hands above his head as Driscoll did a quick pat-down. Then they spoke for a few moments, and Driscoll showed the man something on his phone. The man nodded.
Driscoll pointed to the nearest stack of tires, and the guy cast another wary look at the cops before walking over and taking a seat on the ground.
Driscoll tromped back over, tucking his phone into his pocket. “He’s here.”
“Who?” Emmet asked.
“McVoy. This guy identified him from a photo. Said he got here about twenty minutes ago and he was alone.”
Emmet shot a look at Owen.
“How did he get here?” Owen asked.
“In a silver car.”
A silver car. Such as the one that had been tailing Nicole this week? Emmet glanced over his shoulder to where she leaned against the squad car, talking on the phone with someone—presumably Brady—while watching him intently. She’d put the Kevlar vest on at least, but she did not look happy to be on the sidelines.
Well, that was too bad. Emmet didn’t like her presence here at all, and his concern for her safety was a huge distraction when he needed to be focused on the mission.
“Where is he now?” Owen asked the agent.
“In sector five. Cinco, he said. He told me that’s the far northwest corner of the property. He drove over there in his car.”
“And what’s he doing here?” Emmet asked.
Driscoll shook his head. “The guy claims he doesn’t know, so that’s as far as I got. I think he’s scared shitless. I get the impression McVoy paid him off to let him in here in the first place.”
“We need to get in there,” Emmet said.
“Shouldn’t we wait for backup?” the tech guy said.
“No time,” Driscoll responded. “She could be alive.”
“We’re burning time already,” Owen added. “And the longer we stand around, the more we risk McVoy figuring out we’re here, and then we lose the element of surprise.”
“Let’s try to keep the temperature down, okay?” Raddick looked around as everyone checked their weapons. “We want him in custody, not dead. We need to question him.”
That wasn’t Emmet’s top priority, but he didn’t waste time arguing.
“We need to move now,” Emmet said. “How far away is sector five? We talking half a mile? What?”
“I didn’t ask,” Driscoll said. “Let’s take the cars. They’ll provide cover in case he’s armed.”
Owen sneered. “This guy makes war toys for the DoD. You bet your ass he’s armed.”
***