Page 79 of Midnight Secrets

There was just enough of a silence to annoy Blake. Had the moron already forgotten their code?

“Ah. Okay. In Washington?”

Blake closed his eyes. Kearns would be the next to go. He wasn’t smart enough to take part in phase two, let alone phases three and four. “No, where her nest is.”

Portland.

“Nestnest?”

Meaning—in her home?

“Any objections?” Blake asked coldly.

“Well…she, um, seems to have made friends with a—a lot of people on her street. Maybe they’d report right away if something—something happens to her. Or someone might…interfere. I think we should, um, isolate her.”

“None of that was in your reports. That she had made friends on her street.”

“No, um. I didn’t think it was worth mentioning.”

A small vein throbbed in Blake’s temple. At the first opportunity, Kearns wasgone.But for the moment, Kearns was on the ground and right now, Blake felt that he should be moving fast. Eliminate this small threat before it grew into a big threat.

“Okay. I’ll call her before the meeting and say I have to meet her downtown. Say at the bar of the Hotel Monaco. In the meantime, book a room in her name at the cheapest motel you can find. Here’s her credit card information—” Blake read off Isabel’s VISA number. He kept close tabs on her. It pleased him that she had very little in her checking and savings accounts. “I’ll email you a prescription for twenty capsules of Trevilor. Little Miss Dove is going to have a sad ending. Any questions?”

He’d better not have questions.

“No, sir.”

Next Blake spoke to his pilot and arranged a noon departure for Portland, a six-hour flight, arrival 3:00 p.m. local time. Plenty of time to get set up. He’d arrange for a five p.m. meeting.

Once Isabel was eliminated he’d fly straight back to DC, where at least four people would swear in court that he’d never left.

He paid them more than enough for a little perjury.

11

“Comms check, again,” Joe ordered.

Isabel didn’t complain, didn’t roll her eyes. As if she’d been an undercover agent for the past ten years, she simply ran through their systems one more time. The tenth time. Eyes focused, no wasted movements, completely serious.

An operator.

“Check,” Felicity said.

Okay. It was late afternoon and they were in the back of Three Windows and Jacko’s friend had been absolutely ace. They had the placed fully wired. Nothing was going to happen that they didn’t know about. Joe had personally tested the metal detector at the front door, going through again and again with a weapon, with a knife, with knuckle-dusters. You couldn’t tell it was a metal detector and what he was carrying only showed up on Felicity’s screen at the back.

The metal detector worked.

If the fucker showed up with a fucking metal toothpick Joe was going to be all over him, he didn’t give a fuck if he blew the op.

The place was positively seeded with mini-mikes, almost invisible, incredibly powerful. Several were going to be piped into Bud Morrison’s office, an ASI friend. Former marine, now head of the homicide department and slated to become police commissioner soon.

Bud was chomping at the bit, as was Nick. Neither of them was territorial, either. Both of them just wanted to take that fucker down. They didn’t care who got the credit.

This was a team just raring to go. Even ex-CIA guy was communicating with Felicity via computer.

Everything depended on Isabel. He shot her a glance. The hot sexy woman he’d made love to last night was gone. In her place was a serious woman willing to risk her life to bring a criminal down.

They’d gone over the plan again and again and she knew every step, every facet. She’d had Felicity walk her through the eyes and ears they’d have until she understood everything.

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