Page 79 of Wicked Ambition

Rusty. Fuck.

The kid was doing better, but Oz would have preferred anyone else on the team. The captain’s expression when he began to argue shut Oz up fast. It was Rusty or no one.

Losing the safe house was a pain in the ass, but at least it wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t really anyone’s fault. When a team was big, had enough different vehicles, and switched positions often, it was damn near impossible to spot a tail. Petrova was one of Ivanov’s top lieutenants and he had the manpower with him in Trujillo.

Still, Oz was grateful he hadn’t been the one who gave away the safe house location. He was already skating on thin ice with the captain. This might have plunged him into the icy lake.

They’d left the sedan behind and were in an SUV with their gear in the back, including NVD. It was dusk. By the time they reached the neighborhood with the house Ayla had afeelingher sister was in, it would be completely dark. Perfect for a little recon, and the Night Vision Devices would make it easier to get in and out fast. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to confirm Iona Desmond wasn’t in the house.

Oz cast a quick glance to his right. Rusty was staring in the side mirror. Oz checked the rearview mirror. Ski was studying his phone, probably still reviewing satellite images of the neighborhood. As for Ayla, she gazed out her window, and he wondered what she was thinking. Telling the Big Dog they should look at the residence because of the security it had was bullshit. He’d done it for his Pollita.

The damn thing was that BDknewit was bullshit. Oz had been maneuvering people all his life, but his captain could always see right through him. That was some kind of mojo. At least he didn’t shut down the recon.

Not that Ayla had warmed up. She was still angry.

“I found a way in that keeps us out of the subdivision,” Ski said.

Oz was glad for the distraction. “Yeah?”

“There’s a dirt road that goes into a wooded area behind the neighborhood.”

“How close does it get us to the house?”

“We’d be less than a klick away.”

A kilometer through rainforest-type vegetation. It wouldn’t be a fast in and out. That meant more time with Rusty being Ayla’s only protection. Oz didn’t like it.

“Any alternatives?”

Ski lifted his head and their gazes met briefly in the rearview mirror. “Yeah, driving into the subdivision, parking on the street, going up to the house, and ringing the doorbell.”

Oz’s scowl deepened. “Why’s there a dirt road? What’s in there?”

“I can’t see anything on the satellite shots. It might be an abandoned utility road.”

“Or there might be something hidden by the ground cover.”

“There is that possibility. Your call, dude.”

His call. The neighborhood where they were sure to attract the attention of someone who would alert the authorities or a dirt road that they couldn’t be certain was abandoned. Maybe a residence in there, hidden by trees. Maybe something else.

“Wiz,” Rusty said, “that green car has been behind us for a while now. You got him?”

Oz looked in the rearview mirror again. “The sedan with the flaking paint on the hood?”

“That’s the one.”

They were going through the industrial area, and it was nearly time for the second shift to report. There was a lot of traffic. It was also getting dark fast and they were already driving with the headlights on. He needed to find out if the car was following them before night set in and it became impossible to pick it out. At the next intersection, Oz made a right turn.

In the rear mirror, he saw the sedan continue going straight.

Oz went around the block until he put them back on the main thoroughfare. While it was second nature to look for tails, he put more effort into it now. They’d been careful leaving the safe house. None of them should have been spotted, but some of the dudes working for Ivanov were former Spetsnaz,Russian Special Forces.

He took more turns, more evasive maneuvers. The green car didn’t reappear before it became too dark to identify anyonebehind them. It must have just been headed in the same direction they were, but it put him on edge.

“We’ll go in on the road you found,” Oz told Ski. “Give me some directions.”

“Copy that.”

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