Page 47 of A Touch of Treachery
I headed over to Charlotte.I didn’t look back either.
Joancheckedourgearone more time, then Charlotte and I got into the sedan.I steered the car up several long, curving ramps, then through a tunnel that rose to the ground level.The tunnel ended in a locked metal gate, which slid back at our approach.I drove the sedan through the opening, turned onto a street, and left Section headquarters.
I concentrated on the surrounding traffic and making sure no one was tailing us, while Charlotte swiped through screens on her tablet, reviewing information about the Winterfest event, the Glittertop Resort, and more.
A few hours later, I exited the interstate and navigated a series of narrow, curving, two-lane roads that wound deeper and deeper into the mountainous countryside of southwest Virginia.I had never been to this region before, and the lovely, woodsy scenery was a welcome contrast to the miles and miles of city streets and office buildings that surrounded Section headquarters.
“It’s prettier than I expected,” I said.
Charlotte stared out the windshield, a wistful look on her face.“I’ve always thought the Appalachian Mountains were particularly beautiful.Being in this area is like coming home.”
“What do you mean?”
“My father owned a cabin in this region.He would often bring me here on the weekends.”
“To relax?”
“Jack Locke, take a few days off to relax?Never.”Charlotte scoffed.“My father brought me here to train.Sometimes Gabriel and his dad would join us too, and we would spend the whole weekend playing war games.”
“You don’t sound too happy about that.”
“It was usually the only quality time I got to spend with my father between his Section missions, but even then, he was never reallyherein the moment with me.Instead of swimming, biking, or walking in the woods, my father would chase me around with a paintball gun, yelling that I needed to run faster if I didn’t want to get mock-killed.”Charlotte rubbed her left shoulder.“Those paintballshurt.They also ruined my clothes and stained my skin for days afterward.”
“What did Gabriel think about your fathers’ war games?”
“He loved them, right up to when my father persuaded his father to blindfold Gabriel and me, take us deep into a cavern, and force us to find our way out.”
I winced.“How old were you?”
“Fifteen,” she muttered.“It’s a good thing Gabriel is a phaser who can walk through walls, or we never would have gotten out of that stupid cavern.”
Her face darkened like a thundercloud, and her aura pulsed with hurt and anger, so I changed the subject.
“Did you tell Gabriel about the Winterfest mission?”
“Yeah, I texted him after we left the armory, and he was really cryptic about it.”She frowned.“At least more so than usual.”
Cryptic was one way to describe Gabriel Chase, and even his smoky gray aura didn’t reveal much about what he was thinking or feeling.The former cleaner marched to the beat of his own drum, and I envied how he had told the Section leaders to shove it, walked away from the spy world, and forged his own path.More than once, I’d thought about doing the same thing, but I’d never quite had the courage to go through with it.Perhaps Gabriel was right when he claimed that he was the better, stronger man.
I steered around a hairpin curve.The dense pine trees that lined the road vanished, the land flattened out, and a parking lot appeared, running alongside a lake.We’d made excellent time, and it was just after four o’clock.
I took a few extra seconds to back into a spot near the end of the lot, just in case we had to leap into the car and leave in a hurry.Small things like making your escape as quick and easy as possible were often the keys to surviving a mission.Although if Charlotte and I were running for our lives, we’d be lucky to get out of the hotel, much less make it back to our vehicle.
I turned off the engine and looked at Charlotte.“No matter what happens, all I care about is making sure we both live through this.Just you and me from here on out, Numbers.That’s the most important thing.”
Charlotte’s aura burned a bright, steady blue over her heart, and she grabbed my fingers and gave them a gentle squeeze.“Just you and me, Dundee—no matter what.”
We stared at each other a heartbeat longer, our mutual promise lingering in the air.Then we opened the doors and got out of the sedan.
I grabbed our luggage while Charlotte checked her phone.“Diego is set up in the surveillance van on the other side of the lake, and Gia says that strike teams have been positioned all around the area, ready to move in when we give the signal.”
I fiddled with the sapphire pin in the center of my tie.“Comms check.”
“Comms are live, and the signal is good.”Gia’s voice sounded in my ear.“You two be careful.”
Charlotte snorted.“Sure thing, Mom.”
Gia’s laughter filled my ear.
