Page 51 of Invincible
“Okay, thanks.You can head off, we’ve got the next shift.”
“Will do.Have a good rest of your morning.”Dex watched as they pulled away from the curb, heading back to headquarters.Turning back toward his car, he found Knox leaning against the outside of the passenger door, glaring at the hotel door.“Get back inside.You stick out like a beacon.”
With a growl, Knox jerked open the door, slumping back down on the seat.Dex figured this would be a miserable stakeout for his giant partner, but there was no other option.
They had been watching the hotel for around four hours, taking turns walking to the convenience store around the corner for snacks and the bathroom, when the back door of the sedan opened.Tyler slipping into the back seat made both men jump out of the stupors they had been lulled into in their boredom.
“Shit, Ty!Where did you come from?”Knox asked, spinning around as best as he could in the front seat.
“From the Uber who dropped me off behind you.Are you sure you two are working?”She dropped a sack from one of the local delis in each man’s lap before settling back in the seat.“I thought you might be getting hungry by now.”She laughed when both men tore into their sandwiches.
“Did you learn anything new?”Dex asked around a mouthful of pastrami.
“They officially dock tonight to unload.They should start loading tomorrow.”
“Fuck,” Knox said between bites.“Is that it?”
“Well, I didn’t have my male stripper with me this time, so I took what I could get.”
Knox raised his eyebrows at Dex, who just shrugged.
“Anyway,” Knox continued, refocusing on Tyler.“Nice job, it’s more than we’ve got.At least we’ll know where they’ll be if we can’t find them before then.We’ll just have to come up with plan B or C or whatever we’re on at this point.”
“At least we have everyone on board now.We’re not just dangling out here on our own anymore.Babe, you want the pickle?”Dex asked, handing the deli spear in his sack to the back seat.Knox looked back over at Dex with his eyebrows raised again.This time, the FBI agent simply rolled his eyes before turning back around.“There they are,” he said, tossing the remainder of his sandwich back in the bag.
Starting the car, he waited until the truck turned out of the parking lot before pulling away from the curb.He followed it, careful to keep enough distance back, so they didn’t notice the nondescript sedan behind them.Knox sat forward with anticipation, though Dex noticed he did manage to finish everything in the sack Tyler brought him.
They slowly threaded through traffic until they stopped at the docks, watching the truck pull in.Flashing their work permits, they followed until they were forced to stop or be discovered.
“Well,” Dex said as they watched the crew board a small runabout to take them out to the ship.
“Yeah, well,” Knox said in agreement.
“Now what do we do?”Tyler asked.
“I’ll have someone sit outside the gate in case they come back out.In the meantime, I think we had better come up with plan B.”With a sigh, Dex turned the car around, heading back toward the gate.
When they reached Tyler’s apartment, they all traipsed upstairs.She grabbed three beers out of the refrigerator while the men settled on the couch.
“Okay, Dex,” she said, flopping down on the lounge chair.“What’s plan B?”Dex sat in silence for a few minutes while they studied him.
He knew the FBI couldn’t raid the ship without just cause and he only had the word of a man who could shift himself across space in the form of a hologram.He barely believed it, having seen it happen himself.He knew no one from the Houston office would give him the time of day with that unbelievable story.He also knew “trust me, I know what I’m doing” didn’t ever end well.Finally, he turned, meeting both of their eyes in turn.
“I think we need to get on that ship.”
