Chapter 11: Evasive Maneuvers
Mac darted into the house and found Frank and Trish both in his office.
"Sarah, is something wrong?" Trish asked when she saw the look on Mac's face.
Mac's experiences dealing with Webb and the CIA in general were flooding her mind now and she instantly became paranoid of everything. She was about to answer Trish when Harm's voice from her dream rang in her mind. Watch… She'd presumed that he was saying watch out and she'd woken up before he could get the whole phrase out, but what if the warning had been something entirely different. She held her finger to her lips for a moment to signal them to be quiet. She grabbed a pen and notepad from Frank's desk. She quickly wrote WHERE'S HARM'S WATCH? and showed it to Trish. Again, she held her finger to her lips.
Trish pointed to the living room. Mac tucked the notepad and pen into her back pocket as she moved to the other room and spotted the watch on the mantle. It sat beside his GULC grad ring and a photo of him from when he'd graduated Annapolis. Mac picked the watch up and examined it closely.
Her mouth went dry and her stomach twisted when she spotted it. The back of the watch was slightly lifted on one side. She pulled a pocket knife from her jeans and carefully pried the back off the watch. She didn't realize she had stopped breathing as she looked at the inner workings; the tiny transmitter would have gone unnoticed if someone didn't know what to look for. Luckily, she had enough experience dealing with CIA ops to know what it was. They had put a tracking device in his watch, and Mac had hand delivered it to Harm's mother.
It didn't make sense that the CIA would be the ones behind him going missing, but she didn't have time to figure out the details right now; every cell in her body was screaming at her that she needed to get Trish and Frank somewhere safe. She snapped the back of the watch into place and returned it to the mantle. She turned to Trish and Frank who had followed her into the room. She pulled the notepad and pen from her pocket and wrote quickly. HAVE TO LEAVE. IN DANGER. She showed the message to them and they nodded silently.
Frank went back to his office and returned a moment later with a purse which he handed to Trish. He looked at Mac and rubbed his thumb back and forth across the tips of his index and middle fingers. She understood; the bag was full of cash. He was smart; he knew they wouldn't be able to use credit cards if they were trying to disappear. She nodded as she returned the notepad to her pocket.
As they left the house and made their way to the driveway, Mac caught herself feeling proud of how they were both behaving. Frank had his arm lightly wrapped around Trish's waist and they were both smiling and acting perfectly casual. From beside them, she could see that the smiles didn't touch either of their eyes, but anyone watching from a distance wouldn't be able to tell that. When they climbed into Frank's SUV, they could have been heading out on a coffee run or leaving for a late breakfast. Mac scribbled NEED TO CHANGE CARS. SOMEWHERE DISCRETE. and showed it to Frank. He simply nodded as he backed out of the driveway and turned away from the house.
It was a silent ride, they all understood that there were too many places where something could be hidden in the car. Mac's head was on a swivel as she tried to look in every direction at once to identify if anyone was following them. Before long, Frank parked beside the curb of a block full of industrial looking buildings. They got out and the women followed him when he began walking west. Mac appreciated the fact that he was clever enough to not park wherever they were heading. Halfway to the next cross street, he abruptly led them down a narrow lane between two buildings which twisted around and brought them out on the east side of the block where he led them north.
"We'll need something fast. I'd rather outrun someone than try to out ram them. Especially with the two of you in the car," Mac told him quietly as they crossed a street and took another twisting laneway that changed their direction while they were obscured from the view of anyone who might be watching from the street.
"I have just the thing," he told her. He led them down several blocks before taking an alley that led them to the back door of a warehouse. As they approached the door, he pulled his keys from his pocket and got them into the building without any undue fussing with the lock. Mac mentally noted that it opened particularly smoothly given how rundown the rest of the building appeared. The interior was dimly lit by the grimy, ceiling level windows and it took Mac's eyes a moment to adjust. She saw a variety of vehicles parked in the space. A quick count gave her sixteen ranging from sports cars to minivans.
Frank pointed to a black Dodge Durango with darkly tinted windows. "That's our ride," he told Mac and Trish as he went towards a desk in the corner of the warehouse. He spoke to the security guard who had been silently watching them as they crossed the room. The man handed him a set of keys before shaking his hand. Frank came to the car and unlocked it. "If you don't mind, I'll drive, Sarah. I have tactical driving training, but I don't have weapons experience."
Mac nodded, though she cringed at the thought of them being caught in a literal crossfire. Besides, all she had was the sidearm that was tucked into her ankle holster. If things went sideways, she would definitely be outgunned. Which meant that they needed to focus on avoiding a situation where force was the only option.
They got in and Mac immediately noticed the lack of sound from outside the vehicle. "Has this been modified?"
"You could say that" Frank said as he snapped his seatbelt into place. He started the truck and Mac could more feel the throaty rumble of the engine than hear it. Frank turned towards the far side of the building rather than heading toward the garage door in front of them. Mac looked at him curiously. "It was ordered for some high-level dignitary who was supposed to be coming to the States from, uh, let's say an unfriendly area of the world. The trip got cancelled after we got the customization package completed so the buyer never took delivery of the truck."
"How unfriendly?" Mac probed.
"Unfriendly enough that I tried to block the sale and custom job from happening," Frank acknowledged with a glance at her as he stopped just before the north wall of the warehouse. "I'm glad now that I got outvoted."
Mac looked around as a slight lurch jostled the truck. She realized that they were on an elevator platform and were dropping down below the building. She brought her eyes back to Frank who grinned.
"What, you think the military and CIA are the only ones in the world who have tricks up their sleeve?" he quipped. "There's a tunnel down here that connects to the underground parking lot of the office building across the street. We'll blend into the traffic better if we leave from the other building," he explained. The look on her face told him that wasn't going to cut it. "This place used to be an executive carwash; the bigwigs from the office building would have the valets bring their cars over through the tunnel to get detailed while they were at work. Going underground meant the cars were less likely to be damaged moving from one building to the other. We came across this place a few years ago, bought it and converted it into a custom shop for quietly fulfilling high security modification orders. We thought it would be a good idea to hang onto the built-in discrete egress route."
"Nice," Mac grinned back at him. "So just how customized is this beast?"
"V12 Hemi engine from a Viper for starters, reinforced frame, bulletproof, high performance steering and stability package, soundproofing so nothing inside can be heard outside, the tires can run with zero psi for up to fifty miles before they're in danger of shredding apart, oversized gas tank so it can drive a hell of a distance before it needs to stop for gas despite being a 12, and it's undercarriage is modified and reinforced to be able to take a direct blast from an IED and let the vehicle keep running. Plus, it's got one hell of a sound system and heated seats," he added jokingly.
"Well, damn, remind me to get in touch with you the next time I need some customization work done," Mac replied. "Though something tells me my Corvette won't get in the door".
"Oh no, not another Corvette in the family. Do you two even realize how that looks?" he rolled his eyes dramatically as he navigated through the tunnel and came out on the third level of the parking garage below the office building. He joined the flow of traffic a block south of the warehouse.
"Head for the highway, I want to get you two out of town," she instructed him. The moment of levity was over. As they traveled along the relatively quiet street, she watched to see if anyone was following them.
"What's happening, Sarah?" Trish asked her as Frank took a turn which would bring them to the nearest onramp.
Mac turned in her seat so she could look at Trish. "I don't want to frighten you, but I'm don't want to lie to you either. I believe Harm's alive and being held by people who would be willing to hurt both you and Frank to get information from him. I don't have evidence to support that, it's just my gut telling me that's what we're dealing with. Back at the house, I found a tracking device in his watch. I'm pretty sure it was placed there knowing that I would bring his belongings to you." She paused to give Trish a moment to process what she was saying. "It's just a theory, but I'd rather err on the side of caution and get you both somewhere safe."
"Where did AJ go?" Frank asked.
"I think he was following a lead, but I have no idea what or where. That call he got this morning was from a contact of his who was trying to find out about the crash. I think it was someone he served with back in Vietnam. Before he left, he said there wasn't time to explain and that he would tell me what was going on when he got back. He also told me to stay close to the two of you and to keep my cell phone charged, just in case." Mac told him. She looked at Trish. "I won't let anything happen to either of you, I promise."
"Sarah, we all know that's not a promise that anyone can make; life has too many variables. I know you'll do everything you can to protect us, dear," Trish smiled as she looked at Mac's left hand where it was resting against the side of the head rest. The glint of sunlight off the ring made her smile. "That's what family does."
Mac let out a short chuckle as she shook her head. She knew now where Harm got his tendency to shoot holes in moments like these. It deepened her desire to protect them. She might not know where Harm was and couldn't do anything to keep him safe right now, but she could take care of Trish and Frank. Come hell or high water, the only way someone was going to get to them was by stepping over her dead body.
"Damn right," Mac nodded as she took Trish's hand and squeezed it gently. "And you're right; I can't promise to protect you from everything out there. I can't even promise that we'll find Harm and get him home safely. I don't know how any of this is going to turn out, but I do know I have your back every step of the way. That I can promise you."