managed an awkward nod and dropped his backpack by the door. “I’ll take a quick look around just to be safe.” He could see she hadn’t considered the possibility that the place might not be secure. She’d been away from the spy game too long.
She shook her head and smiled at him for the first time since their reunion. It stopped him dead in his tracks. “I never even considered someone might have already been here.”
He loved her smile. He’d almost forgotten just how beautiful she was, especially when she smiled. She wore her golden brown hair longer now. She’d braided it and it hung halfway down her back, the overhead light catching the gold highlights. Dressed in a plaid shirt, jeans and cowboy boots, she reminded him of the young girl he’d fallen for all those years ago. Only her midnight blue eyes held a hint of the things she’d endured. There was a sadness in them that appeared embedded there.
Alex collected his straying thoughts. “Not looking over your shoulder all the time sounds like a good thing. I’ll be right back.” He excused himself and went upstairs, grateful for the chance to get control of his emotions. He thought he’d left Midnight Mountain behind for good when he went away to college, yet so many of his childhood memories were tied to this place. And to this woman...
After he finished checking the upstairs rooms, he was more ready to join her again. At the foot of the stairs, he noticed that the dog had settled down close to Rachel’s feet.
“There’s no sign anyone’s been up there in a while...” He stopped when he noticed her staring strangely at the desk in the corner of the room. “What is it?”
Rachel visibly shivered. “Even though it’s a half hour drive from my home, I still come here every couple of days to make sure the place is okay. I’m pretty sure that drawer was closed when I was here yesterday.”
He stared at the desk and then at her. “Someone’s been here.” He stated the obvious. “What was in there?”
She shook her head. “That’s just it. Nothing was in there. There isn’t anything of value here besides the horses.”
“But they weren’t looking for something valuable.” Their gazes locked and a new fear entangled him in its clutches. “Whoever was here was looking for something connected to Liam.”
No doubt the people behind Liam’s disappearance had known about his connection to Rachel all along, including this house.
“You said you keep horses on the property?” Alex’s thoughts snarled together. What she’d told him about Liam was disturbing. That Liam had left her the location where he was scheduled to meet his asset seemed to indicate he had been concerned something might happen to him up there.
“That’s right. Why?” she asked innocently enough.
“Because they may be our only way out of here.” Alex glanced out the front window at the breaking dawn. They’d need to keep moving. Get up on the mountain as soon as possible.
“The stalls are behind the house a little ways down near the south pasture.”
“Good. Then we should probably head out. Are you ready for this?” She didn’t hesitate. Rachel had been one of the best agents he’d had the pleasure of working with. She might be a little rusty, but she was more than capable.
If something had happened to Liam, each day that passed whittled away at his chances of survival. Rachel said she’d had no word from her brother in more than a week. As a former CIA agent herself, she would know that it was common practice for agents to carry burner phones as a means of communicating without being tracked. If Liam hadn’t reached out to her by now, then something bad was wrong.
It bothered Alex that Liam seemed worried about something. It wasn’t like his friend to show fear, but from Rachel’s account, he’d definitely been concerned when he showed up at her place. He had told her he was close to bringing down a new player in the terror field. He’d mentioned something similar the last time he and Alex had talked.
Did Liam’s disappearance have anything to do with what he’d uncovered about the terrorist threat? If so, then whomever he was chasing seemed determined to silence anyone who got in their way or attempted to uncover their identity.
As he and Rachel headed out into the new day dawning, with Callie at their heels, Alex could almost feel her uneasiness growing.
He touched her arm and she slowed her steps and faced him. “We’ll find him, I promise. And don’t forget, Liam’s tough. He’s been through much worse than this.”
She smiled without answering. Did she believe him?
He needed to get a look at the map. It would give some indication as to where exactly on the mountain they’d be heading. “Do you have the map Liam left you handy?” he asked, and she dug it out of her pocket and handed it to him.
Once he’d opened it, he recognized the location right away. It was more than a twenty-four hike under the best of conditions and over some very rugged terrain.
“This is where Liam was going to meet with his asset?” he asked with a sense of foreboding.
She nodded. “I think so.”
Even if they headed straight there, they’d still have to find a place to make camp for the night before hiking the rest of the way up. Darkness came early to the mountains. They’d never make it to the site before nightfall. The weather would definitely play a factor, especially with the mountains making their own conditions. It might be early spring, but snow and ice weren’t unexpected this time of year. Up on the mountain several feet of snow still clung to the crevasses.
“I hate going into a situation blind like this, and we don’t know for sure what’s really happened to Liam. Maybe something went wrong with the meet and he was injured. Or maybe his asset sold him out.” Alex glanced around, expecting trouble.
Rachel hesitated a second too long. Right away he could tell something was wrong.
“What is it?” He almost dreaded her answer.
“There’s something else I haven’t showed you, Alex. It’s on the back of the map.”
He turned it over and saw the phone number and initial Rachel had mention previously. But it was the words that were scribbled below them that increased his concern for Liam’s well-being tenfold.
Agency. Dirty. Trust no one. Especially anyone in authority. It was a message Liam had intended for Rachel alone.
Alex stared at it and then her. If true, the magnitude of what they now faced had grown beyond anything he could have imagined.
Rachel dragged in a breath before she delivered the worst news possible.
“Alex, I think the person Liam was chasing, this new terrorist threat that he’d uncovered...I think it involves someone from the CIA.”
The expression of shock on his face told her how hard it was for him to wrap his head around the idea that someone from the CIA, both her brother and Alex’s own team, might be responsible for harming Liam.
“Rachel...”
