Straight Flushed (Hot Pursuit #1)(79)

We slowed down and pulled around to the back of the church. Cavanaugh stopped the car when we were in the church’s shadow in front of the abandoned Holy Cross Monastery. It was equally regal but was covered in deep, burnt orange brick.

“No one will be here?” Stephen asked, looking out of one side of the van to the church then out of the other to the monastery. “This is a huge place.”

“And empty,” Cavanaugh added. “It’s been abandoned since the seventies. There might be a priest at the church, its doors are open. This is a good spot.”

I stepped out and met the men around the front of the car. We followed Cavanaugh who led the way to the monastery. He pulled one of the heavy iron handles adorning the thick, English oak doors. It creaked loudly in protest.

“You three get inside. We’ll stay here for a bit until things settle down. I’ll stand guard. I need to make some calls,” Cavanaugh added.

Without protest, we followed his orders. The three of us walked inside. The air was musty and cool like a basement that hadn’t seen the light of day in forty years. Through the small and barely lit entryway was an alcove. The beaten up parqueted flooring below our feet had large chunks missing, revealing a dirt floor beneath. I stood in the center of the room, completely oblivious to Avery and Stephen.

My attention was drawn to the front of the room where there was a small stage of sorts. Two wide, shallow steps framed a large concaved area. It had to be some kind of an altar, although admittedly my religious background was limited. The surface of the concaved wall was painted with a massive image of a human skull consisting of brown teeth and bones, but the seeing eyes still remained. It was incredibly creepy, and I wondered what religious justification would be given to such a painting. I didn’t like it for the sheer fact that it seemed to be watching us, holy or not.

Avery and Stephen sat down on one of the two benches on either side of the stage, apparently unfazed by the image that had so captivated me. I stepped over to a large arched window behind Stephen and Avery which looked out into a courtyard. It was nothing but a showcase of dirt patches and an overgrown field of lavender and thistle.

I took a moment to relive the scene we’d just escaped. I was worried about Andrews, not to mention Vance and Capinski. I reached into my pocket as my phone vibrated.

“You safe?” Vance asked urgently before I could utter the first syllable of ‘hello.’

“Yes, we’re hanging out inside the very creepy monastery. How’s Andrews?”

He hesitated, and I knew his answer before he spoke. “He didn’t make it, Di. He’d lost too much blood.” Many voices overlapped in the background through his phone making it hard to hear him. I pressed the phone tighter to my ear. “They did CPR and shocked him, but he was too far gone.”

“Oh, God.” I covered my eyes and sighed. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he said, but noise in the background grew louder.

I put my finger in my other ear. “Are you really? You just shot and killed someone. It’s one thing to shoot at a paper target with the outline of a man on it but it’s another actually taking someone’s life.”

“I’ll be fine. I’ve got a lot of adrenaline pumping still. I haven’t even thought about my shoulder, if that tells you anything.”

I managed to laugh. “It does.” My mind was reeling, and I wanted to understand how we could have been made so easily. It wasn’t a coincidence and it certainly wasn’t luck on their part. “What the hell happened, Vance?”

“Funny you should ask, because that’s the one thing I keep asking myself. No one but us knew. And I can only come to one conclusion.”

“What?”

“I’m going to say something to you, and I need for you to remain calm. You got me? Watch you’re reactions.”

“Okay,” I said, keeping my voice even.

“We have a leak. And whoever it is, he’s there with you.”





Twenty-six



“What?” I asked, forgetting to hide my surprise.

“Goddammit, Diana!” Vance snapped then dropped his voice. “Is Cavanaugh with you?”

“No,” I said, keeping my answer short thanks to his tongue lashing. I looked over my shoulder to Avery and Stephen. Both were attuned to my conversation. I met their faces with a smile then glanced out of the window again. “He’s not answering his phone. I’ve tried calling him. I swear it’s that damn antique flip phone of his. Is he outside?” Vance added.

“Yep.”

“I thought he might be. So you’re alone with Stephen and Avery?”

“Uh huh.”

“Okay, play it cool.”

A pit slowly sank into my stomach as I began processing everything—there was only one possible conclusion. I wanted to deny it. No, he couldn’t be the leak.

“Good.” Vance’s voice became muffled as he responded to someone around him then he returned to me. “Someone leaked the time and location. We know it wasn’t one of us on the inside.” As he spoke, the reality set in deeper, and my heart began to pound. “It’s Stephen or Avery, Di. It can only be one of them, if not both. I’m not sure what the hell is going on, but this whole thing was a setup.”