Gabe (In the Company of Snipers, #8)(64)

One of the men drove Kelsey’s rescuer’s sedan away from the home, while the other drove their vehicle, leaving her completely alone. It appeared her rescuer had been apprehended, but by whom?

Dead silence met the end of the video. Even Mother had nothing to say.

Rory pointed to the overhead. “I’m telling you. He’s alive. I don’t know how, but this guy has got to be Alex.”


Mark bolted. He had to get the hell out of there. The man he used to respect as much as God, couldn’t—wouldn’t!—hurt his wife, not like that. It couldn’t be him, despite all the evidence. It. Can. Not. Be. Alex!

“Mark,” Mother snapped behind him. “Izza’s on the line. You want me to take a message or what?”

God, she’d gotten nastier with every passing day. Mark returned to her counter, surprised she’d left the Sit Room when no one else had. He lifted the receiver out of her hand striving for courtesy and wondering if she’d followed him. “Thanks. Houston.”

“Mark!” Izza shouted. “Becker’s headed toward Kelsey’s. Get over there right now.”

“Where are you?”

“Fixing two flat tires,” she hissed. “The ass is good. We never even saw him.”

Mark dropped the phone and ran, but even that didn’t let him escape the tangled mess of leadership.

“Hey,” Mother called behind him. “Where are you going?”

“Becker’s on his way to Kelsey’s,” he answered over his shoulder, his cell phone chirping away in his belt holster. “Tell David to follow me. Hell, tell everyone! Do it. Now!”

He stabbed the elevator call button while he lifted his cell to his ear, needing to be at Kelsey’s instead of answering another damned phone call. “Houston.”

“Hey, Mark.” Zack’s quiet voice rumbled over the line. “Gabe’s back. He’s got proof you need to—”

“Gear up. Becker’s on his way to you.”

The elevator doors slid open. About damned time.

“Let him come,” Zack purred. “Me and Gabe will be waiting.”





Chapter Nineteen


“Hey, Gabe. You want to come over and check something for me?”

“Sure.” He eased away from Kelsey to join his Senior Agent. “What’s up, old man?”

“Not much. Might have a low battery in camera seventeen is all.” Zack pointed to the laptop screen that showed a black sedan rolling past Kelsey’s home, its windows too dark to determine how many people might be inside. The car slowed at the curb.

“No problem,” he said to keep this new development from the ladies. No sense ruining their evening. “I can do batteries. It’s time for a perimeter check anyway.”

“Keep your ears on,” Zack warned quietly enough that the women couldn’t hear him.

“Copy that. Be right back.” Despite feeling like crap, Gabe headed for the back door. Might be Alex out there. Might not. Didn’t matter. Whoever was in that car, they were in for a surprise.

Gabe pulled his jacket off the kitchen chair before he slipped out the backdoor and around the side of the house. Inserting the blue-tooth earpiece in his ear, he slipped his jacket over his shoulders and took quick stock of the backyard.

Both dogs looked at him from their kennel, their big, old German Shepherd ears pitched forward like radar dishes. Neither offered any signal that they sensed an intruder, but he made sure the home was secure before he left. He loved them, but he didn’t trust them—not anymore. Not Alex Stewart’s dogs.

“Comm check,” Zack said quietly.

“Loud and clear. Looks like our company moved on.”

“I called Mark. Becker is on his way to us. Watch your six. That could be him out there.”

“Copy that. Good to know.” Gabe replied. Damned good to know.

The late summer evening had turned dark. Nothing stirred. Kelsey’s street ended in a cul-de-sac five doors north of her front door. Gabe swept through there in case Becker had decided to park. Nothing.

Walking back gave him a complete view of the rest of the street, including the T-intersection four doors south of her place and to the east. The driver of a mini-van tapped his brakes at the stop sign and proceeded south before turning into a driveway.

“I’ve got a silver van three doors south of the intersection. Anyone we know?”

“Saw it. Cromwell’s van. They usually go out for dinner. Must have called it an early night. Proceed.”

“Checking west perimeter next.” To do that, Gabe had to walk through two of Kelsey’s neighbors’ backyards to reach the street behind her house. This was the blind spot as far as he was concerned, so he’d mounted a couple of extra cameras on the street lights in front of those homes.

While Mark and Libby dealt with the administrative side of getting Kelsey released, Gabe and Zack had vetted their security perimeter with all the neighbors prior to trespassing and posting any off-property security cameras. It had been a good morning spent meeting Kelsey’s neighbors. She was well respected and loved. Not one person had argued with the extra precaution.


Gabe kept to the shadows, half-listening to the conversation back in Kelsey’s living room. It turned to healthcare, with Zack targeting Shelby for specifics. She was a Certified Nursing Assistant, a CNA, who preferred home-care to the stress of hospital work. She wasn’t married. No big surprise there, given her air of superiority.