“What do you mean?”
“How big is his team?”
“Team? He doesn’t work with a team.”
“Not even on a temporary basis?”
“Maybe a specialist or two as needed but…why are you asking?”
Orlando took a breath, and then told her about the two helicopters Quinn had spotted following him, one large enough to carry a whole squad.
“I don’t know,” Ananke said. “I guess he could have hired some freelancers.”
“It would be really nice to know for sure.”
Ananke saw where this was going. “No way. I am not talking to that asshole.”
“Ananke, you’re the only one who can find out what he’s up to. If he’s in one of those helicopters, we need to know.”
“I said no.”
“I’m not asking you to do this for me, but I know you like Quinn and Nate. Are you going to let them hang out there blind?”
It was basically the same argument Quinn had used to get her assistance in Seattle, and it was just as effective now. “Dammit!”
“That’s a yes?”
“I’ll call you back.”
Donnie reported to Orbits that he’d spotted the SUV on an I-90 traffic cam just east of I-82, but when he checked the next camera after the junction, the SUV had not passed by when it should have. He then checked the first several cameras on I-82. Sure enough, the vehicle was heading south toward Yakima.
Orbits grinned. His instincts had been dead on.
Further cam checks showed the vehicle a few miles north of Yakima, but no sign of it in the group of cars it had been traveling in after the town.
“Find where they exited,” Orbits said as he climbed into the helicopter. “I must be right on top of them.”
Sutter was already in his seat. “Back to the highway?”
“No. Get me high enough so I can take a look at this damn town.”
Sutter flew them out of the space around the airport and up five hundred feet.
“Hold here,” Orbits said.
Through the binoculars, he scanned the roads leading from the highway, paying particular attention to the gas stations nearest the off-ramps. There were plenty of SUVs but no khaki green Jeep Grand Cherokees. Had they gone farther into the town, or slipped back onto the interstate when Donnie wasn’t watching?
“Take us a quarter mile south,” he ordered.
As the helicopter began to move, Orbits’s phone vibrated. Donnie had better have found something, he thought as he pulled the cell out. Only it wasn’t Donnie.
He pushed ACCEPT. “Hello?”
“Ricky?”
He grinned. “Kitty-kat.”
“Do not call me that,” Ananke said, “or I’ll hang up right now.”
“What’s wrong? You still mad at me? Man, you really had it bad for me, didn’t you?”
“Ricky, I swear to God…” she said, and fell silent.
“Hello?” he asked, wondering if she had followed through on her threat.
“I’m here. So?” she said.
“So…what?”
“Marko said you wanted to talk to me.”
“Maybe I just wanted to say hi?”
“Then why did he tell me it had to do with Seattle?”
“Okay, okay. Guilty. Still, it’s nice to hear your voice. I miss you, kit—”
“Last chance. Tell me what you want or I’m really hanging up and you will never hear from me again.”
Like she could stay away from me forever, he thought. “Relax. I heard a rumor that you were part of that crazy thing that went down in Seattle last night.”
“Is there a question?”
“Were you?”
“I wasn’t anywhere near Seattle last night.”
He laughed. “Like you’d say anything different.”
“If I was there,” she said, “what would it matter?”
“It ties in on a little something I’m working on. If you were there, thought maybe you could help me out a little. You know, for old times’ sake.”
“You know I can’t talk about the details of a job.”
“Sure, sure, but what would it hurt to tell me who you were working with?”
“I work alone.”
“But someone always has to clean up after you.”
“Was that your attempt at being subtle?”
“Jonathan Quinn was on the assignment with you, wasn’t he?”
“Ricky…”
“He was your cleaner.”
“I already told you — I wasn’t there.”
“Of course not. Neither was he, I suppose. He also didn’t leave with a woman he found there, did he?”
The pause on the other end was short but undeniable. “What woman?”
Instead of answering, he said, “I’m curious if you might know where they were headed.”
“Let’s pretend this hypothetical job even happened,” she said. “How would I know who he found and where they would be going? I’m always long gone by the time a cleaner comes on the scene.”
“So you don’t know where they were headed?”
“Sorry, Ricky, I have no idea where Quinn is.”
Now it was Orbits’s turn to pause. He was pretty sure she wasn’t lying this time. She might have been aware of the woman but it was very possible that was the extent of her knowledge. Which meant she was of no use to him.
“Who are you hunting?” Ananke asked. “Quinn or this mythical woman?”
“You know I can’t talk about the details of a job.”
She snorted. “If you’re going after Quinn, you’d better have some backup.”
“That’s funny. Since when have I ever needed backup?”
“No help at all? I don’t know, Ricky.”
“I’ve dealt with worse people than this Quinn without breaking a sweat. He won’t be a problem. Look, baby, I’d love to continue chatting but I’ve got to run. Why don’t we go out for dinner next week and catch up?”
The line went dead.
Orbits smiled and began scanning the streets again, sure he would get that dinner in the near future.
Ananke snapped the SIM card in two, feeling like she needed a long, hot shower. After slipping the fourth card of the day into her phone, she called Orlando.
“He’s definitely in a helicopter,” Ananke said. “I could hear the propellers.”
“Working alone?”
“That’s what he told me.”
“Do you believe him?” Orlando asked.
“It would be out of character for him to work otherwise, so yeah, I believe him.”
CHAPTER 19
First it had been electric shock, and then an injection of God knew what into Helen’s arm that had sent her world spinning.
The Wolf seemed to think Quinn was still following Helen’s directions. Helen had so far held on tight and said nothing to encourage or dispel this belief. The longer she could keep the woman focused on her, the better the chance Quinn would have to disappear.
The Wolf. Helen and most of the intelligence world had thought the woman was out of the game. A broker of mercenaries and shady deals, she had disappeared from the scene several years earlier. The rumor was her business had suffered serious cash-flow problems that had forced her into hiding from those she owed. Apparently she had settled her debt.
“A little stimulant, I think,” The Wolf said, her voice seeming to hover far above.
Within seconds after the needle punctured her arm, Helen felt as if a hand had grabbed her heart and squeezed as hard as it could. She sucked in a deep breath as she arched back in her chair, her body feeling like a pressure cooker ready to blow. If blood had started gushing out her ears or nose, she wouldn’t have been surprised. But then the crest passed, and while adrenaline still rushed through her system, she no longer felt like she was about to be torn apart.