Price of Life (Sue Thomas FBEye)

Chapter Ten

Myles stopped in a deserted parking lot after making sure they were not followed. He then let Lindsey out and got her on the back seat.

He slammed the trunk down. Jack wouldn't be pleased at all. They drove to Myles' house. Bobby phoned saying he'd meet them there.

"Are we almost there yet? I need a shower," Lindsey complained. "I smell like a locker room."

After staying up all night guarding Lindsey and the house, the two agents didn't have much patience left.

"If I were you, young lady, I would check the tone of my voice," admonished harshly Myles. "You don't want to annoy the two people who are trying to save your life."

"You're mad at me, aren't you? Because of what I said. I am sorry you know," she finished in a whisper.

Myles and Tara just exchanged a glance. How did she do it? Wondered Myles. Going from annoying little brat to poor misunderstood girl.

Bobby was waiting in front of the house. Myles drove directly into the garage. Bobby joined them inside.

While Lindsey was in the shower, Bobby opened a few maps on the table, and went on explaining tonight operations.

First map was of Meadow Creek. Two "x" were marked on it. Most likely once they left the Reverend's house, one van would veer east, the other one west. D would be at that "x" and Myles would be at the other "x" location. From there, D and Myles should have visual contact with the vans and would then proceed to follow them, but from a safe distance. The goal was to determine which road they would use to exit the city

Holloway would have his two teams waiting, one for each van. D and Myles would keep them appraise of the general direction the vans were taking so the teams could move to intercept. The consensus was that the two vans and possibly someone still at the house were staying in contact. To minimize casualty, both vans would need to be apprehended concurrently, and preferably outside the city to avoid bystander being dragged into it.

"Your team blue, Myles," said Bobby, giving him his maps. "Plan to be in the neighborhood no later than 7pm, though we don't really expect them to leave before 10pm. Jack or I will give you a shout when they leave."

"Where's D?" asked Tara.

"With Holloway, sheila, going through the last details. Holloway's teams won't know until the last minute that this is not an exercise. He'll be team red. I'll be at Jack's and we'll storm in the Reverend's house at the same time the vans are intercepted."

"What about me?" she asked the two men looking at her, uneasy. "No, not babysitting."

"Sheila, look at it as protective custody. She's our only witness."

On his way to Jack, Bobby briefed Darcy about his part in the operation. He needed her as his cover to spend the evening at Jack's, but he warned her the evening could turn into a lengthy waiting game. She was grateful that he trusted her enough to include her into his world.

The dinner that Sue prepared, despite Jack's attempt to help, was delicious. As the sun came down, they retired into the living room. The fireplace was lit. Sue and Darcy just stood along a wall while the men shuffled all the furniture around.

"Impressive," marveled Darcy at their effort.

"Very," agreed Sue. "They managed to move everything and the room still look almost exactly the same as before."

Both girls started laughing. The men feigned profound indignation.

"Now, sheilas, that is not true. From this light brown couch here, you have a perfect view of the driveway."