Logan, p.22
Logan, page 22
As he executed a three-point turn in the yard to leave, he passed the emergency vehicles still dealing with the Zamans’ destruction. With the cul-de-sac in the rearview mirror, he steeled his mind. You might have saved me the trouble of destroying your house and lab, assholes, but I’m coming for you.
Small. That was the only word Vivian could think to describe Tanana as she drove through. Why do things seem so much bigger when you’re a kid? She grinned as she spied the town sign listing the population as 308. Driving along the rough, partially paved roads, she passed stores, a few she remembered, some new, and some appearing to be long empty. A few restaurants. A bar. A couple of churches. And even a school, which she assumed housed kindergarten through high school in the one building.
Turning off the main street, she drove north for a mile, passing houses and a few subdivisions. The road was so familiar, she remembered summers of riding in the back of her grandfather’s pickup truck, bouncing as he hit the invariable potholes. Looking back, she wondered if he hit them just to see her bounce and giggle.
Finally, pulling up to the small house, she parked on the street. The wooden siding appeared to have been recently stained, and it was nice to see her grandmother’s flower gardens were still neatly tended. The plot of land next to the house had been wild, with trees flanking a meadow, but it now held a newer house. Looking up and down the street, she noted more houses, creating a neighborhood instead of just her grandparents’ house standing alone.
When she climbed out of her car, she heard children playing in the backyard and could see a woman hanging laundry on a line tied between two poles set in the ground. The woman looked up at her and smiled.
“Hello,” she called out as she walked up the front stone path. “I’m Vivian Sanders. I hope this doesn’t seem presumptuous to stop by… it’s just that my grandparents used to live here. My mom was born here, and I remember lots of summers spent here as well.”
A wide, welcoming smile greeted her warmly as the woman said, “Oh, the Panikaks were your grandparents? I knew them when I was younger. I’m Carly. It’s nice to meet you.” She jerked her head toward the house. “Would you like to see inside?”
“You wouldn’t mind?”
“Not at all, come on.”
She followed Carly inside, immediately engulfed in memories. While the furniture was newer and the walls painted a different color, the house resonated with the images of her grandfather sitting in his comfy chair in front of the TV and her grandmother bustling in the kitchen.
Turning down an offer of tea, she said, “No, I really have to be going, but this”—she waved her hand around—“has meant so much to me.”
“Are you staying long?” Carly asked.
“I saw there’s a hotel in town.” Chuckling, she added, “It wasn’t there when I was a kid.”
“Oh, that horrible Men of Alaska show on TV that they filmed around here brought in tourists, and of course, the show’s crew needed somewhere to stay. So they tore down the cute little single-room cabins that had been here for so long and built a new hotel that could house so many more. I have a feeling they’ll have plenty of rooms now that the show is over. We still get tourists looking for the places the show exploited, but hey, it brought some money into the town.”
“Sounds good, I’ll check there. It was really nice to meet you. My grandparents loved this house, and it’s nice to see that it’s still housing a family.” Smiling at Carly, she thanked her for the chance to revisit her family home. Stepping out into the sunshine, she slid her sunglasses on her face as she walked to her car.
A helicopter flying overhead caught her attention, and she leaned her head back, shading her face with her hand at her forehead. The reminder of Logan was painful, but she battled through, determined not to shed another tear. She had shed enough of them on the hour-long drive to Tanana.
Climbing back into her car, she took one last look at her grandparents’ house and drove into town.
Stepping inside the warm interior of the Tanana Inn from the crowded parking lot, Vivian heaved a sigh, wondering if this stay was a bad idea. I’ve seen my grandparents’ house…maybe it’s time just to go back to Fairbanks and catch a flight home. The hotel was much busier than she anticipated, but seeing a large sign in the corner announcing a “Men of Alaska Tour Weekend,” she grimaced, realizing the hotel might be full. Looking at her watch, she shook her head, knowing it was too late to arrange a flight today.
The desk clerk was on the phone but mouthed, “Sorry, I’ll just be a minute.” She nodded and walked to one of the windows overlooking the parking lot. A shawl-draped head caught her attention, and as she moved to the left to have a better line of vision, she recognized Akram and Farrah.
Her breath left her lungs in a rush as she tried to think of why they were here. She could only come up with one reason terrorists working with a known bacterial agent would come to a tiny, nowhere town on a weekend with a hotel full of guests from all over—It can’t be good, no matter what they’re doing! Reaching her hand into her purse, she grabbed her phone, then realized it was her personal phone, still turned off. The burner phone with Logan’s number was back on the kitchen counter of the house in Ester, and she didn’t have his number.
Sucking in a deep breath, she knew whatever happened, it was up to her to stop them. Smiling at the receptionist who had just hung up the phone, she said, “I…uh…see a friend. I’ll be back.” Moving to the door, she watched as the Zamans got into their car and backed out of the parking lot. Hurrying out the door and down the steps, she jumped into her car and began to follow them from a distance.
35
Having landed and loaded his equipment out of the helicopter and into another truck, Logan leaned down and stuck his finger through one of the holes in the box. “Hey, girl. I’ll be back just as soon as I can.” He unfolded the top and placed some food into one side of her dish and water in the other. Then he opened his bag and pulled out a T-shirt and tucked it inside as well.
A few minutes later found him churning down the road, finding it took only about three minutes to drive through the small town. No sign of Vivian or the terrorists. Gripping the steering wheel with white-knuckled intensity, he pulled to the side of the road.
Parking, he tapped his earpiece. “What have you got for me?”
“Her phone is turned off, and we never had it traced, so we don’t know where she is. Devlin is on satellite tracking now since that town is so small, but he hasn’t located her yet,” Landon said.
Logan lowered his head and rubbed his eyes. “All right, I’ll go back into town, hit the bar and restaurant, and see if anyone has seen them.”
Frazier jumped back on the line. “Logan. I’m tracking Akram’s vehicle, and it’s right next—”
Logan caught a glance of a woman wearing a hijab sitting on the passenger side of a car that passed him. Disbelieving his luck, he watched as the Zamans drove past.
“Next to me? I just saw them! I'm tailing them now!” As he started to pull out onto the road, another car came from the same direction as the Zamans. “Dammit, this town’s got only a couple hundred residents. Are they all fuckin’ out today?”
A small car drove past, and his disbelief took another jolt—Vivian was intently staring ahead at the Zamans’ car, never looking over to see him staring at her. “Christ! I just spied Vivian following the Zamans.” Realizing the danger she was exposing herself to, he jerked his truck onto the road, following her.
“Stay with them,” Frazier said. “I have you on satellite now.”
“It’s like a fuckin’ convoy on the road—not exactly incognito!” he groused while his heart hammered in his chest at the good luck of finding Vivian.
Vivian followed at a distance, noting when the Zamans turned onto a gravel driveway leading to a small house sitting on the side of a hill. Several cars were parked next to the house, the long drive visible to anyone inside. Frustrated, she continued down the road for another mile until she came to a widening where she could turn around. Turning to look behind her, she squeaked when an old truck pulled right in front of her, jamming on its brakes.
The driver hopped out of the truck and rounded the hood, jerking their sunglasses off. Logan?
Before she had a chance to roll down her window, his hand was on her door, opening it swiftly. Forcing her back against the seat as he leaned his large body in, he unclipped her seat belt before clamping his hand around her upper arm and pulling her gently but firmly out of the car.
“What are you doing?” she asked, jerking against his hold.
“The better question is what the fuck are you doing here?” he growled, maneuvering her to the far side of his truck, out of sight from the road.
“Logan, stop. I saw Akram and—”
“Jesus, Viv, do you have any idea how much danger you’re in just by following them? How do I get it across to you that they are fuckin’ terrorists who’d kill you for interfering?”
“I wasn’t going to go up there and knock on their door, Logan. Give me some credit!”
Logan pinned her back against his truck with his arms on either side of her. With him so close, she breathed him in. She had only left him this morning, yet she had missed him already.
He shifted his gaze down the road and pinched his lips. Sucking in a deep breath, he let it out slowly before dropping his eyes down to hers. As much as she wanted to kiss him, she peered up to see his face unreadable. “What’s happening, Logan?”
“Akram blew up their house.”
At that announcement, her eyes bugged out, and her mouth fell open, but no sound came forth.
“I was finishing the cleanup on the shed when they left. I fuckin’ missed it, and by the time I got back to the house to take the next step, the goddamn house blew to bits. The fire trucks showed up, but there was not a fuckin’ piece of it left.”
“How…” Her mind raced. “How did you know they were here?”
“Iggie showed up with the volunteer fire squad. He said you stopped by and told them you were going to take a trip here. ’Bout that time, my people checked their chatter. Akram sent a message to Rashad that they were coming here.”
Vivian’s shock at seeing him had worn off. The first flush of pleasure that he had come for her died as she realized he was all about the mission. Inwardly cursing, she realized she was a complete fool. Of course he was about the mission. That was what we were here for. It was me who forgot and fell for him.
Hiding her emotions, she said, “I just happened to see them when I was checking into the hotel. They didn’t see me, but I knew it was important to find out where they were going. I wasn’t going in guns blazing or anything. Trust me, I don’t have a hero complex.” She tilted her head and peered at him more closely. “How did you find me?”
“I landed in town and happened to see them drive by. It was pure fuckin’ luck. But then I saw you right behind them and couldn’t believe my eyes.”
Fixing a tight smile on her face, she said, “Well, okay then. You…uh…know where they are. I suppose you saw the other car there. I think it might be Malik’s, but I’m not sure.”
A short jerk of his head was the only response. His arms stayed in place, and she wondered if he even realized he had her pinned in.
He dropped his gaze back to hers, asking, “How will they test it?”
Knitting her brow, she shook her head for a second, replying, “I…I don’t know. I…” She stopped and began carefully analyzing the situation. “They didn’t have a lot of the solution with the bacteria in it. I suppose direct contact would be the quickest. Um…shops, restaurants, public places where people touch things… shit! The hotel.”
She looked up quickly. “The hotel is full right now with some tour groups. The Zamans might be there planning or even staying, but Logan, the hotel must be the key. It would be so easy to spread the bacteria around. People from all over the country who are up there for the event wouldn’t realize they’d been infected until a week or so later.”
He glanced up the road toward the house the Zamans had gone into. “I’ll take care of them, but I need you to get out of here.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out her burner phone, tucking it into the front pocket of her jeans.
She tried to ignore the feel of his fingers pressing so intimately on her hips, but his warm breath across her face could definitely not be ignored. Swallowing deeply, she asked, “Do you have backup…or whatever they call it, for going in to arrest them?”
His eyes grew stormy, and he leaned his face closer. “I have to see what they’ve brought with them and destroy it, too. At least, I know I can burn it.”
“But you can use me for that! I can help!”
“No, I need you gone.”
She jerked her chin back, his words coming as a blow. “But…”
“Vivian, we’re wasting time. I have a job to do. No arrest. Just termination.”
Blinking, Vivian tilted her head slightly, staring as she processed his words until her eyes widened with understanding. Her voice was shaky, and she opened her mouth, but the only word that formed was, “Oh.” Her head jerked back, hitting the side of his truck, but she ignored the pain. “Not just destroy the chemicals, but… you…you’re…you’re going to—”
Standing to his full height, Logan pulled his hands back and placed them on his hips. “Yeah, Viv. That’s my mission. That’s my job. Your job was to figure out what they had and how best to destroy it. You did that, and now it’s my turn to do my fuckin’ job. Destroy and then terminate.” He watched as her face registered shock, but her dark eyes accused.
Her breath came in a spastic pant as she shook her head. “But surely…this can’t be the right thing to do…to just…”
“You think who hired me is going to take a chance that the legal procedures would put these terrorists in jail? That justice would be served? They’re to be dealt with one way and one way only. And if you think for one second that those terrorists would spare your life if you got in their way, then you’re way too naive.”
Blinking at the sting of his words, Vivian grappled with what he was saying. Sucking in a shaky breath, she simply nodded, unable to process what he was going to do. But one thing stuck in her mind. Looking back up into his face, she asked, “You’re going alone?”
“Do you see my team here with me? I have men coming, but this is what I’m here to do, Viv. Terminate the terrorists before they have a chance to spread their destruction. What I don’t have time for is to stand here and argue with you.”
She reached out to touch his arm but stopped short. “Thin ice,” she said, her words soft and laced with pain.
He jerked back, his brows drawn down. “What?”
“You’re skating on thin ice, Logan. Out there all alone. But you don’t have to because I’m here. There’s safety in numbers.”
Logan dropped his chin as a long, slow sigh left his chest. Finally, he lifted his head, his eyes now on hers. “I appreciate that…more than you know. But this isn’t skating we’re talking about. This is my job. What I’m trained to do. I can’t focus on the job if you’re a distraction.” Blowing out a long breath, he added, “I need you to go.”
Swallowing deeply, Vivian slipped underneath his arm and walked over to her car, her whole body shaking. Opening the door, she paused, looking over her shoulder. “Will I see you again?”
His face, set in granite, seared straight through her, saying nothing. But telling her everything at the same time.
36
Crossing through the woods, Logan made his way toward the house on the hill. He’d grabbed items from his truck, including one of his weapons. Only two cars remained in the driveway, and he recognized both of them—Akram’s and Malik’s. He eyed a tree near the back corner and slipped closer. He radioed his location and plan but hated that he’d felt such a sense of urgency when he left that he didn’t take the time to locate the video camera he could attach to his shirt, leaving him hands free. At least he had a snake camera to aid him, even if it was handheld.
After a quick assessment, he climbed the tree to the second level. Using the snake camera to peek into a window, he observed a room empty of furniture. The dust on the floor indicated no evidence of human contact for a while.
Using a glass cutter, he quickly cut a circle out of the window directly above the old flip lock. Reaching in, he unlatched the window and opened it with practiced ease. Sliding through silently, he stepped carefully onto the wooden floor.
Stealthily moving around the edge of the walls where the floor would be more supported and less likely to creak, he once again used the camera to peer out the door into an empty hall. Scanning the other open doors, it appeared the entire upstairs was devoid of any signs of life. They’d found an abandoned house outside town, making it the perfect hideout.
He heard voices below, raised in argument, recognizing Akram and Malik.
“It makes no sense for you to send them!” Malik yelled. “Farrah is a weak link. You know that.”
“She might be, but Nafisa certainly is not. She will keep an eye on Farrah and make sure she does what she is supposed to do. Once it is done, then Farrah will have no choice but to keep doing as she’s told. She’ll be afraid of being caught, and that will keep her in line.”
“Nafisa shouldn’t have to worry about Farrah on top of what she is doing—”
“Why do you think I sent Rashad with them? Your feelings for Nafisa are too close to the surface. You would fail where Rashad will succeed. Nothing will deter him from his great jihad.”
Listening carefully at the top of the stairs, he remembered Vivian telling him that Malik had feelings for Nafisa but that Nafisa had feelings for Rashad, who appeared not to reciprocate those emotions. Silently thanking Vivian for that tidbit of information, he hesitated before slipping downstairs, wanting to hear where the women had gone.
