chapter 16
It took forever to get there.
At least that was how it seemed to Jonas. Noah took lead as usual, so he, Matthias and Oskar rode along. Rafe was right behind them, driving a second Jeep in case they should need alternate transportation out of there.
He didn’t like to think of anything going wrong but after years of tactical training, it was second nature to prepare for the worst. Because no matter what, they were going home.
“Okay, so once we’re there, Rafe goes in first. We’ll hang back while he scouts. Once we have confirmation that Chamaeleon is there, we go in hot. This shit ends tonight,” Noah growled.
Matthias spoke up from the back. “All indications point to him crashing with an old friend in the Bronx. He tried to cover his tracks but several people in the neighborhood were able to ID him.”
Jonas blew out a breath. “Good. This shit needs to end. Then we can go home.”
Once they got closer, Rafe’s Jeep split off and went down a different street. Noah pulled around until he found a quiet street where they could park. Once he cut the engine, it was still as a tomb.
“Well, hell. Somebody say something,” Oskar finally drawled.
Noah cracked a smile. “You’d think I employed a bunch of kids. Shut the hell up so we can focus.”
Oskar held up his hands. “Just trying to lighten the mood a bit.”
Another few minutes went by in silence before Noah's phone beeped. "Yeah. What do you mean?"
Jonas rubbed his forehead, calling on all his strength not to snatch the phone from Noah's hand.
"No one's there?" Noah turned in his seat to stare at Matthias incredulously.
The kid paled slightly. "But I was so sure." He pulled out a laptop from somewhere and started typing frantically. "No, no, no. This morning when I checked there was a lease on file at this building for Ernest Fairway."
Jonas squinted, trying to remember. "Ernest is the guy David met while overseas, right?"
Matthias continued typing like a man possessed. "Yes. But now I see nothing in the landlord's system to indicate Fairway ever lived here at all."
Jonas slammed a fist into the dash. "Motherfucker! He's slipped right under our noses again. I promised JJ we'd get this sonofabitch. I promised her she'd be safe."
Noah's voice was soft, the kind you'd use to approach a wounded animal. "And you will. Jonas, listen to me. You will keep her safe. We all will."
Oskar's big beefy hand landed on Jonas's shoulder. "You know we've got your back."
He did know that. But at the moment that was poor consolation since the man terrorizing his woman was still out there and apparently about five steps ahead of them all the time. How the hell was he supposed to keep JJ safe when he wasn’t entirely sure he could outsmart someone like David West? The dude was obsessed and diabolical, a bad combination. Not to mention, he had unlimited time to carry out his plans. None of them knew how long he’d been plotting this.
All they knew for sure was that West was obsessed with Rafe’s life. And that ultimate obsession had also encompassed JJ. If he’d gone through the trouble to leave clues to lead them here, there must have been a reason.
“I need to call JJ. Make sure she’s okay.” He pulled his phone out and dialed her number. Every ring that went unanswered only ratcheted his fear higher.
“Nothing?” Noah asked. His brow furrowed and he pulled out his own phone.
Jonas watched as he finally hung up. “Lucia didn’t answer either?”
“No. But they’re probably just watching television and can’t hear the phone. You know how Lucia likes to talk through every movie. Send Delaney a text. I’m sure they’re fine.”
Jonas blew out a breath. “Okay, first let’s figure out where we went wrong tonight. Because I really don’t want to go home with nothing.”
Matthias saluted him. “On it. This might not be the right place, but we’ll figure it out. He can’t hide forever.”
Jonas wasn’t worried about Chamaeleon hiding forever because that didn’t fit in with his goal. He was worried about him hiding long enough for JJ to relax her guard.
And then taking her away.
JJ peered over the steering wheel and tried to follow the directions Lucia called out.
“No, left here. And then down this street and one more right.”
It was dark and there weren’t that many streetlights. Her churning stomach combined with the absolute certainty that this was a really bad idea made it pretty difficult to navigate.
“This is it!” Lucia put her phone in her lap. “This is Rafe’s old house.”
JJ didn’t park at the house, but instead kept driving and then circled around. They parked farther down the street. The house was an adorable little rambler. Exactly the kind of place that David had always talked about owning.
“Maybe we should call the guys,” she finally said.
“Oh they already called,” Lucia admitted.
“Wait, what? When?”
“While you were driving. I hit ‘ignore’ on both of our phones.”
JJ shook her head. “I’m surprised they haven’t sent out a search party for us.” Then she winced. “They probably think we’re okay since Ryan was with us.”
Lucia sighed. “I do feel really bad about that part. But we had to do this. I’m not about to sit back while some psycho torments my best friend. And the guys didn’t even listen when you told them about David wanting to live in Connecticut.”
JJ knew she was right. If they’d left it up to the guys, they’d likely have missed any chance of nailing David before he moved to a new location. But they had to be careful about this. They’d just sneak up and take a look, enough to get hard proof he was there. Then they’d run like hell and call in the guys.
She was a strong, independent woman. But that didn’t mean she was willing to put herself in danger to prove it. The guys had way more experience with this kind of thing. She and Lucia could restrict themselves to the surveillance portion of the security business.
“Okay, did you bring the binoculars?”
“Yes! I did. These are some new, heat sensing type binoculars that Noah was really excited about. I also grabbed this!” Lucia held up the gun she’d taken from the weapons room.
JJ held up a hand. “Okay, let’s save that for hopefully never. This is not going to be some kind of female James Bond-Charlie’s Angels situation. We are going to spy on him, but I don’t plan on getting anywhere close to David ever again.”
“Of course. I just brought it because… well, you never know. Rafe taught me that.” Lucia put the gun back and handed JJ one of the heat sensing binoculars.
She trained it on the house down the street. Nothing.
“Are they supposed to light up or do something?”
Lucia put her pair to her face. “I’m not sure. I hate to say it, but we probably need to be closer.”
JJ gulped. “Okay, let’s get out. Leave the car open so we can run back and jump inside quickly if we need to. But we’ll walk up the street and see if we can detect anyone inside. If no one is there, we might be doing all of this for nothing.”
Lucia took off her seatbelt. “I don’t think it’s for nothing. At least we’re checking out a valid lead. If he’s not here, it gives Matthias one less place to focus on.”
They left the car unlocked and closed the doors as quietly as possible. It was a bright night, the moon shining directly overhead, making up for the lack of streetlights. The house in question only had one light on up front, and there were no cars in the driveway.
“What if he drives up while we’re walking by?” Lucia whispered.
JJ had just had a similar thought. “Keep an eye out behind us. If you see anyone driving up, we can knock on one of these other doors and pretend we’re lost or something.”
Luckily no one drove up or down the street as they were walking. JJ raised her binoculars and pointed them at the house. She pulled the binoculars down with a frown. “Are these supposed to do something? I don’t see anything.”
Lucia shrugged. “I think you’re supposed to see things change color when they detect heat.”
“Well, if that’s true then no one is here. I don’t see anything.”
“Oh, dang. I really want to get some proof so we can get the guys to take this seriously. I wasn’t expecting to actually see him or anything, but a sign would be nice,” Lucia complained.
JJ couldn’t help but laugh at that. “A sign that says “super secret psycho man’s hideout?”
“Yes. Exactly like that,” Lucia added.
JJ wasn’t sure what came over her but before she knew it she was marching toward the house. No one was there, she’d already seen that. So it wasn’t that big of a deal to get closer and look inside. Maybe they’d see something that could prove David was there if they took a quick look. But she was tired of waiting and worrying about when he’d pop up. This might be her only chance to outsmart him.
“JJ, what are you doing?” Lucia whispered frantically as she followed JJ around to the back of the house.
“He used to always say he’d hide his keys under a planter,” JJ muttered. Then just like she’d conjured it, she saw it. A huge planter right by the back door. She lifted it and took out the small silver key underneath.
“You aren’t going–”
“Inside. Yes, I am,” JJ stated before Lucia could even finish. “For once we’re ahead in this twisted game, and I’m not going to let this opportunity pass me by. You can wait in the car if you want.”
Lucia punched her arm. “I’m not leaving you. I’ll keep a lookout while you search the place. Plus, I brought this. Just in case, remember?” She held up the gun.
JJ blew out a breath. “Okay, let’s do this.”
She opened the back door with the key and then paused, listening. It was quiet and still. They moved through the house quickly, not wasting any time. Lucia posted herself by the back window while JJ searched the front room. There were piles of mail on the side table addressed to Charlie Townsend. Another alias? Then she lifted the cushions of the couch to see if he’d hidden anything there.
A soft sound behind her made JJ freeze in place. But when she turned, nothing was there.
“Lucia!” she hissed into the shadows.
Then one of the shadows moved and formed a familiar shape.
“David,” she breathed.