The Shadowmen Read Online Free Page B

and three magazines of 9×18mm Ultra rounds. They had approached the building with a great deal of care, and at the door to his place, he checked his fail-safes before he went inside. Pete remained in the narrow corridor, her Glock in hand.
    For a longish moment, he stood in the middle of the tiny living room trying to sense anything, any little out-of-place bit that might indicate someone had been here. But nothing came to his attention.
    Otto had suggested they send a decent second-story team to make a quick pass, but McGarvey had turned the offer down.
    â€œWhoever went through the effort is probably watching me. I want to go in relatively clean.”
    Pete had bridled, but she’d said nothing.
    â€œHe could be double-teaming you.”
    â€œHe’s made this personal; I don’t think he brought the cavalry with him.”
    â€œQuestion is from where,” Otto said. “If we knew that much, we’d have a start. But the chisel could have been picked up at any hardware store just about anywhere. And no one at Arlington saw a thing.”
    â€œThen for now, I’ll do what he wants,” McGarvey said.
    But standing here in the middle of his living room, he got the feeling that he might not be coming back soon. The FO—or Foreign Operator, as Otto had named the assailant—was playing a game of cat and mouse. He was going to play for a while.
    â€œKirk?” Pete said from the corridor.
    â€œJust a minute,” McGarvey said. He went into his bedroom where from a small wall safe he took out his go-to-hell kit contained in a manila envelope: ten thousand dollars in cash in several currencies and three passports and a few pieces of identification to match each, plus air marshal credentials that would allow him to fly armed. He’d brought a few things from Serifos that, along with the cash and papers, gave him the autonomy to instantly jump in any direction at a moment’s notice.
    Pete knew exactly what was in the envelope, but she said nothing until they were back downstairs and driving out to Arlington. “You don’t think he’ll try to take you out when you show up at the cemetery?”
    â€œHe might, but I don’t think he wants to make it that simple.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œI don’t know. Just a feeling.”
    She thought about it for a minute. “At least we know four things about him. He’s a he. He’s aware of who you are. And he’s probably someone out of your past, because he has a grudge against you.”
    â€œWhat’s number four?”
    â€œHe has a big ego.”
    *   *   *
    It was a weekday late afternoon and already starting to get dark by the time they got out to Arlington. Washington’s spring weather was not as mild as Greece’s had been, but it was pleasant.
    Very few cars were parked along the driveways, the families or friends somewhere amid the graves, paying their respects. McGarvey had come out here every time he was in town to visit Katy and Liz and Todd. They were buried side by side, so it was easy for him to speak to them together, as they had done in the past over pizza and beers. But each time, it was harder for him to focus, harder for him to keep his anger in check for the senselessness of their deaths.
    Pete knew something of what he was thinking, because when she parked, she reached out and touched his cheek. “I’m sorry, Kirk.”
    â€œI know.”
    She glanced toward a copse of trees along the sloping ridge. “I’d feel a lot better about this if we came back in the morning.”
    â€œI want you to drive around to the other side of the hill.”
    â€œYou think he might be up there?” she asked.
    â€œIt’s where’d I’d be.”
    â€œGo easy.”
    â€œYou too,” McGarvey said. He got out of the car and started up the grassy slope to the first row of markers as Pete took off.
    Something pinged off a