Reaper's Salvation: A Last Riders Trilogy Jamie Begley (fb2 epub reader .txt) 📖

Twisting one of the handles, he rotated it in a series of movements to open it. His heart started beating faster as he unscrewed the endcap. Pressing the button, he felt inside and the other end of the handle lit up. Putting the uniquely designed flashlight in his mouth, he quickly detached the other handle. Unscrewing one end, he held his hand out to catch the contents from within. One of the items was a tiny vial of pills used to counter the effects of a knock-out drug, then shaking the tube again a slender signal detector that was the size of his pinkie slid out. The signal detector was key; it would work to detect bugs as well as sent an SOS beacon if necessary.

Next time he saw Razer, he was going to kiss him for his inventiveness. The bag had been designed to get several tiny items to go undetected through X-ray machines. He needed every tool he could find to keep Ginny safe.

Concealing the items in the clothes, Reaper turned the flashlight off before hiding it and stepping out of the closet to go into the bathroom.

Taking a shower, he then dried off before getting dressed and began sweeping the room for bugs with the wireless signal detector. When he was finished, Reaper hung the towel over the nozzle of the shower as he debated his next move. There weren’t many options, if any at all. The number of bugs revealed every action they made.

He had a hard choice to make. Either he sent out an SOS to get Ginny and him out of there, or he could wait and give her the opportunity to accomplish the harebrained goal she set for herself. It was almost nil she would remember what she had stolen or where it was. Was he willing to sacrifice her life … or his, if her plan ended up in the crapper?

Placing his hands on the vanity, he stared down reflectively. Whatever the decision, it needed to be made before he walked out that bathroom door. No amount of should’ves or would’ves had erased the years he had been kidnapped.

The old Gavin would have told Ginny it was a no-win mission and given her a choice of leaving or staying. Reaper wanted to withdraw to safer ground, regardless of what Ginny wanted. His mind flipped back and forth. It boiled down to whether he had the same capacity to be the soldier he once was. Was he as good, or had he lost that cutting edge that had made him such a formidable opponent?

Straightening his back, Reaper placed the signal detector back in his pocket before removing the blanket from the mirror. Then, opening a prepacked toothbrush and toothpaste, he started brushing his teeth. Tearing open the plastic-wrapped cup, he filled it with water, then swirled the water around his mouth. Instead of spitting into the sink, he spat out toward the mirror.

Satisfied the message would be received the way it was meant, he turned the water off and left the bathroom.

For better or worse, he’d made his decision.

Chapter Fourteen

“He knows they’re being watched.”

“What gave you that impression? The towels and blankets being placed over most of the cameras or him spitting on the mirror?” Gabriel Allerton ridiculed the man standing next to him as they continued watching the live feed from the computer on his desk.

“Sorry, sir. Can I get you anything else?”

“No, I’ll call you when I want something.” Gabriel kept his computer screen the center of his attention as Ethan left the room.

“Do you want me to leave?”

Gabriel raised his eyes to Agent Collins, who looked as if he wanted nothing more than to leave as quickly as Ethan. “Did I tell you to?”

“No.”

“Then no, I don’t want you to leave.”

Unlike his assistant, Agent Collins turned an uncomfortable shade of puce. Gabriel didn’t care that the man took umbrage at the reprimand. “I told you not to give them their luggage.”

“Why? Your men were the ones who checked them. Everything was taken but their clothes.”

“Hmm … Then why did Mr. James go into the closet before he took his shower?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he wanted to jerk off without the wifey seeing him.”

Gabriel raised his piercing eyes from the computer. “They’ve been fucking for the last nine hours. I doubt jerking off is why he needed that form of privacy.”

Collins gave him a caustic shrug. “Then call and ask him. You should have informed me that their status as prisoners was not a secret.”

“I don’t have to do anything; that’s what I’m paying you for.”

“Mr. James wasn’t calculated into the price I quoted you. If he had been, my price would have doubled.”

“Are you raising your price? I would hate to misconstrue your meaning, considering you were recommended for the job from your previous employer, and I haven’t used you before. Increasing your rate, when Mr. James now has a signal detector and has found my hidden devices, isn’t advisable at this point.”

“I’m not asking for more money,” Collins hastily backtracked. “I’m merely saying we’ll have to be more discreet in how we handle the situation with Evangeline now that we know they’re married.”

“They aren’t any more married than I am.”

“The certificate is legit. My director approved Mr. James accompanying his wife.”

“The director of the FBI isn’t on my payroll. You are.” The undercurrent of his statement expressed his disapproval of the agent’s job performance. “I’m checking into the legality of their marriage. Until then, all you have to do is keep them contained to the area I designated for them.”

“Then what?”

“Arrangements will be made for Mr. James to be flown out, accompanied by your three trainees, if I find out the marriage certificate was fabricated.”

“What if they are married?”

“Then I will continue as I would have if her other companion had arrived. Four more casualties of the virus, while tragic, are explainable.”

“What’s the difference? Both men