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Everyone was watching me. I knew what they were thinking. The stakes had never been higher.

Drawing in a breath, I typed the text, finishing just as Frankie came into the room with Kira. I handed it around in case I needed to make any changes to the text.

Change of plans. I want you to personally tell the handler that it is time for the bird to disappear permanently. Do it now. Do NOT use any electronic means to relay this message. Text me when you arrive at location and await further instructions. Do not hurt the bird until I say so. I want this done properly, but we need to allow as much time as possible for the target to come to his senses. Do not expect additional communications from me until then. Situation is insecure.

“Looks good, but how do you know there is only one handler?” Kira asked when it was her turn to read it.

I shrugged. “I don’t. But I assume there is at least one in charge. Hopefully, it appears as if I’m addressing that person.”

Kira nodded. “Good thinking.”

“Do I sound like Isaac Remington?” I asked the group.

“Oh, you sound exactly like that douchebag,” Frankie offered, and it made me smile.

Everyone else read the message without offering any additional changes, so I decided it was good to go.

“As soon as I push the Send button, things are going to go down fast,” I said. “We need to be ready to follow him to the location, and I need to get the cavalry en route. We need to do all this without tipping our hand to Remington or Sampson, which means we have to be extra careful what we do and how we do it. I want Remington to go down for my mom’s kidnapping, for the murder of J. P. Lando, for threatening my father, and for everything else, which means we have to execute this perfectly.”

“We will,” Wally said, sitting down in front of his laptop. His hair stuck up in spikes, but his eyes behind his glasses were clear. “We’re ready. Let’s do it.”

I exhaled a deep breath and pushed to send the message. We quickly huddled around Mike’s laptop to see if Sampson had changed direction.

“He hasn’t changed direction yet,” Mike said.

“He will,” I said confidently. About two minutes later, he did exactly that.

“Bingo,” Wally said.

“Let’s get loaded up, team,” I said, my spirits and anxiety rising. “This operation is about to go mobile.”

Jax and Bo went outside to pull their cars around while Wally, Mike, and I packed up our laptops and other gear. I could see a stack of backpacks by the door and wondered what they contained, even as I understood that everyone was carryinganythingthey felt might be useful. No one was holding anything back.

“We stay in constant communication,” I reminded everyone as I went out the door with Wally and Mike on my heels.

“You bet,” Bo answered.

Wally, Mike, and I climbed into Jax’s car, while Frankie, Kira, and Hala went with Bo.

Jax already had Bo on the phone when we got in the car, so they could follow us as Mike tracked Sampson’s car. Since we had the GPS tracker, we didn’t have to follow right behind him. Jax and Mike were in the front, while Wally and I sat in the back seat, balancing our laptops on our knees, cables stretched out between the three of us. Jax propped his phone on the dashboard with Bo on speaker.

The tension was palpable. Nothing was said that wasn’t directly related to the mission. Things had taken a serious turn, and we all had our game-day faces on.

“He’s now heading southeast toward Anne Arundel County,” Mike said, watching his screen. “He’s definitely not going home.”

“Good,” I said. “Jax, you got a burner phone for me?”

He dug it out of his pocket while driving and handed it to Mike, who passed it back to me. “What are you going to do if Candace Kim isn’t at her desk?” Mike asked as I activated the phone.

“Try again later. I don’t want to leave her a message unless I have no other choice.”

“She’ll be there,” Wally said without looking up from his laptop. “I’ve got a good feeling about this.”

I hoped he was right as I pulled up Candace Kim’s office number and punched the numbers into the phone. “Mike, take Bo off speaker and listen through your earpiece. Keep Jax going in the right direction. I need everyone to stay quiet for a few minutes. Whisper if you have to talk.” I shifted in my seat to face the rear window and put a finger in my other ear, to shut out all distractions. Taking a deep breath, I pressed the Call button.

The phone rang four times, and no one answered. It occurred to me that unknown numbers calling into the NSA might possibly be rerouted somewhere else for screening. But I’d gotten this number from a genuine NSA directory. Screening shouldn’t be necessary…I hoped.

The phone rang two more times, and my heart sank. I was about to hang up when I heard a woman answer. “Hello?”