Page 18 of Black Moon Rising (Black Knights Inc: Reloaded #4)
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Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse, Mackinaw City
JD Maddox watched his portly partner pace the length of the waterfront lawn next to the old lighthouse and waited for him to finish his phone call.
They’d been on their way to rendezvous with U.S. and Canadian authorities in Sault Ste. Marie when the tactical team members they’d left behind at the old farmhouse contacted them with the news that Agent O’Toole and the ancient, rusting farm truck that had been parked inside the decrepit old barn had gone missing.
The tactical guys hadn’t been able to say if she’d been the one to steal the truck or if someone had kidnapped her—maybe the missing motorcyclist?—because they’d been too far away to determine how many passengers the vehicle held. But since they’d found her phone on the ground in the barn, everyone was leaning toward option number two.
Britt Rollins, or Hewitt Birch, or whoever had been riding that misty-blue motorcycle, had snatched O’Toole. And despite Keplar cursing a blue streak and hesitating for a moment as he had tried to decide what was more important, continuing to the meeting in the upper peninsula or coordinating the search for their missing associate, he’d finally ordered the helicopter’s pilot to land the bird in the nearest clear spot.
For the last hour, JD, Keplar, and Agent Douglas had been on the horn to every local law enforcement outfit from Ludington to Marquette to be on the lookout for the truck. They’d demanded local sheriff’s offices call their deputies out of bed and get them on the backroads to hunt for the missing agent. And they’d tasked the bureau’s field offices in both Chicago and Detroit to send every helicopter and drone they had to the western border of Michigan.
It'd been quite the undertaking. But now it seemed the appropriate steps had been taken and they could finally, finally get back to hunting their fugitive.
JD glanced at his watch and noted the time. He’d officially been awake for thirty-six hours. The caffeine in his system no longer held the exhaustion at bay. Instead, it made him jumpy and paranoid.
This entire situation was getting out of hand. Or…rather…it’d been out of hand since Knox Rollins had decided to lead them on a merry chase across half the country. And as the hours ticked by, and as more and more people got involved, JD couldn’t shake the growing sense of alarm that started in the pit of his stomach and radiated outward until his limbs felt twitchy and his hands felt shaky.
If only Knox had?—
“That’s the last of it,” Keplar declared, interrupting JD’s disquieting thoughts. The older agent lumbered back to where JD and the others stood beside the silent, black helicopter.
The lighthouse rising above their heads had been deactivated decades earlier. The only glow to illuminate the frustration on Keplar’s face came from the landscape lighting strategically placed around the well-manicured grounds.
“What’s the plan?” JD prompted, shivering in the cool breeze blowing in off the lake. Having grown up near the ocean, he was always taken aback by the icy smell of the Great Lakes. Where were the scents of fish, salt, and seaweed? It seemed strange that a body of water so large could smell so…sterilized. “Do we continue up to Sault Ste. Marie now?”
“No way.” Agent Douglas shook his head. “I mean, I get you guys want to catch this murderous motherfucker, but that gets back-burnered until we find my partner.”
Damnit. JD worked hard to keep the irritation from his face. We wouldn't be in this situation of having our priorities divided if you’d stayed with your partner instead of following us like an over-eager puppy.
Aloud, he simply said, “I thought you had the utmost faith that Agent O’Toole could handle herself?”
The look Agent Douglas shot him would’ve had a thinner-skinned man bristling. JD only lifted a challenging eyebrow.
Knox Rollins couldn’t be allowed to escape the country. He was too valuable, too… knowledgeable . JD’s superiors needed Knox found and dealt with accordingly so that?—
“Agent Douglas is right,” Keplar said to JD’s astonishment, stopping his swirling thoughts in their tracks. “No man left behind.”
“That’s a military credo,” JD argued, studying his partner closely. Never in a million years would he have pegged Keplar as a bleeding heart, feds-before-felons type of agent. In fact, he’d always thought his partner was more of an every-man-for-himself kind of cop. The sort of guy who didn’t worry about the collateral damage along the way as long as he got the bad guy in the end. In fact, JD had been banking on precisely that. “Last I checked, we’re not military,” he finished with a twist of his lips.
“Doesn’t matter.” Keplar waved a hand. “We’re still all brothers in arms. We have to prioritize finding Agent O’Toole.”
A niggle of worry wormed its way through JD’s chest. It turned into a snake of alarm when Keplar continued. “You stay here with Agent Douglas and continue to organize the search. I’ll take the chopper to the upper peninsula and meet with the border authorities. No reason we can’t kill two birds.”
The snake of alarm turned into a leviathan of concern. “How about you let me go instead? Your relationship with Rollins means you’re too close to this.”
The clouds that had followed them throughout the day finally parted. Without the moon to dampen their glow, the stars shone against the black blanket of the sky. Their silver light reflected in the lake's glassy surface and showed Keplar’s color going from ruddy to fire-engine red.
“Knox is my asset. I’ll bring him in,” the older man snarled, his lips pulling back to reveal his square, squat teeth.
Desperation had JD offering, “Agent Douglas can stay and head up the search for his partner. You and I can?—”
“Last I checked,” Keplar interrupted, “I’m still the lead agent. I call the shots.”
JD opened his mouth to continue to argue, but Keplar turned to the remaining tactical team members. “Load up.” He circled a finger in the air. “We’re headed north.”
JD had no choice but to step back as everyone climbed into the chopper—everyone but him and Agent Douglas.
When the pilot punched the ignition and the blades began to spin, he reluctantly followed the Chicago agent toward the steps leading to the lighthouse’s front door. Two minutes later, he watched the helicopter leap into the sky and chart a course out over the water.
Goosebumps rose over his arms and the back of his neck. They had nothing to do with the rotor wash or the chill in the air and everything to do with the thought of Keplar finding Knox without JD there to make sure things didn’t go awry. To make sure Knox didn’t?—
“Fuck,” he cursed, cutting off his own thoughts this time.
Douglas lifted a questioning eyebrow, but JD simply waved him off.