Page 14 of Into the Gray Zone (Pike Logan #19)

We left the lights of the pavilion restaurant and entered the darkness of the grounds, the only illumination emanating from

small solar lights along the concrete paths.

I said, “I don’t know about her.”

Jennifer took my hand and said, “What do you mean? Are you jealous she didn’t come on to you first?”

I chuckled and said, “No, that’s not it. I’m still amazed that you came on to me, back in the day.”

She inched closer and said, “Not how I remember it, but I do like pirates,” which, honestly, was the best way to describe

me. At over six feet, with close-cropped brown hair and an inconvenient scar that ran through an eyebrow and into my cheek,

I did look like a pirate. I was the guy at a party you’d take one look at, and if you didn’t know me, you’d wander off to converse

with someone else. But that wasn’t what I was talking about.

I said, “That’s not what I meant. Didn’t you think it was unusual for Nadia to bump into us at the church today? Didn’t that

raise a hair on your neck?”

“No, not really. It was her day off. What do you mean?”

“Yeah, so she’s supposedly worked here for years, and on her day off—in an area she supposedly grew up in—she went to see the ruins of a church by herself?”

Jennifer turned to me, saying, “What are you implying?”

I realized we’d walked all the way across the grounds, the ruins of an old Portuguese chapel to our front—something the resort

was quite proud of—and the drainage canal just beyond. Small and made of stone, it was about fifty by seventy feet and covered

in vines.

I stopped, pretending to read the plaque outside, which was a little ridiculous because it was dark. I said, “I think she’s

either RAW or she’s the enemy. I think she’s been tracking us since we entered the resort, trying to uncover why we’re here

and determine if we’re a threat.”

Jennifer said, “Pike, that’s insane. She’s just a waitress who was being friendly. You’re getting paranoid.”

I said, “Yeah, maybe, but her trip today makes absolutely no sense. When’s the last time you went to Fort Sumter—by yourself—in

Charleston? Her going to see a tourist attraction in her own hometown just reeks of a coincidence that doesn’t stand up.”

I saw her wheels turning and continued, “Last night I just thought it was Knuckles being Knuckles, but when she showed up

at the church, I began to wonder. Now she’s with Knuckles again. He thinks she’s attracted to his natural charms, but I think

she’s using him for information just like he’s doing with her. Either she’s with RAW, or she’s a sleeper that RAW missed.”

We heard Brett come on the radio, doing his camera check with Veep. Jennifer ignored it and said, “So what do you want to

do about it?”

“Honestly, I don’t know at this point. But I’m damn sure going to dedicate Knuckles to be with her during the meeting. We

need eyes on her the entire time.”

Brett and Veep chattered about his check, and Jennifer said, “I hope you’re wrong. I can’t stand how this job makes us think the worst of people. I don’t want to start questioning everyone who asks me for the time.”

I said, “Well, if she’s RAW, I’m not thinking the worst at all. In fact, I’m a little impressed with the thoroughness. We

are, after all, just an archeological company from the United States, not a bunch of Muslims from Qatar looking for investments.”

“And if she’s not?”

“Then she’s just a waitress who’s fallen for Knuckles. Or she’s a terrorist.”

Jennifer said nothing. I took her hand again and said, “Look, this is supposed to be a walk in the park, and I’m just trying

to keep it that way. Let’s go to the beach and take our stroll.”

She nodded and we went back toward the restaurant, the incandescent lights of the dock beckoning about halfway down. Brett

kept up his chatter on the radio, listening to Veep give him directions on the angle of the camera, and we reached the dock,

which was really just a thatched-roof gazebo with stairs leading down to the sand and a thin wooden walkway jutting out into

the water. A guard was stationed at the entrance, and I thought for a minute he was going to block us from going down.

I said, “Hey, can we go for a moonlight walk?”

He appeared embarrassed, and I realized his English wasn’t good enough to understand what I wanted. I started to say something

else, and my earpiece came on again, this time for me.

“Pike, Koko, it’s not your time yet. I’m still working Blood’s camera.”

Jennifer backed away out of earshot of the guard and clicked on, saying, “We’re still up top. What are you talking about?”

One ear listening to the conversation, I said to the guard—more with my arms than my voice—“Can we go walk on the beach?”

The guard smiled and nodded, and I knew he didn’t understand me. The only way to find out was to walk past him to the stairs. If he stopped us, we’d have to come up with another plan to test the cameras. On the net, I heard, “Never mind. I got a group walking by the camera at the north end. Five of them. At first I thought it was you guys.”

So much for the walk on the beach. I smiled again at the guard, said, “Thank you,” and walked to Jennifer. She was looking at me in confusion, saying into the

net, “Five guys on the beach? Right now?”

I heard, “Yep. Just went past. You don’t need to check that camera. It’s working fine.”

She said, “Roger that,” and I motioned to her. We began walking back to the chapel, and I said, “We can’t do anything until

those guys are gone, so we’ve got some time.”

This trip we went past the chapel to the drainage ditch. It had two wooden bridges that crossed it, one near the chapel and

the other closer to the buildings of the hotel. I stopped between them, right near the edge of the canal, and said, “Got any

ideas to kill the time?”

She said, “Not really. We could go back to the restaurant and talk to Knuckles.”

I said, “It’s sort of dark right here.”

She said, “Yeah, it is. Let’s go back to the restaurant.”

“I mean, it’s really dark right here. I can think of better ways to kill the time.”

I saw her face me in confusion, then felt her slap my stomach, saying, “Yeah, it’ll be a cold day in hell before I’m caught

in the bushes out here. Save it for tonight.”

I laughed, took her hand, and turned back to the restaurant, saying, “Couldn’t hurt to ask.”

My earpiece came alive, Veep saying, “Pike, Pike, second camera’s feed is fine as well. That group is working on the grate.”

What?

Jennifer looked at me the same way I felt, and I said, “Working it how?”

“They’ve got bolt cutters and they’re cutting the chain.”

What the hell?

I looked back toward the dock a hundred meters away, thinking about jogging to the guard and letting him know that he had

some intruders. Veep’s next words shut that idea down.

“They’re through the grate. They’re coming up the cut at a run. Pike, they’ve got weapons. I say again, they have guns.”