Slow steps.
Approach the end of the alley.
Scan the grassy area beyond.
Check the blood trail.
Retract the gun.
Fast motion—round the corner and extend the gun.
Pivot.
Clear.
Nothing but tire tracks leading down a dirt road that skirted the back of the buildings.
I retraced my steps, moving backward, keeping my gun aimed down the alley. The process would have been smoother with Percival or one of the other Pendragon operators with me, but I made do.
“Sit rep?” asked Scarlett.
I holstered my weapon as I turned, pointing over her shoulder. “I’ll tell you in the car.”
She moved with me. Although she didn’t have much of a choice. Her need to know what happened forced her to move. And if it hadn’t, I’d have thrown her over my shoulder.
As we passed the smear on the wall, I paused. The blood was fresh but not dripping—an hour old, at least, not minutes. The timing coincided with Noah’s arrival, if Scarlett was right about him arriving a half-hour early.
I hurried Scarlett across the small courtyard, to where Zac waited in the car, attempting to cover both our forward momentum and our rear. Before I got in, I opened Scarlett’s door for her, while checking over my shoulder one more time.
Was it all a game? Or was Noah truly in trouble this time?
“Go,” I said to Zac as I closed my door.
Zac drove down the narrow road, heading for the highway that would lead us back to Montechiaro. “Noah?”
“No sign of him.”
“There was blood,” said Scarlett.
“Fuck,” Zac muttered, scanning the area. “Trap?”
“Maybe.” I craned in my seat to see out the back window. Not that I had to. We had our best driver with us, who had a knack for monitoring follow cars half a click away. “There was a trail of blood droplets that ended near some tire tracks behind the service buildings.”
“Tire tracks? If he was hurt before the meeting, he wouldn’t have just driven away.” Scarlett pulled out her phone, no doubt checking for a message from Noah. “Something’s wrong.”
As we turned onto a wider and busier road, I stopped staring out the back. “They know he was acting against them. It’s the only explanation that fits.”
Scarlett let out a slow breath, an uncharacteristic sign of stress. “If Enzo found out he was feeding us information…”
Then Noah was in a lot of trouble. He’d already risked his position with Fenix to save our team members more than once. But if Enzo had cause to believe Noah wasn’t only saving our lives, but actively working against Fenix?
Noah had used us for his own ends. But he’d also warned us about the demonstration. About the danger to innocent lives.
“We stick to the plan,” I said. “Use what Noah already gave us. But we need to proceed as if Fenix knows we’re coming.”
“Shit.” Scarlett’s phone rang. “It’s Drew. I’ll put him on speaker.”
The moment the call connected, Drew’s hurried voice came through: “Get to Pompeii. We’ve got movement in the tunnels.”
