“I don’t mind,” Kimber said as she threw her arms around Denise’swaist.
“Thanks, doodlebug. Have a good day atschool.”
“I will.” She skipped a few steps before joining the line of kids getting on thebus.
Kaden paused at the foot of the steps and raised a hand in a half wave. At least she gotthat.
A prickle of unease crawled up her spine and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. All amusement fled. She kept her composure as the bus pulled away. Using the vehicle’s motion, she turned as if she were watching it, but scanned from one end of the street to theother.
There. Two streets down, on the other side of the road, a man sat on a black Harley-Davidson motorcycle. The pipes rumbled with their distinct sound as he revved the throttle, pulling out two cars behind the bus. She held her breath until the rider kept going straight when the bus turned right, but he turned his head and watched the bus when he passed the turn. Then he roared off down the road, over the crest of the hill, and out ofsight.
She licked her lips and her palm itched.Don’t freak out. They’re safe on the bus and at school. It’s just acoincidence.
A lot of people in the area rode motorcycles—there was nothing unusual about seeing one. The patch on the back of the vest was a differentstory.
* * *
“Agent Nolton, you have the floor.”
Chris self-consciously smoothed his tie. The tailored suit fit him perfectly and he knew he looked the part of the professional agent—if only he felt it. A month ago, he’d been wearing a t-shirt that, if he’d been lucky, had been washed sometime in the previous week. He’d been more comfortable in the scrungytee.
Clearing his throat, he pushed down his nerves. “Good morning, Director. As a result of the simultaneous operations along the interstate eighty-five corridor in North Carolina and Georgia, we’ve severely disrupted the Southern Anarchist’s distributionlines.”
The brief summarizing the operation took only fifteen minutes, but he had sweat trickling down between his shoulder blades before he was finished. He was the guy who got shit done—he hated being the monkey in the suit playing for theaudience.
“What is the situation with Edward Perry?” Director Wilkinsasked.
Eddie Perry’s release and disappearance hadn’t been covered during the brief. He wasn’t sure if he should be impressed she was up to speed on the situation, or pissed off he’d spent fifteen minutes telling her shit she already knew. “Ma’am, Eddie Perry was released from jail approximately three weeks ago and has skipped parole. Several sources have reported that he’s shown up at some of the old Anarchist stomping grounds, but otherwise no one has had verified contact withhim.”
“Is he looking to take back his former position in the Anarchists? This would be a good time for a powergrab.”
“We don’t have a good handle on that information yet. It doesn’t appear that he’s trying to rally any of the old guard still left and newer members of the gang that weren’t caught up in the arrests don’t know him. They might not trusthim.”
“Family?” she asked. Her steely blue eyes met his. She already knew the answer to her question. What he wanted to know was what her plans were for theinformation.
“His former wife is terminally ill and inhospice.”
She didn’t move an inch. If her shoulder-length gray hair didn’t move from the air conditioning current, he might have thought she was a statue. “And?”
“They have two children. Our assessment is that the kids haven’t had any contact with theirfather.”
Phil looked at him sharply and leaned forward on the table. “Ma’am, we do believe Eddie Perry was attempting to make contact with his kids. He’d been calling his ex-wife’shouse.”
The Director looked from Phil to Chris. “Is thattrue?”
“Yes, but until three weeks ago, they believed he was dead. It’s my understanding the remaining family has no desire to reestablish contact and are working to keep the kids unaware of who their fatheris.”
“Do we know what the plan is for the kids since the ex is terminal?” Her question was cold and calculated and her voice held no inflection of emotion or empathy. Maybe it was years of being a woman in a male-dominated field. Maybe she was just the coldhearted hard-ass rumor pegged herfor.
“Her first cousin is taking care of the children at the moment,” Phil said. “We’re not sure about…after.”
Chris looked down at the conference table, a heavy dose of guilt niggling the back of his mind. He hadn’t told Phil that Denise was their guardian. He wasn’t sure why he’d withheld the information other than Phil not knowing who Denise was to him. Not that he had a reason to hide it, but the whole conversation turned his stomach and left himcold.
“What do we know about theex?”
Phil pulled one of the open file folders closer. “What little background we have on Sarah Perry prior to Eddie being arrested is minimal. Her aunt and uncle petitioned the courts for full custody when she was eleven. Her uncle was in the Army and they moved out of North Carolina shortly after. The family moved back at some point since she graduated from high school locally and went to Fayetteville State University for her teaching degree. Except for the run in when Eddie Perry was arrested, everything else is squeaky clean. Not even a parkingticket.”
“What is the likelihood she knows Eddie Perry’s whereabouts?” Director Wilkinsasked.
