"Why not?"
"Because you're being followed." She said it like he was missing something obvious. "You said multiple vehicles. Different times. What if they’re watching you right now? I mean, you did admit you didn’t see them following you before, until they were on top of you right? They could be outside right now.”
Cara laughed. “She’s not wrong, Sawyer.”
“Copy that.” Gabe moved to the window and scanned the empty street. Between the dark and the fog, he could barely see the beach half a block away. The kid was right. It would be too easy for a surveillance crew to be waiting out there.
He bit back a groan. "We don't have time to wait them out."
"So we need to draw them off," Wade said.
Piper’s eyes lit up. “You mean like set a trap?”
"A diversion," her father corrected.
"No way." Gabe shook his head. "I'm not putting civilians in the line of fire."
"We're already in the line of fire." Reagan's voice wassteady. "These jerks trashed Cara's bakery. Plus, they already know we're helping. The only question is whether we help effectively or just wait around to be targets."
The truth of that settled over the group.
Gabe looked at each of them. Tom with his technical skills and careful competence. Reagan with serious intelligence gathering skills evidenced in a server's notebook. Wade with training he couldn’t hide, no matter how hard he tried. And even little Piper with her teenage perspective on a problem that needed unconventional solutions.
And Cara, ready to walk into danger for a guy she'd never met.
His counter-intelligence training mapped the assets available. His bureaucratic IA caution screamed to shut this down.
But David's voice echoed in his head.Finish this, Gabe. Finish what Dad started.
He couldn't do it alone. Not in the time he had. Not with the other team tracking his every move.
"Okay." The word came out rough. "We need a way to make them think Cara and I are somewhere else. Keep them busy long enough for us to reach the warehouse, investigate, and get back."
"How long?" Tom asked.
"Two hours. Maybe three."
Piper's face lit with an idea. The kind of expression that probably terrified her dad. "I’ve totally got this. You’re gonna love it."
Which, Gabe was certain, meant the exact opposite. He was beginning to clue in to her teen-speak.
Cara clearly had her doubts, too. She looked from Piper to Tom. “Ummm...”
Grinning hard now, Piper waved a hand in the air. “No worries. I live for this stuff. I got this.”
Cara shrugged helplessly, turning to Gabe. “It’s your mission, Agent.”
He ran a hand down the back of his neck. “Let’s hear it.”
Piper bounced on her toes, hugging her phone to her chest. “Awesome. Listen up, you guys. This is gonna be so epic.”
23
Much as Carawas coming to appreciate just how special Piper was, her stomach ached anticipating whatever “drama” the girl wanted to cook up.
Utterly oblivious to adult angst, Piper bounced on her toes with that particular energy teenagers had when they thought they'd solved an unsolvable problem. She flicked a hank of dark hair back over a slender shoulder. "Okay. So they're watching for you two, right? They need to see Gabe and Cara leaving the bakery and going somewhere."
She looked at Wade and Reagan. "So that’s what we’ll give them. Only with added… sprinkles."
