Page 46 of Tiger on the Prowl

“He’s probably too smart to get caught on camera.”

“I figured as much, but Olivia came up with another idea. We just need to get her laptop, and then we’ll be heading your way. Watch my back.”

“Yankee is watching the cottage on the monitors. It’s all clear.”

“See you.” He disconnected the call.

“How are we getting to Alexandria? The Metro?” Olivia asked.

“No. This way,” he said and ushered her into a small parking lot with an electronic pay station. There was no parking attendant. Jay glanced around to find a suitable car, something common that wouldn’t attract attention.

He found it quickly, then glanced around to make sure that nobody was watching.

“What are you doing?” Olivia asked.

“Getting us a ride to Alexandria.” Jay pulled out his cellphone and navigated to an app that Fox had installed for him a few days earlier. He leaned over the windshield of the white Toyota Corolla and scanned the VIN. Moments later, a series of beeps sounded, then the familiar click of car doors unlocking.

“That’s not your car, is it?” Olivia asked, looking worried.

“It is for now. Don’t worry, I don’t intend to keep it.” He opened the car door and lifted the travel bag on the backseat. “Get in.” He waited until Olivia opened the passenger door, before getting in himself.

“Switch off your cell phone. We don’t want anybody to be able to track you,” Jay said, and Olivia did as he demanded.

It took him all of thirty seconds to hotwire the car, and moments later, they were on the road, driving through Washington D.C. Jay cast a sideways look at Olivia and noticed that she still looked worried.

“Relax, I know what I’m doing. This is not the first time I’ve done this.”

“I figured that much from how easy you made it look. I suppose that app on your phone isn’t something anybody can download from the app store.”

“You’d be surprised…” He put his hand on hers and squeezed it. “Do you regret not having tossed me out of your room last night after you realized what kind of life I live?”

Olivia took an audible breath. “No, I don’t regret it. But I’m still trying to adjust to all this… stealing cars, planting surveillance devices, and all that spy stuff.” Then she suddenly let out a laugh. “If I ever wrote something like this in one of my books, my editor would cross it out and tell me to write something more believable.”

Jay chuckled. “You write sci-fi. Trust me there are a lot more unrealistic scenarios in sci-fi than the situation we’re in right now.”

“Yeah, but in sci-fi I know that it’s all made up. This”—she made an all-encompassing motion with her hands—“this is reality. When I’m writing my books, I feel safe, because I can move the action in whatever direction I like. I’m the captain of my ship. But this, this is different.”

Jay understood all too well what she was going through. He’d felt like that when Smith had captured him. He’d known exactly what was happening to him, yet he’d been unable to do anything about it to prevent it.

“I wish I could tell you that it’ll get better, or that you’ll get used to it. You won’t. I was trained for this, for being ready for every situation, and still I will never get used to it. Used to being forced to do things that you don’t want to do, just to survive. To make choices you’d never make under other circumstances.”

“Then how do you do it? How do you do the things you have to do, and not fall apart?”

“I imagine what will happen if I don’t do what I must. They’ll catch me and rob me of my mind, and destroy my body. And then they’ll do it to others, until they have so much power that they will destroy democracy as we know it, and destroy anybody who dares rise up in protest.”

“How do you know that this will happen?”

“Because I’ve seen it happen. In a recurring premonition I’ve had for the last three years.”

Olivia gasped. “What did you see?”

“I saw how the Capitol building blew up. The shockwave was so strong, so powerful that it slammed me against a metal fence. I was helpless. For a long time, I didn’t know what the premonition meant. But when Smith captured me, I found out that by using my gift and that of the other agents to build a quantum computer, he’ll soon have all the power he needs to take whatever he wants: money and power. And nobody will be able to stop him. He’ll destroy anybody who dares resist.”

“Oh my God, you really can’t trust anybody.”

“Only the guys who saved me from certain death.” And those three men he trusted with his life.

They were just crossing the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge, and Jay moved into the right lane to take the exit into Alexandria, when Jay’s phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and answered the call.