Page 132 of I’ll Be Watching You

“What’s the plan?” he asked.

“He’s armed and dangerous,” Jack said. “Call the sheriff, see if the detective already called it in. Give them the address. We sit and watch, make sure the hit man doesn’t get here first.”

Cal parked across the street, but fifty yards up, so we could see anyone who approached without being obvious. Cal called the sheriff’s office. The conversation didn’t sound all that friendly, though he gave them a detailed recounting of what had happened and the potential threat, including the girlfriend who might be in danger. When he hung up he said, “They’re going to send a patrol. I don’t have an ETA.”

“We can’t see the back of the house,” Luisa said. “If I were a hit man, that’s how I would come in. Easy enough from the mountain, and easy to disappear if things go sideways.”

“Agreed,” Jack said. “Lu and I will cut around to the back and keep watch from there. If anyone suspicious approaches, I’ll alert you.” He put an earbud in and said, “I set my phone to walkie-talkie mode.”

I did the same thing.

“Likewise,” I told him.

Jack and Luisa slipped out of the back seat and ran across the street, soon disappearing from view.

Cal grew increasingly tense the more time that passed.

“I don’t know why the sheriff’s office seemed so uninterested,” Cal said after a few minutes.

“A lot of what-ifs and maybes.”

Jack’s voice came over my phone. “White male, six feet, one-eighty, coming off the mountain. Black tactical pants, army-green shirt. No visible weapon, but he’s heading straight for the rear of the house.”

“Where are you? Can you apprehend him?” I asked.

“Negative. We’re up the slope, he came in from the south, had camouflage so we didn’t see him until he was close to the house.”

“We’ll enter through the front. You take the rear.”

“Roger that.”

Cal and I got out of the truck and jogged across the street. We ran up the stairs as silently as possible. I said quietly, “You knock, Peter might not know who you are.”

Cal knocked. At first there was no answer. He knocked louder. “Gina? It’s Cal, your neighbor? I know you’re home, and this is important.”

Cal your neighbor? I mouthed.

He shrugged.

There was movement in the house. A woman came to the door. She was even more beautiful than her picture on the website, with long dark hair, big brown eyes, and flawless skin.

“Who are you?” she asked.

Cal flashed his badge. “Cal Rafferty, DEA, you’re in immediate danger. Please exit the house.”

“What?”

“We know you’re harboring a fugitive, and there’s a hired hit man approaching from the rear. You need to get to safety. Now.”

Her eyes widened and she glanced behind her.

I stepped into view. “Is Peter here?”

“How do you know?”

That was all the answer I needed.

“Where is he?” I demanded as I pulled my gun from my holster.