Chapter 37

As soon as Downs heard glass breaking in the background, through his earpiece, he slammed on his brakes and practically screamed into this headpiece, "Report, Barnes!"

No one, in the car, said a word. Worse, there was no answer.

"Shit!" Downs said.

"Downs, follow your objective. We're running a test to determine if Barnes' unit is functioning. Locals are on the way. Repeat..."

"I got it, just let me know as soon as you do," Downs said.

There were times being connected in real time with the home office was a great advantage. Other times, like this, he felt it was a pain in the ass.

As they pulled up in front of the house, Downs had another thought.

"Woods, report."

They all sat in the car for a moment.

"Downs, here. Tina, do you read me?"

"Loud and clear, Sir."

"Why isn't anyone on my team responding?"

"We have no idea. Second location is now under investigation."

The team got out of the car. The house was similar and the set up the same. No one said a word. They just went into action. Phone lines disabled and frequency jamming unit was set in place. The only difference, in placement of people, were the two watching the sides of the house. They also needed to pay attention to the front, where Downs would be.

He didn't bother with a regular knock on the door, instead went with a heavy-handed rap.

"Something is wrong," I said.

Jessica was shaking hard and holding onto me for support. Fiona was better, but not by much. She was the one who pulled us into the closet, shutting the door behind us.

"That's a stupid thing to say," she replied.

"I don't hear anything," I said and then rolled my eyes, realizing they had no idea what I was talking about. No wonder it sounded stupid to Fiona.

"We're in the back of a closet. The point is we're safe. That's what my father always told me."

"He did?" Jessica got out.

"Shh," I said. "I have something like a walkie-talkie and I can't hear anything, now."

"Who gave you that?" Jessica asked.

"Agent Barnes. She said that Special Agent Downs wanted me to be able to hear what was going on. I've been listening, but now there's nothing."

"You work for the FBI?" Fiona said with fright in her voice.

"No. Not at all. I think he didn't like the idea of leaving Agent Barnes here by herself. My guess is that he was just trying to be cautious."

"Lot of good it did," Jessica said.

"I'm so sorry, Jessica. You too, Fiona."

"What do you mean?" Fiona asked.

"I'm the one who ended up stopping the bank robbery. Now those guys are after me and I've put you in danger. I never meant this to happen. You don't deserve to get hurt 'cause of something I did."

"John, it's ok. I understand," Fiona said with an understanding of growing up with a father who had a reputation.

"See, I told you," Jessica said.

"Told you what?" I asked.

"That you were wonderful," Jessica replied. I groaned, but she went right on, asking, "Now what are we going to do?"

I could tell the way Jessica had just bounced back that she suddenly wasn't taking the situation to heart. The optimism of youth, I guess.

"We wait in here," I said. "Like Fiona said, it's the safest place for us to be."

Suddenly I got a jab in my side.

"What was that for?" I asked Jessica.

"You were listening to that thing stuck in your ear and not to us."

"They're still in the house!" Theresa cried. "My baby!"

"Sis, we looked when we snuck out. No one saw them. I bet they're hiding, just like us," Jeanie responded. She just hoped her voice didn't sound as shaky as her feelings were.

"Where's Tim and that husband of yours?" Theresa asked. "I don't like being out here."

"No one can see us and we're at the back of the lot. It's the safest place we could be. I wish they would show up too. Did you see the agent?"

"No ... Wait, do you hear that? What do you think it is? I can't look."

"I will," Jeanie said hoping she had the courage to do so.