“Yeah, I was thinking about that when we were back at the hotel,” Neil said. “I looked around online to see if there might be a better place and found a couple of good prospects. There’s an extremely private estate sitting in the middle of forty acres on the Potomac River that caught my eye, and it’s less than thirty minutes from DC. No staff, and all it would take to rent it for anywhere from a week to a year is a phone call.”
“Good, we’ll keep it in mind. Hopefully these Delta Force operators can bring this to a conclusion tomorrow so that it isn’t an issue. If not, we’ll snatch that up.”
They spent the next two hours just riding around the Metroplex, keeping their followers occupied. When Sarah glanced down at the gas gauge and saw that it was getting low, she looked over at Noah.
“We’re gonna need gas,” she said. “Want me to shake them now?”
Noah was quiet for several seconds, then shook his head. “No. Everyone get weapons ready, just in case they decide to make a move. Go ahead and hit the next gas station. You’ll all stay in the car, and I’ll get out to pump the gas.”
Sarah swallowed hard, but she pulled into the next gas station as she was told and parked beside the pumps. The Crown Victoria drove on past the gas station, but then pulled over and stopped less than half a block ahead.
“Keep the weapons ready, but it looks like we don’t have a problem,” Noah said as he got out of the car. He walked around to the driver’s side and inserted a credit card into the pump, then removed the nozzle and began filling the tank. As the gas flowed in, he stood there and watched the white car.
The occupants were apparently watching in the mirrors, because no one turned around to look at him. He waved in their direction and the sudden bobbing of heads inside confirmed that they were keeping an eye on him, even though they carefully avoided looking directly back in his direction.
When the pump clicked off, he put it back and secured the gas cap, then walked around to get back into the car. As they pulled away, the Ford fell in behind them once again.
“Yep!” Neil said. “They know what happened to the last guys, they’re not going to get close enough to let us get a shot at them, are they?”
“Us?” Moose asked. “As I recall, Noah and I were the only ones who did any shooting.”
Neil spun his head toward Moose and stuck out his tongue. “I would have pulled the trigger, if you guys didn’t have it already under control. Sarah and I were only there as backups, remember? Trust me, if I have to, I’ll pull that trigger!”
“Don’t let him get your goat, Neil,” Sarah said. “I swear, you two really must be brothers, the way you bicker.”
Moose grinned. “Hey, you two are always treating him with kid gloves. Somebody has to stay on his ass, might as well be me.”
Noah sat quietly in his seat, occasionally raising his eyes to look at the Ford in the visor mirror. His analytical mind, however, was making note of the fact that his team had so well developed into a close and loyal unit that they were all comfortable picking on each other.
His phone rang as he was having these thoughts. “Hello?”
“Camelot?”
“Yes, go ahead,” Noah said.
“Sir, this is Captain Oliver Hayes with Delta Force Squadron A. I have orders to report to you for assignment.”
“Yes, Captain. Where are you now?”
“Sir, we just landed at Joint Base Andrews, but we are currently being loaded into a pair of buses that will take us out to a Joint Special Operations Command facility near Dulles. If you like, we can meet there. Is your phone secure?”
“Yes,” Noah said. “Can you text me the GPS coordinates?”
“Hell, I’ll just send you the address. The place looks like an old motel, but you’ll need a pass code to get past the guard shack. I’ll send you that, as well. We should be there in just about an hour, look forward to seeing you then.”
“That sounds good, Captain,” Noah said. “We’ll meet you there.”
He ended the call, but his phone buzzed only a moment later with the address and pass phrase that would gain them entrance. Noah tapped the address and his phone’s GPS immediately began giving directions. It would take them slightly over half an hour to arrive, but first they had to lose the Crown Victoria that was following.
“Okay, Babe, it’s time to shake our tail.”
Sarah grinned, then rolled down her window and stuck her hand out into the air. “Just waving bye-bye,” she said, then pulled her hand back in and powered up the window. A moment later she made a hard left turn and gave the turbocharged Hemi engine its head.
The car shot forward as if it had a JATO rocket strapped to its tail, and the Crown Victoria was hopelessly left behind within three blocks. Sarah weaved around a semi truck and then tapped a button to change the silver car to yellow just before braking hard in order to take an on-ramp for I-495. Noah watched in the visor mirror as the Crown Victoria sailed past the ramp in a vain attempt to catch up to the elusive silver Chrysler.
Sarah dropped her speed to eighty-five miles per hour, keeping up with the traffic on the loop highway. They would have to make their way around most of the Alexandria/Annandale area to get to I-66 for the rest of the trip to their destination.