Matt realized she had no idea what he was talking about. “A trip into the country. Just you and me, while we wait for Mama to show up.”
Hannah asked why Jet couldn’t go with them, and Matt replied that she was busy, but would be along shortly. When she pressed him as to what shortly meant, he dodged, feeling guilty at misleading her but seeing no alternative.
The truck thankfully started without drama, and Matt inched it out of the single stall and left the engine running while he relocked the rolling door. He consulted a map from the glove box as he waited for the iron security gate to swing open, and traced a route with his finger, muttering the names of towns along the way as he committed them to memory. He glanced at Hannah in the passenger seat beside him and tried a smile.
“Ready for our adventure?” he asked.
“I want Mama.”
He nodded. “So do I. But for now, it’s just you and me, kid.”
She fell silent, staring at the dashboard as he steered through the security gates and onto a midsize road that led to the highway. His were the only set of headlights; apparently nobody else was eager to drive to the Serbian border after dark, which didn’t surprise him. The good news was that based on his research, the document check at the borders would be cursory and the search of their possessions nonexistent, the customs agents unmotivated and the supervision lax, there being little to smuggle from Kosovo to Serbia, much less to Romania. He checked the fuel gauge reflexively and confirmed that it was full, more to give himself something to do than because he didn’t remember filling it before putting it into storage, and did a final check of his blind email inbox with his cell phone. There were no messages or voice mails, which didn’t surprise him, but merely confirmed that the signal at the house had been no mistake.
He slowed as he neared the onramp and removed the sim card from the phone, and then stopped and exited the vehicle to place it on the pavement in front of his driver’s side tire. After jettisoning the battery into the thick foliage, he slid back behind the wheel and rolled over the phone with a satisfying crunch, effectively eliminating any chance that the GPS chip in it could be tracked. He had another unlocked phone in the glove compartment to use once over the border. This one was compromised – the shop security system had the number programmed in, although that was in an encrypted secure area of the server, and there would be a record of his calls to Jet’s cell, even though his caller ID was blocked. He had enough operational experience to know that the phone company could bypass that and come up with the number that had been calling – and if it was his old friends at the CIA who’d tracked him to Kosovo, they’d already be doing exactly that.
Matt sighed as he settled into the slow lane, and silently hoped that Jet had managed to evade whatever threat she’d had to contend with. Because as of now she was on her own, and there was nothing Matt could do for her but wait, as agreed, for three days at an inn in the Romanian hinterlands. Beyond that, there was no plan, and the thought of going on without her, just he and Hannah, burned like an open wound in his heart.
Chapter 18
Bangui, Central African Republic
Leo’s Bombardier business jet decelerated on the runway and taxied toward the terminal of the Bangui M’Poko International Airport, which looked as inviting as a septic tank to the Russian, if not quite as clean. Once the plane had come to a stop, the crew opened the fuselage door and he stepped outside into a muggy, humid swelter that reeked of exhaust and sewage and burning garbage. His companion, a short man with curly black hair and a sagging face, followed him into the bright sunlight, blinking like a mole surprised by a spotlight. A tan Range Rover arrived moments later, and two African men in slacks and short-sleeved dress shirts emerged from its interior and walked across the tarmac toward them.
“Mr. Filipov, welcome to Bangui,” the taller of the pair said to Leo with a dazzling white grin, his English accented with the musicality of French. “We’re honored you could make it. I am Hassan, and this is my driver, Frederick. We are at your service.”
Leo eyed the holstered sidearms both men wore on their hips and nodded politely.
“Pleased to meet you. This is my associate, Levi.”
“Likewise,” Hassan said. “Come. Let’s get you into the air-conditioning. It’s brutally hot here at the best of times, and it rained this morning, which makes it twice as sticky as usual.”
“Perfect,” Leo said absently, staring at his cell phone as it struggled to acquire a signal.
“Any luggage?” Hassan asked, looking at Leo’s shoulder bag and Levi’s small nylon satchel.
“No. We’re just here for one day. We’ll be leaving tomorrow.”