Hunter signaled Carlos on his way to the front entrance then waited while Carlos diverted the exterior security force to one side to inspect a suspicious duffel bag. The one Korbin had planted earlier after parking the limo.
With security diverted, Hunter slipped soundlessly around the dark corner of the mansion. Cold penetrated his tux, but he welcomed the fresh air after being inside with so many people.
He lifted a night-vision monocular from inside his coat pocket and slipped it on.
If Linette made the drop where she’d indicated in her last message, he’d find a faux lipstick tube containing the USB key outside a bathroom window on the west side. The tube had a tiny infrared LED light on one end.
The latest in female accessories for the discerning spy.
BAD believed she’d created the device herself. Pretty sharp even for a genius since she had little freedom of movement.
Guess he’d find out soon enough if she could be trusted.
There it was in the middle of a bush, glowing bright as a hundred-watt bulb through the monocular. The poor placement-dangling in the bush-actually gave Hunter a measure of relief. Linette wasn’t a trained operative or she’d have made sure the unit reached the ground when she shoved it through the slit in the screen covering the window.
Hunter flattened his palm, fingers straight, and slid his hand into the center of the evergreen bush.
Out of habit, he made a scan of the grounds. A maze of gardens and walkways led through clusters of yew trees that partially hid the twelve-foot-tall brick-and-stone wall surrounding the premises.
BAD’s intelligence indicated sensors covered the top ledge.
No reason for security to guard the wall since the sensors were linked into a continual loop. Any break in the signal would send an alarm. Sensors detected movement up to twenty feet above the wall, allowing for animals up to the size of a hawk to cross over.
But the body moving through the sprawling limbs of a tree on this side of the wall was no bird.
Security?
No. Carlos would have alerted him to anything like that.
Hunching down so he could move through deep-shadowed spots, Hunter shuffled farther around the house to determine what the intruder was after. He’d covered a hundred feet when he spotted a waist-high stone enclosure for a patio lined with bushes.
Staying close to the house in the deep shadow until he reached the wall, he peeked over the ledge to find two women talking.
One had a head of curly hair. Abbie.
The other was Gwen.
Someone who actually knew Gwen Wentworth had to wait months to get on her calendar. What had Abbie said to gain a private meeting when they’d never met?
Hunter kept track of the figure in the tree, who moved another branch higher. In a series of crab-shuffling steps, he moved close enough to listen to Abbie and Gwen. They sat on opposite sides of a small table facing each other.
Neither one looked happy.
“Are you threatening me?” Abbie asked Gwen.
What the hell had they been discussing? Hunter kept an eye on the figure in the tree. Paparazzi?
“No. Not me.” Gwen’s fingers gripped the wicker chair arms so tightly the fine bones on the back of her hand threatened to break the pale skin.
“Who?”
“I can’t tell you.”
Abbie pointed a threatening finger at Gwen. “I told you what I would do. Did you think I was kidding?”
“No, I don’t. Ask your mother. If she tells you-” Gwen shook her head. Her fingers tugged nervously at her lips.
Keeping track of the conversation, Hunter eyed the figure in the tree, who had stopped moving.
“She did.” Abbie dropped her hand. “Not intentionally. I found my mother’s diary. I know the players and I’m going after all of them.”
“Are you crazy?” Gwen asked with panic shaking her voice. “The Fras will-”
The Fras? That snatched Hunter’s gaze back to Gwen, who’d frozen and covered her mouth as if she’d said a forbidden word. Her chest jumped with panicked breaths.
Hunter took in the tree climber again, who seemed to be leaning forward in a-
“The who?” Abbie asked.
– shooting pose.
Gwen uncovered her mouth. “What? I thought… you don’t know? You said-” She jumped up, hands fisted.
A bright explosion of light burst from where the figure stood in the branches, then the boom followed.
The bullet struck Gwen high in the back, slamming her forward at Abbie, who screamed.
Hunter leaped over the wall.
Abbie’s wild gaze whipped around to him.
If he could get them to the ground the wall would block the shooter.
A second rifle explosion blasted the air.