Free Fourth Day by Zoe Sharp Page B

warmth. If our security had been breached, who knew what form Epps’s retribution would take.
    With the cold efficiency I’d come to expect of him, Epps had called in a professional clean-up crew to deal with the bodies, and an enclosed trailer to remove the Econoline to a forensics lab. Then he’d brusquely ordered us to follow him. Parker had put McGregor in charge of his own team’s continuing search, with two vehicles at their disposal. He was good, but we were not holding our breath on a result.
    Parker had also left very specific instructions for Bill Rendelson, should the rest of us fail to return within a reasonable time frame. Nice to know the boss wasn’t entirely trusting when it came to our client.
    We climbed into our remaining Suburban, Sean at the wheel and Parker alongside him, and drove south to Van Nuys in a fast-moving convoy, using the high-occupancy vehicle lanes to cut through the evening rush. Epps’s men kept us firmly boxed in all the way.
    ‘So, did Witney jump, or was he pushed?’ Sean asked eventually into the tense silence.
    ‘When I spoke to Witney this morning, he certainly seemed to think that by taking him out of Fourth Day, we’d put him in some kind of danger,’ I said. ‘He told me Bane would pay us double what we were getting to return him.’
    ‘Looks like he may have found a cheaper way.’ Sean’s reflected gaze in the rear-view mirror was filled with an angry reproach. ‘And you didn’t think to mention this before?’
    ‘I was aware of it, so it was my call,’ Parker said quietly, before I could answer. ‘Besides, we were already taking maximum precautions. What more could we have done?’But I heard the nagging worry underscoring his words.
    ‘And he didn’t give any indication of who – besides Bane – might have wanted him?’ Sean persisted.
    ‘No.’ But I promised him he’d be safe, that we’d protect him …
    Sean said, ‘If it was a snatch, why uncuff him?’
    ‘And if it was a rescue,’ Parker responded grimly, ‘why kill two men to effect it?’
     
    At the airport, we bypassed normal security checks and were driven almost straight into this nondescript hangar, where Epps disappeared into an inner office without a word, and we were left kicking our heels. Enough of his men lurked nearby to disabuse us of any notion that we were free to leave. They were not what you’d call chatty.
    Not a prisoner, exactly … The irony was not altogether lost on me.
    Through the open doorway, I watched a small executive Gulfstream jet land and begin to taxi, and idly checked my watch. I thought again of the bloody scene in the parking garage. The kind of power Epps wielded, I knew that by now even the tarnished area of concrete would have been dug out and relaid, leaving no trace of something that never happened in the first place.
    Had it been our fault ?
    Sean leant his head back against the driver’s door of the Suburban and closed his eyes. ‘Next time you take us for a picnic, Parker,’ he said lazily, ‘take us somewhere nice.’
    ‘Yeah,’ I said, ‘and bring some food.’
    That raised a smile which almost made it up to Parker’s eyes.
    ‘I’m sorry,’ he said at last, tiredly. ‘Epps was pretty damned clear on how he wanted this handled. I had to play it by the book.’
    Sean gave an apparently casual shrug. ‘Don’t sweat it,’ he said, eyes still shut. ‘We all have our secrets.’
    Parker’s gaze briefly met mine, fell away.
    ‘Any ideas why we’re being kept hanging around here?’ I asked quickly, flexing my fingers inside their gloves. As the sun disappeared, I reminded myself it was still technically winter. I would have jammed my cooling hands into my pockets, but didn’t want the restriction just in case. The same went for buttoning my jacket.
    ‘Looks like we might be just about to find out,’ Parker murmured.
    We turned to see Epps had left the office and was approaching with that precise military stride. From outside the