Free Finders/Keepers (An Allie Krycek Thriller, Book 3) by Sam Sisavath

yet…
    Reese jogged over to the semi, climbed up the step outside the passenger-side door, and leaned in through the window. He said something to the driver, who shut off the engine and turned off the bright headlights.
    “What about the girls?” she asked Dwight, who had remained behind at the Ford with her. Was that on purpose, she wondered, to keep an eye on her?
    “They’ve been riding around back there for four days now,” Dwight said. “A few more extra hours won’t make any difference.”
    You think so? I’d like to shove your ass in there and see how you like it after four days.
    Reese had walked back to them. “I need to call in, let them know we’re going to be delayed.”
    “You gonna tell them about the shooting?” Dwight asked.
    “I have to. Start lying now, and we won’t be able to stop.”
    “They won’t like it.”
    “ I don’t like it, but it is what it is.”
    “I know exactly what they’re going to tell you: ‘Push on through; don’t wait for replacements.’”
    “And I’ll tell them what I’m telling you: It’s all under control, as long as everyone stays calm.”
    Dwight smirked and said to her, “If you haven’t grasped it yet, ol’ Reese here’s a stickler for caution. You would think the guy used to be a CPA or something in a previous life.”
    Reese ignored his partner and put some space between them before taking out a cell phone from his pocket. Allie didn’t move and was hoping to hear something—maybe some details about who they were—but Dwight ruined that, too.
    “Need you inside the trailer, Alice in Wonderland,” the man said, holding out a Maglite he had retrieved from the Ford’s glove compartment.
    “Why?” she asked.
    “To do your job and make sure the girls are okay.”
    “I thought you didn’t care.”
    He shrugged. “I don’t, but they pay us by the head. And a busted one just doesn’t pay nearly as much.”
    Asshole , she thought, but took the flashlight and headed for the trailer.
    The two men in the semi had climbed out of the cab and were milling around. They both wore jackets, and despite the semidarkness, with only small pools of light emanating from the Ford and semi’s ceiling lights, she could just make out the shapes of pistols in holsters behind their backs.
    “I need to open the trailer,” Allie told them.
    They met her halfway, one of them fishing out a key ring from his pocket. Allie flicked the flashlight on and off to check it, then stood back and waited as the two men unlocked the twin doors—
    “Hey!” a male voice shouted, coming from behind them.
    The two men froze and looked back at her, but Allie was too busy turning around just as a lone figure emerged out of the shadows from across the parking lot. A flashlight bounced up and down in front of the man, and Allie quickly turned hers off and pocketed it, then let her right hand drop to her side.
    “What are you guys doing here?” the figure shouted as he picked up his pace toward them.
    Allie glanced back at the two men. They were still clinging to the door handles, as if unsure what to do. “Leave it,” she said.
    They let go of the doors and stepped away, but she noticed they had left the lock unlatched. All it would take was for someone on the other side to give a push and the doors would swing open. Sara was a small girl and weak from the “four days on the road,” but all it would take was one or two more of the other girls to lend a hand…
    No , she thought, looking back across the parking lot. Not yet.
    Besides, there was just one man, and he could have been anyone from a cop to an unarmed civilian. Either way, he wasn’t going to be very much help to her against Dwight and Reese and the two behind her.
    Not yet. Not yet…
    “You’re not supposed to be here!” the figure shouted.
    Neither Dwight nor Reese had answered the man. Reese had casually put away the phone he had been talking into and walked around the Ford while Dwight remained standing