IGNEY TRIED THE DRIVER'S side door.It opened. No resistance. No lock. Nothing.He stepped aside as he swung the door open revealing an empty seat.No traps. No one waiting for them.He reached out and placed his hand on the seat.The material was cool to the touch just like the hood of the van. If their targets were smart, they'd have stopped and gotten out immediately. It's what Igney would have done were their roles reversed.He and Pasley had circled the town on their bikes, but after finding no sight of the van they'd doubled back. They'd wasted forty-five minutes finding the van. In forty-five minutes a trained person could make it quite a ways.He didn't think Ekko had that kind of training, but they still didn't know much about the man shadowing her everywhere. The one who'd given Igney a concussion last night.Someday he'd find this man and peel the skin from his body.Pasley opened the other doors, going through the odds and ends left in the van."Anything?" Igney a

SILAS DIDN'T EXACTLY FEEL good about their plan by the time they reached the Ulaanbaatar train station, but at least he had a plan. He'd exchanged a few texts with Zain before taking his phone apart. It was enough that his boss knew about the developing situation and with the home office's support they'd get out of this. Somehow.Of all the jobs to go it alone on, why this one?He glanced over his shoulder at Chayan. The man had slept a bit on the train. He still looked as though he were about to drop from exhaustion. If they had to run Silas doubted Chayan would be able to keep up. They needed to go to ground and rest for the night. All three of them needed a hot meal and a real change of clothes. He and Chayan had swapped out their jackets and got a couple hats and scarves at a small shop not far from the station, but that wasn't enough change. A trained operative would still spot them. Even Ekko's clothes looked too much like her.Oddly, she hadn't hesitated when it came to dumpi

EKKO'S INSIDES WERE BUBBLING, be it from nerves or excitement she wasn't sure.Things were going to go exactly as planned, and Silas could suck it. The only thing they had to worry about now that Chayan was on this side of the border was running into DSS agents. So long as they were in public she held tight to the belief that they were fine. No DSS agent would do anything to endanger the UN visit, further protecting them.Besides, this was real life and not some action movie. She knew firsthand the kind of underhanded shit the DSS could pull to upend people's lives once they'd fled, but even they had limits."Everyone stay close," Silas said as their taxi pulled up to the curb."Stop freaking out." She darted a glare at the man. His caution was making Chayan sick with fear. If Silas didn't lay off soon Chayan might run home, and then he'd for sure end up dead."I'm being careful," Silas countered.She swallowed and stared straight ahead.Damn the man had a scary stare, but she w

EKKO WAS RELIEVED TO step inside the third floor condo and hear the locks click behind her. She sucked down a breath and felt the tension ease from her shoulders at long last.They were safe. Or something close to it.Her feet ached. Her head was pounding. Despite keeping herself in good shape, her muscles were screaming at her. At least she'd been smart and worn her comfortable boots, otherwise she'd be a lot worse off right now."Is there somewhere I can lie down?" Chayan asked.Silas glanced at him. "There are three bedrooms. Take your pick. But I'd like to check each one first."Ekko plopped down on the sofa and folded her hands on her knees. Her wool coat was long since gone and now she wore something Silas had handed to her. She didn't know if he'd bought it or stolen it and she didn't care.If it weren't for him she'd have stood at that ticket counter and argued until the DSS agents arrived. If Silas was right, and she feared he was, they'd have taken Chayan right then and

PASLEY FELT AS THOUGH his shoes were full of rocks. Every step was an effort.He wasn't tired, he just didn't want to succeed at this job.After reviewing the security footage at the airport that morning he'd thought they'd for sure find the two targets. It was just a matter of time. And he hated the idea of taking them back into custody. Only, as the hours went on and they didn't find them Pasley's hope grew.Could the two targets have evaded them? Were they gone?He'd said a few silent prayers to whatever gods were listening that the targets would somehow make it out of the country. Pasley didn't want to have to kill them. Not after he'd learned more about them. But neither could he simply allow them to slip through his grasp.If Pasley didn't do his job to the best of his ability, it would be all too easy for someone like his partner to breathe a word of suspected treason and Pasley would be dead. There would be no quiet, pastoral life for him. He was trapped by his job and his