The moment she was inside, Shen Li climbed up into her lap and rested her head on her shoulder again. The door behind closed, and she looked up to see Margaret and one of her men climbing into the front seats. She looked through the windshield and saw two others climbing into the truck in front of them.

“Road One, we’re on the move,” Margaret said into the radio. She put the truck into gear and pulled slowly out of the driveway.

“Copy,” came the reply.

The man in the front passenger seat turned to face her. “Ma’am, if things start to get scary, I want you and your daughter to get down onto the floorboard. Do not move until one of us tells you it’s safe.”

She nodded her assent.

He turned back around and held the short-barreled rifle in his hands as he scanned the landscaping on either side of them. The convoy reached the end of the driveway and turned south toward the air park’s main gate. They drove slowly and listened to silence inside the truck and the low rumble of the tuned engine beyond its windows. By the time they reached the gate, she began to relax.

54

Valley Center, California

Jax ended the call after it went to voicemail for the fourth straight time. He thought it more than odd that Punky wouldn’t answer her phone when she knew what was at stake. He downshifted the sport sedan and surged up the hill toward the fly-in community, wondering what was waiting for him when he got there. Margaret’s call bothered him. Even more so after being unable to reach the NCIS special agent.

“Dammit!” He knew better than to let his frustration get the better of him, so he drew in one long, deep breath and held it while counting to four. By the time he exhaled, he had decided he wasn’t willing to return to the safe house without knowing why she wasn’t picking up.

He scooped up his phone and scrolled until he found the number for the NCIS Southwest Field Office. “Jax Woods for Camron Knowles,” he said when a receptionist answered the call.

“One moment, please.”

His call was placed on hold, and he seethed at the calming elevator music playing in the background as he waited to be connected with Punky’s supervisor. The music ended.

“He’s in the field,” the woman on the other end said. Jax almost blew a gasket. “Transferring you to his cell phone now.”

“Thank you,” he muttered, then took another calming breath.

The phone rang a few more times before a gruff voice answered, “This is Camron.”

“Camron, this is Jax Woods.”

“Yeah?”

He could hear something in Camron’s voice—Fear? Anger? — and he hesitated. “I’ve been working with Special Agent King on a case,” he said.

“Oh…”

The tone in his voice changed again, but Jax couldn’t quite pick up on it. “Yes, sir. I’ve been unable to reach her. And I was hoping—”

“She’s been shot, Jax.”

His heart rate spiked, and he felt his skin prickle with a dump of adrenaline. “Shot?”

“Her vest took most of the abuse, but there was some penetration. She’s going to be fine, but she’s banged up pretty bad.”

Jax rounded the bend in the road and reached the last switchback before getting to the safe house. He remembered Margaret warning him to call ahead. “Can you pass along a message for me? I recovered Lisa’s intelligence, but something is going on up here, and we’re increasing the threat level. Have her call me before she drives up—”

“She might not be going anywhere for a while,” Camron said. “Whoever shot her stole her car, but we’ve got an APB out on it and will track it down soon enough.”

“Her car?” Jax didn’t think an all-points bulletin was needed. He knew who had shot her and stolen her car, and he gasped when he crested the rise onto the straightaway in front of the fly-in community. “Shit!”

“Jax?”

“Send help,” he said, then pressed his foot to the floor and launched the Audi S3 straight at the Mopar muscle car.

* * *

Guo Kang had a choice to make. Two identical matte black Ford trucks rolled toward the gate from the other side, carrying the doctor and her daughter. He didn’t know where they were going and knew if he let them leave, he would no longer be able to control the situation. But if he forced the issue there at the gate, he would be outgunned and lose the engagement.

It’s now or never.

He unrolled the driver’s window, then quickly drew his pistol and leaned out to aim slightly above the lead truck’s headlights, targeting where he expected the driver. The gun barked when he squeezed the trigger, then he shifted aim to the passenger side and fired twice more. The lead truck skidded to a halt, and he shifted his aim back toward the driver’s side and emptied his magazine.

The truck’s doors opened and emptied operators on either side before the air over his head crackled with returning gunfire. He dropped the empty magazine and reached for a fresh one when movement out of the corner of his eye drew his attention to the left and down the road toward the interstate. He almost choked when he recognized the nose of a car pointed directly at him and accelerating rapidly.