“Exactly. And Gray clearly knows this game better than any of us,” said Rudd. “If CONTROL considers this guy to be a serious threat, they’d be better off getting rid of him immediately. My gut tells me this guy could disappear without a trace if he wanted to—and still operate right in front of everyone’s noses.”

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 12

Devin guided his SUV around a tight turn on the narrow tree-lined road, hints of water shimmering through the lush branches. He hadn’t been out here in a number of years, but knew he was close. A few more ninety-degree twists and he’d catch a glimpse of the marina beyond one of the gravel drives lining the road. A sailboat mast or maybe the blue hull of a boat hauled out for repairs and now living on stands. That was where he should turn. On the unmarked road leading directly to the marina. But Devin decided to take a different approach.

He took the turns slowly, stopping a few times to let oncoming traffic squeeze by. After passing the marina’s unmarked gravel entrance, the towering trees opened to reveal a stark blue sky—and a sizable parking lot that marked the end of the road. Cantler’s Riverside Inn, a favorite with locals, sat on the far side of the jam-packed lot, nestled right up against Mill Creek. It was the last thing you might expect to find if you had been out for a casual drive through Maryland’s back roads.

He cruised around the lot for several minutes until a young couple, holding hands and pecking each other’s lips, jumped into an open-top BMW and left him a space. Devin parked the SUV and gave it some time. Ninety minutes, to be precise, sweating through his shirt behind a stand of trees near the entrance to the lot. He had to be absolutely certain that nobody had tracked him here.

Whoever had tagged his vehicle with the two trackers had known what they were doing. He would never have found the transmitters without the aid of an RF detector. The placement was skilled enough to leave him wondering if they had installed a fail-safe. Something that transmitted far less frequently and would likely be missed on a typical electronic sweep. He’d spent an hour and a half at a little speck of a town on the Maryland-Pennsylvania border, testing that theory. Waiting for anything that resembled a surveillance team to drive down Main Street. Nothing suspicious turned up, which didn’t entirely surprise him.