48 States by Evette Davis

Author:Evette Davis [Davis, Evette]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
ISBN: 9798985813319
Publisher: Evette Davis

TWENTY FOUR

The security alert popped up on Cooper’s tablet just as he was preparing to ride with Red to the airport. Possible trespassers near Grand Teton the message from his staff said, but the video was grainy and inconclusive. The operator wasn’t sure if he saw two people or just animals moving across the valley. In the beginning there’d been a lot of trespassing, looters mostly, hoping to steal something or protest the conversion of the land. Eventually both stopped as the public lost interest and the Territories established a reputation for tight security. That was no accident. Red worked hard to create the impression. He knew most people were too passive to break the rules, which allowed him to focus more on serious threats versus the curious.

It seemed unlikely two random hikers decided to try their luck inside Wyoming in the winter. The timing tripped all of Cooper’s wires. It was such a long shot, and yet it made a whole lot of sense. Why wouldn’t a pair of fugitives go to the last place someone would look for them? It went a long way toward explaining why his team couldn’t locate the couple. They were both tough enough to make the journey, but what was their final destination?

Cooper was itching to return to the office so he could activate another drone and get a closer look, maybe get a message to them. It was tricky to try to communicate–he would have to clear out the command room if he wanted to say anything to them without his staff knowing. He didn’t doubt his staff’s discretion, but Red would stop at nothing if he suspected someone on his team was sabotaging him.

Carrying around this particular piece of news made Cooper’s car ride with Red to the airport even more uncomfortable. They were already barely speaking. While the two men would never have been described as close friends, they’d often passed their time together in amicable–even animated–conversation. Cooper and Red’s mutual respect had been evident from the start to the entire senior executive team at Universal. For his part, Cooper considered himself lucky to have transitioned out of the military into such a fantastic job. It was not an easy set of responsibilities. During the ten years he’d worked for Red, there had been moments when they’d disagreed, but they had trusted each other.

That time was over.

Red sat rigid in his seat. His piercing gaze was fixed on Cooper. At the Houston airport, the CEO would board his private plane to Pennsylvania for what they both knew was his last and final meeting with the President.

“You’re a hard man to find these days,” Red said. “You’re not in the office regularly and when I call your cell phone, you don’t pick up.”

Cooper had anticipated this line of questioning. He’d been rehearsing responses. “I’ve been reviewing our security,” he said. “Once you launch this plan of yours, they’re going to come for us and I want us to be ready. I took a few quick trips out to the Territories to make sure everything is locked down tight.

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