“Um, why don’t we work together for a while?”

  “If you wish.” Levi didn’t act afraid at all. He ran the stick into one of the openings, waited a few minutes, then stuck his hand in, yielding no results.

  He moved to another opening. “This kind of reminds me of looking for bugs and spiders in the outhouse.”

  “Outhouse?” She hoped he didn’t mind that she was practically breathing down his neck. She had no plans to get too far away from him. Despite his skepticism about the beetle there could be other things living in the crevices.

  “My great-grandmother had one. When we went out at night it was always a good idea to bang that stick around the hole a few times before you sat down.”

  “Oh.” She widened her eyes. She could only imagine what that would have been like. When they’d been at Blake’s she’d not stepped foot in the outhouse. The outside had seemed much safer.

  He checked another opening. Three down and nothing.

  “Were you close to your family?” She needed the conversation. The one beam of light in the darkness was starting to freak her out.

  “We were close enough. My parents died in a car accident right after I joined the military. I guess that was why it was so easy to let the men in my unit become like my brothers.” He paused. “What about you? Are you close to your family?”

  She shrugged, realizing he couldn’t see her. “They live in Maine and I live around Maryland so the commute isn’t the easiest.”

  “You ever think about moving home?”

  “My job is here.” She had no intentions of ever moving home. Her family had practically kicked her to the curb when she was sixteen. She’d worked two jobs to keep her parents alcohol habit afloat, then they’d told her to get out.

  “I understand that part of life.” He paused. “What made you want to join the NSA?” He continued to check crevices.

  “General Cecil Tacker.” His name brought a smile to her lips. “He came to the school one year and spoke about joining the greatest fighting force in the world.” She sighed.

  “Um, I didn’t think you’d been in the military.”

  “Oh, I wasn’t. I took the aptitude test and failed that part, but it showed that I would be a great analyst. General Tacker personally called my parents.” They hadn’t been happy at all, but she didn’t care. “He put me in touch with the right people, he found me a mentor, he followed my career. In the end he became a great friend. And honestly, if it wasn’t for him, I don’t know what I would have done with my life. Or where I would be.”

  There had been nothing normal about her life. Drunken parties. Drug exchanges. Her parents didn’t even get her up for school. General Tacker had filled that parental hole in her life.

  Levi moved to another opening, this one was bigger than the others. There was the sound of crunching. He pushed his arm into the hole and drew out a roll of yellowed paper.

  Mae tried to hold in her enthusiasm. If they found the plans, they could burn them and then go home. Of course, if they had no evidence of their destruction would anyone believe them? She hadn’t thought of that. Or the trouble they could be in if it was discovered that they’d burned plans that could be claimed as government property, maybe.

  Levi rolled the paper out on the ground and used the flashlight to illuminate it. There was a frown on his face.

  Mae looked over the papers but she couldn’t see why he was so upset.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “These say—”

  “Thank you, we will be taking that.”

  The sound of someone else in the room caused Mae to shriek. Levi was more proactive. He used his arm to maneuver her behind his back.

  “I think we found it first.” Levi was brave, she’d give him that.

  “True, but we have bigger guns.”

  Levi puffed out his chest. “Who said?”

  The man with the accent she couldn’t place laughed. “You have been a worthy opponent, but the game is over. Hand over the plans, and we will let you two live.”

  Mae was whispering, “I want to live.”

  Levi had clenched the plans in his hands. Just as suddenly, he rolled them up and handed them over. “Here you are.”

  The gentleman cocked one brow. “You give them up, just like that.”

  “I do. It’s not worth our lives.”

  “Interesting theory.” The man frowned as he took the rolled up plans and placed them under his arm and started to back up. “You count to fifty and don’t follow us.”

  Levi closed his eyes and started counting. Mae was so confused. How could he just give everything up without a fight? Sure, they didn’t have weapons and no one really knew where they were. And it was their lives. But still she knew something was going on. Now she needed to find out what it was.

  ****

  Levi continued to count until he reached fifty. There were no explosions sealing them into the cave. No gunfire. He thought he’d heard an engine start up but he wasn’t certain.

  Maybe he should have fought harder to keep the plans, but after he’d looked at them, he’d known there was no need.

  He’d been about to tell Mae that the plans were a failure, but he’d been interrupted. It was a good thing or otherwise the gunman would have heard him. Before he handed over the papers, he’d had time to smear the word failure and the number two off. Now they still needed to find the real set. The cave had been his only thought about hiding places. Now he didn’t know where else to look.

  Mae was still squatted behind him. He rose to his feet and started looking in other crevices they had missed. He had noticed a pattern in the wall earlier. Crevices that were longer and narrower didn’t look like they really belonged in the wall. He reached into another and pulled out another scroll. There was a number at the top – 3.

  He continued up the wall. The higher he went the higher the number. Max had hidden all of the plans here. Only one of them was the correct one.

  “Is that another set of plans?”

  “It appears to be. I think that Max hid them all here – failures and successes. Now we just have to keep going until we find the right one.”

  At least an hour passed before they found the correct one. By that time, he had ten stretched out on the ground.

  Mae had watched without comment. When he pulled one out, she would scan it then roll it back up. When he pulled out the correct one, she leaned over it and narrowed her eyes. “I don’t think they ever got it to work.”

  “How can you tell?”

  “See here? This is script. It seems to call a particular library that attaches to a specialized function.”

  “Uh?”

  “Don’t worry about it. The fact is that if Max has turned off access to the function then no one could ever get the laser to work.”

  “We’re still going to burn it, right?”

  “Oh, absolutely.” She smiled as she drew out the lighter and set the corner of the thick paper on fire.

  ****

  “Ivan, we have secured the package.”

  Ivan breathed a sigh of relief. “This is good. Bring it to headquarters.”

  Friedrich replied, “We are already on our way.”

  Ivan had been able to secure the real location of Mae and Levi despite the lawyer’s plan to lead them on a merry goose chase. No one was going to fool him or his team. They had more to lose if something went wrong.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  The remaining parchments shoved into the backpack, Levi placed it on his back and they scooted on hands and knees out of the cave into the fresh air. The sun had dipped low and there was barely any light by the time they pushed past the bush covered opening.

  “Should we try to drive back to town?” Mae was looking around trying to spot the road through the sunflowers.

  Levi had no idea. He couldn’t see the road either. “Tom packed a tent and gear. Let’s just pitch a tent and stay here overnight. If the gunman and his other goons are watching it will definitely look like we didn’t follow.”

  Approaching the vehicle, Levi sighed and rolled his eyes. It was a good thing they had camping gear. All four tires had been slit. They wouldn’t be going anywhere for a while.

  Levi dragged out his phone and called Tom. The signal was weak so he tried a text. Hopefully, it went through and they would only be out in the wilderness for one night.

  They gathered firewood and he started a fire. Heat from the burning embers warmed his hands, but not his heart. What a mess Max had gotten him into. Obviously, Max had trusted him to do the right thing or he would never have asked him to take care of it. But why hadn’t he told the entire truth? If Levi had known then he could have asked questions. He could have been ready to take care of the entire situation.

  And if what Mae had said was true, it was possible the plans wouldn’t have worked anyway. Maybe he was afraid someone could figure it out.

  The questions were hurting his head.

  His leg pained him, and he rubbed the area with the least amount of muscle. Max probably hadn’t planned on taking a bullet for him. Like most of them he probably thought he would live forever. He had been doing a good work.

  Max had witnessed too many of the soldiers and brought them into a relationship with God. He’d preached sermons under the tents to the soldiers in Afghanistan.

  Levi leaned against a log they had rolled beside the fire and watched the flames lick at the wood. Mae seemed mesmerized by the dance as well.

  Wolf howls had Levi sitting straighter and looking into the brush. Glowing eyes glared back at him.

  He grabbed his cane. “Mae, get in the car and keep the door open for me.” His voice was even, calm, and low.

  “But—”

  “Mae, get in the car and keep the door open for me.”

  She moved slowly toward the car. The door made not a sound as she eased it open and dove into the back seat. He stood, grabbed the backpack, and stepped backward one step, then another.

  As he made the third step the wolf lunged from the tree line. He turned and ran, diving in the back, then reaching around and closing the door.

  The wolf slapped the door as he pulled it closed. Slobber ran the length of the glass and snarling teeth were bared against the window.

  Mae was behind him, her hand resting on his shoulder as she peered at the window.

  “Wh-what are we going to do now?”

  “Well, I guess we are going to wait in here.”

  Fortunately, they had built an excellent fire ring so the fire was contained. He’d managed to grab the food that they had left outside. Really, the wolf had no reason to stick around.

  She relaxed her death grip on him and leaned against the back of the seat. “When this is over, I don’t think I’m ever leaving the city.”

  He couldn’t blame her. While he was comfortable in this environment, he could tell she wasn’t. Just another reason that an office job was for her. And they weren’t meant to be together.

  They had very little in common.

  “We’re safe in here. In the morning, we’ll try to fix the tires or we’ll walk to an area with cell service and try to call Tom. Everything will be okay.” He patted her hand then rolled to his side the best he could in the tiny back seat and yawned. “Just try to get some sleep.”

  The wolf narrowed its eyes through the glass and stared at him. He wouldn’t give the animal the pleasure of feeling like he’d won. He closed his eyes and let sleep overtake him.

  ****

  About the time that Levi began to snore, another wolf appeared on Mae’s side of the car. If the wolves didn’t eat them, the scratches on the car would cause Tom to want to kill them.

  Mae leaned her head back and tried not to look at the waiting wolves. There was no way everything was going to be okay. They were stuck in the middle of nowhere with a limited amount of food and water, two slit tires, and now they were being stalked by wolves, not to mention she really needed to go to the bathroom. Couldn’t they have at least waited until she did that? Now she was cooped up in the car for at least eight hours or until the sun came up.

  Levi…

  He seemed such an unusual person for Max to share everything with. He was educated, but not by a university. He wasn’t science focused or book focused or computer focused. He just seemed to be a decent, intelligent person.

  Perhaps that was all Max had been looking for. An honest person to take care of a problem he’d created.

  Well, they had done that. The correct plan was gone forever. All that was left was failed attempts. And what was in her brain. Dang, her memory.

  However, from what she’d seen before they burned the correct one, and the difference between making the device work and not was not easily fixed. The minute details, the calculations needed; it would take years to replicate. And there would be no way to just stumble on the information. The answers were there, but not for anybody but Walter.

  Mae looked at her hands. Her wrists hurt from constant typing. Other than knowing that she worked her job, she had nothing to show for it. When she returned from her mission there would be no commendation for her work. Some might be happy she’d returned, most wouldn’t even notice.

  Growing up, she had always hoped her life would have more meaning. Her love of computers and research would lead her into a thoughtful career in something where she did good in and for the world. But it hadn’t really worked out that way.

  “You should close your eyes and try to relax.”

  His voice startled her.

  “I thought you were asleep.”

  “Well, I’m trying to fool the wolves, but it isn’t going to work if you don’t pretend with me.”

  She smiled as she wiggled down in the seat next to him. “Next time try letting me in on the secret.”

  “Hmm, good point. You can’t read my mind.”

  “Sadly, that is a skill I haven’t developed.”

  “Would you like to read my mind?” His voice was low and had a deep husky quality.

  She swallowed, glad that his eyes were still closed. “Maybe I would not.”

  She thought she felt his body chuckle, but his mouth didn’t even show a smile.

  “Please relax. I know you need to go to the bathroom, and I’m hoping I can let you out once the wolves are gone.”

  “How did you know that?”

  “I’m a great reader of body language. Besides, you’ve been worming around for the last couple of hours. It seemed obvious you weren’t comfortable. I’m sorry I didn’t ask you about it earlier.”

  He was blaming himself for her continued discomfort. Levi never ceased to amaze her.

  “Now, sleep. They’ll leave soon. I hope.”

  She closed her eyes and pretended to sleep the best way she could.

  ****

  The plans were received and Ivan spread them across his desk. A few of the words had been smeared out, but it wasn’t anything that their computers couldn’t reconstitute.

  He called the boss who was happy to hear of their success, however, he didn’t want to hear another word until there was a working prototype.

  Ivan ordered scientists from the basement level to retrieve the plans and get to work immediately. The U.S. government had clearly hired two of their best operatives to find the plans. Assuming they made it out of the woods alive, one of them probably had a photographic memory and would be returning to a lab to begin creating the weapon themselves.

  It wouldn’t matter. The group of scientists that had been assembled from the three countries would be able to reconstruct the laser quicker than the Americans even thought about doing so.

  Ivan was counting on it.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Sunlight burned his eyes, and the constant shaking alerted him to morning.

  “I get the sense that this urgency has more to do with a personal issue than the sun is up.”

  “Please, Levi. I need to get out of here.”

  The car was rocking with her bouncing. He opened his eyes. The wolves seemed to have left. He eased the door open, prepared if one of them lunged at him, but they seemed to truly be gone.

  “It’s safe.”

  “Praise the Lord!” Mae shot out of the back seat and raced to the closest bush.

  He didn’t think the covering was enough so he turned his back and whistled to try and give her extra privacy.

  When she returned, she acted much happier. She stretched her legs out and then put her arms over her head with a grunt. “That car is too small to sleep in.”

  He agreed with that. His leg had cramped halfway through the night. He’d tried to readjust often, but it hadn’t been very helpful.

  “While we’re out here let’s open the trunk.” He reached into the front and pulled a lever to pop the trunk. Underneath a piece of carpeted wood was a spare tire. There were also patches and Fix-a-Flat.

  “I think we can make this work.”

  He got out the jack and jacked up the car. Once it was up, he changed one tire. Then he removed the other slit tire to see if the patch kit would cover it. That slit was too big, but the one in the first tire would work. He patched the hole then filled the tire with Fix-a-Flat. He did the other two as well, grateful that the slits hadn’t been too long. Once the wheels were back on and the ruined one was safely stowed in the trunk, he slapped the dust from his hands.

  “Do you think we can make it out of here?” She eyed the tires warily.

  “I’m not sure, but we’re going to try.”

  The motor fired with no problems. The car in gear he eased onto the dirt path that was barely visible. “As I drive you keep trying Tom. If nothing else maybe we’ll get a signal to go through.”

  She dialed every few minutes without any luck. When they reached the highway, his positivity was beginning to wane. Air pressure in one of the slit tires seemed to be decreasing at a faster rate than he’d expected. And their signal was almost non-existent which meant they still couldn’t reach out for help.