Read Online Freefall by Traci Hunter Abramson - Free Book Online Page B

desk of the Washington DC subway system.”
    â€œRight before we shipped out, the alert status in DC went up to red. That might be why.” Brent shook his head.
    â€œIf someone released a biological weapon in DC . . .” Amy trailed off. “I can’t even imagine what kind of chaos that would cause.”
    â€œEspecially if someone managed to assassinate the DCI right before a terrorist attack. It would be cutting off the right arm of the intelligence community.” Brent nodded toward the river. “We’ve got to go catch those horses, and then we have to find a way to get a message out.”
    â€œHow are we going to do that?” Amy asked skeptically.
    â€œWe have to get to the port city tonight,” Brent decided. “An aircraft or a boat would have some kind of communication device we can use.” He dropped the Palm Pilot into one of the pockets of his combat vest and reached out his hand to pull Amy to her feet.
    â€œLet’s go then.”

CHAPTER 7
    â€œWhy haven’t we heard anything?” Charlie raked his fingers through his hair.
    â€œCharlie, any number of things could have happened to slow them down,” CJ told him, knowing from experience just how true her words were.
    â€œI hate not being able to do something.” He turned to face CJ, who was calmly rocking her little girl to sleep. “Do you realize I’m always the one in this position?”
    â€œWhat do you mean?” She ran a hand over her daughter’s soft curls before looking up at her brother-in-law.
    â€œThe two times you disappeared, I got a message that something was wrong and then all I could do was wait around for the phone call.” Charlie leaned against the arm of the sofa. “Now here I am again, waiting for a phone call.”
    â€œWould you rather be the person we were all worrying about?”
    â€œI don’t know.” He glanced over at the television, where the news was on mute. The other hostages were recovering, and already the situation that had taken his sister from him was old news. No one even knew that she was still caught somewhere behind enemy lines. “I just know I’m sick of waiting.”
    â€œThat makes two of us,” CJ agreed. She shifted the toddler in her lap, hoping she could put her down for the night. “As strange as it sounds, maybe we should get out of the house tomorrow and do something.”
    â€œWake me up when you go swim in the morning,” Charlie told her as she stood up. “Maybe I’ll go pump some iron and see if I can work out some of this frustration.”
    â€œIt can’t hurt.”
    * * *
    Brent followed Amy along the riverside. After circling around an occupied village a few miles back, he had her take the lead in case anyone followed after them. So far they had made good use of the daylight hours, but in front of him he could see Amy beginning to tire. She rolled her shoulders as though that might erase the aches and pains from riding for the past eleven hours. He didn’t have the heart to break it to her that they still had at least six more hours to go, most of which they would have to travel at night.
    Their horses were both Arabians, and while they were clearly domesticated, they were also high-strung. Without the aid of bridles, Brent and Amy had struggled to keep their horses in check during the first several miles. Now that the horses were tiring, they had settled down and were much more cooperative.
    Though they could have made better time by riding along the nearby road, they had stayed in the trees by the riverbank, partially to remain out of sight and partially to help them battle the desert heat. They had already stopped once midday and had taken the opportunity to go for a quick swim to cool themselves down. Their clothes had dried within an hour, but it had helped them survive the worst of the heat.
    As they approached a sandy spot along the riverbank, Brent