Soft Place to Fall (Navy Book 4)

Chapter 3

The advantage to the Austin airport was that it was small. Will leaned against a pillar and watched the crowd as it moved around him. Quinn was supposed to be the one to pick up Carmen Morales but Will had wanted to come in his place. It would be easy enough to see if she had been followed from his current vantage point; to one side of the escalators leading down to the baggage claim.

He figured he would have to wait until the crowd had dispersed to determine which of the arrivals was Morales, since neither Josh nor Quinn had given him a very good description. All they had told him was that she was tall and dark. Whatever that meant.

He had had the previous afternoon and all day prior to his leaving for the airport to set up the ranch with enough coverage to keep an eye on the woman when he couldn't. Josh had underestimated the vast expanse of area that needed covering, and he had had to request more equipment which had arrived late, so he still had a few things to tweak over the next few days.

Will knew he wasn't being told all of the facts since the entire setup was so extreme. Normally, he would just stick close to the person until the details had been settled but Josh had stressed low key, so low key was what he would be, at least as low key as he was expected to be.

He looked at the arrivals board and noted that the flight had arrived so he adjusted his stance and scanned the limited crowd. So far there was nothing that stood out to him. It was after eight in the evening and the airport was almost empty since the flight from New York was one of the last to arrive for the day.

After about twenty minutes the crowd from the arriving flight started to filter down towards him and, thankfully, it looked to be a fairly small crowd. He stepped further back into a shadow and started taking stock of the people; watching them.

He noticed one man, with a ball cap pulled low, stop at the trashcan a step over from the escalator. His stopping wasn't particularly odd as leaned down to tie his shoe but, unless he had never learned how, there was no reason for it to take as long as it did. He kept his eyes glued to the man and followed his searching glance as he looked up from his detailed inspection of his shoe. Will snapped a few photos with his phone; he should have asked Quinn to come with him. He could have followed the guy and this thing would be over tonight, now the man would be in the wind.

He followed the man's gaze as it landed on a very tall woman, but he wouldn't call her dark. She was golden, the color of honey, at least what he could see of her was. She had her hair pulled back into a ball cap that had the Yankees emblem on it, she had on a long sleeve shirt that was two sizes too big, and baggy blue jean overalls with combat boots. He looked at her face and noticed the oversize glasses and lack of makeup. He doubted that the woman had ever seen a day of combat in her life despite her get-up.

Will's assessment was done in a few seconds and his eyes flicked back to the man who was now taking the woman's photo. He was definitely their guy, he was more than willing to rush the guy and get a confession; ending it, but he could hear Josh's voice in his head talking about proof and proper protocol. He took another photo and pocketed his phone, watching the woman's graceful walk towards the luggage carousel. He was intrigued by the fact that she was drawing so much attention from those around her, despite her awkward look.

*******

Carmen was exhausted. Her connecting flight had been delayed and she was paranoid that she was being watched. She knew it was probably all in her mind, but the feeling was still strong. She had done everything Josh had asked of her, so she should be clear of the man watching her, but she felt that she wasn't. She couldn't even say for sure that the person that was harassing her was a man, but it felt as if it was, and she had had enough experience over the years to know the feeling.