Changing Winds

Changing Winds KATELYN LANDERS SERIES BOOK TWO VERONICA MIXON Copyright © 2023 by Veronica Mixon All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. AI RESTRICTION: The author expressly prohibits any entity from using this publication for purposes of training artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text, including without limitation technologies that are capable of generating works in the same style or genre as this publication. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models. Contents Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Want More? About the Author Chapter One Rachel I crouched under the window in the lab bathroom and peeked over the ledge. The third and fourth garage doors were open. In the fourth bay, two members of my security detail, Teddy and Rick, leaned against the bumper of Teddy’s dark blue SUV, just like they did every day at shift change. Teddy would leave for home in less than ten minutes, and Rick would lower the third and fourth bay doors, then disappear into the room they referred to as the SITU. I’d only been inside the locked room once, but to my recollection, there was a wall screen with ten live feeds of my compound. Last week, on a routine security audit, Teddy uncovered several blind spots and ordered three new cameras. He mentioned the new equipment was scheduled for installation later this week. The new cameras would close my escape route, so as they say, the time was now or never. I opened the storage closet and rolled out the cleaning bucket and mop. I shoved a janitorial push broom aside, slid the cardboard box I’d pushed into the far corner to the front, and removed the contents. I uncapped a grease pencil and slashed a thick black line across my cheeks. Twisting my hair into a knot, I shoved it under a black ski hat, slid black gloves over my hands, and shrugged into a black all-weather jacket. I pocketed the grease pencil, replaced the box and the cleaning equipment, then shut the door. Anyone checking the closet would find an empty supply box someone should have remembered to throw away. I returned to the window, tipped the blinds, and peered out. Teddy’s SUV backed out of the bay. Rick threw his hand up and waved goodbye. Keep moving, Dad’s voice whispered in my ear. I stepped into the hall and hurried to the side door that opened five yards from a wildlife preserve. I’d unlocked the double bolts earlier in the day. The first time I tried opening the door, I had expected to set off a silent alarm––but nothing happened. I reminded myself I wasn’t a prisoner––it felt like it. After today, no doubt someone would correct the silent alarm oversight. I slipped through the door and sprinted for the trees. Then made a beeline for the oak hammock ten yards ahead. One of my wisest decisions was denying my security detail access to my lab. I made the decision based on the national security level of my project. No doubt it was the right decision, but after a while, loneliness crept in, whispering, This is your life now. My days consisted of work, sleep, eat, and repeat. Zero social life. Who can live like that? It wasn’t as if I were a partier, but I enjoyed socializing, an evening out occasionally. And, even though I tried not to think about him, I mourned losing Tanner. I’d broached a solution with Katelyn, my handler, a US Marshal I regarded as a friend. I suspected our friendship was similar to a prisoner and a guard. My options were severely limited. I’d recently asked Katelyn to facilitate the renegotiation of my contract. My request wasn’t turned down; just ignored. Dead people yield very little power within the confines of the Department of Defense. So, I moved to Plan B. If, as Kate often assured me, I held all the cards, I planned to start playing to win! The sun sat low in the sky, and inside the canopy of trees, the light had dimmed to dusk. Based on my weather app, there would be no moon—less chance of being caught. Moss-draped limbs and vines the size of my forearm hung from trees bowed and bent from years of coastal winds. The earthy smell of the river wafting through the brush seemed stronger here than at my compound. I leaned against the trunk of what had to be a hundred-year-old tree and double-checked the map on my phone’s GPS. The spot I’d pinned last week was still nineteen miles away. My habit of working in my lab for twelve hours without a break had allowed me to test-walk this trip four times over the past three weeks––but only during the day. The woods took on a different vibe at night. I typed a quick text to Stanley, giving him my ETA, and moved to the far side of the hammock. I took a moment to get my bearings, turned right, and found the deer trail parallel to the river. The path led me to the higher ground of a bluff. The route had been relatively easy to traverse the last time I took this trail. But tonight, it was as if the land had