She handed papers to Savannah. “You should read those, then sign and date at the bottom of each.” She pulled out a metal press so she could notarize it on the spot.
“Wait.” I laid my hand over the top of the papers. “To be clear, she’s signing an NDA about what you’ll share with her and, in return, will be asked to cooperate as a witness.”
“We will share as much as we can,” X directed her answer to Savannah. “And we will ask for cooperation in return—”
“No.” I grinned, but not with humor. Goddamn government-speak. “She’s not signing or saying anything until you guarantee she is and will remain a witness and not a target of any investigation.”
Savannah raised her eyebrows and stared at me. “He’s right. I’m not guilty of anything. Other than being an idiot, Iguess, but the punishment for that is losing my business. I don’t deserve to end up in jail.”
“That’s not our plan.” X glanced between Savannah and me. “I swear to you, we’re the good guys, and we only want to help you.”
“When you say we…” I waited for her response.
“I can’t discuss the agency until we have Savannah’s signature.”
“Can you at least say whether it’s military?” I asked.
She pressed her lips together as she considered, then nodded. “About half our staff are former military.”
There was that neck-hair-raising adrenaline rush again. “And the other half?”
“A mix,” she answered. “A lot of former law enforcement. For example, Mai’s team partner was in the FBI.”
Smooth move, reminding me she was playing on my sister’s team. But I wasn’t satisfied yet. “And you?”
To her credit, X’s gaze didn’t waver. “Most of my career, I’ve worked as a State Department attaché.”
“Does that mean spies?” Savannah asked. She turned to me. “Is Mai a spy?”
I shrugged. It sure as hell sounded that way.
“We’re with an agency you’ve never heard of, and we don’t violate laws or codes of conduct, be they international or domestic,” X answered. “That’s absolutely all I can say without those signatures. And I’m willing to add a clause to the contract to ensure you’ll be protected.” She took back the pages and hand-printed and initialed a paragraph on the last page, just above the signature block.
I took advantage of the silence to stare down Bloom.
He held his hands up. “We’re the good guys, brother, I swear. If X says she’ll take care of Savannah, she means it.”
X handed the revised pages plus a blue pen to Savannah.
I leaned across the aisle and read over Savannah’s shoulder. When we were done, she glanced at me. I was no lawyer,but I’d signed my fair share of government contracts over the years, and this one looked acceptable to me. I nodded. Savannah signed. X tucked away the papers and pen in her briefcase.
“Great. We’ll get you up to speed when we arrive at our facility, which is a short drive from the airstrip in Maryland,” X said. “Tonight, we’ll give you a quick update. Most of the information can wait until tomorrow. You’ll meet Pasco in person then, too.”
“Can’t you tell us anything now?” I said. “Your agency name, what Devlin’s mixed up in, what Savannah’s role in all this will be?”
X’s face was unreadable. “We’ll go over all of that with Savannah when we reach the facility.”
My heart thumped loudly enough for me to hear it. “Just Savannah.”
X nodded. “We appreciate your service, Mr. Hayes, but now she’s under our protection. We won’t take up any more of your time. Good luck with your job interview, by the way. We’ve taken the liberty of rescheduling it for you, and Carlos will have you back in Chicago in plenty of time.”
“That wasn’t the deal,” I said quietly.
X shook her head. “We have no deal with you, Mr. Hayes. And our regulations don’t allow non-agency members access to our facilities unless there are pressing reasons of national security, like being a witness to an alleged, dangerous money laundering operation.”
Savannah sucked in her breath. “Devlin’s mixed up in money laundering?”
“Allegedmoney laundering,” X answered.
