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“I heard some of that.”
“Those claims that Major Denver kidnapped the aid workers and planted the bomb for their car to take back to the refugee center are also false. This is one big setup.”
“I’m not here to get into that with you, McVie. I’m here to make sure Hailey is okay—” Porter flashed his teeth at Hailey “—and to glean any more information she might have about Ayala Khan.”
“It sounds like you already know more about her than I do.” Hailey took a sip from her water cup beside the bed. “I didn’t know about any boyfriend, and I had no idea her brother had links to any terrorist organizations.”
Joe hunched forward, elbows on knees, and asked, “Do you know anything about a boyfriend or fiancé?”
“Nothing yet. How do you know she has one?” Porter’s eyebrows collided over his nose.
“How do you know that?” Hailey grabbed a napkin to dab at the water she’d spilled on the front of her hospital gown.
“I’m just guessing, because she wears a ring on her left ring finger.” Joe shrugged. “A lot of times women get lured into these causes with some misplaced sense of romanticism.”
“We’ll be looking into any and all of her contacts.”
Joe felt Hailey’s gaze boring into him and glanced up to meet her narrowed eyes. “I—I’m just generalizing. Most women have minds of their own.”
Porter rescued him by asking Hailey another question and then stayed on another twenty minutes, taking notes about what Hailey remembered of Ayala’s day-to-day activities at the camp. Then he tucked his notebook into his breast pocket and pushed up from the chair. “I’m glad neither one of you was seriously injured. You were lucky to have Delta Force on your side when you went back to your house, Hailey.”
“I’ve been lucky to have Joe around on several occasions.” She flicked at the IV running into her arm. “Agent Porter, can Marten come to you with his information?”
“Any of you can come to me at any time. I thought I made that clear in the first set of interviews stateside.” He squinted at her. “Why? Have you had contact with de Becker?”
“Not yet, but I’m sure it’s coming. He’s alive and he wants to stay that way. The only insurance he has is the truth. Once that’s out, there’s not going to be any more reason to silence him.”
Porter lifted his linebacker shoulders. “There’s always payback.”
Hailey’s face drained of color, and Joe jumped from his chair. Pumping Porter’s hand, he said, “Thanks for coming by.”
As Porter reached the door, Hailey called out, “I expect to see you at the fund-raiser tomorrow night, Agent Porter.”
The Fibbie spun around at the door and smacked the wall. “You’re still going through with that?”
“Of course. I wasn’t injured in that blast, and it’s great advertising for what we’re battling out there.”
“If you plan to be there, the SFPD is going to have to ramp up security.”
“I’m counting on it.” She winked at him.
When he left, Hailey sank against her pillows again and closed her eyes.
Joe perched on the edge of her bed and traced a line from her temple to her jaw. “Are you sure you’re up for the gala?”
“Oh, yeah.” Her dark lashes fluttered on her cheekbones. “I have a feeling about tomorrow night.”
“I have feelings about tomorrow night, too, and none of them good.”
“That’s why we have to carry on with our plans. Dark forces are surging in this city, and they’re going to converge at the Pacific Rim tomorrow night. My fortune cookie said so.”
“Whoa, that’s deep.” He pinched her soft earlobe. “Hailey?”
Her breathing had the deep, rhythmic quality of someone in REM, which didn’t surprise him, as some of that juice in her IV was a strong sedative to help her cope with the shock of the explosion.
Joe straightened out her covers, tucking them beneath her chin. He kissed her parted lips and then returned to his sentry position beside her bed.
As he slumped in the chair, stuffing a pillow behind his back, he said, “My fortune cookie told me to take a chance on a dark-haired beauty—and am I glad I did.”
