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Max shoved the laptop and then landed his fist on the desk beside it. “It’s the laptop. It’s reciprocal. While the program tracks the agents, Tempest can track Dr. Arnoff. They found us at Arnoff’s house. They knew Arnoff was dead, and they killed his wife. Once the laptop went on the move, they had to know it was us.”
She stepped back from the desk on wobbly legs. “We thought it was such a great find at the time, and it ended up betraying us.”
“It’s not human, Ava, and it was a great find. You discovered the formula for the T-101 antidote. Now you have the antidote printed out and on a thumb drive. It’s time to get rid of the laptop.”
“If we just destroy it, they’ll have no reason to believe we left Utah.”
“Exactly, which is why we have to do something other than destroy it.”
“Which is?”
“Send it on a trip.”
“How are we going to do that?” She clutched her hands in front of her. Everything was moving too fast.
“Think about it.” He tapped his temple. “We’re in a tourist area, in an upscale resort. People are flying in and out of Snow Haven all the time.”
“Are you crazy?” She took a turn around the room, scooping a hand through her hair. “Nobody is going to take a laptop from us. TSA agents even warn people against it at the airports.”
“Did I say we were going to ask?” He spread his hands. “I’m going to get into the hotel luggage area and slip it into someone’s bag, after deleting everything on it except the locator program, which won’t make sense to anyone else anyway.”
“How are we going to do that?”
“There’s no we this time. You go off and get your massage, and I’ll get rid of the laptop.” He strode toward her, cupped the side of her head in his large hand and smoothed a thumb between her eyebrows. “Don’t worry about it. This sort of thing is a piece of cake for me. This laptop will be on its way to Boston or Atlanta or San Diego in no time, and those agents will have to adjust their travel plans.”
To forget about everything for an hour or two and leave this in Max’s capable hands sounded too good to pass up. Besides, those Tempest agents were still thousands of miles away, weren’t they?
She took a deep breath and blew it out, ruffling the edges of his long hair. “Okay, but what if you get caught?”
He folded his arms and raised one eyebrow. “Really?”
“Okay, okay, piece of cake.”
“Get on the phone and see if you can get an appointment right now. I’ll start deleting stuff from the laptop.”
The spa had an available appointment for a full body massage in twenty minutes and she took it.
She peered over Max’s shoulder as he dragged files into the trash can and then emptied the trash. “It’s a ninety-minute massage. Will the deed be done by then?”
“Yep. You just relax and enjoy, knowing we’re sending those Tempest agents on a wild-goose chase.”
“Not sure I’ll be able to relax.”
“Sure you will. I’ve got this, Ava.”
She believed him. She trusted him. He’d been ready to take a bullet for her in that bathroom or even return to Tempest. She’d had to prove that he hadn’t misplaced his trust even though sticking that man—Malcolm Snyder—in the neck with the pen had been just about the most frightening action she’d ever taken. She’d had to stuff down every memory of Snyder, every feeling she’d ever had about him, and go on autopilot.
That was how the T-101 worked. It put those agents on autopilot to allow them to do their jobs without question.
She shivered and pulled on a clean T-shirt. She didn’t blame Max one bit for wanting off the stuff.
“I’m going to head down to the spa now. Should I just meet you back up here?”
“Hang on.” He clicked the mouse without looking up. “I’m going to walk you there.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I thought you said we were safe for now, no Tempest agents in the immediate vicinity.”
He dragged one more file to the trash can and looked up with a half smile on his face. “I just want to walk you down.”
