Page 44 of Destroyed With You

“He’s back in the wind,” he told Linda.

“Are you sure?”

He passed her the crumpled sheet of hotel stationery on which was written, Fuck you.

“Well, hell.” She met his eyes, hers reflecting his own irritation. “At least he’s got good penmanship.”

He laughed, and the tension lifted. “It will serve him well in life.”

“So what now?”

“Well, he won’t be on that flight,” Winston said. “Either he booked it before and now will skip it. Or he booked it after he found the tracker to throw us off. Either way, he won’t be on that plane.”

“I agree. What about another flight? You can ask Emma to take another look.”

He gave a quick nod of agreement, then dialed again.

“Well, hello there,” Emma said. “You two just can’t get enough of me.”

“Can you check again? He gave us the slip. Room’s empty except for his coat and the tracking device.”

“Clever boy.”

“We thought you could take another look at the manifests,” Linda said. “Maybe he really was hanging out in the airport waiting to grab a flight at the last minute. And if nothing turns up there, could you check the car rental records?”

“There are a lot of car rental companies,” Emma said. “And if he’s got an alias....”

“I know,” Linda said. “And he might. But we might get lucky.”

“We really appreciate it,” Winston added.

“Hey, I’ve got nothing else to do tonight except have sex.”

Beside him, Linda stifled a laugh.

“Tell Tony I’m making sure you two enjoy the buildup to the main event.”

“I thought I wasn’t supposed to tell Tony anything.”

“You can tell him whatever you want. You know I trust you. But I’d rather you just tell him you’re doing me a favor.”

“You got it.”

“Call us back when you know something. And, Emma,” Winston said.

“Yeah?”

“I owe you.”

“No, you don’t. I’ve always got your back, remember?”

Winston was still smiling when they ended the call. He looked at Linda, her expression unreadable. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t have that.”

He shook his head slowly, not understanding.

“A close friend is like that. I’ve been paired with partners before, but being deep cover like I am, I haven’t gotten close to anybody. Not since—”