Page 93 of Dead Drift

“I’m going to lose you in a minute.” He prayed it was only over the phone and not permanently, not when he’d just gotten her back. But this was something he had to do. He couldn’t let Ebeid get away. “I love you. I’ll be back. . . .”

Silence.

“Kate . . . Katie?” The call was gone, but he prayed she wasn’t.

Kate excused herself from the warehouse for a moment. Stepping outside, she rounded the corner of the metal frame building, making sure no one was watching before bursting into tears. She understood Luke’s need to stop Ebeid. Really, she did.

But last time he’d left, he’d been gone a lifetime.

Sobs wracked her body.

What if he didn’t come back?

Declan and Tanner hurried down the ramp to B terminal at BWI, heading for their flight to Atlanta.

The boarding call for their flight was announced over the speakers.

Declan’s phone rang. “It’s Kate. You go ahead. I’ll be right there.”

“All right.” She pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“Hey, Kate,” he answered. “Tell me you’ve got some good news.”

“I’ve got great news. I found the truck en route to Atlanta. Are you sure you don’t want to intercept now?”

“I’m positive. Have them monitored without letting them know they are being followed. I’ve already talked with the Atlanta Bureau chief. He’s got a team ready for us. We’ll wait until the truck arrives at its rendezvous spot and nab Bedan’s CDC mole.”

“It makes me nervous.”

“I know, but we can’t risk losing the mole. Can you imagine the havoc he could wreak from inside the CDC? As long as we don’t lose the truck, we’re good.”

“I’ll see to it.”

“Last boarding call for Flight 28 to Atlanta,” the attendant announced over the intercom.

“Gotta go.”

“Be safe.”

“We’re going after a truck full of weaponized anthrax and plutonium dust. What could go wrong?”

“Not the time for humor.”

“It sounded like you could use a little.”

“I’m fine.”

“He’ll come back, Kate.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do.”

“I wish I had half your confidence. Now go catch your flight.”

Luke knew what frustration felt like. It was geography competing with time in a chase where he was behind.

He was headed toward New Zealand, then over to the non-extradition island of Niue, if necessary. With the Bureau’s help, Luke had tracked Ebeid’s chartered jet to JFK, where Ebeid had boarded Flight 1124 to Guangzhou, China. China wasn’t cooperating with flight information, but the airline flying the route from Guangzhou International into Auckland, New Zealand, had one of Ebeid’s aliases listed on a first-class ticket. So Ebeid was staying with that planned final destination of Niue. Getting ahead of him was the problem.