Page 22 of Rowe

“That’s between her and Mr. Rossi.”

Jethro set the coffee cup on the counter. The paper had collapsed where his fingers held it.

“No,” he said. “It isn’t.”

The tall man’s gaze moved across the five faces before him. Whoever Mr. Rossi was, whatever power his name carried elsewhere, it found no purchase here. Dean started toward the exit. He tried to shoulder past Kai. Kai did not brace. He did not need to. Dean struck him and rebounded half a step as if he had misjudged a post. Kai looked down at the place where their shoulders had met.

“Sorry,” he said. “Architecture.” Jethro coughed into his fist. Sonny studied a ceiling tile with great interest. Even Christopher’s mouth betrayed him. Dean turned, but the tall man caught the back of his jacket.

“Outside.” This time Dean went. The pale man followed. At the threshold he looked back toward the elevators with the cold concentration of someone memorizing a map.

Patrick shifted into his line of sight.

The pale man left. The tall man remained beneath the sensor until the glass doors opened and closed twice around him. Hot wind curled into the lobby.

“We will find our friend,” he said. Patrick held his gaze through the dark lenses.

“Bring lighter shirts.” The tall man smiled once, without humor, and walked into the heat.

All five men followed as far as the inner doors. They watched the strangers cross the parking lot. Dean yanked open the sedan’s passenger door and recoiled from the blast of trapped air. Sonny leaned closer to the glass.

“Justice.” Christopher folded his arms.

“Thermodynamics.”

“Same department,” shrugged Christopher.

The sedan reversed too quickly, stopped before striking an ambulance, and pulled toward the street. Its windows were tinted almost black. Patrick memorized the plate. Kai repeated it aloud. Odette wrote it on the back of an appointment card.

The sheriff’s cruiser turned into the lot as the sedan reached the road. It did not pursue. Not yet. The deputy behind the wheel slowed long enough to read the plate and watch the direction of travel. Patrick waited until the sedan disappeared.

“They bought it?” Jethro asked.

“They bought time,” Patrick said. Christopher looked toward the elevators.

“How much did we give them?” Odette checked the clock.

“Twelve minutes.” Kai picked up Patrick’s abandoned doughnut, inspected it, and put it back.

“Enough?”

Patrick took out his phone. A message from Beaux waited on the screen: CLEAR. COTTAGE SAFE.

“Enough.”

When the convent van stopped, Rowe opened the rear door. Mara blinked at the cottage.

“Whose place is this?” she asked.

“Mine.”

Rowe lifted Mara again. Her face tightened against the pain, but she kept her eyes on the trees.

Beaux unlocked the cottage and went through every room before calling them inside. It wasn’t necessary but it was a practiced routine for them all. Rowe carried Mara to a king-sized bed in the back room where a clean sheet had been stretched over the quilt. He lowered her carefully.

“Hospital seemed safer,” she said.

“The hospital had an audience. And adjustable pillows.” Beaux brought the medical bag.