AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Instead, Will slid his phone into his pocket and kept walking.
“Who was that? Roscoe?”
Will’s jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. “Just a friend,” he said.
Hannah felt her frustration flare. He’d been so open with her, but now he wouldn’t tell her about Roscoe? “Where are we going?” she asked, hoping a change in topic would loosen his lips. Lips she definitely hadn’t been staring at while he was on the phone. Besides, she really did want to know. The shoes Miranda had sent her were the best ones she’d owned in years, but she wasn’t exactly used to walking multiple miles a day.
“Our ride will be here soon,” he said. “Then? We’ll see what Miranda got for us.”
CHAPTERFIFTEEN
Will didn’t saymuch as they waited in a small neighborhood park for Tank and Pierce to show up. He was too busy analyzing the situation that had unfolded since yesterday. Darkshade hadn’t found them or, at least, hadn’t come after them, but the FBI had? That didn’t feel right.
Roscoe had said the FBI was following a lead from the Screaming Peach explosion that led them to the hotel, but they didn’t know who they were hoping to find when they got there.
No one had tied the Screaming Peach back to the assassination yet. Not even the relentless reporters on the networks had made the connection that a mysterious explosion had happened just twenty minutes down the road from President Walter’s attack, or suggested that it might be linked. That also kind of surprised him.
He hated being surprised.
He had heard that no one was killed in the blast. Thankfully, it had been pretty targeted toward the back of the store, where Melanie had been sitting.
She’d been a trooper this whole time, never complaining about the walking or the fact that they’d left everything behind in such a hurry. Sure, she’d asked a few questions, but it wasn’t as if he could blame her.
Melanie continued to impress him with her resilience and toughness. He’d seen that his initial assumptions about her were only partially true. She was down on her luck and could really use this video to earn some cash to set her in the right direction. But he had a feeling that if push came to shove and the president asked her to hand over every copy for the sake of National Security, she would do it.
She was broke, but she was a good person. He had to keep reminding himself that she wasn’t a cutthroat journalist needling him for information in Afghanistan.
“Kind of a nice day, isn’t it?” he mused, sitting next to her on the bench. No one else was at the park, despite the swings and playground equipment.
She smiled. “Nice day to evade capture and interrogation? Yeah.”
He rolled his eyes slightly. “That too. But I was talking about the weather. I know it can get hotter than a July jalapeño patch down here this time of year. But it’s not bad.”
Her smile turned to a soft laugh and the sound washed over him.
“That’s a rave review from you, isn’t it.Not bad.There’s not a cloud in the sky, the breeze is just enough to keep the trees rustling, and the temperature is perfect. It’s the nicest day we’ve had since the hurricane. Not bad, he says.” She shook her head in obvious amusement.
“Sarcasm doesn’t suit you,” he said with a smile. “Oughta leave that to the professionals.”
She scoffed. “Oh? I didn’t realize sarcasm was reserved for grumpy commandos with no color in their wardrobe.”
Will looked down at his clothing. Black pants, tan shirt, brown jacket. “Brown is a color,” he said with a shrug, making her laugh again.
He was trying to convince himself not to focus on why making her laugh made him feel so good when a familiar SUV pulled around the corner. Finally, Tank and Pierce were here.
He had them circle back to the hotel, pleased when the parking lot wasn’t full of FBI vehicles or local badges. He grabbed the bags they’d ditched, grateful when they remained untouched near the overflowing dumpster.
“All right, let’s move. Miranda said our safe house is set up.” Will settled into the passenger seat, flipping through his bag to verify it was all still there. Pierce pulled out of the parking lot. “Make sure we didn’t pick up a tail here before you head that way though.” It wasn’t likely, but it also wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility that the fibbies had left someone behind in case his team showed back up.
Or Darkshade.
He’d told Roscoe he thought he had a plan earlier. And he sort of did. It involved reaching out to Darkshade via Melanie’s anonymous email, playing dumb about the explosion, and apologizing that the meeting had been interrupted.
He wasn’t sure the assassin was dumb enough to fall for it, but it would get things rolling. Right now, they were at a standstill. Unless they got new information from the feds after Coulter ruffled some feathers about Gil-Dong being an unrealistic suspect, Will was going to have to use the only lead he had: the fictional Mr. Lloyd.
“You look like you’re about to blow a mental fuse there, boss.”
Will raised an eyebrow at Pierce’s comment. “Thinking about our next move.”
