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“I’m listening.”
“I’ll stop being grumpy about your participation, but if I sense any danger, I’m calling the whole thing off.”
“You feel responsible for me like you did for Kelly.”
“Something like that.”
“Okay, if you promise to give me a fair shot, it’s a deal.”
He reached across the table, taking her hand. He gave it a soft squeeze and hesitated to let go. “I’ve got some reports to fill out. I’ll find you later so we can go over everything again.”
“Okay.”
* * *
Will left the table but found his mind drifting back to Charlotte. It was now clear to him he’d never be able to distance himself from her like he needed to. Not after hearing her story. Knowing what she’d done in Venezuela changed his confidence in her ability to do the job. It also opened up a long-buried vulnerability that he’d thought was locked away forever.
It had been a long time since he’d spoken to anyone about Kelly besides Tony, but it was remembering his faith that stirred a long-forgotten hope within him. When he’d first been saved, he’d been passionate about his faith, but it hadn’t taken long to lose the fire. And after searching for her for so long, everything else he did seemed unimportant. But hearing Charlotte talk about the lives they could save if they stopped Antonio had changed his perspective. Just like God had brought her to a dark place to save people, He’d given Will a job where he was doing that every day.
Maybe when this was all over, he’d crack open his Bible again and have another look. See if he could find what it was that had inspired him all those years ago. For now, with the meeting looming, he’d keep things as they were. He’d keep praying for Kelly and would add Charlotte to the mix, but that was all he could afford to do. He knew what he had to do to get the job done, and he was afraid that, if he brought God into it, God might want to change things. He’d had enough turmoil already. He needed to keep as much the same as he could.
* * *
Maddy grunted as she shifted position. Her head was swimming with the effects of the drugs. She’d had a momentary lapse in sanity when she’d had enough of being stuck in bed and, in her rage, decided to get out of bed with two broken legs. It hadn’t worked out well, and the pain had been unbearable.
After the doctor had threatened her with longer bed rest if she didn’t behave herself, she gave in, feeling more broken in spirit than before.
In her most lucid moments, she searched the recesses of her memory of the arrests she’d made over the years that could cause someone to do this to her. But with a pile of missions to choose from, it could have been any number of people. Her boss was already pursuing a few leads, but with no forensic evidence, they had little chance of pinning it on anyone.
She spotted motion at the door out of the corner of her eye and looked as the newcomer knocked on the frame. She smoothed the pain of her injuries off her face until she recognized who it was, and her features hardened.
An unshaven older man with the weathered look of a man who’d spent a lot of time outdoors grinned at her. It was a mischievous grin she was familiar with.
“Mind if I come in?” he said with a gravelly voice.
“You never were one to ask for permission.”
“I do when it suits me.”
“Well, Peter Black, I have to say you are the last person I expected to walk through that door.”
“I’ve startled you. That wasn’t my intention. I can go if you want.”
She shook her head. “More disconcerted than startled.”
“Aren’t they the same thing?”
“And you haven’t lost your penchant for arguing every point with me. Nice to know you haven’t changed.”
“Does that mean I can stay?”
“May as well come in and say hello. It’s been a long time.”
“How’re you doing?”
“I take it that’s a rhetorical question? Your eyes still work, right?”
“Yeah. Looks to me like you’re in agony, and not from your injuries.”
