“No, something like this would never deter me from coming back to work. The real reason I’m probably going to return to Knoxville is because my father has been struggling with heart disease, and I think both my parents need me there.”
It felt strange, sharing these things with him. It felt strange to be sharing anything with him. She’d never dreamed they’d ever see or talk to each other again.
“I’m assuming you’re a rock star at TCD,” she said. “I can’t imagine you doing anything else.”
He smiled. “You should know it’s all in my blood, the pressure...the danger...and the desire to save people who find themselves in horrible situations. I’ll work there as long as they’ll have me.”
“I’m sure they consider you a terrific asset,” she replied.
He released a small, dry laugh. “You were always good at flattery.”
“It’s not empty flattery,” she protested. “It’s the truth. Look at the situation you just got us out of.”
His smile faded and his eyes darkened. “Jacob and Gretchen got away with one of the hostages. Right now I consider this whole operation an epic fail.”
“From what I’ve heard, the fail wasn’t yours but rather that of local officials. You couldn’t know that those officers would run and hide at the first gun shots outside the van window,” she protested. She’d overheard just enough conversations to know what had happened.
“Yeah, but I should have made sure there were enough men in the back of the school to keep that van from leaving. I should have recognized the weakness, especially after working with Chief Cummings for any length of time.”
“You can’t control everything all the time, Evan. You’re being way too hard on yourself,” she said softly. “You did everything humanly possible. You need to cut yourself some slack.”
He merely sighed and they fell into a silence. It wasn’t a comfortable silence, rather it was charged with tension.
“Surely they’ve had enough time by now to find someplace to land,” she said in frustration.
“We won’t know that unless Hendrick comes up with something or Sadie gets access to a computer.” He rubbed the back of his neck, a sign of his own frustration.
A knock fell on his door. He got up from the table. “Maybe that’s one of my men with some new information.”
He opened the door and over his shoulder Annalise saw a tall, brown-haired stranger. He offered Evan a tentative smile. “Are you Special Agent Duran?”
“I am,” Evan replied.
“Uh... I have some news for you.”
“And you are?” Evan asked.
The man shifted from one foot to the other, and his gaze shot from Evan to Annalise. “My name is Phil Sanders. I have some information about Jacob Noble. Uh...can I come in?”
“Why don’t you just give me the information you have for me?” Evan replied.
He froze and Annalise gasped as Phil reached behind him and pulled a gun. There was a charged long minute of silence. Her heart raced, and every muscle in her body tensed with a fight or flight adrenaline rush.
“What do you want, Phil?” Evan asked calmly.
“The first thing I want is for you to toss your gun onto the bed, and if you make a wrong move, I’ll kill you both.”
Annalise gasped. Who was this man? What did he want? There were FBI and local authorities throughout the hotel. How had he managed to just walk up to Evan’s door?
“That’s not happening, so just tell me what you want,” Evan replied, his voice still cool and calm.
The man looked frustrated. “I need you to get rid of your weapon.”
“And I told you that isn’t happening, so tell me what you want and why you’re here or shoot me right now.”
The man gestured with his gun for Evan to back up. He did so, and Phil stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. “I’m with the Brotherhood of Jacob, and I want you to call off the search for Jacob and Gretchen.”
“And if I don’t?”
Phil’s blue eyes narrowed. “If you don’t call off the search right now, then I’m going to kill you.”
Annalise’s heart banged hard against her ribs, making her half-breathless as she stared at the gunman.
His hand shook as he held the weapon pointed at Evan’s chest. “Stop the search for Jacob and Gretchen right now.”
“Annalise, I want you to go into the bathroom and close and lock the door,” Evan said.
“Don’t move,” Phil half shouted at her. He aimed the gun at her and then jerked it back to point at Evan.
“Go ahead, Annalise...” Evan said calmly.
“I’m not leaving you,” she replied despite her fear. There was no way she was just going to run and hide in the bathroom and leave Evan to face this threat alone.
“Listen to me, Annalise,” Evan said, his voice still calm and steady. “Focus on me. I need you to go to the bathroom and lock the door.”
Annalise stood and held her position next to the table. “Don’t move...don’t move,” Phil yelled at her. Sweat worked down the sides of his reddened face.
There was no way, no matter how many times Evan told her to go into the bathroom, she was leaving him. With both of them in the room, the man would be more apt to get distracted. If he did, then Evan would be able to take control of the situation.
“Phil, you need to calm down,” Evan said.
“My job is to protect Jacob, so you need to stop the search for him right now. He’s our leader, and he’s doing good things for the world,” Phil replied.
“Phil, I don’t have the power to stop anything,” Evan replied. “I couldn’t stop this search right now if I wanted to. It’s all out of my hands. So, you have two choices right now—either kill me or put the gun down and let’s talk.”
“You have the power,” Phil screamed. “Stop the damned search. Jacob has to be protected.”
Annalise took two steps forward and then paused.
