He told them what he could, and then checked hisemail. Learned Zimmerman hadn’t been spotted at any airport or busstation.
Had El Cuervoreally escaped the restaurant only to send men to pick up Megan theminute they were away from the other agents? It could mean that thewhole restaurant scene was only to draw Megan out into thepublic.
Adrian tapped his phone against his leg while hethought it over.
A car engine revved.
He spun around to see Megan drive away in the SUV,alone in the vehicle. He started to run after her, realized it wasfutile, and headed for Special Agent Cromwell.
Hank stared after the vehicle.
“She left?”
His boss said, “Wants to go after her mom and makesure she’s all right.”
“So you just let her swing alone in the wind whenEl Cuervo is targeting her?”Adrian couldn’t believe this. He’d seriously just let her go offalone, after telling Adrian to stick with her?
Hank’s eyebrows lifted.“You have a job to do here, Agent Walker. I suggest you get back toit.”
What on earth?
Something was off.
Chapter16
Megan drove slower than she normally would have downthe highway. She wasn’t in a rush, and the idea was to be noticed.Not to escape.
She shifted her hands on the wheel. Squeezed thedense plastic—or whatever it was made of. Her hands were sweating.She wanted to squirm in the seat. Why was this harder than beingtied to a chair and punched in the face over and over? They’d donethat for a few minutes at a time over a period of hours.
Then they’d dragged out Will.
He’d cried out when he saw her face. After that, hesaid nothing. And she had to stare into his eyes while theydemanded she tell them what she and Will had done with theirmoney.
Now she figured that had been nothing but a ploy. Anexcuse to kill Will and torture her. Set her off her game so thatshe made a rash decision—a mistake.
She couldn’t do that now. If El Cuervo was really after her, and she and Hank hadagreed he would try again, then she was ready. Cool and calm.
Mostly.
He could come. Hank would be right behind him, alongwith Adrian and the rest of the FBI. Backup. The kind she hadn’thad behind her in Mexico. Yes, she’d been nervous enough—it had tohave transpired right then, or else she’d never have found thecourage to do it. Bite the bullet. Take the reins. All thoseexpressions that meant to climb in the car and head out. Alone. Notunprotected, but definitely exposed.
She doubted Adrian would appreciate the plan whenHank explained it. But how else would they finish this fast enoughto get to Denver on time? Yeah, agents there were doing their job.But it was her mom. Her operation. Her huntfor Zimmerman, who had singled her out by trying to send hera message at that hospital.
And it would be her that would bring himdown.
She just needed a distraction right now, so she couldget her mind off the waiting. Megan pulled out her phone and usedvoice commands to call Steve. Would he even answer? She’d alwaysfelt like a bit of an outsider with Double Down. Though she’d havesaid that about Mint as well. He’d always been a lone wolf. Bradleywas the new guy, so she didn’t know him all that well. He wasintense—exactly the way you’d think a Navy SEAL to be. Steve wasthe boss.
Maybe they were a group of loners. But they’d made itwork.
Steve had been places and seen things she didn’t evenwant to imagine. His former career had taken him all over the worldas a covert agent for the CIA. These days he was private, no longergovernment, in both his business dealings as an operator in thesecurity field and in his personal life.
Right before the phone went to voicemail, he finallypicked up. “Yeah.”
“It’s Megan.”
She figured he knew that. He had answered hercall.
He sighed, loud enough the line crackled. “Megan.”There was a wealth of emotion in that one word. Regret. A plea forhelp.
“You fired on a parking lot full of federalagents.”
“No one was hurt, right?”
“Couple of bruises and a scraped elbow,” she said.“That’s not the point.”
How was she supposed to be part of Double Down ifthis was what happened when her life became the mission? Steve hadmade it so El Cuervo couldescape. That was probably the biggest betrayal of all.
He said, “Are you going to tell them?”
Megan gritted her teeth and stared at the road ahead.What was she supposed to say to that? Part of her was still loyalto the FBI, always would be. Her father had been an agent. It waswhat she’d wanted to do for years. Despite the fact it had gone sowrong, she had realized her definition of success. She’d beenliving it.
She said, “They’ll find evidence.” It didn’t matterif she told them or not. With the investigative power of the FBI,there was no way they would not get some kind of lead that wouldpoint them in Steve’s direction,eventually.
“I cleaned up.”
“Adrian nearly caught you,” she said. “He’d have seenyou if I hadn’t covered for you.” Her instinct had been to protecthim.
“Maybe you should’ve just told them.”
Regret was a powerful thing. She wanted to believehe’d made a choice he could live with, a decision he could standbehind. She never wanted her friends, people she respected, to beforced into corners where they would do things they’d nevernormally do otherwise.
But maybe that was exactly what had happened toSteve.
“What does he have on you?”
Silence filled the line.
He said, “I wasn’t going to hit anyone.”
Regardless of what he’d been ordered to do, Steve hadmade sure the injuries were minimal. He’d fulfilled the task in away no one got hurt. If he’d killed an agent—even one—the FBI wouldnever have stopped hunting him.
Steve’s life would havebeen over.
“Maybe you could put in a good word for me with thebureau.”
Megan said, “They won’t accept it.” Not from her.“But if we can prove he got to you, then there’s a chance we canconvince them you
