Walt nodded. “There’s an encrypted laptop on the table. I thought you might need it. It’s set to ping around the globe a couple of times to mask its location. Feel free to use it. You can take it with you, and I’ve also included several burner phones. Expect a call from Big Tag at some point. He’s in a crabby mood, by the way. But then he usually is.”
Steph flashed a smile as she dabbed at the burn mark on Beck’s left arm. “He’s quite charming when he wants to be. Though it’s super early back in the States, so I don’t think he’s going to turn the charm on. Maybe he’ll take a nap or something.”
She seriously doubted it. The good news was she would thank him, ask him for any updates he had, and then let him off the hook. It wasn’t Big Tag’s job to save her. She’d actually burned the man a couple of times, though she hadn’t meant to. She’d done it because it was her job.
She didn’t have one of those anymore.
She stepped up to the laptop. She would be able to tell a lot about what was going on based on whether or not she could get into her accounts.
“Tell me you still keep money stashed across the globe.” Beck winced as Steph applied a topical to his burn.
“Of course.” She had accounts and then she had shadow accounts, money stored in business accounts that couldn’t be traced back to her easily. Then there was the cash she had in various safes. “I’m sure Levi knows where most of my safe houses are. I don’t suppose I could sneak back into my London flat.”
“No,” Beck said with a frown. “I assure you he has someone watching it. He probably has for a long time. I’m surprised you would suggest it.”
“My e-reader is there.” A lot of things were there, and she would have to leave them all behind. All her ID, her phone, everything in her handbag was still in Levi’s hands. God, she should have killed that fucker but she’d had to use her only bullet to scare away the driver. “I was enjoying my book. I bet that asshole will shut down my account for that, too.”
She tried her main account, the one she was sure the Agency knew about.
Beck moved in behind her. He hadn’t bothered to put a shirt on. His cut chest was on display. “What’s the verdict?”
She gritted her teeth as the message came up. “This one’s frozen. I can assume most of them are.” She wanted to throw the laptop across the garage, but that wouldn’t help her. “Levi might want to do this quietly, but at least someone at the Agency knows. He couldn’t have frozen my accounts without permission.”
“Can you call the president?” Beck asked. “He put you on this mission in the first place.”
She wished it was that easy. “Yes, he did, privately. Technically the Agency doesn’t know I was working for POTUS. Realistically everyone knew, but as it’s been pointed out to me so recently, Hayes is only going to be in office for a few more months. Whatever’s going on, he won’t be around long enough to fix it.”
“He could pardon you,” Steph pointed out.
“For a crime that won’t ever be on the books?” It was the conundrum she was in. No one would acknowledge McDonald had been a problem, therefore technically there was no crime. But the Agency wouldn’t forgive or forget, and she knew there would be a whole lot of her coworkers who bought what Levi was selling. There would be a bunch of assholes who would glory in her downfall. “Look, I knew when I took the job that Hayes wouldn’t be able to get me out of trouble if I fell into it. He and Connor Sparks did as much as they could, and now I’m on my own.”
“That sucks,” Walt said.
She appreciated the fact that he didn’t try to find a way out of the situation for her. He simply stated the obvious. “It does. Do we know if Levi survived?”
She brought up a secondary account. Same message.
Behind her Beck cursed under his breath, obviously understanding the state she was in. “Please tell me he died in the accident. Also, are the police looking for us?”
Steph handed him a fresh T-shirt. “I was listening to the radio and they dispatched an ambulance. Two men were treated at the scene—one for scrapes and cuts and the other was listed as a possible concussion, but no one was taken in.”
“And the police were called away long before they should have been,” Walt added. “I think we can bet there won’t be a report. He’s cleaning up as we speak.”
She made it to the third account, got the same message, and gave up. She closed the laptop. “Well, he’s likely got access to roughly forty million now. He’ll use it to try to find me.”
Beck gingerly pulled the shirt over his head, wincing when he moved his arm. “We’ll see about that. I know some pretty good hackers. And some lawyers, if it comes to that.”
She didn’t want to pull him in any further than he already was. “It’s cool. I know some, too. I’ll see what I can do about it.”
She wasn’t going to cry. She had to suck it up because she couldn’t let Beck see how weak she felt, how much she wanted to beg him to help her, to stay with her. She needed to acknowledge that she had to face this alone.
Beck turned back to Walt. “You think it’s safe for us to be on the streets? I’d like to get to the safe house as soon as possible. How far away is it?”
“Oh, it’s a drive,” Walt replied. “I’ve programmed the route into the computer. I’ll monitor you the whole way and let
