Hawk checked his watch. It was 6:43 p.m.
“It’s time,” he said as he opened the car door. “I’ll meet you back at the rendezvous point.”
“I’m in your ear if you need me,” she said.
Hawk fiddled with his comlink and flashed Alex a quick thumbs up before closing the door. He broke into a slow jog along one of the trails and headed directly for the ice skating rink.
The sun slipped below the tree line on the horizon as daylight had already started its slow fade. He scanned the surrounding trails for a woman wearing a neon-green headband.
There she is, right on time.
Hawk didn’t give her any discernible non-verbal signals. The key to a successful brush pass was to never make eye contact and create the illusion that any physical contact seem natural, accidental, or indiscernible to even the trained eye. As Hawk approached, he surveyed the park for any obvious signs that they were being watched. There were plenty of joggers crowding the trails, but none that appeared to be CIA operatives.
With each stride, Hawk inched closer to the center of the path in an effort to make the brush pass seamless. He had an open hand that could easily accept something the size of a flash drive. Glancing at her as they drew within thirty feet, she refused to make brief eye contact.
Hawk was sure it was his contact. The time was right. The location was right. The description was right. The chances of such an encounter being a mere coincidence seemed highly unlikely. Hawk knew this was her.
As contact appeared imminent, Hawk swung his open left hand toward her left hand. But instead of being met with a flash drive, Hawk felt nothing but a closed fist.
What the hell . . . ?
He resisted the urge to look back at her, considering that perhaps she was only reacting that way because she’d identified a tail that he hadn’t seen. Or maybe she’d set them up all along.
“Alex, we’ve got a no-go on the brush pass,” Hawk said softly.
“What happened?”
“She met me with a closed fist. Something’s not right. Are you tracking my location?”
“I’ve got you. Is anyone following you?”
Hawk took a quick glance over his shoulder. “Not that I can tell. Just a park full of joggers and walkers.”
“Okay. Just meet me at the rendezvous point.”
“See you there.”
Hawk checked the several joggers trailing him and made a mental note of their speed. Then he increased his pace as he came around a corner that left the clearing and entered a path that wove through a wooded area. A minute later, he looked over his shoulder and saw two joggers who’d maintained a safe distance but had obviously started running harder.
“I’ve got two agents trailing me,” Hawk said.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Find me the next trail that twists through the woods so I can lose them.”
“Okay, just a sec,” she said. “All right, in about a quarter of a mile, you’ll come to a fork. Go left. That has plenty of cover and should help you shake them.”
“Got it.”
Hawk quickened his pace to an all out sprint as he followed Alex’s instructions. Once he went over a rise, he looked over his shoulder and saw the two agents struggling to keep pace. After they disappeared from view, he dashed off the path and hid behind a small berm. Hawk listened as the agents’ pounding footsteps passed, and then he waited for a few more seconds.
“I shook them,” Hawk said. “Give me the fastest route to the rendezvous point.”
Alex gave him directions and said she’d meet him there in five minutes.
***
ALEX PULLED INTO A PARKING SPOT and waited for Hawk. As she did, she saw Jennifer using a bench to stretch after her run. Alex looked around and walked up to her.
“What was the meaning of all this? How could you betray me like this?” Alex said.
Jennifer refused to look up. “Excuse me, but who are you? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Alex scowled and scanned the parking lot again, hustling back to her car. She got inside and saw Hawk sprinting along the path toward her. She unlocked his door and he scrambled inside.
“Go! Go! Go!” he said.
She put the car in reverse and stomped on the gas. Then she jammed the car into drive and zoomed out of the parking lot, back onto the main road.
“I just talked with Jennifer,” Alex said.
“You did what?” Hawk asked.
“I saw her by the bench and asked her what was going on.”
“And?”
“She acted like she didn’t know who I was.”
“I knew this was a bad idea,” Hawk said.
“I’m not so sure about that,” she said. “I think she was protecting us.”
CHAPTER 29
BACK AT THEIR APARTMENT, Hawk wrestled with the idea that Jennifer refused the brush pass because she was protecting them. He’d identified a pair of CIA agents and had to shake them. Based on Alex’s conversation with Jennifer, she might have been paranoid or she might have been setting them up. While Hawk was pleased they’d managed to escape, he returned to general distrust in people . . . especially anyone working at the agency.
“I’ve known Jennifer for a long time,” Alex said. “I just have a hard time believing anything other than the best about her.”
“People change, you know?”
“I’m well aware of that, but that whole situation just seemed off. I mean, why didn’t she bring the flash drive to you the first time you two met?”
Alex sighed. “She was being careful.”
“Perhaps she doesn’t trust you as much as you trust her.”
“Just give it up, Hawk. What’s done is done, but it’s certainly not over.”
Hawk paced around the room. “If you’re considering making contact with her again and trying to set up another exchange, count me out.”
“I’ve got a better idea.”
“I’m listening.”
“When we met, Jennifer mentioned that she had a copy of the recorded conversation on her home computer.”
“So, you
