I loosen my grip, and the gun rolls onto the floor.
Rules for disappearing
by Witness Protection prisoner #18A7R04M:
Don’t ever think it’s over….
New rule by Anna Boyd:
Original rule still in effect.
reaches into his pocket and takes out his phone. “I called Agent Williams after I spoke to you earlier. It shouldn’t take him long to get here.”
When he starts replaying the events over the phone, I drag myself off the floor. I can’t handle hearing that right now. I get up and walk to the tiny bathroom. There’s blood all over my white dress and coat. After scrubbing my hands raw, I finally walk back into the other room. I can’t look at the floor littered with dead bodies.
“It’s over, Anna. For good. There’s no one else to worry about.”
But that’s not completely true. “No. Agent Parker is still out there.”
He shakes his head. “Agent Parker? We found her remains not far from that island where Agent Williams took you. I’m sorry, Anna. She’s dead.”
I shake my head, slowly. “I’m not sure what you found, but she’s not dead. She’s the mole. And Thomas’s girlfriend. What I said about Brazil was the truth. There was a passport with her picture and a new name.”
Agent Hammond looks stunned. “Riley?”
Riley? “Is that her first name?”
“Yes.”
That was the one person I couldn’t figure out the night I heard Thomas and Mateo talking in the courtyard. “I think I know where she is. What time is it?”
Agent Hammond glances to the clock on the wall. “Just after three.”
I move to the door. “Let’s go.”
“Where are we going?”
“Ursuline. She won’t wait long. Thomas is meticulous. When he doesn’t show on time, she’s gone.”
Agent Hammond calls Agent Williams again, telling him the change in plans.
The sun has gone behind the buildings, leaving the streets in semidarkness. Most of the girls are on the floats and they’re moving slowly down the streets.
Agent Hammond puts his coat around me, probably to hide all the blood, and we make our way through the crowd.
Most of the other men in tuxes are already drunk and this event hasn’t really even started yet. They’re trying to kiss my cheek and hand me plastic flowers, but I just push through them.
“So how do you know all of this? Is there something you’re not telling me?”
“Thomas’s brother, Tyler, figured it out. I just happened to be there when he did.”
“There seems to be a lot of this story I don’t know.”
Once we’re a block from the convent, we leave the parade crowd altogether. We stop across the street.
“Where will she be?”
“Probably on the third floor, looking for the money and passports that aren’t there anymore.”
