Hammond doesn’t move a muscle but his eyes dart to mine. “Are you okay?”
I nod slowly and the barrel of the gun scrapes the side of my head.
“What do you want, Thomas? Whatever you want, I’ll help you get it—just leave the girl here.”
I can feel the gun dig into my temple a little harder. His movements are jerky and he’s flustered.
“You will help me get it, but Anna stays with me. We’re going to walk out of here, nice and slow. I’m putting this gun in my pocket and it will be trained on her the entire time. Start walking and I’ll tell you where to go.”
Thomas sounds nervous. It’s not a sound I’ve ever heard before and I’m glad this is screwing up his carefully laid-out plans.
We start walking. Just before we leave the alley, Thomas whispers in my ear, “You weren’t supposed to know the truth about Agent Hammond. I’m afraid you just signed your own death warrant.”
Rules for disappearing
by Witness Protection prisoner #18A7R04M:
Don’t fall into a routine….
New rule by Anna Boyd:
Routines aren’t bad. At least people will know where to find you if you’re always doing the same thing over and over.
need to get Agent Hammond alone.
The fingers of my left hand stay close to the small opening of the coat pocket where the gun hides but I don’t feel confident enough to use it while Thomas has his own gun trained at my back.
We’re back on the street, close to the Riverfront, where all the floats are parked and ready for riders. There are girls in white dresses everywhere.
Thomas is on his phone. He’s talking softly, and in Spanish, so I don’t catch a single word he says.
Agent Hammond seems to be as confused as I am as to why we’re here. I still haven’t seen any trace of Ethan or Will.
“Thomas, you don’t need her. You’ve got me. Let her go.”
“Keep moving.”
We move down the line of floats, weaving in and around the crowd until Thomas directs us into the side door of a small hotel.
Once we’re inside, Thomas stops. “Hammond, please remove your weapons.”
Hammond waits a few seconds then pulls a gun from his holder.
“Drop it in the plant over there,” Thomas instructs. “Come closer to me.”
Hammond obeys and Thomas pats him down for any other guns he could be hiding but finds nothing.
“Go straight down this hall. We’re going to room 105.”
Thomas drags me through a narrow hallway, bumping along the wall. Agent Hammond is ahead of us and stops abruptly in front of the door.
“Knock on the door.”
This is bad. I take a step toward Agent Hammond and Thomas jerks me back. “You will stay right by my side.”
A large man opens the door, letting us in. Just past the entryway, the room opens up into a spacious living area. There are two other men in the room, one standing and one seated in an oversize arm chair. From the look of his clothes, this must be Señor Vega.
“Pat him down,” Vega tells the man who let us in.
