“Good to see you again, sir.” Hawk shook his hand.
“You, too.” He gave her a last confused look and walked away.
“Let’s go.” She fast-walked to her door, unlocked it, and they stepped inside.
Hawk closed the door behind them.
“Oh, my gosh,” she whispered. “I can’t believe I hugged him like that and with this camera on me, too. Do you think he could tell I was wearing it?”
“Charlotte, take a few deep breaths.” Hawk waited until she was done. “Good.”
“Sorry, this is all very new and weird to me,” she admitted.
“You’re doing great, and you have nothing to apologize for.” He checked his watch. “It’s almost ten fifteen.” He lifted his phone and checked the camera to make sure it was still pointing where they needed it to be. “Tell me the plan again.”
“I’m going to leave my badge with you, just in case, and tell the secretary up there that I forgot it. She knows me and will buzz me in, no problem. When I get to Pennington’s office, I’m going to sit across from him but not too close.” She set her bag on the chair behind her desk and pulled out the box with the earpiece. “I’m going to tell him what I know about the list, rattle off all the names on it, then let him talk. If he doesn’t say anything to incriminate himself or the others, then I’m supposed to tell him that I’ve already turned the list over to Jeffrey Burke, that he’s already detained Helene, Kimball, and Leonard, and they are all looking to cut a deal.”
“Perfect,” Hawk said.
Pennington knew the kind of power Jeffrey had, since he was the one who’d convinced the president to ditch Pennington as his chief of staff. Burke had seen through his slick facade to the self-serving creep lurking beneath the surface.
“Is there a trick to this thing?” Charlotte pulled the box from her bag and lifted out the small earpiece.
“Just put it in your ear. It’s like an earbud you would use to listen to music. You might need to shift it around until it’s comfortable.” The teams wore custom-fitted earpieces. “Once you’ve got it where you want it, tap it twice, then test it out by whispering something.”
He turned to face away from her.
“Test test test.” Her whispered words came through his earpiece.
“Good. Can you hear me?” he asked, then turned back to her.
“Yes, I can.” She pulled her hair down to make sure it covered her ear.
“All right, you’re all set.” He framed her face with his hands. “You’ve got this, Sweets.”
“Damn right, I do.” She lifted her lanyard from around her neck and handed it to him. Then she went up on her tiptoes to kiss him and lowered herself back down. “Let’s do this.”
Watching her walk out that door was hard as hell, but he trusted her to follow through with the plan and get the information they needed to put these people away.You can do this. You have nothing to fear.Charlotte mentally pumped herself up on her way to the elevator. Was she nervous? Heck, yeah, she was. Was she willing to do whatever it took to save innocent kids? Most definitely.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Someonehadjustexitedthe elevator, and she hurried over to stop the doors just before they closed. She stepped inside and reached out to press the button for the tenth floor. Her hands were shaking, and her heart was pounding like a bass drum in her chest, but she was ready.
As ready as she would ever be, anyway.
Ding.Charlotte composed herself before the doors whispered open and stepped out of the elevator.
She pressed the button next to the glass door and waved at Kelly when she looked up from her desk.
Kelly was the executive assistant for one of the other board members. Her desk was on the left side of the room, near her boss’s office. Helene’s was on the opposite side of the room, in front of Pennington’s office.
Charlotte mouthed the words, “I forgot my badge,” and rolled her eyes.
Kelly smiled, held up one finger, then there was an obnoxiousbuzz.
Charlotte pushed the door open.Act natural.
“Sorry about that. I forgot my badge downstairs.”
