“My contact told me it’s illegal in the U.S. You can’t get it here.”
“Wherecanyou get it?” Jules asked sharply. But of course, Harrison had jotted down the answer to that question, too. It was right there on the paper, so he read it out loud along with the teacher’s words. “Europe. Mexico.”
Mexico...
“Our list of suspects just got a whole lot shorter.” Jules stood up. He hadn’t finished either of his two half-sandwiches but as good as that ham-and-cheese was, his lunch was over. “Thank you so much,” he told Harrison, jamming the page with the notes about the drug into his pack. “I gotta go and...”
“Talk to your team,” Harrison finished for him. “Understood.” He motioned to the food that Jules had left behind. “I’ll clean this up.”
“Seriously, sir. Thank you,” Jules said.
“Find him,” Harrison said, raising his voice as Jules shouldered his pack and beelined for the door. “But don’t you fucking get hurt,” adding, no doubt for anyone who might’ve overheard, “And don’t sayfuckin school.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Present Day
Palm Springs, California
Mission Day Three
Emily was opting out of their previously planned morning visit to the hotel’s gym.
Mick pulled on his running shorts and yesterday’s T-shirt, then sat on the edge of the bed as he tied the laces of his running shoes.
They’d been out late last night, and she was burrowed in deep beneath the high thread-count sheets and the crisp, white duvet, her dark hair spread across her pillow as she peeked up at Mick. “I don’t know how you wake up so early without coffee,” she mumbled.
“I’ve just always been a morning person,” he said. Or at least he had been since getting sober—sincebecoming Mick.
“You really are, aren’t you?” She pulled the blanket over her head. “This might be a relationship deal-breaker.” But then, almost immediately, she re-emerged. “I’m kidding. I’ll go with you if you want me to.”
“Nope,” he said, kissing her. “And likewise, I’ll stay ifyouwant, but... I’d really love to get in a workout. Blow off some steam. The pool days are nice, but... I’m gonna go for a run.”
Emily sat up. “I didn’t know you were a runner.”
“Yeah,” Mick admitted. “There’s a... freedom to it that... Well, I started in my early twenties and just... I love being outside and just... going. No fences, no boundaries.” He kissed her again. “I’ll bring you back one of those giant tubs of coffee that you like to swim in.”
“Bless you,” she said, “but, you know...” She whispered her last words. “Be careful.”
As in... don’t get hit by a car.
Ohshit,he’d never even once thought about...
“You know what,” Mick said, “I think Iamjust gonna go to the gym today.”
“No! I didn’t mean for younotto...” Emily closed her eyes. “I’m so sorry. Look, it’s light out. You’re careful?—”
“No, Em?—”
She cut him off. “Youjusttold me this is something you love to do. If you have to start making crazy, irrational sacrifices to be in a relationship with me?—”
“It’s really okay.”
“No, it’s not!”
“Yeah, it is,” Mick said. “There’s like forty million things I love as much as running. Let’s go for a walk later. That’ll be just as good. Better, because I’ll be with you and we can hold hands. Meantime, I’ll hit the gym while you sleep more.”
But he could tell, just from looking at her that she wasn’t going back to sleep—not this morning at least.
