“This is not something either of them would lie about, no matter what the circumstances. Stop looking at me like you don’t believe me. I’m not as naive as you think.”
“I don’t think that. But the guy called the cops on us. Twice.”
“And let us get away.”
“I wouldn’t have rated his chances of stopping me. Alice, my instinct is not usually wrong.”
“Neither is mine. You don’t know him. You don’t know Kimberly.”
“It’s possible they’ve got to Kimberly too, talked her around, with his help. They’re very good at that. And even if this is all true, the Feds have gotta be tapping his phone and they’ll know where you’re headed. They’ll pick you up before you get anywhere near her.”
“Drop me at a bus stop, whatever, but I can’t not go.”
“I dunno, Alice, the timing…”
“Carter, this is me pulling the ripcord. You promised me.”
His expression closed in. “Okay, I’ll take you, if that’s what you want. But I’m coming in with you.”
“You’ll risk getting caught.”
“I know.”
“No. No way. I don’t want to be responsible for that. Like you said, you can’t clear your name if you’re locked up. ButIhave to take this risk. I couldn’t live with myself if… Look, I know that hospital as well as I know my own house. You can drop me off at the florist on the corner—there’s a shortcut from there that will take me in through the back of the building.”
“I’m not comfortable with this.”
“This is not about you—or me. The ripcord, Carter.”
Alice remained on edge for the entire trip to Montrose, tightly clutching her purse, and the air between her and Carterwas heavy with tension. He didn’t say another word to change her mind, but then, he barely said a word at all. She, meanwhile, was jamming her lips shut to keep herself from urging him to drive faster. It would be stupid to risk being stopped for speeding. By the time they pulled up near the florist, every strand of her hair felt like it was on guard—and she had a lot of strands of hair.
“Here, take this,” Carter said, pulling a gold band off his ring finger and handing it to her.
“What? No, I couldn’t. I?—”
“It’s not sentimental.”
“It’s your wedding ring.”
“It’s a tracking device. Automatically uploads its location to a secure app on my phone, and on Mom’s. And here. Cap, glasses, surgical mask. Keep your head down, and any facial recognition software will be useless. I’ll drive by again in exactly half an hour, just in case. If you’re not here…”
“Just keep driving.”
“I’d wait longer, but I need to get back and dig into the documents that are in Russian. If you’re not back by then, I’ll assume that either this is legit or…”
“Or they’ve got me. I understand.”
“Alice?” he said, when she didn’t move. “If you’re gonna go, you need to go now. We’re vulnerable here.”
“I’m not ready for this—to say goodbye to her. I’ve had all this time but I’m not ready.”
Carter unclipped his seatbelt and cradled Alice’s face in his hands, forcing her to look at him. “You will get through this. Take each moment as it comes.”
She nodded, blinking fast. As he released her, she kissed him hard, and he kissed her back like he meant it. That was the thing—every time he kissed her it felt like he meant it, like he wascommunicating something he couldn’t articulate. No one had kissed her like that before.
She left without another word, in case she went with her gut and said the wrong ones. It was only the situation that was making her want to cling to him, to secure promises neither of them was in a situation to give. She had helped him, which was what she’d set out to do. She’d gotten him to the kompromat and the list, helped him draw the link with Tania. He didn’t need her anymore. What they’d had… She could lock it away as a happy memory and revisit it whenever she liked.
She laid a hand on her stomach. It felt hollow and achy. And sure, she had a lot to be anxious about, but she was pretty sure that particular feeling was the beginnings of something you only got when you cared for a guy in a certain way. Something beyond a mere crush. She hadn’t come near that feeling in years. If it could spark with a stranger after a couple of days together, maybe there was hope for her. Maybe she wasn’t broken—well, not beyond repair. And where the hell would she find another man who made her feel like that—even just totestthe theory? Probably not by living the same life she’d always lived and doing the same things she’d always done.
