“No. I’ll fly to Newark, and you fly to Key West.”
“Oh, well then in that case, my answer’s different.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, it’s abso-fucking-lutely no.”
“Lach—”
“No way am I sending you straight into danger like that.”
“But Mal and I are friends,” she pleaded. “If he sees you in Newark, he’ll feel threatened and might even lash out. If it’s just lil’ ol’ me, maybe I can at least surprise him into listening to me.” Her eyes watered. “I could tell him that Annalie is safe, that he doesn’t have to ki…doesn’t have to go after Gina.Ifthat’s what’s happening.” She looked down at her lap as she blinked rapidly. “I still want to believe that he’s going after her to protect her. A double-agent kinda like Walker, right? He couldn’t seriously be after her. And if he is, it would only be to protect Annalie. But he knows we’ll keep Annalie safe?—”
“Elissa!”
“What?” she snapped, looking back up at him. The pain in her eyes gutted him. He softened his approach and could practically hear Camden clapping and sayinghearts and minds.
“I’m sorry. I know you and Mal are tight.”
“He saved my life.”
Lach nodded slowly. “I know, and that makes all of this harder for you. You’ve got two friends who are lost and at odds.”
Elissa snorted and then wiped her face. “Yeah, that’s one way to put it. Look, you can’t be two places at once and we don’t have time to get someone else out here. Do you know anyone in Key West who could spot her at the airport? Well, as if anyone could spot Spooky when she wants to be invisible.”
“No.”No way.
“Then let me go. If you insist on Newark, then you go there and I’ll take Key West. Let me re-emphasize; we do not have time. Too late to catch her in Denver, but the next plane boards here for Key West in twenty minutes and lands right before hers does. I could stand right there at the gate and throw a lei around her neck if I wanted to.”
“Fuck. Okay, fine. I’ll call and tell Nash he’s in charge until we get back.”
Elissa grinned. “Thanks, Boss.” She was already half out of the SUV before Lach could stop her or even get halfway around and open her door for her. “Oh, and tell him I left the SUV in short-term parking. Someone’s going to have to pick it up and at least move it to long-term. I also want to know how Annalie’s doing and which safehouse they’re going to so I can monitor it directly. And…why are you smiling like that?”
“Don’t think you have what it takes to be in charge, eh?”
“Not now. We have planes to catch.” Her glower didn’t match the smile she was fighting.
When they parted ways after security—expedited thanks to another possibly illegal app—Elissa gave Lach a quick hug.
“Don’t worry, Boss. I’ll find her, and when I do, I’m going to askherabout Key West.”
“Almost don’t want you to find her now.”
Elissa started sprinting backwards. “I won’t ask on the condition that you find Mal and talk some sense into the big dum-dum for me.”
“Aye-aye, captain.”
“Oh,stop!” Then she turned and shot away toward her gate.
SEVENTEEN
Gina, present day
By the time the plane began to descend into Newark, Gina had it figured out. She knew why her mind had sent her back to those days just before she was recruited into The Repair Shop. It was a working theory, but it seemed pretty sound. Fia had given Elissa the first clue in Hawaii.
Tell Gina her ex is alive.
Now she needed to find someplace safe to hide and to think, to catch her breath, plan, and put things into motion. And time. She needed time. She’d been played for a fool for the past five years thinking she’d been doing the right thing, both for her country and in honor of Jeremy’s memory.
