“I’ll only need it for a few hours.”
She turned to the other woman with disbelief. “And you think I’m going to authorize that?”
“No, I am.” There was no hesitation from Caroline, silencing any further protest. “A clean vehicle,” she said, like she was checking it off my list. “What else?”
“Everything Bill was working on, on my desk,” I said. “I’ll be in the office by midnight.”
Right after I put the woman I loved on my brother’s plane.
I’d have to deal with my feelings about that later. The door opened and Laurel reappeared, dressed in the clothes from this morning, with her suitcase beside her.
Caroline gave her a plain look. “You aware of this plan he’s got?”
Laurel’s face gave nothing away. “Yes.”
She sighed and extended a hand. “All right. Good luck to you both, and stay safe.”
“Thank you. You too.” Laurel took the offered handshake before turning her focus to me.
Anger rolled off Beth in waves as she called for the car and led us to the back exit of the theater. I understood her frustration. In her mind, this plan was reckless and dangerous. It was why I tried to ignore her furious glare as she asked her agents to hand over the keys.
Her tone was sharp and colder than the winter air surrounding us. “I don’t know what you said to her, Dunn, but you’re going to get that girl killed.”
Her words parked a boulder on my chest, making it difficult to think, difficult to move. When I offered no response, she ripped her gaze away and followed her agents back inside. I didn’t breathe again until she’d disappeared into the theater.
But I forced myself to block it out and focus on the task before me.
The Ford Explorer was black and unassuming, and I had Laurel wait inside the building with the marshal manning the door while I put her suitcase in the back. Then I opened the door to the back seat and waved her over. She darted across the alley and into the SUV, keeping her head down as I’d instructed.
“Stay down until we’re out of the city,” I said once I was seated behind the wheel.
The car ride was tense and quiet for the first few minutes. When we crossed the river, I called Shawn and got the hangar number. Then I set my phone on the dashboard, and the weight of what was about to happen slammed into me.
Gone, but safe. This was what I wanted, I kept telling myself. I had to put her life above anything else.
“Shawn’s twenty minutes ahead of us,” I said.
“How long until we get there?”
“Thirty, maybe forty-five minutes.” That was how much time we had left together.
“What if I changed my mind?” she asked. “What if I want to stay?”
I exhaled slowly. “I know you want to, but you can’t. I need you to be safe.” I strove for a light tone, even when I felt none of it. “And you promised.”
Her voice was quiet. “I thought he’d come.”
I had, too. There was both relief and a feeling of dread about the fact he hadn’t. My gaze darted to the rearview mirror to check for a tail, but none of the cars behind us looked familiar.
“Will we be able to talk once I’m gone?” She sounded fearful of my answer.
“Yes. I worked it out with Shawn. He knows what needs to be done to make that possible. You two have a long flight where he can go over it.”
Mostly because I wasn’t sure I could keep talking. We lapsed into silence with so much to say. It was the car ride to the helicopter all over again, but much, much worse.
The orange lights of the city faded behind us when we curved onto the Stevenson Expressway.
“It’s safe to sit up now,” I said.
