His phone rang. Harris. A lump in his throat, he answered it.
“Thought you might want an update on Zamora,” she said. “He’s in the wind. I’ve got Warren watching the guy’s house, but if word gets out that we’re looking for him, he’s not about to come home.”
Mack’s spirits fell even lower. “Addy’s undergoing hypnosis right now at the medical center. After I escort her back to the safe house, I’ll meet with the team, and we’ll come up with a plan to fish Zamora out.”
“I have other agents beating the bushes,” she said. “Don’t do anything without consulting me first.”
Mack didn’t want to hold off on anything. And he wouldn’t. Not with their deadline fast approaching, but in the spirit of cooperation he could at least let her know what was going on.
“Keep me updated, and I’ll do the same,” he said and ended the call.
He shoved his phone into his pocket and thought ahead to the transport. Most people would think he would reverse their arrival procedure, but when transporting a high-value target, you could never know if you’d been made known on arrival, and it wasn’t prudent to take the same route back. He’d arranged to borrow a medical-transport van, which was this very moment idling at the curb out front with Sean behind the wheel and Kiley riding shotgun. Addy would be exposed in the twenty feet or so between the hospital and van, but then she would be exposed in any transport arrangement.
The office door opened, and he breathed deeply to prepare himself for whatever Addy had remembered.
“Thank you,” he heard her say. “I’ll see you then.”
Then? She was coming back. Did that mean she didn’t remember?
Mack shoved his hands into his pockets.Not safe.He jerked them out to keep them free for her protection. Still jittery, he kept his eyes on the hallway. Not only to assess the risk, but he didn’t want to see the disappointment in her expression.
Even so, in his peripheral vision, he saw her step out.
“Ready to go?” she asked.
Right.She didn’t even want to talk about her session.
“There’s a restroom at the end of the hall where you can put your wig on.” He tapped the mic on his comms unit. “We’re ready to leave. Both in position?”
“Roger that,” Sean said, and Kiley echoed his reply.
Mack also needed to make sure the officers he’d arranged via local law enforcement were in place. “And the officers at the door?”
“In position,” Kiley said.
“Have them clear the area. I don’t want any vulnerable patients in the loading zone. We’re stopping in the bathroom so Addy can put on her wig. Let me know when the area is clear and you’ve made your final assessment.”
“Roger that.” Sean sounded confident, and Mack trusted him one hundred percent.
Mack set off, making sure Addy was right behind him. At the end of the hallway he held up his hand and stepped out to assess. The elevator area was empty.
He signaled for her to follow, and he moved on to the bathrooms. “Stay here. I need to check it out.”
“Okay,” she said.
He pounded on the women’s restroom door. “Officer coming in.” He pushed it open and squatted to confirm the smallbathroom was empty. He stood back and let Addy go in. He didn’t make eye contact. What was the point? If she’d remembered him, she would’ve said so by now, and he couldn’t take seeing the confirmation that he was still a stranger to her in every way that counted.
He let the door close and waited, his brain firing on all circuits and blurring his thoughts. Not good. He shook his head. Blinked his eyes. Swallowed hard. All to pin his concentration to where it needed to be—on protecting Addy. He eyed everyone who stepped into the area and sighed in relief when they departed on the elevators.
She opened the door.
He held up his hand. “This is a good place to wait for the all-clear.” He kept his back to her and tapped his foot.
“You’re good to go,” Sean reported.
“Roger that. On our way.” He released his mic. “Stay by my side. We move straight through the lobby and into the van. No stopping for any reason. Got it?”
“Mack?” she asked. “Why won’t you look at me?”
