Jennifer poked at the screen in the seat back in front of him. “This one’s a good movie.”
“I’ve seen it.”
“How’d you manage to see it? It just came out last year.”
“In between getting poked and prodded at the debriefing center, I kept busy watching movies, especially at the beginning when I was having headaches and couldn’t read or concentrate on anything for long periods of time.”
He sucked in his lower lip as he studied the title on the screen.
“Are you remembering something?”
He scratched his beard. “Voices. Those early days I was still pretty drugged up, zoning in front of the TV. The doctors would talk about me as if I weren’t in the room, or at least in the next room, and I guess they knew what they were doing because I don’t remember what they were saying—only that they were talking about me.”
“That’s the kind of thing you could recall, Miguel. It’s just reaching back to those memories.”
“I don’t know what I would discover if I could remember. It’s not likely they were saying anything important in front of me.”
“You never know. They thought you were out of it.” Jennifer leaned across his tray table and tapped his screen. “Let’s watch it anyway—together.”
Miguel flipped up the arm between their seats and pulled Jennifer’s hand into his lap. “Anything is better with you, Jen.”
He nuzzled her ear. “Have I even told you how much I love you? Maybe this break from everything at thirty-five thousand feet is just what we need. Let’s snuggle up and watch the movie.”
“Sounds like heaven.” She picked up his earbuds and stuffed one in his ear, while she took the other.
As they flew across the country, anonymous Mr. and Mrs. Tedesco watched two movies, ate their sandwiches and even had a couple of beers. By the time they arrived in Washington, DC, Miguel felt like nothing had changed between him and Jennifer—but it had. A boy waited for them in California, and Miguel planned to do whatever it took to get that boy’s parents back to him.
They made their way through the airport and collected their suitcases from baggage claim without incident. Their new ID’s hadn’t flagged anything. Lena was a pro.
The muggy air closed in on Miguel as he stepped outside and dragged their bags toward their rental car.
“Whew, feels like Texas.” Jen clasped her hair in a ponytail and fanned the back of her neck. “I guess we missed the nice spring season of cherry blossoms.”
“I was here during that season, too, only I didn’t see many cherry blossoms.”
She stuck her hand in his back pocket. “We’re going to have to come back here after...everything.”
They navigated through traffic to their hotel, and Lena’s fake documents got them checked in without one raised eyebrow.
Miguel stood by the window, looking out onto the busy street. “First I need to secure a weapon and more cash. Roberto is helping me with that, too.”
“Have you figured out a plan yet?”
“I have to lure out the mole and the best way to do that is by offering myself as bait.”
Jennifer pulled out her laptop and tossed it onto the bed. “We went through all that trouble—even cutting my hair—so you can let them know you’re in DC?”
“It’s gonna be a game of cat and mouse, Jen. I have to trip him up, make him show his true colors.”
“While you figure that out, I’m going to check in with Gabby.” She sat cross-legged on the bed and opened her laptop. “Do you want to say hi to Mikey?”
“Of course.” He joined her on the bed while she accessed the videoconferencing app.
Minutes later they were waving at Mikey’s smiling face.
Gabby reappeared, eating an apple. “Glad you got there safely. I’ll tell Roberto. He had an emergency meeting. He said he gave you some instructions, Miguel.”
“I’m all set. Don’t worry about us. Just take care of Mikey.”
“Like he is one of my own.”
Jennifer ended the session and then fell back against a stack of pillows. “He seems fine, doesn’t he?”
“He does.” He tickled the back of her knee. “Let’s go out and get some dinner.”
“Do you think it’s safe?”
“We’re in disguise, and it’s not like I’m going to come face-to-face with someone from the center, or the navy for that matter. Even if I do, it’ll be a good test.”
“Josh indicated you’re a wanted man. Do you think that put you on an FBI watch list or something?”
“Maybe if Miguel Estrada or even Raymond Garcia tried to get on a plane or book a hotel room there would be a problem, but Miguel and Ray are not going to do that, are they?”
“I guess I don’t know what to expect, and that makes me nervous.”
“Then let’s have some dinner and talk it over.”
Miguel picked a crowded, popular restaurant in Georgetown to put Jennifer at ease, but it had the opposite effect.
She glanced over her shoulder for the third time since they’d taken their seats, and then almost knocked over her water glass as she reached for it.
“It’s okay, Jen.” He threaded his fingers through hers. “The little men in the white coats are not going to come in here and drag me away.”
“Yeah, they might just wait until we’ve eaten.”
“Are you sure you don’t want a glass of wine?”
She tapped his glass of iced tea. “I see you’re not drinking, probably because you want a clear head. So do I.”
“You don’t need a clear head. You need a relaxed mind.”
“I’d be more relaxed if we’d gone to a little quiet, dark place.”
“We can’t skulk around in the shadows. We have work to do here.” He scanned the room through the clear lenses of his glasses. “Besides, I don’t recognize one person here, except a senator over in the corner.”
Jennifer snatched her hand back from his and covered her mouth. “You’re kidding.”
“He’s not dangerous—at least not that I’ve heard.”
She spoke through parted fingers. “Will he know about you?”
“I doubt it. I don’t believe he’s on any defense committees. My so-called defection isn’t even going to be on his radar.”
“Defection.” She crossed her arms and hunched her shoulders. “That sounds so...serious.”
“It is serious, if it were the truth.”
The waiter delivered their food, and Miguel pointed his fork at Jen’s plate. “Eat. I’m expecting a delivery at the hotel from one of Roberto’s associates.”
“I’m not even going to ask.” She peeled back the shell on her crab and stuffed a piece in her mouth.
“You look totally content right now with your mouth full and a little dribble of butter at the corner of your lips.” He reached forward and dabbed her mouth with his napkin. “I want to remember you just like this.”
“Really?” She took a swallow of water from her glass and pressed her own napkin to her lips. “Believe me, I clean up a lot better than this.”
“I know.”
Miguel stopped in midchuckle and gripped the end of the table.
Jennifer hunched forward. “What’s wrong?”
“You know how I assured you that nobody from the debriefing center would be in this particular restaurant? I underestimated the power of coincidence or fate or just bad luck.”
“Who is it? Did he see you?” She kept her head still, her neck stiff.
“She, and she didn’t see me, or if she did, she didn’t recognize me.” Miguel adjusted the glasses on his face just to make sure. “She’s a nurse, low-level. Her name’s Maggie.”
“Even if she’s low-level, a way to make herself high-l
evel would be to turn in the traitor. We should leave.”
“She didn’t notice me.”
“How do you know? Maybe she’s on her cell phone right now reporting you.”
“Nope.” He swept a fork through his mashed potatoes. “I can see her from here. She’s on a date.”
“So, she’s not even thinking about you.” Jennifer shoved her plate away. “I’m too nervous to eat now.”
“We’re fine, Jen. You know, I have a feeling even if she did recognize me, she wouldn’t be running to tell anyone.”
“And you know that, how?”
“Not everyone at the debriefing center was evil. I think one or two people were calling the shots and everyone else was under some false impressions about what I was doing there.”
“Do you believe you can actually get some help from somebody there? Is that what you’re thinking?”
Miguel took off his glasses and wiped the lenses on the edge of the tablecloth. “It’s a thought.”
After they both refused coffee and dessert, the waiter dropped off their check.
Miguel pulled some cash out of his wallet and tucked it on the tray. “Now you’re going to earn your spot on this team and make contact.”
Jennifer’s mouth formed an O, which matched her round eyes. “Make contact with...?”
“Maggie.”
Chapter Thirteen
“Are you nuts?” She spit out the words between clenched teeth. “The only contact I’d like to make with Maggie is my fist to her nose.”
“Fierce.” Miguel clamped the money against the tray and held it out to the approaching waiter. “It’s all there, thanks.”
“You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“We may need someone on the inside and seeing Maggie here tonight is a sign. She was sympathetic.”
“What am I supposed to do? Where will you be?” Jen folded her hands in front of her on the table like one of her own eager students. She wanted more than anything to help Miguel and stuffed down the fear she didn’t want him to see. Fierce. That’s what she was.
“I’m going to the men’s room, and you’ll head out of the restaurant. You’ll bump her table, apologize and then say you recognize her from somewhere, maybe nursing school because you’re a nurse, too.”
“I don’t know anything about nursing. I don’t want to be put on the spot or caught in a lie.” She squeezed her hands together even tighter.
Miguel must’ve noticed the death grip she had on herself because he smoothed the pad of his thumb across the back of her hand.
“You dug a GPS out of me and then did a pretty good job of bandaging me up. She’s not going to start quizzing you. Turns out you two didn’t go to nursing school together, but you know her from somewhere. Keep it light. Just make contact.”
“I can do that.” She chewed on her bottom lip. “Do you think Maggie ever saw my picture?”
“Absolutely not. Those files were not part of my medical records.” He pushed back from the table. “Are you ready?”
“It’s now or never.” She wiped her palms on her skirt and waited until Miguel disappeared beyond the bar.
Taking a shaky breath, she stood up and hitched her purse over her shoulder. She held her cell phone in her hand and stared down at it as she passed Maggie’s table. She twisted slightly to the right, and her purse hit the side of Maggie’s table knocking the empty bread basket to the floor.
“I am so sorry.” Jennifer bent over and swept up the basket from the floor as Maggie and her date assured her that it was empty anyway.
As Jennifer rose and placed the basket on the corner of the table, she widened her eyes. “I know you.”
Maggie’s dark eyebrows formed a V over her nose. “You do? I’m sorry. I don’t recognize you.”
That statement gave Jennifer a little more courage, and she snapped her fingers. “I never forget faces. Names on the other hand... Nursing school? Were you in my class at the University of Virginia?”
Maggie’s frown deepened. “No. I didn’t go to Virginia, but I am a nurse. Maybe we attended some conferences together? Where do you work now?”
“Oh, I’m currently unemployed. You?”
“I—I’m at a government facility.” Maggie picked up her fork. “Small world though.”
“Isn’t it?” Jennifer’s smile took in Maggie’s date, who nodded impatiently. “I’m sorry about the bread basket and sorry for interrupting your dinner. Have a nice evening.”
Jennifer glanced over her shoulder, but either Miguel hadn’t made it out of the bathroom yet, or he’d sneaked past her already.
With a slight wobble to her knees, Jennifer walked to the front of the restaurant and staggered outside. She continued a few more steps and then braced her hand against the wall of the brick building, the rough texture against her fingertips bringing her back to a sense of reality.
“How’d it go?”
She jumped at Miguel’s words. Then he took her arm and walked her down another block past the restaurant.
“Congratulations. You made contact.”
“I got through it and she didn’t have me arrested, although her companion looked like he wouldn’t have minded. Now what?”
“Nothing yet. It’s just a seed planted.”
“Did she notice you or look at you when you walked past her table?”
“I didn’t give her a chance. I went out through the bar.”
She grabbed onto his hand with both of hers. “Now that the panic has subsided, I feel strangely exhilarated.”
“You may feel high enough to walk through Georgetown back to our hotel, but it’s been a long day and I’m beat.”
“And you still have to meet Roberto’s guy.”
“Roberto’s guy is making a delivery to our hotel—top-notch service.”
Jennifer babbled in the taxi back to the hotel nonstop—partly riding the adrenaline rush of her interaction with Maggie and partly from the nervousness of being in a hotel room alone with Miguel.
Unlike Miguel, she didn’t fear that he’d lose control and strangle her in the middle of sex, but she did fear his rejection of her. She wanted him now more than ever. They didn’t have Mikey with them to interrupt. They didn’t have Miguel’s family members around and their attendant household staff and security guards.
This situation presented the perfect opportunity for them to reconnect as lovers. She needed the warmth and the strength from his body...and he needed the reassurance that he wasn’t some damaged, brainwashed soldier prone to violence.
When they reached their hotel room, Miguel took off his glasses and scratched at his beard for the hundredth time. “I’ll be happy to shave this thing off.”
Settling her hands on her hips, she tilted her head. “I kinda like the beard and I definitely like the longer hair. I’ve never been able to run my fingers through your hair before.”
“You’ve never been able to pull it before either, so that’s a plus.”
“That depends on why I’m pulling it.” She fluttered her lashes. “Who knows? You might like it.”
Someone tapped on the door and Miguel put a finger to his lips. Placing one hand against the door, he leaned in to peer through the peephole. “It’s Roberto’s guy.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.” Miguel opened the door and propped it open with his foot as he accepted the box from the man.
They didn’t even exchange one word. Miguel removed his foot and let the door slam on the man’s back, as he was already on his way. He placed the box on the table by the window and whipped out the same knife she’d used to gouge his flesh.
She crossed the room and hovered over his shoulder. “Do you know what’s in it?”
“I know there’s an untraceable gun
and bullets in there.” He used the blade to slice through the tape across the seams of the box and flipped back the cardboard.
“Ah, this is a little beauty. Leave it to Rob.”
Miguel lifted a gun from where it nestled in the box and caressed it like she wished he’d touch her.
“Nothing beautiful about it. Looks like a gun to me.”
He glanced up from his admiration of the piece. “Guess it’s not your thing. What else is in there?”
She clawed through the shredded paper and pulled out two boxes of bullets. “Bullets for your new friend. And a couple of cell phones.”
“In case we have to dump ours.” The gun clicked as he began to load it. “Anything else?”
“Oh, my God.” Her fingers traced the edges of stacks of bills. “There’s a whole bunch of money in here, too. Didn’t Roberto give you some cash when we left?”
Miguel plunged his hand into the box and withdrew a bundle of bills. “I got the impression from Roberto that you can never have enough money in his line of work. I guess he figures my line of work right now is no different.”
“Now we have something to put in that hotel safe.” She plucked stack after stack of cash from the box and lined up each one on the table. “How long does Roberto think we’re going to be on the run?”
“It’s insurance.” Miguel clicked the gun and set it next to the money. “Just like this.”
“Now that we have all this so-called insurance, what is our first step tomorrow?”
“I’m going to work on sending some false information out there and see who bites.”
“And me?” She patted the cash. “I can try to spend some of this so Roberto isn’t disappointed.”
“You’re going to show up at the center.”
“What?” She stopped playing with the money. “How am I going to do that?”
“Not sure yet, but Josh promised me some help on the inside. I’m not alone in this, Jen.”
“I know you’re not.” She wedged her hands on the table, hunched forward and kissed him on the corner of his mouth just visible above his beard. “You have me.”
“Let’s get this stuff in the safe.”
Point Blank SEAL Page 14