Page 41 of Laura's Truth
“Clever,” Drew muttered. “Give Hackett another point.”
The images and video accompanying the report were complete with flashing lights, technicians and uniforms, and crime scene tape. But the pictures weren’t of the hotel or even the ‘concerned friend’. No, the pictures were of techs picking apart her car and eventually towing it from the parking garage.
“They found my car,” she whispered. The food, so satisfying a few minutes ago, turned to boulders in her stomach. She knew it was the logical next step as they searched for her.
“You were registered under your real name,” he reminded her.
“And the hotel asked for make, model, and plate of my car.” This was just part of the investigative process. Consciously or not, she’d expected it. And she was innocent, damn it all, so she couldn’t wallow in self-pity over a situation well out of her control.
“Did you have anything in the car?”
“Not really. My purse, a camera, nothing more incriminating than a gym bag.”
“That’s something.”
Her hand flew to cover her mouth when the reporter mentioned reaching out to her boss in Ft. Bragg and getting no comment. “I have to tell him what’s going on.” An explanation might not save her job at this point, but aiding and abetting a dead man would definitely end her career.
Except she’d blown his plan and now felt responsible. That wasn’t logical and nowhere close to protocol, even if it meant a traitor avoiding justice. Whatever Drew had planned surely wasn’t legal and could easily have backfired. But someone needed to do something to stop Hackett and it seemed that Drew was the only one with the knowledge and will to take action.
“Hang on a minute. That’s not smart.” Drew took her hand in both of his, rubbing heat into her fingers that had gone ice cold. “Hackett will jump on that. I’m telling you, he’s counting on that. Your boss will try to trace it.”
“Protocol,” she agreed. “I can keep the call too short for that.”
“You could, but if the trace works, it gives Hackett a direction to focus his search for us.”
“So we just hide here and wait?” That gave her far too much idle time to watch her career crumble. Drew might’ve survived for years at the fringes of society, but while she’d done a few undercover operations, she knew she didn’t have the same fortitude. Not for the long term. Just being on the edge of that option alarmed her, and being in flight mode was making it hard to think.
“We plan,” he corrected. “We’ll go back to Charleston, protect Aziz, and take down Hackett. We’ll put an end to him before he does something we can’t fix.”
She seized on the tiny revelation. “You’ve not only been stalking Hackett and gathering evidence against him, you’ve been fixing the messes he’s made too.”
“Stalking isn’t the right word.”
“You’ve chosen an odd time to turn humble, Officer Garner.”
“The plan,” he reiterated. “Hackett’s controlling the board, using us as pawns. And while I’m all for taking tonight to regroup, we can’t let him keep that control.”
“You think he’ll go ahead with the assassination.” She slumped back against the cushions and stared at the ceiling, tuning out the nonsense on television. Today hadn’t gone anything like she’d expected, but it appeared she’d have plenty of free time to analyze where she’d gone wrong. Probably in a federal prison. “Doesn’t going back play right into his hands as well? Someone is bound to recognize me.”
“Not if we catch him red-handed first.”
He sounded so eager, so full of a confidence she didn’t share. She closed her eyes, doing her best to ignore the comfort he gave by cradling her hand. Being a person of interest in a double homicide was a low point she never would’ve imagined for herself.
Sitting up straight, she reluctantly pulled her hand free of his as she gave herself a mental pep talk. The wallowing had to stop. It never fixed anything. Whether her face was all over the news or not, she had skills and allies—even if Drew didn’t want to use them. “What safeguards did you take with the evidence against Hackett?”
Drew smiled, slow and sly. “Thought you’d never ask.” He muted the television and pulled his laptop over. “Let me show you.”
Chapter 8
Drew woke after a few short hours, his instincts cranked too high to sleep. They’d talked it through, going over each step of his initial plan for Hackett.
It all had to change now, and for good reason, but they’d argued over the details. Remembering, rehashing it now before the sun was up, Drew listened to Laura’s quiet, even breathing in the next room. He knew she was blaming herself for screwing up what could have worked so elegantly. He rolled off the couch, silently padding to the open door just to watch her sleep.
The woman got under his skin. He leaned against the door jamb, enjoying this view more than the magnificence of the ocean outside. It took more willpower than it should have to turn away and focus on preparing for the trouble on today’s agenda.
They were headed to Haleswood. Even now he couldn’t believe he’d given in, to hell with what she’d declared a necessity.
He’d be lucky if Ross didn’t shoot him at the town line. When he’d said as much to Laura, she’d smiled and assured him Ross lived just outside of Haleswood. What a relief, Drew thought, her dear friend Ross wouldn’t be ticketed for firing a gun within city limits.