Page 71 of Eva's Shelter
He nodded. “It fits.”
She played it out in her head. “How would Bakr have convinced anyone in the FBI to cooperate?”
“Does it matter?”
“No. It just makes me sad. Americans aren’t supposed to be traitors.”
He reached out and covered her hand with his. “Isn’t that the black and white thinking you claim not to indulge?”
“No fair turning my words back on me.”
“I could be wrong.”
She shook her head and pushed back from the table to pace in front of the window. “You’re right. It fits. I might even know who it is.”
“Nichols.”
She spun back to face him. “Now that’s creepy. It’s like you’re in my head. Why do you think that?”
“Who better to get him into the country than an FBI agent? Nichols isn’t a regular in town, but people know his face because he showed up here when Allie was attacked.”
“Maybe I just want to think badly of him. He’s so damned arrogant.”
“It’s just a theory.”
She clutched the pendant again. “Ross and I handed Abe right over to him.” Dropping her head against the window, she swore softly. “Stupido!”
“Pretty sure I know what that means and I’m not buying it.”
She let Carson turn her around, let herself wallow and lean a little. “How do we get him? Get them both?”
“For now, we sit tight. You try to recall what Bakr wants to know. When the sheriff gets here we can finalize plans.”
“When did you tell the sheriff we were coming here? When did you know?”
“Yesterday? The day before? It runs together.” Carson shook his head. “I didn’t really tell him though. Knowing we might need a fallback location, I left him a message. When he figures out I wasn’t just being stupid, he’ll show up.”
“Clever, aren’t you?”
“I have my moments.” He nuzzled her neck.
She slid her hands over his shoulders, down his biceps. “You certainly do.”
Kissing him, she let go of the worries of the case. “I might not know what to do with myself, all disconnected from the world like this.”
He boosted her up and she wrapped her legs round his waist. “Good thing I’m feeling another moment coming on.”
“A girl could get used to this.” She laughed as he carried her out of the kitchen toward the bunk rooms. A bed would be a nice change of pace.
Hours later, she came out of the nightmare like she’d been shot from a cannon. One minute lost in the hell of the failed mission, the next in absolute quiet of the cabin.
“Shhh,” Carson murmured. “You’re safe.”
His voice was a touchstone in the dark and his long body a comfort stretched out beside her.
“You finally remembered?”
“Yes.” Her breath shuddered in and out of her lungs. “Yes,” she said with more confidence. It explained why the sniper took a shot at Bart, kidnapped Matheson. In an effort to save Abe’s son, Bart had been with him, had heard his final words. So had the rest of the team. But none of them had understood.