He starts rattling off enough letters and numbers to confuse a calculus teacher.
I turn back to my phone. So many calls but one is the most important and I don’t have the number.
Fuck me, I really need to download my contacts from the cloud.
I thank God for wifi on private jets. I google Homeland Security in Boston.
Bella
My head is about to hit the pillow when Ozzy’s phone finally vibrates.
Cole – Can’t talk, sweetness, and won’t be home when I thought. Fucking kills me to be away from you another night. I’ll call when I can. Love you.
I read the message again.
And then again.
Love you.
Kills me to be away from you.
I put my thumbs to the screen after I pull his pillow into my chest.
Me – Come home to me safely, Officer Carson. And I love you too.
I see bubbles and then nothing.
I know if he could talk, he would. And he knows I know.
Even so…
Being away from him was miserable. But now that I’ve admitted my feelings to him and to myself … being apart is excruciating.
I wonder how I managed.
Chapter 32
Stampede
Cole
The pilot worked his magic and got me to Burlington where I arranged a rental. I had no idea there was a car class below compact. It has so little kick in the pants I’m pretty sure I could’ve raced to the border faster on Red’s twenty-year-old self-propelled mower. Don’t even get me started on the leg room.
After a slew of phone calls, I finally got through to my buddy in Homeland Security. An hour later, Raji sent me his report—Nahas, Harb, and Crawley have made quite the trip around the world. From boats to barges to puddle jumpers. I guess you can travel with no paper trail. They must have paid a pretty penny because someone got them across Africa and through Europe, but Raji lost them in Ireland. That’s where his contact sniffed them out, but only after the barge had docked in Quebec City.
Now they’re headed straight for the Vermont border. And I doubt it’s to sample the maple syrup or cool off with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s.
My phone barely rings once before I have it to my ear. “Carson.”
“Dude, I’ve never driven across a state so fast in my life. Where are you?”
I met Jesse Sheen when I first got to Langley. Our cases overlapped and we became fast friends.
“I’m right where you told me to be, though it took me too fucking long to get here in this Flintstones car. You contacted our neighbor to the north?”
“They’ve got National Defense on it. I work with them all the time. They’re monitoring thermal imaging cameras, and I’ve got drones in the air. I should be close, you can hop in with me.”
In my next breath, the road behind me brightens when Jesse winks his headlights. I turn off my clown car and climb out, groaning as I stretch my tight muscles. It’s after four in the morning. If this shit doesn’t go down soon, we’ll lose the cover of darkness.
He greets me after I slam the passenger door. “You look like shit.”
“Fuck you very much. I just made a roundtrip to Switzerland in under thirty-six hours. All I’ve eaten are peanut butter crackers and trail mix. I fucking hate raisins but I choked those suckers down anyway. I’m starving and I could really use a shower. I did brush my teeth on the plane though—you’re welcome.”
“Thanks, but I don’t plan on kissing you.”
“What’s the plan?”
“Border Patrol is on notice and Canada is surveying every move on their side.” He backs out from our meeting place, about two blocks from the border. When he flips a U-turn, he looks at me. “If this doesn’t play out per your intel, I’m gonna have a lot of people to answer to. Now that we’re here, tell me why am I pretending you’re not part of this op.”
“It’s complicated.”
He throws the car in park. “Looks like we’ve got time.”
I look around the darkened space. “Where are we?”
Jesse points out the front window. “See the dead-end street and trees beyond? That’s the line. There’s another on their side. This is one of the most barren pieces of land in the state. People talk … word gets around.” He points to the top of an old electrical pole. “Cameras and heat sensors for both countries. We work together.”
Chatter comes over his portable radio and he turns it down a touch.