“I somehow doubt that,” Leo said. His jaw tightened.
The man laughed. “Oh, of course. You probably think I had something to do with it. I assure you, I didn’t. Though it does make me wonder who your enemies are.”
Leo matched the man’s energy and confidence. “I’m one of the good guys.”
That made Navi laugh. “Right.” He looked above Leo’s head. “I missed the halo. But I see it now.”
“Is there a point to this conversation?” Fitz asked.
Navi looked down at her, didn’t comment, then back to Leo.
The dismissal rippled through both of them.
“Be careful out there,” Navi advised as he turned to walk away. But before making it two feet he looked back. “How’s the woman doing?”
“The woman?” Leo played dumb while the hair on the back of his neck stood on end.
“The woman who was shot? The paper didn’t disclose her name. I imagine with the good guy standing right there, she fared well.”
“She’s fine.”
He nodded. “Good. I hate to see innocent people getting hurt.”
Navi started to turn away.
“Plan on staying in town for long?” Leo asked.
“This is a filthy city. Never did see what my cousin saw in it. Can’t trust the women.” He motioned toward the door Marie had disappeared behind. “Can’t walk the streets. Can’t have a quiet meal without someone harassing you.”
Leo didn’t comment. Once Navi broke eye contact, Leo watched him walk out of the room flanked by his goons.
“That guy’s a prick,” Fitz muttered.
“Any of that sound like a threat to you?” He stood a little taller, felt some of the tension ease from his shoulders.
She shook her head. “Nor a confession.”
“That doesn’t mean it wasn’t both.”
Fitz stretched her neck from one side to the other. “Let’s get out of here.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
The drop ceiling tiles of the hallway were broken up by long fluorescent lights in various stages of function.
Olivia had a vague memory of being wheeled down this path before. A hospital staff member pushed the gurney while Rick, a bodyguard, walked alongside them.
She felt like an observer. One with limited space in her brain to carry any information she’d been given.
“So you get paid to sit in a chair?” the staff member asked Rick as they waited for an elevator to open.
“You could say that.”
The door dinged, and once again Olivia was in motion.
Each bump shot pain up her side and had her closing her eyes to try and manage the discomfort. She’d started saying no to the pain medications in an effort to recognize herself in the mirror.
When someone wanted to join them on the short ride down to radiology, Rick lifted his hand. “Mind taking the next one?” he asked.
Without question, the person waiting backed up as the doors closed.
“Do people always listen to you?” Olivia asked.
“Not my wife,” he said with a smile.
“Good to know.”
The lower levels of the hospital were a series of catacombs and relatively deserted.
The hospital employee parked the gurney outside a closed radiology door and disappeared inside, leaving Rick and Olivia alone.
Rick stood taller as a man walked toward them.
“By any chance do you know which way I need to go to find the cafeteria?” the stranger asked Rick and glanced around him to Olivia.
She blinked a few times.
Rick positioned himself in front of her and pointed in the direction they’d just come. “There is a map by the elevators just around the corner,” he told him.
The tall stranger looked at Rick briefly, then at her again. “Thanks.”
Olivia tried to smile, despite the pounding in her head.
As the man walked away, Rick moved to keep himself between her and the stranger.
“He didn’t look like he wanted to hurt me,” she offered.
“The more innocent they look, the more dangerous they are,” Rick said.
Olivia started to comment, but the hospital employee opened the door to the CAT scan room and moved her inside.
“What do we have?” Neil sat in his hotel room, Sasha at his side. Isaac and Lars were on point monitoring Marie Nickerson’s transfer. Once the woman was in the air, her whereabouts were between her and the federal marshals involved in hiding her in plain sight. Neil had to trust the witness protection program, even if it cut at him to do so.
Rick and AJ, two other members of his team, were assigned to Olivia.
Cooper, Claire, and Jax were back in LA doing the legwork.
Or hacking, as it stood.
The hotel suite had duffel bags tossed on the floor and three computers set up on a conference table.