He reached out to take his badge back.
“Nothing, Lee Benson. It’s just you are so clean-shaven and young in your badge photo. How long ago was that taken?”
“I’m pretty sure we’re the same age.” He grabbed the badge back but couldn’t help but mirror her smile. He rubbed his jaw. “I like to grow a beard before meetings like we’re about to do. Making me seem older can be a good thing.” He hadn’t crossed thirty-five yet, but he couldn’t deny he felt his aging accelerate over the past few years of high stress.
A knock at the door prompted Audrey’s wide eyes. Lee rushed forward into her room and peeked through the hole to see a bellhop with rolling luggage. He exhaled. “I think your missing luggage is here.”
He stepped aside for Audrey to retrieve it. She closed the door and beamed. “Oh, I’m so glad. I worried it’d arrive after we left.”
“You won’t be able to take it with us. I’ll have to leave it in a bus station locker along with the FBI badges and anything identifying you as Audrey Clark. You don’t have any medication or anything, do you?”
She blushed. “No, nothing like that. It’s just I would prefer my own clothes for some of the time.”
“Of course. Just nothing with your name on it.” He tried not to laugh as he turned back to his own room to get ready. To be fair, he wouldn’t want to wear his brother’s clothes all the time, either.
Fourteen minutes and thirty seconds later he grabbed his gear. Today was the day he’d fulfill the reason he became an FBI agent in the first place. Energy coursed through his veins at the thought of taking down the Network. He strode with Audrey through the hallway.
“What if the gunman from last night was wanting to lure us out? Watching and waiting for us to get into the van?”
Thankfully, he’d already taken precautions before the gunman entered the picture. They stepped into the elevator as he pressed the button for the lobby. “Then we’ll be one step ahead of him. While you were getting your blood drawn at the hospital, I arranged for a rental car to be delivered at the hotel this morning. We should have a silver Lexus waiting underneath the portico. Mr. and Mrs. Kimmet would never be caught dead arriving in a van.”
“See? That’s exactly why I said I wouldn’t do this unless you shared all the details.”
Lee tried to keep his frustration from showing. “I wasn’t trying to keep anything from you. When have we had any time to discuss anything?” He wasn’t used to sharing details, even with Kendra. They may have been partners, but in many ways they did their own thing, like two coworkers with their own priorities on a project.
“I understand that, but I’d like to be let in on the plan from here on out so I don’t feel like I’m playing the part of a poor, helpless spy.”
“Again, special agent, not spy.” Lee doubted anyone would categorize Audrey as helpless. He caught his reflection in the elevator doors and immediately remedied his grin.
“Will your operation involve any secret collecting, any gathering of information covertly?”
In other words, she wanted to know if there would be any spying. She had him there, but he wasn’t about to admit it. “I’ll tell you everything, as promised, in the car. I’m afraid we have a long journey ahead so breakfast will be drive-through.”
“Any word on Kendra?” She asked so softly he almost didn’t hear her.
His back tensed. “I’m afraid not.” Her head dipped and he reached out to give her arm a squeeze. “She’s a fighter. She’s going to come through.”
Audrey squared her shoulders and looked forward. “Of course.”
It was the first time he questioned whether she meant what she’d said. “They did identify the shooter Kendra took out. As suspected, it was the missing man due for initiation. We’re still waiting on your DNA test, but your blood type is the same. So we’re headed for the meet as planned.”
Audrey bit her lip and nodded, her eyes taking on a glossy sheen. “Wow. Okay.”
The car sat waiting just as he’d expected. The officer stationed at the front entrance took a step forward, keeping watch, as Lee hustled Audrey to the passenger side of the vehicle.
A man in a navy ski mask rounded the corner, pointing a gun straight at Audrey.
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