Page 35 of Protecting You
Everything she’d learned about Charles Sanders had confirmed the story he’d told her. Obviously, she’d failed to detect his lies.
“You’ll tell him you won’t be able to find the name, and you’re taking a vacation. Use me as an excuse. Tell him your fiancé is back in town, sooner than you expected. We’re planning a wedding, and there’s just no time for business. You’ve enjoyed working with him. Whatever you would normally do in this situation, do that.”
“But your boss wants me to get information. How can I do that if?—?”
“Get out of it if you can. I’ll deal with Malcolm. If you need to get an attorney, then so be it. Legal troubles won’t hurt you, but Ghazi…might.”
“You really know how to make a girl feel safe.”
“I wish you were safe, Alyssa. I wish I could…” His words faded.
“You don’t think he’s going to let me off the hook.”
“I do not. I think he’ll coerce you, somehow, to work with him. If he does that, then you could go into hiding. But this guy has a pretty extensive network. I don’t know if that’ll make you safe.”
“I can’t hide for the rest of my life.”
“Better to hide than end up…” Callan pressed his lips closed and looked away.
“He knows who I am,” Alyssa said. “He knows my family. How do I know he won’t target them?”
“You don’t. He could do that.”
“So going into hiding won’t work. Tell me you have a Plan C.”
“You’re going to have to work with him, do what Malcolm wants. Get information for him, and hopefullyfromhim. And then pass that along to the Agency.”
“If he finds out I’m working against him?”
“You can’t let that happen.”
“I don’t know how to do this.” Fear had her volume rising. “What if I mess it up?”
“This is why we need to stay together. I'm a field agent—was,anyway.”
“What do you mean, was? Did you leave the CIA? Then who’s?—”
“I’m out of the field.”
“Oh. Why?”
“Try to focus,” he snapped. “The point is, I’ll do my best to keep you safe.”
“I was just…” She took a breath. Their conversations felt like a contact sport. “What do I say to him?”
“If he refuses to let you off the hook, feel free to show your annoyance. You need to demonstrate that you don’t know Charles Sanders is anybody but who he claims to be. Unless he threatens you, you shouldn’t let on that you’re afraid. Just end the call, and we’ll figure it out. Okay?”
At her nod—she couldn’t seem to make herself speak—he lifted her phone from the end of the table and held it out to her.
“Now?” Fear had her voice pitching too high. “Shouldn’t we…come up with a script or something?”
“The last thing you want is to sound scripted. You’ll have to wing it. The longer you make him wait, the worse it’ll be.”
She took her cell, inhaling a deep breath. This was just a conversation with Charles Sanders, mild-mannered businessman.
Not a terrorist. Not a killer.
Somehow, the lies she told herself didn’t make her feel better.
