Page 47 of Protecting You
And then, the driver pulled away from the hotel.
And they left all safety behind.
CHAPTERTEN
The back seat of the car Ghazi had sent was spacious enough for Callan to stretch his legs out, but that didn’t mean he was comfortable, not with the tension wafting off Alyssa beside him and the fear in her eyes whenever she looked his way.
Nor was he comfortable with the driver, who hadn’t spoken a word since they’d left the hotel.
They crossed the Charles into Boston, went east on Soldiers Field Road adjacent to the river, then turned west on Comm. Ave. to St. Paul Street. The driver continued past the Episcopal church and then snaked through neighborhoods, seemingly willy-nilly.
Callan knew Boston well enough, but they were outside the city now in an area he’d never been to before. Based on the fancy homes, the wide and perfectly manicured lawns, and the expensive cars in the driveways, they’d reached Brookline.
It irked him that he didn’t have his phone, but he’d anticipated that. This wasn’t his first field assignment, after all. On the other hand, this wasn’t a run-of-the-mill op. Normally, he went into the field with trained agents, not beautiful computer hackers who had no clue what they were doing.
The driver had powered down both their phones, but that wouldn’t keep Malcolm from tracking Callan’s. Of course, the Agency knowing where they were would do Callan and Alyssa no good if they didn’t have a way to call for help if they needed it. Callan had his laptop, though. Hopefully, Ghazi wouldn’t take that away when they got to the house.
If he did, Callan would figure it out. This was what he did, and he was good at it.
It was trouble on the home front he didn’t know how to deal with.
“You promised us, Callan.”His mother’s words played on repeat in his head, the tone not accusatory but disappointed—which was so much worse.“You have a child to take care of now.”
Did she think he’d forgotten about Peri? Did Mom really think his eight-year-old daughter was ever far from his mind? Since he’d discovered her existence the previous fall, he’d thought of little else. He’d given up his dream job for Peri. He’d changed his life for her.
Not that he resented it. Not that he shouldn’t have done those things. Of course he should have. He was her father.
But he had a career, and his work was not just time-consuming. It could beall-consuming. Which was why it made sense for Peri to stay with Mom and Dad when Callan had to be in Boston.
They were retired. They had time for her. They had help, with Hannah living so close, and Callan’s sister adored Peri.
And they knew what the heck they were doing.
Whereas Callan was clueless.
Peri was better off with his parents than she’d ever be with him. She knew it, his parents knew it. Hannah knew it.
Everybody knew it, even if they were too kind to say so.
Finally, the car turned into a narrow driveway, giving Callan something to think about besides the daughter he was failing in every way.
The driver stopped at a wrought iron gate. Interesting, considering the other houses on this road had no such security—just normal driveways for normal families.
Well, normalrichfamilies.
The other houses they’d passed on this street had expansive lawns, but not this house. A tall, thick hedge made it almost impossible to see a white structure beyond.
The driver entered a code on a keypad, the gate swung open, and they moved slowly forward and around a bend.
The house came into view.
Three stories tall, it resembled buildings he’d seen in Italy, where he’d been on assignment. Romanesque with grayish-white stucco siding, a Spanish-tile roof, and dark green shutters, it was surrounded by trees and bushes and flowers everywhere he looked.
He squeezed Alyssa’s hand. Since they were supposed to be in love, and they weren’t supposed to be nervous, he smiled at her. “Nice digs, right? Of course, this is probably old hat to you.” Her family’s money wasn’t exactly a state secret, so there was no reason for him not to mention it.
“It’s an impressive building.” She focused on the driver. “Any idea when it was built?”
Saying nothing, the man climbed out of the car and slammed the door.
