Page 21 of The Saint
“I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.”
“See, that’s not fair.” She chuckled. “You probably know how to without leaving a trace.”
“All kidding aside, you doing okay, Amelia?”
A warm feeling swelled in her chest. It was almost enough to help her forget why she couldn’t fall asleep. “You remember my name?”
“Well… yeah. Why would I give my number to someone if I didn’t know their name?”
“Is Camden your real name?”
“Yeah. Cam. Camden. Whichever works.”
She tried to imagine what he might look like: tall, broad, strong. At least his confidence made him sound that way. “That first night, you weren’t supposed to tell me your name, were you?”
“Not really. No.”
“Why did you?” she wondered aloud.
“You sounded scared.”
What did he imagine her to be like? Feeble and afraid. Unable to help herself and begging someone on the phone to save her. It wasn’t a great mental image. Amelia bit her bottom lip. “You weren’t wrong.”
Silence hung between them. It wasn’t awkward—more like it was waiting for something else, but she didn’t know what.
“Why did you call me tonight?” he asked.
Maybe she’d been scared, but not in the same way as that night. She was scared of the unknown, scared of the illogical. “I couldn’t sleep. I can’t get my mind to stop racing. So much doesn’t make sense. Like the agents. The ones you don’t work with, I guess. The same ones I spoke with the first night. They came by.” Amelia rolled onto her back. “They asked if I’d seen my sister.”
“If you’dseenyour sister?”
“Yeah…”
“Huh. Seems like that’s something you would’ve mentioned to someone.”
“Exactly.”
“What else?” he asked.
“They stopped by unannounced. Their questions made me uneasy, as if they thought I wasn’t telling them a piece of important information. Then they just left. They didn’t get the answer they wanted, so poof, they walked out.”
He waited for a beat. “That’s how it can be. They’re searching for your sister and don’t have time for pleasantries. I wouldn’t hold it against them.”
“Do you trust the people you work with?—I know, I know. You’re not one of the suits with dark glasses. But you’re in the same orbit, aren’t you? Do you trust them?”
He paused again long enough that she noticed her heartbeat thump with each passing moment. “Of course.”
She didn’t believe him. “Eh, the jury’s out on whether or not you’re telling me the truth.”
He laughed. “Ouch.”
“So, you didn’t say. Do you work in a secret basement office in the Capitol?”
He kept laughing. “No, why?”
“What about at the CIA? Or the FBI headquarters?” Those were in the DC area, weren’t they? It seemed like he would be based nearby.
“You’re just going to throw out all the mysterious federal agencies you can think of, aren’t you?”
