“What?Iknow you want to be a dad someday, soIthought you might like seeing that she seems to love kids and is good with them.Imean, have you ever seen a happier baby?”
Ithrow her a look.
Sheglances at all the people at desks behind us. “You’reright.Notso professional on the big screens.”Witha couple of swipes of her fingers on her tablet, the image is replaced with a blurry still taken from the crappyCCTVcamera ofMackenzieand me standing in the courtyard right afterIreturned her purse.Ina conspiratorial voice,Charliesays, “Butdon’t worry,I’llemail you the picture so you can look at it later.Orjust check out herInstagram, because— ”
“Charlie.”
“Right.Okay,Iknow that you mentioned having the picnic at the park you drive past near your apartment, but what do you think of going to one inCipherSpringsinstead?”
Inod. “Actually, that’s a good idea.Itmight makeMackenziefeel more comfortable to be on her home turf.ButIthinkI’llstill pick up food fromThePestoPatioinCloakwood.”
Imight not knowMackenziesuper well yet, butIhave seen her order food from restaurants twice in the past forty-eight hours.Plus,Charliehas given me a dossier of all the info she’s been able to gather onMackenzie, including all the restaurants and food items thatMackenziehas eaten and shared food pictures of onInstagram.Thelist is sizeable, but it didn’t includeThePestoPatio.AndThePestoPatiohas menu itemsIthinkMackenziewill like.
Charliesends a picture that is a bird’s-eye view ofShadowridgeParkto one of the screens. “Ithink this will be a good one.It’squiet enough to draw out the buyer if they are tracking her, yet has enough witnesses that they won’t attempt anything.”
“That’sa great choice.”
“Itis.WhenGiannalets me borrowRoxy,Itake her there to play fetch.”Onher tablet, she draws a lima bean-shaped outline in red toward one end of the park, and it shows on the main screen. “Thisarea is the perfect place for your picnic.You’llhave a great vantage point of not only this big open grassy area but of the parking lot, too.Atyour back and on this side are those fences made of stones with shrubs in front of them.Sothat side will be naturally protected.
“Andthen down here,”Shedraws a rectangle around the entire opposite end of the park, just past the grass fields, “is a miniature golf course.Haveyou driven by it since they put it in a few years ago?”
Ishake my head.Iam not really a frequent park-goer, and this particular park isn’t on the way from my apartment inCloakwoodto my mom’s,Charlie’s, orBlake’splaces here.
“Well, if you want to lengthen the ‘date,’ it’d be a good place to take her.”
“Niceplan,”Abrahamsays, andCharlieandIboth turn to look at the older man as he walks up to us and stands with feet apart, folding his arms as he looks at the screens.Abrahamand my dad were both recruited to theCSAat the same time— the year the agency was formed.Theywere both twenty-two at the time and both became legendary in their own ways.Mydad for his bravery and unconventional problem-solving, andAbrahamfor being a master of disguises.WhenAbrahamretired from covert work, he took on the role of providing disguises as needed for all operatives.
Mydad passed away four years ago.Ihad only been an operative for two years at that point, butCharliewas still in college and was two years from being recruited.Mydad andAbrahammight’ve had very different personalities, but they both spent their entire careers here, soCharlieseems to have taken to him as a substitute dad.Abrahamnever had children, soIthink he’s more than happy to have a substitute daughter.
Abrahamsquints at the blurry image of me andMackenzieon the screen, andIsee the picture again through his eyes.Itmakes me relax a bit.Ifimages like this are all that the buyer has to go on, they are never going to identifyMackenzie. “Sois this a real date or a mission date?”
“Mission,”Isay quickly, becauseIknowCharlieis probably dying to say “Real.”AsifIneed anything blurring those lines any more than whatI’mdoing myself.
Charlieeyes me like she knows whyIjust answered so quickly, then says toAbraham, “Jacehas to convince a woman to go on a date with him so he can protect her while possibly also drawing out a threat actor.”
“Ahh,”Abrahamsays. “Well, if she doesn’t say yes, come to me—Ican make you look like someone else to give you another go at it.Maybea grandpa in need of her help?Oh!Icould make you behergrandpa if she has one.”
“I’llkeep that in mind,”Isay, not taking my eyes off the screens.
“OrIcan make you be a tired mom of young kids.She’llnever know it’s you.”
Thankfully,I’msaved from responding byEmersonand the director coming over to join us. “Wefound something,”Emersonsays before he’s even all the way to us.
Myears perk up andIcan feel a bit of adrenaline rush through me, even thoughIdon’t even know yet if it’s something actionable.
“We’vebeen searching for online chatter about the briefcase, and we found a message we think is fromHendrickson’saccomplice to who may be the buyer.”Heglances atCharlie. “MayI?”Shenods, so he sends an image with a black background and gold lettering from his tablet to the screen that appears to be an invitation. “Itlooks like a third party will be passing along the briefcase that the key opens during a black tie gala just outside ofPhiladelphiathisSaturday.”
Asmile spreads wide across my face.
“Ooh!”Abrahamsays. “Aball with criminals!Myfavorite kind.I’llget your tux ready.”
“Wesent this info to theFBI,” the director says. “Hendricksonhas lawyer-ed up, so they haven’t gotten much out of him, but we think this might help them get him to talk.”
Progressand a path forward are two things that make my day.Iglance at my watch again. “Okay,I’mheading toMackenzie’swork.I’llcheck back in after.”
AsI’mwalking away,IhearAbrahamsay his standard goodbye expression, “Goodluck, have fun, don’t die!”
Threethings that are always part of my plan.
