Mackenzielaughs.
“Theycalled me the ‘SwingingSasquatch’ after that.”
Mackenzieraises an eyebrow.
Ishrug. “Itfit.Ihad very unruly hair.”
AsMackenzieis lining up her shot,Iglance toward the park and parking lot.Weare at a disadvantage since we have to spend a lot of time looking down to golf, yet anyone will be able to easily see us from any direction.Minigolf probably isn’t the best choice ever.Itsure isn’t the covert operative in me that suggested we play.
Andit definitely isn’t the part of me that always wants to stay in control of the situation.
Charliemust sense my trepidation, because she says in my ear, “Don’tworry.I’mkeeping an eye on everything.”
Shealways does.Yetit still makes me relax a bit to hear the words.
Mackenzie’sstrategy with this hole seems to be to just plow her way through it because she doesn’t even seem to take the obstacles into consideration when she aims.Herball hits a green car, bounces off and hits blue, then pings off it and hits yellow, then springs forward and hits a pink car before rolling to a stop not far from the hole.
Sheturns and gives me a wide smile. “Yourturn,SwingingSasquatch.”
Iaim my hit to send the ball to the side.Itbanks off the edge, likeIhad planned, and then goes into the fray of cars, also likeIhad planned.Butit doesn’t take nearly as many lucky turns asMackenzie’sball did, and it comes to a stop right in the middle of the obstacles.
“Let’ssee what you’ve got,Queenof theGreen,”ItellMackenzie.
I’mglad that theFBIis watching over her during the day because it allows me to keep working on finding the buyer.Ispent the day shaking down all of my contacts, trying to find any informationIcould.WhatIfound was minimal, butIpassed it off toEmersonand his team.I’mhoping they can combine it with what they’ve found and get me a lead soon.
Weare making progress, but it feels way too slow.Maybejust becauseMackenzieis involved.Theinformation we’ve found about the black-tie gala onSaturday, though, is that the buyer is getting skittish and might not show.Ifthey plan a different meet, we might not get intel on it.Wedecided that havingMackenziego to the gala might just draw the buyer to it, which makes it our best chance at keeping theEradicationproject out of enemy hands.
Ivoiced my worries about usingMackenzieas bait like that.Butthe director decided that the payoff will be well worth the risk and will keep her safer in the long run.AndMilesis going to go to the gala with us so that the two of us together can keep her safe.
NowIjust need to convinceMackenzieto join me.
AsMackenzieis taking her second shot,Itry to get her to open up more, hoping it’ll get me the chance to ask about the gala. “Didyou always know you wanted to go into physical therapy?”
Sheis concentrating enough on it that she doesn’t respond until her ball drops into the hole and she does a victory dance thatIwishIhad recorded.Then, asI’mattempting to get my ball out of the bumper car chaos, she says, “Ialways knewIwanted to help people be their best, but it wasn’t until my senior year of high school thatIdecided that going into physical therapy would help me do that.Afterall, it’s hard to be your best self when your body is stopping you.”
Sheshrugs. “Butthere’s so much more to it than that, andIjust kept feeling like the job wasn’t doing enough.Imean, yes, physical ailments can derail a lot of things, or at least make them extremely difficult, but a perfectly healthy person isn’t necessarily a perfectly fulfilled person.”
Ilook up from whereI’mlining up my second attempt to get the ball out of the ping-ponging traffic jam just to studyMackenzie.
“Iwanted to do more.I’vealways wanted to make a difference in people’s lives, butIdidn’t know what to do, exactly, until nine months ago.Inthe neighborhood whereLiviandIused to live, we had a big group of friends that we did everything with.Itwasn’t untilImoved away from that support group thatIrealized how much people need to get out of the bubble of their own comfort zones and do activities that push them.Thekinds of things that they’re only likely to do with a friend or a group and not on their own.”
Ittakes me two more shots.Mostlybecause that purple car at the end decided it was in a dance-off and really wanted to win just as my ball was coming at it.OnceIhit my ball into the hole,Istand up straight and just look atMackenzie.
“Anyway,Istarted a club—Icall it theOutsidetheBubbleclub— as a way to help people have a friend group who will push them to try new things.Wemeet to do something new together once a month.Sobetween the club and the physical therapy,Ifeel likeI’mfinally doing whatIhad hoped to accomplish back whenIwas a seventeen-year-old with a vision for my future.”
Ittakes me a moment to realize thatIam just staring at this woman in amazement that she has her purpose in life so figured out.Idon’t really have words, butImanage to say, “Wow.Iam impressed.”
CHAPTER13
DEFENSES DANGEROUSLY DROPPED
JACE
Aswe head to the next obstacle in the course,Mackenziesays, “Sohow about you?Didyou always know you wanted to go into business solutions?”
Idon’t want to answer this question for so many reasons.ButsinceIasked it first,Ican’t exactly decline to answer. “Yes.I’vealways had a desire to help people with business problems to find a solution.”
It’sa stupidly vague answer.Sheknows it.Iknow it.ButI’mhoping that she at least finds it humorously vague.Ikeep everything about my cover job pretty hazy.Sometimescover companies, specifically, get questioned less when they are less clear.Otherparts of cover stories require much more specificity.
