“HeyTony!” a man yelled out. “Keepsearching and try to find them before the boss gets here.Youtwo…head into that garage and find them.”
“You sure it’s them?” another voice shouted, whoIassumed wasTony, from close by.
“Yeah, that was definitely the cop and the bitch from the picture,” the original man replied. “I’mgoing back to stand by their car in case they make their way back.”
Archer nudged me and jerked his head slightly, quietly telling me to squeeze farther behind the dumpsters to a slightly better-hidden position.
From this position, there was no way to see the door anymore or the alleyway without sticking our heads out, which would effectively defeat the point of hiding.
My right fist was clenched tight near my hip, while the other hand was on the ground to balance me.Ifelt beforeIsawArcher’shand grab my clenched fist and slowly start stroking over my thumb.Itdidn’t necessarily return my heart rate to normal, but it did ease my anxiety enough to become a bit more clear-headed about how to get out of this mess.
I knew whatIneeded to do, butIalso knew this was about to open a whole giant can of worms.Onethat could change everything betweenArcherand me for good.
I turned back toArcherand pointed at my crossbody purse that he had in his hands.Isilently mouthed,Giveme that.
Instead of doing it, he mouthed back,Why?
God, this man was so stubborn.
Keeping my voice low,Itold him to open it and hand me my lipstick tube.
“Your what?” he whispered, his face full of shock.
“There’s a red tube of lipstick.Ineed it now!Handit to me!”
“What the hell?Youwant to put lipstick on now?”Helooked and sounded exasperated. “Letme text the guys first, and then you can pretty up your face.”
I rolled my eyes asIresponded, keeping my voice low. “ForGod’ssake.It’snot really lipstick.It’sour best chance of rescue.Nowhand it to me before they hear us and kill us!”
Finally listening to me, he reached into my bag, grabbed the red tube, and handed it to me.Ipopped off the cap, pulled off the chunk of lipstick at the top, and pushed down on a button inside the tube.
The look on his face was priceless. “Tracker?” he mostly mouthed, thoughIheard him as well.
I nodded in return before he spoke again. “Who?”
Here went nothing.
“Sara,”Iwhispered back, only to see a confused look on his face.Hewas no doubt wondering whyIwould be calling my personal trainer at a moment like this.
“I push that button, and it alerts her to my exact location so she can send in a rescue team.”Ipaused before giving him the information that would change everything. “Sarais my trainer…but she’s also myFBIhandler.”
16
ARCHER
The look on my face must have been priceless.Iimagined it was a combination of shock, confusion, and anger at her for not bringing this up.Surely,Ihadn’t heard her correctly.
“She’s yourwhat?”Iasked again, just to be sure.
“Shhh,” she scolded me, and rightfully so, sinceImay have said that a little louder than necessary. “She’smy handler,” she replied exasperatedly.
“Your…handler,”Irepeated, though much quieter.
She sighed in frustration. “Canwe talk about this later?Likemaybeafterwe make it out of here alive?”
I just nodded back at her.NotthatIdidn’t trust her, butIalso realized there was a lotIdidn’t know about her, soIneeded to cover myself as well.Ipulled out my phone, trying to dim the light as bestIcould, and shot off a quick text toWade,Vince, andJack.Itwas a quick set of codes so thatIcould be effective while not wasting too much time texting.Islid my phone back into my pocket and waited for this supposed rescue.
It only took a few minutes, but multiple sirens could be heard.
