Chapter 32
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Sam stared at the phonewith the same apprehension he’d feel for a coiled rattlesnake. He hated the disappointment in Hallene’s voice, hated it, but the time had come to face the consequence of his decision.
He started by explaining how his people were here now. “I told you my team would be watching Angie’s house. They have probably been hunting me since you took me from Clercville and dumped the first car.”
She flinched at that, and he wanted to kick himself. He hadn’t meant for his words to come out angry, but this might drive an unfixable wedge in their relationship.
“That’s why you wanted to rent the car with your ID.” She sounded as if she were putting together the pieces of how he’d done all this on the sly.
“You make it sound like I had this covert plan to trick you. That’s not true.”
“Oh Sam, stop.”
The finality in her voice was killing him.
No point in tiptoeing when he had to contact Nitro. The phone had been left as an order.Call immediately.
Sam tried to get her to understand. “I have to call my people. The fact that they didn’t blow in here and pull me out means they’ll listen.” He had no idea if that was the case for sure since he’d never been in this spot. When Hallene said nothing more, he tossed out a possible upside to this. “I’ll be honest. They could help us.”
She pulled the shoulder bag strap off and shoved the bag down by her feet. “The minute someone else shows up, all my hard work to find Phoebe and save her will be destroyed.”
“That’s not how it is.” He hoped to avert a disaster. “Keep in mind that you pulled me out of Clercville with no time to cover that extraction. I’m not complaining or giving you a hard time about that, just saying to think of it from my side. I did not call them in. Did I expect contact after renting a car with one of my IDs? Yes, but not this quickly. They’re giving me a chance to discuss what’s going on.”
She looked away, a bad sign. Not open to what he was trying to say.
The air ran out of his hope balloon that he could fix this. “I need a chance to explain why I’m on an unauthorized mission.” He’d tried not to think about the consequences waiting for him.
Fury still overrode every other emotion in Hallene’s face when she turned back to him. “I’ll make this easy for you. I was clear with you about any interference. Now that your team is involved, we part ways.”
Pain stabbed his chest. How could she want to break apart now?
“Don’t do this, Hallene,” he pleaded because he could not handle her racing into a death trap unprotected. He’d never find her again if she did survive. “Give me a chance to talk to them.”
“Talk all you want. I’m not changing my mind.”
Sam would like to have a private conversation with Nitro, but he couldn’t step outside if he wanted her to still trust him.
One number had been inserted with the ID of the letter N. Sam’s throat tightened with guilt over being at odds with his team.
Sam spoke first. “I’m here.”
Nitro spoke in that quiet voice again, the one that came naturally when he wanted to rip someone apart. “Want to explain what the fuck is going on, Sam?”
Hell, Nitro wasn’t even calling him Cuz. Sam said, “I’m on a lead about the senator’s kidnapping.”
“We figured out your hand signals. Why haven’t you unassed that female and contacted us?”
