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I broke into a jog and grabbed her arm and spun her around to face me dead on. I held the paper inches from her face. “Why do you have this? Why are you following me? Do you know?”
“Know what?” She tried to step back, but I increased my grip. “Let me go!”
“Answer me!” I shouted, and her eyes went glossy with tears. Shit, I hardly recognized who I was in that moment, but every second that passed was a second they were getting closer to my son.
“Whoa.” John appeared and placed his hand on my arm. He gave it a gentle squeeze. “Brother, I know,” he gave me an understanding look, “but she’s not the enemy.”
I dropped my head and released my hold on her. John turned to Nicole.
“Are you okay?” She nodded and cleared her throat like she was trying to hold it together. “Look, you two, I know you have stuff to talk about, but we can’t be here right now. There are bad people only moments behind us.” He smiled at Nicole. “We’re all on edge right now. This mission has been trickier than most, and whatever else is going on, you being here just tripped us up.”
“This is my job.”
“I know that, and I respect that. We’ve never worked with the press before, so you’ll have to forgive us if we don’t know the protocols. We have our way of doing things, and you threw us for a loop back there. C’mon, let’s get back to the van and we can talk this out.”
We all looked up as we heard a vehicle.
“Okay,” Nicole threw another glare at me, “I need my things, anyway.” She pulled away from us and began to stomp toward the van. “You can take the front seat, Paul,” she called over her shoulder, “and no more manhandling.”
I never agreed to that.
“John.”
“I know.” He slapped my shoulder as we followed her. “We’ll find out what she knows.”
“We need to find a new place to stay. Mark, check the maps.” Cole was all business as he pulled carefully back onto the road.
No one spoke a word after that. Cole drove like the wind, and we all remained alert for any unwanted visitors. I kept my sunglasses on and watched Nicole through the side mirror. Her eyes were huge, and she turned away and looked out the window more than once to hide her tears.
I felt like shit for how I’d treated her, but she knew stuff I needed to know.
We decided to stay at a larger hotel to blend in a little better. Cole parked behind some shrubs to help hide the van and turned off the engine. He turned around in his seat and looked back at us.
“Nicole, we need to have a conversation about what’s going on. It seems to me that whatever it is you’re into, it’s got you into a lot of hot water.”
“It’s my job, Cole. I can take care of myself. Thanks for your help, but I can take it from here.” She reached for her stuff and made a move for the door handle.
Cole tilted his head at me and threw me a look as I went to grab her. I quickly dropped my hand.
“Look, let’s help each other out here. How about you stay here tonight, get something to eat, some sleep, and give us a few minutes to talk in the morning. I think you owe us that much.”
She pursed her lips as she considered his words. “All right.”
Cole nodded then held out a card. “In the meantime, if you need anything, call me.”
She didn’t miss a beat. “I need a laptop.”
“On it.” Mark pulled one of our extras from a pack. It was secure, and I knew we could retrace her movements on it later. Good one, Mark.
“Thanks.” She slid it into her duffle bag. “But I want to make something clear.” Her voice was low and emotionless. “I’m here to do a job. I never asked for your team’s protection, though I am thankful for your help back there, and I don’t have to play by your rules.”
“I know,” Cole nodded and wiggled his hand for her to take his card, “but remember we’re not your enemy.”
“Maybe you should remind him of that.” She chin pointed at me and snatched the card and hopped out.
Cole turned to look at me. “Maybe John or Mark should talk to her later. You need to work on your approach.”
“No. This is my fight. She’s got a copy of my son’s birth certificate, Cole. I need to know how she got it.”