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Since we were busy, the afternoon flew past. At five o’clock we met in the living room to discuss where we were with the operational planning.

“We’ve been discussing the best way to get you to your meeting with your dad,” Bo said. “We’ve decided that in case we pick up someone tailing us, we need to break into pairs so they can’t be sure who to follow.”

“How do you envision that?” I asked.

“We split into guy/girl pairs,” he answered. “We dress similarly and obscure our features with hats and scarves. Then each pair of drivers takes off in different directions. If they have a stakeout, they’re not likely to have more than one or two people. If we split up, they can’t follow all of us.”

Hala stood and looked out the window. “Do you think we’re being watched?”

“No, I don’t,” Bo replied. “But we should always start with a worst-case scenario and work backward. That’s wisdom courtesy of Professor Allard.”

I remembered that lecture, too. It was good advice.

Jax motioned at me. “Red, come look at this.” I sat down beside him, and Jax pulled up Google Maps on his laptop, then zoomed in on the train station. “This is where you need to be by midnight. Bo, Kira, and I have determined the locations where the rest of the cars will go. There are a couple routes in, and after some discussion, we decided this would be the safest.” He tapped on the screen. “For the rest of us, the most important thing to remember is if we pick up a tail, we lead them away from the train station. And, of course, be sure to lose them before coming back here.”

“Who’s going with Angel?” Hala asked.

“I think it should be me or Jax,” Bo said. “Someone who can physically protect her if something goes wrong.”

“I agree wholeheartedly with that,” Jax said.

“Excuse me, but Kira and I took on Angel’s first kidnapper and won,” Mike protested. “Don’t count us out.”

“Why don’t we let Angel decide?” Frankie proposed.

Everyone looked at me, so I carefully thought through all my options before deciding. I knew whom Iwantedto go with me, but I couldn’t plan such a delicate operation with my emotions. I had to do what made operational sense, especially because my mother’s life was at stake.

“I think it should be Wally.”

By the shocked expressions on everyone’s face, including Wally’s, no one had expected me to say that. A quick glance at Jax confirmed my response had hurt his feelings. His brow creased with surprise and disbelief. I hated myself for that, but I’d done what had to be done.

“Me?” Wally repeated, pointing at himself as if another Wally might magically appear and take his place.

“Yes, you,” I repeated. “If someone is watching us, they’d expect me to be protected by either Bo or Jax—one of the big guys. If they have only one or two cars to tail us, they’d likely follow the cars with Jax and Bo in them.”

“Predictably unpredictable,” Frankie said, clapping. “I love it.”

“But what if they have more agents than we expect and they come after you and Wally?” Jax countered. “Then what?”

“I sincerely doubt that would happen in this environment of federal budget cuts. But, let’s say they do. In that case, we use our brains.” I glanced over at Wally, who still seemed shocked I’d chosen him over the bigger guys. “Wally is really good at thinking on the fly, and so am I. We know each other really well, too, and we’re small and nonthreatening. They wouldn’t expect much resistance from us, which we’d use to our advantage. We’d figure it out, right, Wally?”

He still seemed a bit stunned, but he gave me two thumbs-up and a nervous smile. “Ah, sure, Angel. Me and you against the bad guys. I can do that.”

“Great. So, we have a couple more hours left before we need to go. Hala, are you and Mike ready with the dossier on Remington and his coworkers?”

“We are,” she said. “I’ll shoot it to your in-box now. It’s pretty substantial when added to your material, so it’ll take you some time to go through it.”

While I read through the material, Jax went to the barn to check the cars. When no one was looking, I slipped out of the kitchen and went outside to the barn to talk to him. I found him under Wally’s car with a flashlight, presumably looking for tracking devices or anything suspicious.

“Jax?” I said timidly.

He started, bumping his head on the undercarriage before wiggling out from beneath the car. “Red? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong.” That was a lie. Everything was wrong. But I was the leader, and I had to act like one, even if I liked one of the agents I was leading. “I just wanted to check that we’re okay. I hope you understand why I made the decision I did regarding Wally driving me. It made the most operational sense to me.”

I wasn’t that good at reading people, but I could see by the softening of the crease between his brow that it’d been the right decision to approach him. I only hoped he didn’t try to talk me out of it, because that would change everything between us. Not that I understood what was between us. But at least we had a friendship—and maybe a little bit more. This was all new ground for me, so what did I know?

“I understand,” he said. “I hadn’t considered the way the people tailing us might approach things. It was smart thinking. You’re right. They’re more likely to follow anyone who’s with either Bo or me. Going with Wally makes sense.”