Page 89 of Agency

How many times would I get bitten before I realized how badly I’d fucked up by trusting her? Once more? Five times more?

Or maybe, I wouldn’t have to worry about the number of times she’d trick me, because she was finished.

I turned back to Alice, asking, “And you’re sure she’s good to go?”

“She’s good to go,” the doctor replied, giving a thumbs up.

I glanced to Jericho, and even he had what passed for a smile, at least with him. “Come on,” he said. “We should get you out of here.”

“Here,” Alice said, going over to a small desk set back and to the side, “before you go.” She had a bag of what looked like post-surgery essentials already assembled, and she handed them off to Ambyr, before giving her a warm hug. The blonde woman whispered something too low to hear to our nominal prisoner, and the redheaded woman embraced her back more tightly.

“Now, you three get out of here before someone comes looking for you,” Alice said, this time loud enough for us to hear.

“You… You be careful, too, Alice.” Alice went to turn away, but Ambyr grabbed her hand. “And, can you do me a favor?”

“Um, sure?”

“Can you tell Thomas I’m sorry?”

“For what?” Alice asked with a confused look and shake of her head.

“For knocking him unconscious,” Ambyr replied with a wince.

Alice blinked rapid-fire behind her goggles as she looked the other woman up and down. Clearly, she’d assumed some things about Ambyr, and was now beginning to realize how our assumptions sometimes didn’t always match up with reality. Or that maybe they did.

“Bad decisions,” said Ambyr, squeezing the doctor’s hand. “Remember?”

“Right,” Alice replied with more than just some hesitation. “Bad decisions. Gotcha. And, yes, I’ll tell him.”

Dr. Thorne turned back to us. “And you two. Any message for my guys?”

“Just to keep your heads down, like we said earlier,” replied Jericho. “And good hunting.”

Minutes later, we were piling into the car with Morgan. He’d reversed into a parking spot near the back of the lot, and sat behind the steering wheel with the handheld GPS device in his lap. He didn’t mention any movement on the different dots arrayed around the country, so I was going to assume that no news equaled good news.

“Well?” he asked. “How’re we doing?”

“Foot loose,” Ambyr said as she climbed into the back, “and tracker free.”

“Where to now?” Morgan asked.

“Yeah,” Jericho said as he shifted in the passenger seat and looked back at Ambyr and me both. His eyes really settled on her, though. “Where to?”

“Why are you looking at me? I’m just along for the ride, remember?”

“Because I know you’re planning something, and I’m trying to head it off at the bend.”

Ambyr shifted in her seat, as if she were suddenly sitting on a tack, and I could tell that she was uncomfortable with how spot on he’d been.

“Well?” Jericho asked. “Come on. Let’s see what crazy idea you’ve got.”

“Montana,” she said, finally, following it up with a long, resigned sigh. “Billings, Montana, or at least in that general area.”

“Why Billings?”

“Because someone lives there.”

“Who?”