Page 87 of Fatal Betrayal

"Where would that be? I won't endanger my family, and there's no one in law enforcement I'm going to trust except you. So we watch each other's back."

"We'll see how things go," she said, not wanting to commit to a long-term plan. "What we need to do first is get a phone. I'm going to need some of your cash for that."

"Already done," he said, putting the smaller bag in his hand on the counter. "I bought it while I was out. The strip mall across the street had everything."

"Great," she said, ripping the plastic off the phone. "We're going to need this."

"I figured." He grabbed the other breakfast sandwich and took a bite. "What's next?"

"I need to talk to Agent Burnett. I have his number on my phone, but I don't want to start my phone until we're away from here. Then I can grab the number and call him."

"We're going to talk to the guy you think hired people to kill you?" he asked in surprise.

"I'm not going to tell him I think he's trying to kill me. I'll just see if I can set up a meet and go from there."

"Maybe Flynn should talk to him for you."

She shook her head. "This is my job, Cooper. This is what I do."

He frowned, then nodded. "All right. Your call."

She finished her sandwich, took several more sips of her coffee, then said, "Are you ready to go?"

"One second." He crinkled his empty food wrapper and tossed into the bag. Then he stepped forward, put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her in for a kiss.

His lips were salty and tasted like bacon. Hers probably did, too. But the hunger that instantly burned between them had nothing to do with food. She'd thought—hoped—their desire might have burned out, but she'd been fooling herself. It was even stronger now, because she wasn't trying to fight the attraction, and neither was he.

"That was the way we should have started this morning," he said as they came up for air.

"Yes," she agreed, her voice a little breathless. "But that can't keep happening today. We can't be distracted. We have to focus."

He smiled. "You used to say that to me all the time when we were kids. Like when I was focused on throwing strikes against my garage door, and you wanted to figure out whether the school cafeteria was actually using whole milk or nonfat."

"Exactly," she said, as he referred to her first feature story as a freshman on the school newspaper. "You couldn't focus then but you must focus now, because we're not dealing with milk."

"I'm very aware of the gravity of our situation," he said. "And what's at stake—not only our lives, but Elisa's. Don't think for a second that I'm taking anything lightly. That said, I'm glad we spent the night together, and for the record, I picked up a few more condoms in case we want to do any more exploring when this is all over."

Tingles ran down her spine. "When this is over," she echoed. "Maybe."

He gave her a cocky look. "I don't think there's amaybeabout it, but it's time to get serious, and that's what I'm going to do."

"Then we should go."

With her gun tucked under her sweater and her phone in the pocket of her jeans, they headed out the door. They made their way to the Santa Monica Pier where amidst a crowd of strangers, she opened her work phone and saw several text messages. One was from Agent Burnett.

"Burnett sent me a text," she told Cooper.

"What did he say?"

"We need to meet tomorrow. Matter of life and death. Text me back. I have important information for you and only you. Don't trust Flynn or anyone else on his team."

"That sounds disturbing."

She sent Burnett a reply. "Where and when?" Then she waited. When no message came back, she grabbed Burnett's number and Flynn's and copied them into her burner phone. She waited another minute or two, but there was no reply. "He's not getting back to me."

"What time did he text you?"

"This morning at six-twenty-three. It's after nine now." When another minute passed, she shut down her phone and then motioned for Cooper to follow her down the pier. She wanted to change their location in case anyone was tracking her phone. Then she took out her burner phone and called Burnett. "I'm going to try him again." Her call went to voicemail. "He's not answering," she said with frustration.