Page 21

EIGHTEEN

The clinic waiting room was as silent as a grave. Ellie paced back and forth, her footsteps muffled by the faded carpet. It had been over an hour since Daniel was taken back. He’d only passed out briefly, and they’d slowed the bleeding before arriving, but gunshot wounds could be unpredictable.

Agent Mike Tanner appeared in her path. He extended a takeaway cup of coffee. “Here. It’s from the break room. Caramel. Your favorite.”

“Thanks.” Ellie accepted the cup and took a sip, eyeing her old colleague over the rim.

His dark hair was thinner than she remembered, and lines feathered the corners of his eyes, but he retained his sensitive nature.

Mike had always been one of the kindest members of her team. At one time, they’d been friends.

Now he was her jailer. But that wasn’t entirely his fault. Mike was just following orders.

His gaze lingered on her face. A myriad of thoughts played out across his features, but then he smiled softly. “It’s good to see you, Elizabeth.”

Camaraderie and warmth washed over her, along with a healthy dose of guilt.

Until recently, Mike believed she was dead.

She couldn’t imagine what that must’ve been like for everyone on her team, hadn’t let herself think about it.

Betrayal took on many layers, and although she hadn’t intended to hurt them, she had. “It’s good to see you too, Mike.”

He settled into a hard plastic chair. “So… you’re a mom now.”

“Sort of. I have a foster son, and I’m going through the adoption process.” She took the seat across from him. “What about you? Still dating Patricia? I figure you two must be married by now.”

He winced. “No. We broke up a few years ago. She couldn’t handle the long hours and constant secrets.”

“I’m sorry.”

Mike shrugged. “Better to find out before we’re married than after.” His expression brightened. “My baby brother got into MIT, if you can believe it. He’s a sophomore now.”

Pride filled his voice, and it brought a smile to Ellie’s face.

Mike had practically raised his little brother after their mom died when he was eighteen.

He’d put himself through college, joined the FBI, and somehow figured out how to balance career and parenthood.

It hadn’t been easy, but Mike had built a village around him—neighbors, teachers, church members, colleagues, and extended family.

He was the reason Ellie had felt confident raising Owen as a single mom, knowing she had her own circle of support.

“That’s wonderful, Mike, but not surprising. Jack ran circles around our team in mathematics when he was in junior high. Remember how he used to challenge us to take the Mensa tests with him so he could practice? He’d cream us every time.”

Mike chuckled. “Some of the guys refused to compete with him.” His expression grew warm again. “But not you.”

“I like a challenge.” She sipped her coffee. “And it was a joy to watch him excel. Watching someone do something they’re great at… it’s inspiring.”

The door leading to the exam rooms swung open and Special Agent in Charge Vincent Maddox strolled through.

Maddox was the epitome of Bureau polish, from his pressed dark suit to his crisp white shirt and the blue silk tie knotted precisely at his throat.

His blond hair was slicked back, and his ice-blue eyes swept the room with an assessing gaze.

He carried himself with a confidence that had always struck Ellie as bordering on arrogance.

They had never seen eye to eye.

She rose. “How’s Daniel?”

“Fine. The bullet was almost a through and through. The doctor excised it, cleaned the wound, and stitched him up. He’ll need IV antibiotics and rest, but he’ll make a full recovery.”

Ellie let out a shaky breath as relief flooded through her. “Can I see him?”

“Not yet.” Vincent’s attention flickered to Mike. “Tanner, keep Ranger Perez company while I speak to Agent Conway.”

Mike nodded sharply and strode toward the exam room without casting a look in Ellie’s direction.

It was as if they hadn’t shared that warm moment earlier.

Vincent’s presence had a way of wiping out anything that wasn’t duty-bound and official.

It bothered her that he’d taken over the team after James retired.

“This way.” Vincent turned on his heel and started walking, fully expecting Ellie to fall in line behind him. She bristled, but there were questions she needed answers to. So she tossed her coffee in the trash and trailed him to a small conference room.

Vincent placed the protective sleeve containing the items from her house in the center of the table. He didn’t sit. Neither did she.

“I’m going to ask you some questions, Agent Conway, and I expect answers.”

Agent Conway. After three years in hiding, the title felt both familiar and foreign, like an old coat she’d long since outgrown. Ellie’s mouth lifted in a sardonic smile. “I’m a civilian now, Maddox. And you haven’t read me my rights.”

He rested his hands on the back of a chair, his expression impassive.

“Would you prefer I put you in a holding cell? Fingerprint you? How do you think your adoption application will fare when the judge learns you lied about your identity to the court?” He paused, letting the words hang heavy.

“Right now, Agent Tanner and I are the only ones at the Bureau who know you’re alive.

That could change, depending on your cooperation. ”

Her gut twisted, but she refused to let him see her fear. “What do you want to know?”

“Where is the evidence Lena gave you?”

She chuckled. “You think I have it?” Ellie shook her head.

“You’re a bit late to the party, Maddox.

No one knows where the evidence is. That’s why the Iron Fist and Tobias are hunting me down.

Both of them would love to get their hands on it.

And they’re not the only ones.” She watched his reaction carefully. “There’s a rat in your department.”

Not a flicker of surprise crossed his face. “What makes you think that?”

“No one answered the emergency number I called, for starters. I was left high and dry.”

“Probably because no one except Callahan knew you were alive.” Vincent held her stare. “When I took over as Special Agent in Charge, no one informed me of your name change or that you’d been given a number to contact. You might want to ask yourself why that is.”

She inhaled sharply. He was suggesting James was working with the Iron Fist?

What a preposterous idea. “During the first assault, I broke an attacker’s nose.

He never showed up to any emergency room in the state.

” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Maybe because his FBI contact set him up in an off-the-books clinic like this one.”

“Or he drove to Louisiana.” Vincent brushed off her suggestion like an annoying pest. “We don’t have much time, Agent. Let’s stick to what’s important.”

He pointed to the objects on the table, which were the sum total of all the possessions she was allowed to take from her old life to her new one.

Her mother’s engagement ring, Ellie’s original birth certificate, and the bracelet Lena had given her.

“With two separate gangs hunting you down, what was so important you risked going back to your house for it?”

Ellie’s mouth flattened into a thin line.

Trusting Vincent was a risk. For all she knew, he could be the mole.

But her options were limited. With a sigh, she pulled out the bracelet Lena had given her.

It was silver with a lock charm and a cross.

Grief rose unexpectedly, constricting her throat.

She swallowed it down. “Two weeks before she was shot, Lena gave me this for my birthday. I thought it might be important.”

Vincent nodded. “Go on.”

Ellie examined the charms and noted, for the first time, that the lock appeared to have a crease on the side. Using the edge of her fingernail, she popped the charm open.

A piece of paper fell out.

Vincent snatched it from the table before Ellie could grab it. He unrolled the tiny slip and squinted. “Bestfriends422315730.” He glanced at her. “What does that mean?”

“I don’t know.” Disappointment burned, but she shoved it away and quickly committed the message to memory.

Oh Lena, what kind of treasure hunt have you sent me on?

“Do you know where the evidence is?” Vincent pressed.

“No.”

He scrutinized her, eyes flat and assessing. Then he tucked the paper and the bracelet into his pocket before checking his watch. “Ranger Perez should be done with his IV antibiotics by now. Agent Tanner and I will drive you back to his ranch.”

Vincent scribbled a number on the back of a business card and slipped it into the protective sleeve with her things. “If you find the evidence or figure out what this message from Lena means, call me at that number.”

Ellie reached for the sleeve, but Vincent didn’t release it. He locked eyes with her. “You and I have never gotten along, Agent Conway, but I need you to trust that we’re on the same team. Call me. No one else. Understood?”

Anxiety churned in her belly, but she returned his stare and lied easily. “I will.”

Vincent eyed her suspiciously, as if he wasn’t sure whether to believe her, but he released his grip on the sleeve. As she followed him out of the room, it felt like a thousand-pound weight settled on her shoulders. He wasn’t helping her out of kindness. He was using her to find the evidence.

But why? For his own purposes? He’d always been ambitious, and taking down the Iron Fist would be a prime feather in his cap.

Or was he the mole? If she contacted him the moment she got her hands on the evidence, he could hand it over to the Iron Fist and report back to the FBI that this was a wild goose hunt.

She couldn’t trust him. The only person she could trust was Daniel.

And that was more true today than ever.

Vincent stepped aside to speak to a doctor, pointing toward a room on the left.

Ellie quickened her steps, shoving all her confusion aside, and focused on getting to Daniel.

She heard him from the hallway. His tone was demanding and authoritative.

“I don’t care if you think I need more antibiotics.

Get this IV out of me before I rip it out myself and hunt through every room of this place for Ellie. I’m done being patient.”

She pushed open the door. Daniel was standing in the center of the room, an IV line stretching behind him.

His hair was wild, his expression thunderous as he glared at Mike and a nurse.

His right pants leg had been sliced mid-thigh and a thick bandage stretched down to his knee.

He looked battle-weary and furious, but he was whole.

Alive. She couldn’t stop the tears from pricking her eyes.

“Don’t yell at the nurse.” Ellie marched inside and straight up to Daniel. She caught a flash of relief on his face before she wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek against his chest in a hug. “You’re being a bad patient.”

His embrace was immediate. Daniel breathed in deep, his fingers tangling in her hair. “You okay?”

“I’m fine. I wasn’t the one who got shot.” She pulled back and then directed him to the bed. “Sit down and listen to the nurse so we can get out of here. I want to see Owen.”

Now more than ever, she wanted to hold her son in her arms. Protect him. With the FBI in the picture, things had grown more complicated. More unsettled.

More dangerous.

Daniel’s injury was a physical reminder of all her worst fears.

If she didn’t find the evidence soon, none of them might survive.