Chapter 24
Chapter twenty-four
Crowe
Friday morning, I got up early because I had a meeting with Wolfe at eight. I left Noah sleeping in the bed we’d shared every night since we’d been back in Vesper and went into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. I also started the electric kettle with water for Noah’s tea.
I was standing there with the fridge open, trying to decide what to do about breakfast, when he stumbled into the room. He’d tossed on a pair of sweatpants that hung low on his hips and nothing else. He rubbed his eyes before grumbling, “You’re up early.”
“I have a meeting at eight with Wolfe.”
He looked at me. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, it’s a strategy session. Just working through our options.” I kept my voice even, not wanting him to worry.
“Okay,” he said with a shrug. He trusted me to tell him what mattered when it mattered, which was something he’d learned to do, and I didn’t take that lightly.
I poured myself a cup of coffee and handed him a mug for his tea. He smiled at me and filled it with water. Then he opened up the metal heart he’d purchased at Mars’ shop and carefully filled it with loose-leaf tea before dropping it in the cup.
“Mars texted me yesterday,” he said. “He wants to know if I’d be interested in teaching a workshop on flower arranging at his shop.”
“What did you say?”
“That I’d think about it.” He turned the bracelet once on his wrist, the way he did sometimes without noticing. “I think I want to say yes. I know I can’t go back to work yet, but I miss flowers, so something like that might be fun.”
“Then you should do it,” I said.
He looked at me. “You think so?”
“Sure. Why not. One of us can come with you just to be safe, but it would be good for you to get out of the apartment, and Mars’s shop is a good space.”
He reached over and touched the bracelet Mars had given him and nodded. “Yeah, it is a good space.”
“I have forty minutes before the meeting. What do you want for breakfast?”
“How about breakfast burritos?”
“I’ll cook the stuff, if you roll the burritos.” I bumped my shoulder against his.
Hawk was already at the conference table when I came in, coffee in hand, and a look on his face that said he’d already been working on solutions to the problems for a while and had opinions.
Gator was beside him, phone face-down. Kat was at the far end with her laptop open, which meant she’d already been pulling data since before anyone else had breakfast. Diego was leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed and the particular stillness he had when he was working through something.
Wolfe came in last, closed the door, and sat at the head of the table.
“We need a long-term plan for Noah’s safety,” Wolfe said.
“Corvane made a threat in a public venue in front of an FBI agent and walked out of that room like he had nothing to worry about. That tells me everything I need to know about how confident he is.” He looked around the table. “So. What are our options?”
It wasn’t a question.
Kat spoke first. “I’ve been tracking Corvane’s US movements for the past three weeks.
He’s careful but not invisible. The Miami contact and the New York lawyer have both gone quiet since the Gala.
Either they’ve been told to stand down, or they’re moving assets.
” She turned her laptop so everyone at the table could see it.
“Either way, the network is still active. Chance’s team is monitoring them but hasn’t found anything actionable yet. ”
“Timeline?” Hawk asked.
“Unknown. Could be weeks. Could be months.” She paused. “Corvane is patient. He’s made that clear.”
“So we can’t count on Chance moving quickly enough,” Gator said.
“We can’t count on it,” Wolfe said. “That’s what we’re hoping for, but he can’t create evidence where it doesn’t exist, and Corvane is careful.” He looked at the table. “So what are our options?”
We spent the next twenty minutes going through the obvious ones.
Increased security at the building, but Kat had seen to that.
Restricting Noah’s movements, which was viable in the short term but unsustainable long term.
Attempting to locate and neutralize Corvane’s US network, which was possible, but it would take months and might accelerate the threat rather than reduce it.
Caden knocked and came in with a tray.
He set it on the middle of the table with his normal quiet efficiency. It had cups, a small pot, and a plate of something that appeared to be shortbread. I reached for a cup before I registered that the smell coming from the pot was not coffee.
I looked at it.
Wolfe looked at it.
“It’s green tea,” Caden said. “I went shopping with Mika and Noah at the Chrysalis Moon the other day. The man there said it was a focus blend. Good for long meetings.” He set a cup in front of Wolfe, like the man always drank herbal tea.
The room was silent.
Wolfe looked at the cup of green tea. Then he looked at Caden. Something moved through his expression that he immediately got under control, and then he picked up the cup and drank.
Gator opened his mouth.
Wolfe looked at him.
Gator closed his mouth.
Hawk studied the ceiling.
Diego appeared to be very interested in his notes.
Caden collected the empty tray, set the shortbread in the center of the table, and left with a satisfied grin like he was pleased with what he’d done and didn’t regret it for a minute.
Wolfe drank his tea, looked at the whiteboard, and said, “Continue.”
Diego waited until the shortbread had been passed around before he spoke. “I want to put something on the table,” he said. “And I want you to hear it out before you react.”
“Go ahead,” Wolfe said.
“We could fake his death.”
The room processed that.
Diego sat forward. “That would be the cleanest solution. You make it look like Noah Gentry is gone… accident, disappearance, whatever sells best… and suddenly there’s nothing for Corvane to collect on. He paid for a person who no longer exists. The contract is void.” He looked around the table.
“And Noah’s actual life?” I asked.
“He’d have to build a new one. New name, new location, new history. It’s doable.”
“He just rebuilt his life,” I said. “He spent the last six months making something he could actually live in. His therapist, his friends, his work.” I looked at Diego. “You’re asking him to lose all of that.”
“I’m asking if it’s better than the alternative.”
The room went quiet.
Diego wasn’t wrong, exactly. I didn’t like what he’d said, but I couldn’t dismiss it.
“It’s on the table,” Wolfe said. “But we’re not there yet. What else?”
Hawk put forward a modified version of it without the fake death.
Just a relocation. New identity, new city, deep enough cover that Corvane’s network couldn’t find him without significant effort and resources.
“Witness protection without the federal involvement,” he said.
“We have the contacts to build a solid legend. New name, new background, documented history. Put him somewhere he has no prior connection to.”
“There’s no guarantee that Corvane will stop,” Kat said. “He has resources. Given enough time and motivation, he could find a sufficiently constructed identity. It buys time. It doesn’t end the threat.”
“Nothing ends the threat except Chance getting something that sticks,” Gator said.
“That or ending Corvane,” I said.
The room went silent for a second while everyone let that sink in. I was no assassin, but if that was what it took to keep Noah safe, I wouldn’t hesitate.
“Let’s focus on our legal options for now.” Wolfe gave me a look that told me he knew what I was thinking, and while he didn’t approve, he didn’t necessarily disapprove either.
“Then we’re back to Chance,” Hawk said.
I made brief eye contact with everyone in the room and then looked directly at Wolfe.
“I just want to be clear. If we relocate him. If it comes to that.” I paused.
“If we build him a new identity and move him somewhere Corvane can’t find him…
you’ll need to do the same for me. Because I won’t let him go alone. ”
Wolfe looked at me for a long moment. Not surprised, but I knew he wouldn’t be. “I know,” he said. “That’s why it’s the last option.”
Something settled in the room. Hawk looked at me with the expression he’d had since the cabin, the one that said he knew, and that he approved of my choice.
“So the plan,” I said. “As it stands.”
Wolfe set down his tea. “We give Chance the time he needs. We maintain security at the building. We continue monitoring Corvane’s network through Kat.
We keep Noah’s life as normal as possible.
He’s free to leave the building with an escort, but free to leave.
He isn’t on lockdown.” He looked around the table.
“If Chance gets something that sticks, we’re done.
If Corvane moves against Noah before that happens, we respond.
And if it becomes clear that Chance’s timeline is too long and the threat is escalating—” He paused.
“Then we revisit the identity option. With all that it entails.”
“One more thing,” Wolfe said, looking at me. “Noah should know what was discussed today. Not the details, but he should know that we have a plan and what the priority order is.” He held my gaze. “He deserves to know that we’re not just sitting around waiting while his life is on hold.”
“I’ll tell him tonight,” I said.
Wolfe nodded and stood, which meant the meeting was over.
People began gathering their things. Kat was up and headed out the door to go back to her cave.
I was gathering up my stuff and noticed Wolfe look at the cup in his hand with an amused expression before draining what was left and setting it back down on the table.
I hurried out to hide my smile. Looked like the Three Bears had gone caffeine-free for the time being.