CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
The sun poured through the sheer drapes. The aroma of French-pressed coffee wafted from the silver carafe. Angela speared another bite of pancakes as Sawyer called Parker on speaker and set his cell phone between them.
Pleasantries said, Parker got down to business. “I have an address for you.”
Angela’s eyes went to Sawyer’s. “An address for what?”
“Mylene Hathaway.”
She did a double take at the phone. “How is that possible?”
Parker blew out with an exhausted chortle. “You don’t want to know how that kind of magic happens.”
“Yeah, Parker. I do.”
“Did you ever have a kid in an algebra class that asked, ‘When are we ever going to need to know how to do this?’”
She briefly recalled the nightmare of SAT study guides and then envisioned Parker plotting slope-intercept formulas on a whiteboard. “I might’ve been that kid,” she admitted.
“Math’s nothing but a game,” he replied. “Find the variables. Solve the puzzle. Finding Mylene has been like isolating the variables and reworking the equations.”
How could Mylene have existed all these years in captivity, and no one did the math correctly? Her disbelief was giving way to anger. “Are you kidding me?”
“Don’t shoot the messenger—and it’s only an educated guess.”
“One of Parker’s educated guesses,” Sawyer pointed out. “So there’s a negative chance of his being wrong.”
Parker didn’t disagree. “You two will have to see what there is to see.”
“Right.” Something in Parker’s voice needled under her skin. She glanced at Sawyer. He focused on his coffee. “Is there something else?” she asked.
“This is the thing, Angela,” Parker said. “Given the variables and my analysis, I’m pretty sure she’s alive.”
Sawyer didn’t look up from his coffee, and Parker’s voice was still off. Her stomach bottomed out. “But…?”
“I don’t know if she’s held against her will or on Pham’s payroll.”
Parker’s words landed like a wrecking ball.
Sawyer didn’t share her jaw-dropping reaction. A moment later, he asked, “You okay?”
“That’s insane.” She recoiled. “Mylene didn’t kill her husband and sister to work for Pham.”
Sawyer pinched his lips but shrugged. “We aren’t going to know anything until we check the situation out.”
“Exactly,” Parker confirmed. “Get eyes on the situation. Confirm it’s her. Then we decide what’s needed. An extraction plan or law enforcement.”
Angela’s mind whirled. She’d spent years with this woman in her head. After only two weeks of investigating, she was sure Mylene needed Titan’s assistance. “I am here to help her.”
“We’re here to find her,” Sawyer said quietly.
Find . Not save . This felt like a betrayal.
Sawyer scooted closer. “If this isn’t who Pham’s willing to give up in negotiations, then there might be someone still out there who needs help.”
That elaboration didn’t help her rushing thoughts. “Then the Feds might still cut a deal with Pham, and he won’t stay in prison.”
Neither man disagreed.
“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” Sawyer offered.
“Not find her?” She jerked back. “Like hell I’m not.”
His lips quirked.
“You might not like what you see,” Parker added.
“Where is she?” Angela asked.
“If it’s her…” Parker’s keyboard clicked. “She’s about thirty minutes away.”
She recalled when ACES exploded into the facility where Pham had kept her and Chelsea. It was such a barren place to live. With concrete bars and chain-link fences, she’d reimagined her surroundings into a livable house. The food was good. They tried to make sure she was never bored. But it was just an ignored commercial industrial depot. “Is she in a warehouse?”
“Actually, no. She lives in a regular house.”
Betrayal hit again. She didn’t know why. Pham kept Mylene in a house but not Angela? Or did Mylene live in a house as a traitor on Pham’s payroll? Her stomach roiled.
Sawyer’s gaze narrowed, but he said nothing to her. “Anything else we need to know?” he asked Parker. “Otherwise, we’ll probably finish breakfast and game out our next move.”
What was with all the game and puzzle talk? She pressed her fingers into her temples.
“I’ll send over everything I have—and Angela?”
“Yeah?”
“No matter which way this goes, you figured out something major. The Feds should’ve listened to you years ago.”
“Thanks,” she managed before Sawyer disconnected the call. “You knew something already, didn’t you?”
He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “I knew there were possibilities that you might not like.”
Her shoulders slumped.
“I’ve always known this could go a lot of ways.” He studied her and added, “Yeah, I knew a few hours before dinner last night. Parker said it was possible, that he didn’t know enough to say, and that he had more to look into.”
“He knew enough to mention it to you.”
“Yeah,” he admitted.
“But you didn’t say anything last night?” She shook her head. “I can’t believe you.”
After an overly long moment, Sawyer said, “There were two very different possibilities about Mylene. She was either a victim or a traitor. Possibilities . Working hypotheses that Parker had to figure out. Not intel. There was nothing we could do.”
“So you didn’t tell me.”
“I figured, why fuck up a good night with a woman that was so damn excited about a pretty dress—when there was jack shit that we could do about it. I didn’t burden you with news that could wait.”
She wanted to yell. Angela pushed out her chair, stood up, and stormed toward the window. But her frustration with Sawyer wasn’t there. He was right. There had been nothing they could do.
The person she was really upset with was Mylene.
Or maybe herself.
She rubbed her temples. Ibrahim would have some catchy piece of advice that would help. Something about realizing what was in her control. For all the therapy, she couldn’t recall anything that would assist her.
Angela turned toward the table. Sawyer simply sat there, waiting for her to freak out or shut down. She didn’t want to do either—but realized he’d been kind to keep the possibility of Mylene to himself last night. He’d been looking out for her. Always the bodyguard.
She walked toward him and crawled into his lap. Sawyer wrapped his arms around her and held her close.
“This is hard,” she said. Her head rested on his shoulder. “I don’t know if I can do it.”
“Sure you can. It might not be how you envisioned, but it’ll be done.” He rubbed her back. “It’s almost over.”
A cry caught in her throat. It was almost over. Sawyer had meant to make her feel better. Now, she wanted to weep. Their investigation could be over by the end of the day, and where would that leave her and him?
He cupped her chin and turned her face to his. “Ange?”
She tried to look away, but that was no use. Tears welled in her eyes.
“I agree with Parker,” he said. “No matter what happens with Mylene, you did something extraordinary.”
The tears fell and burned down her cheeks. “I guess so.” She was heartbroken. How could she lose this man so quickly? Angela rolled her lips together. He was never hers to keep. Maybe before last night, she could have walked away unscathed. But he’d made love to her. Before she’d fallen asleep in his arms, she’d imagined what it might look like if they had a different life. One in which they lived in a beach house with little kids to play football in the sand. Or a life in a coastal town where they could dress up, dine on tiny plates of haute cuisine, and then devour greasy burgers under the moonlight.
With his thumb, he swiped the tears from her cheeks. “When you first told Boss Man that you wanted to find Mylene, all I could think of was how it wouldn’t work.” Sawyer brushed back her hair. “I was wrong. Hell, you even came up with a signature question.”
She shut her eyes and shook her head. “It all seems so trivial now.”
“I’m proud of you, Angela. No matter what we find today.”
There was nothing to say. She couldn’t explain how her heart had already ached. Instead, she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face against his neck.
Composing herself took longer than she wanted. But after a few sniffly breaths, she returned to her chair opposite Sawyer. “I guess we should start our day. What did Parker send us?”
Sawyer took a sip of coffee. “Maybe you should eat first?” He speared a bite of pancake as if to remind her they hadn’t finished their plates.
“I’m not hungry.” After his disapproving look, though, she picked up her fork and played with her pancakes.
“All right, Parker says…” He scrolled. “Not much except an address and location summary.” Sawyer chewed a bite of pancake, read, and added, “It’s a small house owned by an untraceable shell company. Not a very big place. Overgrown lot. Minimal activity on the utilities. Water and electricity usage suggest a one-person household. No vehicle registered there.” He took another bite and swallowed it. “No name history of note from the postal service and various direct mail distribution houses.” He shrugged and set down his fork and phone. “I have no idea how Parker finds the places he sends us to, but he’s rarely wrong.”
“What are we going to do when we get there?”
“Knock on the door?” he suggested with a half laugh.
“I’m serious.”
“I am too. Scope the place and see what there is to see. We can’t have a plan until we check it out. Titan has US-based teams that could be there in a snap if we need backup. If we don’t?” He shrugged. “We knock on the door? I pick a lock? We’ll see what we see and make a game-time decision.” He gestured to her ignored pancakes. “Finish those, and then we go?”
Some of her appetite had returned. She agreed.
Sawyer moved to his suitcase. “I’d feel better about all of this if I had a weapon and you had a vest.”
“So let’s stop somewhere and arm ourselves.” She was somewhat surprised that Amanda hadn’t arranged for weapons and security equipment. Still, it made sense given that they were trying to keep knowledge of Angela’s location to as few people as possible. Especially if all they were supposed to do while at the safe house was wait. Since they’d left Emerald Isle, nothing had felt remotely dangerous.
“I’d be more comfortable if Titan made the arrangements.”
“Do you even have a lockpicking kit?” She looked dubiously at his closet. The concierge who arranged for their clothes was likely not the same person Amanda or Parker would ask for weapons and surveillance equipment.
“You’d be surprised what I can use to get into places.”
She snorted. “I doubt that.” Angela took a last sip of coffee and pushed away from the table. “Will we come back here after we go to find Mylene?”
His shoulders lifted. “Another thing we’ll figure out after we investigate the address.”
“Gee, you know how much I love uncertainties.”
He laughed. “Well, then, let’s get you some information, sweetheart.”
Fifteen minutes later, she was dressed, had said a loving goodbye to the green dress, and was out the door to find Mylene—and put an end to this romantic time with Sawyer.