Chapter 9 #3
The asset. Crusher had started this journey thinking of the scientist as nothing more than an asset he had to extract. Now, she seemed like so much more. But he couldn’t let emotions cloud his mission completion. “Yes. Dr. Hale is on speaker with me.”
Her brow dipped slightly at the formality in his voice.
“I have Royce on the call now,” Swede said.
“Crusher, Dr. Hale. I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear you made it back stateside in one piece. How are you, Dr. Hale? Not too much worse for the journey?”
Her chin lifted. “I’m fine. Just glad to be back in the States.” She broke her hold on Crusher’s gaze and stared toward the exit. “When do we meet with Devon Marsh?”
“I’ll notify him next,” Royce said. “We have a suite for you just outside the airport where you can rest until Marsh gets there. He said it would be this afternoon. He’s on his way in from DC.”
Marta frowned. “I would’ve thought he’d be here to meet me.”
“That was the original plan,” Royce said. “He was set to fly in from DC and meet you the day your extraction helicopter was shot down. Since then, we haven’t been comfortable nailing down a specific day for him to plan a flight.”
Marta’s brow furrowed. “Why don’t I just fly to DC and meet him there?”
Crusher wondered the same thing. If Marsh wanted to secure Dr. Hale so badly, why hadn’t he insisted that Crusher take her all the way to DC?
“I asked him that same question,” Royce said. “Marsh said, based on the work Vasquez had you doing, he needed to have you set up in a secure lab in a secret location so that you aren’t intercepted again by Vasquez’s men.”
Marta nodded and sighed. “At the very least, I’d like to get some clothes before that happens, as I’m certain I won’t be going by my apartment in Atlanta first.”
“We can make that happen,” Crusher said softly.
“Just be careful,” Royce said. “As you’ve realized, Vasquez has people in many different places. They could be in Miami, for all we know, especially since that has always been the handoff location.”
Crusher had already thought about that and more. “Does anyone know where we’ll be staying? Have you informed Marsh of the hotel location?”
“I won’t until he arrives in Miami,” Swede said. “That way, no one but Royce and I know where we set you two up.”
“I don’t think Dr. Hale is safe until the handoff is complete.” Royce continued, “I’ve sent two more of our team, Drago and Phantom.”
“They’re good,” Crusher said. “When will they arrive?”
“They’ll join you in the baggage claim area,” Royce said. “Even they don’t know where you’re staying until you take them there. We were careful not to let anyone tap into our phones or theirs.”
“What about Marsh?” Crusher asked. “Is he bringing a security detail with him, or will our team be accompanying him with Dr. Hale to the secret location?”
“He assured me he’d bring a security detail. Your job is done when Devon Marsh receives Dr. Hale into his custody and that of the State Department.”
Crusher’s gaze studied the side of Marta’s face. She’d turned away from him, her face pale and her body tense.
After all they’d been through together, he didn’t like relying on someone else to keep her safe. “Could Marsh use one more person on his security detail?” Crusher asked.
Marta’s gaze shot back to him, her eyes widening briefly.
He held her gaze and his own breath, waiting for his boss’s response.
“He assured me he had sufficient staff to provide for Dr. Hart’s safety,” Royce said. “We’ll have your return flight to Texas booked for tomorrow.”
Crusher’s chest tightened.
“In the meantime, go to the hotel and get some rest,” Royce said. “Let us know if you need anything and when the handoff takes place.”
“Swede,” Crusher said, “what about the information Marta—Dr. Hale—asked you to look into?”
“Felix Krauss’s last known location was in Munich, Germany. He disappeared at the same time as you, Dr. Hale,” Swede said. “I’m still working on the IP address. It’s buried in a sophisticated redirection network. I have programs running and hope to identify it soon.”
“So, Krauss was picked up at the same time as Dr. Hale,” Royce said.
Marta was nodding her head. “Sounds like he might’ve been verifying my work for Vasquez. Please, if you learn who owns the IP address before or after my transfer, I’d still like to know.”
“As soon as I get it, I’ll pass it on,” Swede promised. “In the meantime, I’m glad you made it back to the States.”
“Same here,” Royce said. “I’m glad you both made it back. Keep me informed.”
“Roger,” Crusher said.
“Out here,” Royce and Swede said, and the call ended.
Crusher tucked the burner phone in his pocket. “Let’s go shopping.”
Marta’s brow wrinkled. “Are you sure we’ll be safe?”
“You heard the boss,” Crusher said with a brief grin. “We have backup waiting in baggage claim. I know the two he sent. They’re the best.”
“Okay.” Marta sighed. “It would be nice to have clothes that fit for wherever Marsh takes me.”
Crusher reached for Marta’s hand.
Marta hesitated and finally took his hand, but she didn’t meet his gaze. “It all seems so anticlimactic.”
Not usually one to believe in jinxes, Crusher cringed. “Let’s hope it stays that way.”
His gut told him the handoff would be anything but anticlimactic.
He prayed his gut was wrong. Just this once.