38. She Learned From Him
She Learned From Him
Chris answered.“Camila?”She closed her eyes.Just hearing his voice almost broke her.“Hi.”
Everything on the other end changed.“Camila. Where are you?”She looked at Diego.
He pointed toward her.Talk.“I don’t know.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“The baby?”Camila’s throat tightened.“I think we’re okay.”Silence.Then Chris exhaled.“Okay. Listen to me—”Diego whispered:“Tell him where you are.”
Camila looked around deliberately.Old walls.Dirty windows.A rusted metal door.
She knew exactly what Diego wanted.So did Chris.She had to warn him without warning Diego.“Chris.”
“I’m here.”
“Diego wants you to come get me.”Silence.Diego’s eyes narrowed.Camila continued quickly.“He said you should come alone.”Chris understood immediately.His voice became eerily calm.“Is he standing there?”Camila looked directly at Diego.“Yes.”
“Can he hear me?”
“No.”
“Good.”Chris paused.“Don’t give me anything he tells you to give me.”Camila almost smiled.God, she loved him.Diego motioned impatiently.“Tell him.”Camila swallowed.
“There’s an old Vargas property outside the city.”Diego nodded.She gave Chris the location Diego provided.Chris didn’t respond for several seconds.“Camila.”
“Yeah?”
“Look around.”Her eyes moved.Diego frowned.“What?”Chris continued.
“Don’t make it obvious. Tell me something that doesn’t belong.
”Camila’s heart pounded.She casually turned toward the window.Fencing.Vehicles.Old equipment.Power lines.A water tower in the distance.Then she saw it.A faded road sign beyond the property.She couldn’t read all of it.But enough.
“Remember when you told me I never look where I’m going?
”Chris went silent.Diego looked confused.Camila continued.
“You were right.”A beat.Then Chris:“Road sign?”Her eyes filled. “Yes.”
“What do you see?”Camila smiled faintly at Diego as though she were simply talking to her boyfriend.“Not much.”She gave Chris the fragments she could see.He understood.Of course he did.Then Chris’s voice softened.“Baby?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”Camila fought the tears.“I love you too.”
“And I’m coming.”She looked at Diego.His expression was satisfied.He thought he’d won.Camila knew better.“Chris?”
“Yeah?”
“Be careful.”His answer came immediately.“Always.”The call disconnected.Diego took the phone.“There.”He smiled.“That wasn’t so difficult.”Camila stared at him.“You’re an idiot.”
His smile faded.“What?”
“You think you just brought Chris Walker here.”She stepped closer.“No.”Her eyes went cold.“You just told the FBI where you are.”Diego laughed.“Walker won’t risk a tactical team when I’ve got you.”Camila’s hand moved over her stomach again.“You still don’t understand him.”
“What don’t I understand?”Camila looked directly into his eyes.“Chris doesn’t choose between being an FBI agent and loving me.”A beat.“He’s both.”Diego’s expression changed.
And Camila realized something else.Chris had told her to look around.So she did.
Doors.Windows.Keys.Vehicles.Guards.Patterns.Diego thought the phone call had been about getting Chris into the trap.He had no idea it had also given Camila something she desperately needed.Time to build her way out.Camila waited until the footsteps disappeared.Then she started sawing at the zip tie again.Slowly.Quietly.The nail file scraped against plastic.Her wrists burned.Her fingers cramped.She stopped every few seconds to listen.Nothing.Then—voices outside.Diego was arguing with someone.
“You should’ve killed Walker at the house. ”
“And lose the only reason he’ll come here?”
“He’s FBI. He’s bringing half the fucking Bureau.”
“Exactly.”Camila’s stomach tightened.Diego wanted Chris here.Not eventually.
Now.Which meant she was running out of time. One of the guards bought her to a bedroom and locked her in it.She looked down at her wrists.“Come on.”Saw.Twist.Pull.The plastic dug deeper.She bit her lip to keep from making a sound.Then—snap.Camila froze.
The zip tie dropped onto the floor.For half a second, she simply stared at her hands.
Free.“Oh my God.”Then Chris’s voice seemed to appear inside her head.Don’t panic.
Right.Getting her hands free wasn’t escaping.She needed to get out of the building.
Get to a vehicle.Get away.Call Chris again.And somehow avoid being shot in the process.
Easy.Camila stood.Her knees trembled.She forced them steady.She moved toward the door and listened.Nothing immediately outside.The door was locked from the exterior.
Problem.She searched the room.Shelves.Old tools.Broken furniture.Metal brackets.
Nothing useful.Then she remembered the office.There had been another interior door.
Maybe the rooms connected.Camila crossed toward it.Locked.
“Of course.”She looked at the hinges.Old.Rusty.Then at a narrow gap where the door had warped away from the frame.Camila slid the nail file inside.Nothing.Again.She worked it downward.Her hands shook.
“Come on.”Click.Camila froze.The door shifted.Her eyes widened. “No fucking way.”
She pulled.The door opened.Camila smiled.
“Thank you, FBI boyfriend.”She slipped through.The office smelled like dust and gasoline.Old desk.Filing cabinets.A window covered with plywood.Another door.Camila moved toward it.Unlocked.She opened it barely an inch.Loading area.Exactly what she’d seen earlier.Black SUV.White pickup.A dark sedan.
Three vehicles.Two men near the main entrance.One smoking.The other looking at his phone.Camila’s eyes went immediately to their hands.One had a handgun visible at his waist.The other had a rifle leaning against the wall beside him.Hands before faces.
Chris.She looked farther.Keys.Where would they keep—There.A ring hanging from a pegboard beside the old dispatch desk.Multiple sets.Her pulse jumped.She needed one.
Camila waited.The smoking man walked outside.One left.The other kept staring at his phone.She could hear Diego somewhere deeper in the house.Camila slipped out.Quiet.Five steps.Ten.The guard looked up.Camila ducked behind the SUV.Her heart slammed against her ribs.Footsteps.Closer.She crouched.The guard stopped.Camila covered her mouth.
“Marco?”The smoking man answered from outside.“What?”
“You hear something?”
“No.”Silence.Camila closed her eyes.The guard muttered something and returned to his phone.She waited.Then moved.Keys.She reached the pegboard.Grabbed the first set.
Ford.Pickup.Second.Nothing recognizable.Third.A black key fob.She pressed unlock.
Behind her—beep-beep.The SUV flashed.Camila’s eyes widened.The guard’s head snapped up.“Hey!”
“Shit.”Camila ran.“HEY!”She yanked open the driver’s door.The guard reached for his gun.Camila dove inside.Locked the doors.“CAMILA!”She hit the start button.
The engine roared.The guard slammed his hand against the window.“OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!”
“No!”Camila threw the SUV into reverse.She stomped on the accelerator.The vehicle shot backward.Way too fast.“Oh shit!”She jerked the wheel.The rear of the SUV swung around and smashed into a stack of plastic crates.The guard jumped away.Camila slammed the brake.Her heart nearly came through her chest.Chris’s voice appeared in her head.
Don’t panic.“Easy for you to say.”Men were shouting now.Diego appeared from the building.His face transformed when he saw her behind the wheel.“STOP HER!”
Camila shifted into drive.Diego reached for his gun.“Oh, hell no.”She floored it.
The SUV launched forward.The loading-area doors were partially open.Not enough.
Camila aimed for the gap.“No.”She corrected.Too much.“Shit.”Corrected again.
The side mirror clipped the door frame and exploded.Camila screamed.But the SUV made it through.Outside.She was outside.For the first time since she’d been taken—
free.“YES!”Then a gunshot hit the rear of the SUV.Camila ducked instinctively.
Another.“Okay! Less celebrating!”She pressed harder.The SUV tore down the dirt road.
Behind her, engines started.Camila looked into the mirror.Headlights.Two vehicles.
“Of course.”She grabbed the phone she’d taken from the SUV’s console.Locked.
“Come on.”Emergency call.No.She needed Chris.She didn’t know his number.
Then she remembered.The burner Diego had used.Chris’s number had been called.
Recent calls.But she didn’t have Diego’s phone.“Think.”She looked around the SUV.
Another phone sat in the center console.She grabbed it.Unlocked.Thank God criminals apparently had terrible phone security.Recent calls.Names.Numbers.Then—ROMAN
Camila nearly laughed.Diego had saved Chris’s old number.She hit it.Ring.Once.
“Come on.”Twice.“Answer.”Three—“Walker.”Camila’s eyes filled.
“Hi.”Silence.Then Chris’s entire voice changed.
“Camila?”She almost sobbed.“Yeah.”Chris stood so quickly his chair crashed backward.Every agent in the command room looked at him.Mercer turned.Sloan froze.
Logan stopped speaking mid-sentence.Chris held up one hand.Nobody talk.“Camila?”
“Yeah.”He closed his eyes.Alive.She was alive.His knees almost gave out.“Baby, where are you?”Camila looked through the windshield.“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“I mean I was kidnapped, Chris. Nobody gave me an address.”His eyes closed again.Right.Stupid question.“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“The baby?”
“I think we’re okay.”Chris gripped the table.The entire room heard it.Baby.
Mercer immediately signaled the technical team.Trace.Now.Chris forced his voice calm.
“Where are you?”
“Driving.”A beat.Chris’s eyes opened.“You’re what?”
“I took a car, or stole a car.”Logan’s eyebrows shot up.Sloan covered her mouth.
Mercer silently mouthed:She what?Chris stared into nothing.“Of course you fucking did.”
Camila almost laughed.“I learned from someone.”
“Camila, this isn’t funny.”
“I know.”
“Are they following you?”She checked the mirror.“Yes.”Chris’s face changed.“How many?”
“Two vehicles.”The room exploded into motion.Chris pointed toward the phone.“Trace her.”
“We are.”Mercer moved toward the map.Chris grabbed his vest.Mercer caught his arm.
“Where are you going?”
“To her.”
“We don’t have her location yet.”
“Then figure it out while I’m moving.”