“Did they?”
“I have no idea. I’ve never heard of him.”
“But the questions got your attention.”
“They did. He said the name had come up in an unrelated case and blew it off.”
She was making too much of this. People got mistaken for other people or asked about people they didn’t know all the time. It’d happened to her right before Thanksgiving. That old man with dementia had mistaken her for someone he knew named Helena. “Wait a second. Something just occurred to me. Medros’s guy asking me about Rogan Gregos might not mean anything.”
“Oh, I’m betting it means something.”
“Sorry. I phrased that badly. When he went to Handel, he produced identification to Security that his name was Rogan Gregos,” she explained. “It could be—”
“When he came to get the thumb drives, he dropped the name to you so when you heard it from Fitch, you’d know Medros’s surrogate had come calling and to keep your mouth shut.”
“Exactly,” she said. “It was a warning.” Something else niggled at her mind. She couldn’t put her finger on it yet, but instinctively she knew she need to focus because whatever it was, it was important.
“That makes sense.” Shadow Watcher sounded a little shellshocked. “And you’re sure the name was Rogan Gregos?”
“Yes.”
Shadow Watcher went silent for a long moment. “I’ll check anyway and see what I can find. Meanwhile, I’m already convinced Bain’s dirty.” Shadow Watcher’s tone left no doubt. He didn’t like where this was going. “Has to be.”
Her own reaction to Bain aligned with Shadow Watcher’s. “I’m thinking Bain either told Medros straight out about the thumb drives or he somehow let him know. Otherwise, Medros’s guy couldn’t have gotten to me before Bain did. There was only a twenty-minute window.”
“Bain well might have waited just out of sight until after Medros’s henchman left,” Shadow Watcher said. “Either way, Marsh is right. Bain’s concern is his case, not your life, and Medros won’t stop coming. We’ve got to get you out of there.”
The wisdom in that conclusion tasted bitter. But she couldn’t argue, the move was logically sound. “I agree.”
“You have the drives with you?”
She frowned through the windshield, ran a visual perimeter sweep around the car, and spotted nothing odd or strange. “How did you know I kept a copy?”
“You’re the Gate Keeper. Of course, you kept a copy.”
For a stranger, he knew her well. “They’re with me.”
“Hit the nearest ATM, withdraw all you can, and then head north,” he said. “Use only this phone and contact only me. Don’t email or text anyone. Don’t call anyone else. Don’t go anywhere anyone knows you. I’ll get you what you need. Right now, just head north. When you’re almost to Jackson, Mississippi, call me. That’ll take about three hours. You up for that drive?”
Did she have any choice? “Yes.” Honestly, she wondered if she’d ever sleep again.
“Okay, I’m going to alert the troops. We’ve got you, GK. Just head north—and don’t get an hour or two down the road and re-think this. You’re not making too much of it. You are in jeopardy. Bain learned too quickly about the house explosion, he heard too quickly from the CI there was a contract on your father and then on you. Medros found out too quickly about the thumb drives and had his goon intercept them. It’s not that one thing is off, it’s all off. Marsh might be clean, but his hands are tied. We don’t know. But we can’t bet your life on him keeping you safe when he’s already told you he can’t do it.”
“I won’t re-think it and turn around. I promise. But there’s so much I’m leaving undone. My job—they’re expecting me on Monday. My father’s affairs. My apartment.”
“Don’t worry,” Shadow Watcher said. “I told you, the troop is on alert. We’ll handle everything. You just drive. Remember, call me before you hit Jackson.”
Overwhelmed with emotion, Gabby swallowed hard. “Thank you, SW.”
“Be careful and drive safe.”
“I will.” She ended the call reluctantly. What the troops could do about the personal business she needed to handle she had no idea. But now wasn’t the time to worry about any of it. He said they’d handle it, and they would handle it.
Dead women don’t take care of anything.
Yet the world somehow limps on without them.
Chapter Nine
Near Jackson, Mississippi
Wednesday, December 9, 8:00 a.m.
Gabby stopped south of Jackson, Mississippi, to fill the tank with gas.
In the restroom, she soaped her hands then splashed her face with cold water and dabbed it dry. Afterward, she went into the convenience store and bought a large coffee. She wasn’t at all sleepy. Fear put you on an adrenaline high like nothing else.
Back in the Mustang, she pulled away from the pump and over to the edge of the store’s parking lot. The sun had been up for a good while and she’d watched cold wind whip at trees for miles. She texted Shadow Watcher from the burner phone. “Near Jackson.”
“Call me.”
Odd. But maybe not. She dialed his number.
“Hello.”
“Good morning,” Gabby said, then sipped at her coffee. Steam furled from the cup.
“You safe?”
“I think so.” She was in the middle of nowhere.
“No one followed you or anything?”
“No.” She’d checked her mirrors a thousand times. “I’m certain of it.”
“Good.” He let out a staggered breath. “TreasureSeeker tells me you hit three ATMs on your way out.”
Not at all surprised by that, she admitted it. “I did. They were close by and I was there, so I thought I’d better seize the opportunity.”
“Good thinking,” he said. “Okay. I want you to drive on to Jackson then about six miles north of downtown. Off to your right, you’ll see a tall sign for a Chevy dealership. Go there.”
“Why?”
“You’ve got to change cars.”
Change cars? Give up her Mustang? “But I love this car.”
“No choice, GK. Unless you want to be in it when it’s totaled.”
“Totaled?” He couldn’t be going to destroy her Mustang. After all she’d already given up, now this, too? Appalled, she tried and failed to keep a whine out of her voice. “But it’s a vintage classic.”
“It’s necessary, Gabby. Troop Search and Rescue has evaluated the situation, and the only way you’re going to survive this is if you’re already dead.”
She sputtered hot coffee. “What?”
He didn’t repeat himself, just stayed silent and waited.
“Oh, God.” Her mind went into overdrive. She grabbed a tissue and dabbed at the spewed coffee, swiped it off the steering wheel. “What about money? My job?”
“Consider everything gone.” He sighed. “But don’t panic. The troops are working on all of it. We’ll do all we can to recover as much as we can.”