Page 5 of Last Minute

“I’m not feeling very well today, Ellie.” Beckett’s smile is weak, and it doesn’t amuse me. I glance around and find a nearby bench, outside of the security line. I grab the handles of both our suitcases and make a beeline for the bench, not waiting to see if Beckett will follow. Because I know he will.

When I’m in front of the bench, I point at it. “Sit,” I command. And Beckett does, still wincing at the pain.

“Now, you’re going to tell me what’s going on.”

“It’s just a little nausea and a cramp in my side.”

“Where?” Beckett places a hand near his right hip. “And you’re nauseated? Did you have any loss of appetite?”

Beckett nods.

I’m no doctor, but I did have appendicitis when I was fourteen. I don’t know how Beckett is even standing, let alone walking around the airport with me. I laid in bed for days before and after my appendectomy.

“Why didn’t you go to the doctor, Travis? You probably have appendicitis. You can’t be flying like this!”

“I didn’t want you to cancel your vacation, Pr—Ellie.”

“Someone else can fill in for you! I don’t need your appendix bursting when we’re thirty-five thousand feet in the air!”

Beckett glances at his watch. “It’s too late to call someone else in. They won’t make it before your flight leaves.”

“I can reschedule my flight. I can reschedule my trip. But I’m not letting you get on that plane.” Beckett winces again, and I know that this is serious. He needs to get to a hospital. “I’m calling an ambulance,” I say as I pull out my phone.

“Wait,” Beckett stops me by putting up a hand, “let me make a call first. I have a buddy over in the States who does EPA work. His office is just outside of D.C. I’ll get him to send somebody. Then you don’t have to reschedule your trip.” Beckett slowly pulls out his phone and swipes through his contact list.

A thought comes to mind, and a half-smile pops up on my face. “Travis, are you telling me to fly across the ocean without an EPA?”

Even though his face is lined with pain, Beckett smiles. “I won’t tell Their Majesties if you won’t.”

“Like that time with the zipline?” I wink conspiratorially. Mother and Father will never find out about the zipline. My lips are sealed.

Beckett smiles and mimes locking his lips and throwing away the key. It’s good to see that sliver of his personality back, so I turn and dial the emergency line to get an ambulance on its way to the airport. I hear Beckett on the phone, and he speaks in short, succinct sentences. Is it a little terrifying that I’m going to be boarding a plane alone and meeting someone I don’t know on the other side of the Atlantic?

Yes. But I trust Beckett. And if he says his guy in the States is good, then his guy in the States is good. My plans have already been upended not once, but twice now, and if that’s not a sign to learn how to go with the flow, I don’t know what is.

CHAPTER 5

Erik

Gideon walks into my office first thing in the morning without a knock.

“I have a new assignment for you.”

My ears perk up at the news. “Yes, sir?”

“An old friend of mine had a medical emergency and couldn’t make the flight with his…client.” I note the slight hesitation there. “He asked me for a favor. You need to be at Dulles in an hour.”

I stand from my desk, my brain already whirring with questions that need to be answered and things that need to be done. “Details on the client?” I ask as Gideon turns and strides out of my office. I hurry after him, grabbing my suit coat from by the door, and slipping it on as I follow him toward his office.

“Ellie Haynes. Female. Twenty-seven years old. Coming in on an international flight. The assignment is for six days, until her return flight on Saturday. The goal is to keep a low profile. I don’t have much to go on, considering Beckett was in the middle of a medical emergency. I’m sure she can provide you with more details when you pick her up from the airport in—” Gideon stops and looks at his watch. “—fifty-six minutes.”

Gideon turns to look at me, and I straighten, shifting to attention like we’re back in the force. “Beckett asked for the best I had, Donovan. Don’t make me a liar.”

I nod curtly, and when he turns and enters his office, shutting the door behind him, I kick my butt into gear and hurry out of the office.

Fifty-three minutes. I hope traffic isn’t bad today.

I wait just outside of the international arrivals, hoping that I’ll know Ellie Haynes when I see her. This is all very unconventional for an assignment. Usually, we have weeks of prep work and meetings with the client—either in person or over video call—so we know what we’re dealing with and who we’re protecting. Showing up to a last minute assignment, without knowing any of the details is not really my M.O. I plan. I inspect. I assess all potential threats and situations. Some might call it being paranoid, I call it part of the job.

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