Page 85 of Extracted

“I’m sorry. I’ve been trying to lie low. I think I got a glimpse of him, but I can’t be certain. I need to get closer.”

“You won’t be able to miss him. Our drone picked up a good image, and he has a bandage on the right side of his face, more than likely from the bomb.”

Gemma chewed the edge of her lip. “Okay, good to know. This wasn’t him then. I’m not sure if he’s even—”

“He’s there. We followed his car to the back alley but couldn’t get a sniper on him through his guards. If you can’t identify him in the next fifteen minutes, we’re making a move.”

Her hands turned sweaty and the phone threatened to slip from her grip. “You can’t do that. You could hit the wrong person—”

“We can’t afford to miss him, Gemma. You’ve got fifteen minutes.” Charlene hung up and Gemma pressed her fist to her forehead.

Dammit.

Tears stung her eyes. There was no way out of this. She couldn’t risk the CIA hitting an innocent person because she didn’t do her job, but she also couldn’t risk Dallas.

To hell with caution. She had to let Cole know they had a time limit. She tapped her fingers on the screen.

My boss gave me 15 minutes. Please hurry.

She tucked the phone and card away and exited the bathroom. A man stood outside the door and she stopped in her tracks—Cory.

Why the dude was hovering in the hallway outside the door was beyond her, and more than a little creepy. “Uh, what are you doing here?”

“Thought you ran out.” He held out an arm, and she gingerly rested her wrist on the inside of his elbow.

Great. Just her luck. She’d used Cory as a cover, and he was probably a psychopath.

“I was thinking we could go grab some food or coffee?”

She stopped and pressed her back against the wall at the end of the hallway. “Gee, that sounds fun. Actually, I’m meeting a friend here, so—”

He looked affronted. “I thought you said you were alone.”

A sliver of unease wound through her core. She let out a light laugh. “Well, I’m alone right now.”

“Fine,” he said with a shrug. “I’ll hang out with you until your friend shows. Maybe something will come up and then we can go chat somewhere.”

As if, dude.

She needed to get away from him, but she couldn’t leave the bar yet, and starting drama would only draw attention to her. “Let’s sit at the bar,” she said. “Might be easier to talk there.”

He led her through the myriad people again. How long would it take Cole to get here?

Heck, she didn’t even know what he looked like. She did a mental face-palm. Great. She had less than fifteen minutes before someone came with a bullet for Silas—or another bomb. She wouldn’t put it past the CIA, regardless of Charlene’s promises.

She had a mega mess to get herself out of, and now she was tangled with Cory, who’d turned out to be more than a little clingy.

He pulled out a stool at the bar and signaled to the bartender, who leaned in.

“Just water, please,” she said.

“Switching already, Felicia?”

Cory’s use of the fake name she’d given him almost stalled her brain.

He propped his arm on the bar and ordered a beer. Disdain flashed in his eyes. Now he was really putting her off. To hell with what he thought.

“I suppose,” she said with a shrug.

---