Page 50 of Sinner's Salvation

“Where to?” Evan asked.

“I know a place,” Baz said. He glanced at Brian and Anna. “So do you.”

Brian frowned and leaned forward. “The Hotel? Isn’t it an awfullypublicplace?”

“Some things are better done out in the open.”

“Like what?” Anna asked. “We’d be telling everyone where we are.”

“It’s a shell game, mom,” Baz said, with a grin that made the hair on Evan’s neck stand up. “They might see us go in, but they’ll have no idea where we go after that.”

Anna sat back as if someone had punched her. “Yvgeny,” she muttered.

“Exactly,” Baz said, with a nod. “My slightly paranoid cousin plans for everything.”

Baz’s smug expression clearly said he thought he’d saved the day.

“So we disappear,” Evan said. “Then what? We can’t stay out of sight forever. We need to deal with Ledger and his cronies.”

“We also need to deal with the other families and their desire to get their hands on any of our people with potential,” Anna added.

“Wait a sec,” Brian said, putting his hand up as if he were in school. “What do you mean, disappear? I don’t want to vanish. I want to go back to work like none of this crap ever happened.”

“We’re going to have to stay one step ahead of law enforcement, the US Army, and Homeland Security until we can prove Ledger lost his marbles and went rogue,” Evan said. “This is a messy situation. It might take a while.”

Anna gave him a sharp look. “What did your commander tell you to do?”

“I’m supposed to bring you and Brian to the FBI office in Manhattan.”

Everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at him.

He only cared about one person’s reaction, though. He watched Anna’s face, studying the smallest changes in expression. But she didn’t hide what she was thinking.

She slowly raised an eyebrow.

A challenge.

A question.

He kept his face impassive. “I won’t be following that order.”

“What?” Baz asked. “You’renot following orders?”

“Not this time.”

“Why not?” Anna asked.

“Because Ledger has gone off the deep end. He’s made the kind of accusations that often result in a person or persons disappearing off the face of the Earth. Our justice system isn’t built to handle cases where the government can come in, classify someone a terrorist, and in the interest of national security, hold them without trial or legal oversight.”

He leaned forward, almost into her personal space. “This is a case where we have to publicly prove you’re innocentbeforeyou’re taken into custody.” Evan glanced at Brian. “I think you might need to do the same.”

“You’re saying that everyone is out to get us?” Brian asked.

“Pretty much.”

“They might have to do that,” Baz said to Evan. “You don’t.”

“An order is an order. If I don’t show up with Anna and Brian, I’ll be the one who disappears.”

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