Page 19 of Sinner's Salvation

Evan let the door close behind himself and his unhappy companion, then gestured at the shower stall. “After you.”

Brian studied him with a disappointed expression on his face.

Putting a finger over his lips, Evan pulled a piece of paper out of his back pocket and handed it to the kid.

On it, he’d written in pencil:the agents who kidnapped you have gone rogue. Follow my lead.

Brian read the note twice, then glared at him and mouthed,really?

Evan nodded.

“Look, I don’t want to be a pain in the ass,” Brian said. He handed the note back. “But I don’t trust you. At all.”

“That’s fair, but I’m hoping you’ll keep an open mind.”

“Yeah, sure, dude,” Brian said, with all the sincerity of a car salesman on the last day of the month. He used the urinal, then went to the sink, washed his face and neck, hands and forearms. “I’m finished here.”

“Sure you don’t want to shower?”

“I’m fine. Let’s go before Ms. Breznik gets impatient.”

“You were injured?”

“Yeah, that jackass Homeland Security agent who shot Anna, also shot me. It nicked my arm.”

“Do you need any first aid?”

“I’m fine. For now.”

And from the stubborn set to his jaw, the baby FBI agent was done talking.

They returned to the holding room, the same two guards posted in the hallway.

Anna seemed genuinely surprised when Brian walked into the room. She inspected him, going from the top of his head to his shoes.

She quirked an eyebrow at him.

He sighed, like he was some put upon teenager and said, “I’m fine. No one bothered me.”

She pointed at the gurney and Brian walked over and hopped onto it like the good boy he was.

“Ma’am,” Evan said, gesturing at the door.

She shook her head. “No, thank you.”

“You don’t wish to use the bathroom, to wash the blood off at least?”

She glared at him, then bared her teeth in a mockery of a smile. “No, thank you.”

“Okay,” he said. He gave her a nod. “Would you be willing to consent to some non-invasive tests?”

“No.”

“Not even a CT scan or some x-rays?”

“My body is nobody’s business but mine,” she said, her face without any expression at all.

The hair on the back of his neck and arms rose as something in the back of his head warned him that danger was imminent.

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