Page 87 of Sinner's Salvation

But he wasn’t going to stay safe, he was going to Homeland’s office, which was crawling with agents. Where his face would be all over all their computer screens, and they were looking for him.

One of the cell phones on the desk rang.

She picked it up. Baz.

“How is Nika?” she asked, instead of saying hello.

“She hasn’t regained consciousness yet,” he said. “There are four Homeland Security agents here who want her to come in andexplain a few things. I walked in on her surgeon telling them she was lucky to be alive and it would be weeks before she could go back to work. As soon as they saw me, one of them actually called me a vampire.”

“What is wrong with those people?” Anna asked.

“I think they’ve taken a drive into conspiracy theory town and perhaps bought a vacation home there.”

“Have you been arrested?”

“No, as soon as I heard the v word, I took off my shirt, showed them the damage done by Ledger’s bullet in my body armor, then took off my vest so they could see the bruising underneath.”

There wouldn’t be any...unless... “Did you injure yourself right before showing them?”

“Yup. Nika’s doctor, who was in the room when I showed the agents my boo boo even told me to take it easy for a few days.”

“Evan has gone to Homeland’s office here in New York City.”

There was silence for a moment.

“Why the hell would he do that?” Baz asked.

“Since they took Brian from the hospital and Williams saw them do it, Evan decided to rescue him.”

“I think they’d like to pin this whole mess on Evan. Going after Brian was dumb.”

They were silent for several moments.

“It could be a distraction,” she said slowly. “Maybe their real aim is to flush me out.”

“Show your face and they’ll be right there to handcuff you.”

“We are all so damned afraid of cameras and video,” Anna said slowly. “Maybe it’s time we learned to use them.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“I call a press conference and go public with my ordeal and how they’ve taken an FBI agent whose only crime was trying to help me. That should get Homeland’s attention. Then, while I’m revealing what Ledger did and was willing to do, Evan might have an easier time of getting Brian out their hands.”

“It certainly wouldn’t hurt if you mention how he, an FBI agent, has also been kidnapped.”

“Indeed.”

“How are you going to get out of the hotel and to the embassy without being arrested?” Baz asked.

“I’m not going to leave the hotel. I thought I’d call the Slovenian embassy and see if the ambassador can come get me with representatives from the State Department.”

“And if there are some reporters on hand...oops?”

“Oops,” she agreed, her stomach flipping with a queasiness she hadn’t had to deal with for a lot of years.

The situation was...horrible. There were too many people involved for her to protect them all. Especially since she was being hunted as well.

“What if this is finally it?” she asked, suddenly so tired she wanted to weep. “We’ve always known what would happen if the truth about us ever got out to a wide enough group of people that we couldn’t control.”

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