Page 21 of Flynn

“Pulling up to the airport parking lot now,” she said. “What floor are you on?”

“Fourth floor.” He gave her the corresponding color and aisle. “See you soon.”

“Yep.” She ended the call.

Five minutes later, Cassidy pulled up beside them.

“There she is. Let’s go,” he said.

Taylor opened her car door, then gestured to the laptops on the floor at her feet. “I take it we should bring the computers?”

“Yes.” He took a moment to tuck his handgun out of sight beneath his fleece, then bent over to scoop them up. It wasn’t like he could walk into the airport holding a gun in his hand. Even having one on his person was risky. But they wouldn’t be there too long, and technically the car rentals were just outside the airport proper. “I’ve got them.”

“Whoa, Flynn, that’s worse than I imagined.” Cassidy winced as she stood staring at the damaged back end of the SUV. “Rhy isn’t going to be happy when that repair bill hits his budget.”

He felt bad about that, their team had caused a lot of damage to cars and hotel rooms over the past eleven months, but there hadn’t been much of a choice. “Assistant Chief Michaels is the one who will be mad. Rhy understands.”

“Yeah, but”—Cass stopped, then shrugged—“never mind. I guess there’s nothing we can do about it now.”

“The police department pays for that?” Taylor asked, eyeing the damage with a mixture of shock and horror. “I’m surprised.”

“Well, the good news is that we always pay for the additional insurance up front when we rent cars,” Cassidy said with a wry grin. “That has helped to keep the costs down.”

Hating the thought of failing Rhy and the rest of the team by causing trouble, Flynn swallowed against the lump in his throat. He’d often felt like the weak link in the team, and this latest incident was not helping. He forced himself to turn his back on the damaged rental. “Let’s go.” He gestured toward the yellow walkway that several other airport goers were using to go from one end of the structure to the other. “The sooner we get a rental car and get out of here, the better.”

“Hey, I was only kidding about Rhy,” Cassidy said, falling into step beside him. “He won’t blame you.”

“Maybe he should.” The comment popped out of his mouth before he could stop it. “I made a stupid mistake in going to Zeke’s.”

“Funny, but I don’t think Rhy viewed it that way. And neither did me and Jina,” Cass added. “We can’t predict every move the bad guys make. If we could, we’d be able to solve crimes before they happened.”

He appreciated her attempt to make him feel better, but it wasn’t working. Time to change the subject. “I was thinking of booking a rental property through one of those home-share services rather than using another hotel. We’ve burned our bridges at both the American Lodge and the City Central Hotel.”

“Timberland Falls Suites too,” Cass agreed. “Although in all fairness, we never caused any room damage at Timberland Falls. Just a few bullet holes in the door of the front lobby, which is nothing compared to the damage we’ve caused elsewhere.”

Taylor turned to look at him. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, it’s not as bad as it sounds.” He elbowed Cass in the ribs to shut her up. Everything Cass said was true, but Taylor didn’t need to hear it. Especially the part where bullets had been embedded in the door. He squelched another flash of guilt over the broken window and garage door of Zeke’s home. Considering the winter chill, he needed to figure out how to get them repaired.

One problem at a time, he thought grimly.

“Don’t worry, we’ll find a place to keep you safe,” Cass said, apparently realizing how concerned Taylor was.

They spent the rest of the trip to the airport rental car station in silence. Flynn was trying to figure out how he could rent the car without using his name, or even Cassidy’s. Even using one of their names on the rental property might bring trouble.

But what option did he have? Fake IDs came in handy on TV, but they weren’t readily available in real life.

They stood in line, waiting for their turn. When a clerk gestured them forward, Cassidy moved forward, putting a hand on his arm. “I’ve got this. I spoke with Gabe. We’ve already reserved a rental under his name.”

“Gabe agreed to that?” He was surprised to hear Gabe Melrose, the tactical team’s tech expert, was willing to go out on a limb.

“Yes. After all, you mentioned that the gunman might have connections to find the names of our tactical team. But Gabe works behind the scenes.” She smiled. “His name isn’t out in the limelight like ours have been.”

That was true. “Okay, that works. Tell him thanks.”

“Tell him yourself,” she shot back, then walked up to the counter. “I’d like to pick up an SUV under the name of Gabe Melrose.”

It didn’t take long for them to sign the paperwork. Then they headed back outside to pick up the car.

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