Page 75 of Shielding Aubree

"Thanks, Ryleigh."

"No thanks need, Leon."

He started to lower the phone, but Ryleigh spoke again, drawing his attention.

"I sent a message to Special Agent Aparicio. She'll want to know."

"Yeah," Ruben nodded. "She will. Thanks."

Antonio took hold of his arm and stopped him for a moment as Pablo and Liria continued on with the rush off officers down the hall. "I don't know who that was on the phone, but when we get Aubree back, I'm going to want to thank her."

Ruben reached out and clasped Antonio's shoulder in reply. "You will. And Aubree will be there, too."

18

Aubree felt the air begin to cool around her and hoped that it might throw him off his game.

It was certainly starting to affect her.

Normally, she just moved around and warmed herself up.

Activity was always something she used to keep herself warm and focused.

Sitting on the ground beside the lookalike NMPD cruiser was almost the exact opposite of where she wanted to be.

In the trunk she had the shield of the body of the car and the trunk to keep wind off of her skin.

Sitting beside the car, her back propped up against the wheel of the cruiser she was at the mercy of most of the elements.

He looked up at her from the pocket sized notebook in his hands when her teeth chattered.

"What else can you tell me about the case that the FBI is building against me?"

Aubree hesitated, trying to come up with a fact pattern that she could share that was close enough to reality that he might believe it, but not so close that he might learn from their investigation. If she wasn't able to get away from him, she didn'twant to make it easier for him to evade law enforcement in the future.

She didn't wantto think like that. That she wasn't going to get away.

But without her phone...

Without cameras in this area of the state and a lack of traffic, the chances that anyone would happen along?

She felt her heart drop into the pit of her stomach.

"Hello?"

He swatted his hand across her cheek, rocking her head to the side. It didn't hurt all that much, but it certainly got her attention.

"I need information, officer."

"Yeah, buddy," she grumbled under her breath, "we all need something."

CRACK

This time he'd slapped her and put some force behind it.

She glared up at him.

"Don't back talk me." He snarled. "You're supposed to be the good person."

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