Page 79 of Radar

“It’s Elyssa.” She looked down at the badge, then over her shoulder, and saw that no one else was getting off the plane. She focused back on Finley. “Are you here because of the guy trying to grab me?”

“Yes, ma’am. My team needs to speak with you, please.” He held out an arm to herd her away from the plane as the attendant sent him a hurry-it-along lift of the chin.

“And you know Special Agent Finley?” Elyssa asked Xander, standing her ground.

“Elyssa, I’m on that team he just mentioned. I called Finley from Lumberjack and asked him to get the Fairbanks FBI involved.”

“Yes, that man should be stopped.” Elyssa turned. “Thank you, Special Agent Finley.”

“Finley is good enough. Ma’am, if you, Radar, and Xander could come this way.”

Xander looked down. “Radar, with Elyssa.”

“He knows me by name?” Elyssa draped her hand over Radar’s neck as they walked forward. “Smartest of all the smart boys. I will buy you all the bones that your heart desires. You’re my hero, you know that, right?”

And Radar did know, because he wagged his tail as he ambled beside her.

Xander was glad that someone had thought to get the electric cart for Elyssa, which would be easier on her.

What wasn’t great was that three Zorics were staring at them from where they were posted against the wall across from where the Alaskan flight was now unloading. That meant the Zorics had a way to read tickets and knew Elyssa had switched her plane.

The question was, were those men here to protect one of their own, or were they here to do Elyssa harm?

As Elyssa and Radar climbed onto a seat. Xander was able to surreptitiously get some video, hoping that if his actions didn’t scare the three off, someone could track or apprehend them for questioning.

Once their electric cart was in motion, Xander tapped Finley’s shoulder, raised a brow of warning, then sent him the video.

From Finley’s posture, he recognized the men. He sent out a series of texts as they rode to the secure room.

Once there, it was a short, silent walk from the main corridor, down a side hall. They stopped at a door where Finley knocked, then used his key card to let them in.

It was a typical-looking meeting room done up in man-made materials in blues and grays. But it had the advantage ofbeing secure. A step down from a SCIF, but they could talk in here.

“Elyssa,” Xander said, “this is Johnna White. She’s with the CIA. And this is Suko Hiro with the DIA.”

As his gaze swept the room, Xander was gratified that everything he’d asked to be in place was there, including a paramedic who was hanging out in a recess in the wall out in the hallway. Xander didn’t think Elyssa had noticed the woman with her rescue equipment at her feet.

Elyssa cast her gaze around, then stared at the salty foods and electrolyte drinks on the table. When she plopped into a chair, Radar went to sit between her knees.

“Xander, now that Elyssa is here,” White said. “Why don’t we let her decompress? That descent was pretty intense from what I heard. And we need a few minutes with you in the room next door, to bring you up to speed.”

Xander crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not leaving Elyssa.” Certainly not with the Zorics nearby.

“She can have Radar, right?” Hiro asked. “We’re right next door. We’d hear if Elyssa needed support.”

Xander considered that for a minute. “Let me talk to Elyssa, and I’ll be right over.”

The team left, snicking the door shut behind them.

“FBI, CIA, DIA, and you’re on their team. Who do you work for?” Elyssa asked.

“The Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon.”

“You’re a military spy.” Elyssa hissed. “You told me you were an analyst. These are not the same things.” She painted the wordspywith so much disdain that it dripped onto the floor near Xander’s boots.

“Are you sure that they’re not? Spy. I mean …” Xander thought about it and, yeah, he kind of was a spy of sorts. He’d never thought of himself in that context.

“Spy. It’s such a disconnect.” She was kneading Radar’s ears, and Radar was blissing out. “You have such a choir boy who loves his mother look about your eyes.”

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