Page 6 of Just Hide

"I'm in your area. Driving past MIT in ten minutes. You got time for a coffee? Or even an early lunch?" he interrupted.

Blinking, Cami decided this was a day of surprises.

"Yes, I do." She didn't have class today, apart from one morning lecture that she’d already attended, which had wrapped up at nine.

"That place across the road from your campus. I'll meet you there?"

"Sure," she said.

He hung up, and Cami hustled. This was unexpected. Ten minutes barely gave her enough time to splash water on her face, change into a fresh top and a pair of jeans to replace the sweatpants she'd been wearing, and to grab her bag with the laptop and phone inside. This must involve work, surely? He must need her input on something. At any rate, it would be better to be prepared.

With everything organized, she headed out, down the stairs, out of the campus, and across the road.

Connor had been faster than she was. The tall agent, with his strong jawed, heavy face and his brown hair, streaked with threads of gray, was sitting at a corner table, with two menus ready.

He was wearing a polo shirt and chinos, and she guessed it was a casual day for him too. Perhaps he was actually taking a day's leave. She hadn't thought Connor knew what the word meant.

"Morning, Cami," he said, and she sat down. He indicated the menus. "Coffee? What else? Cake? Bagel?"

"Coffee and cake, please," she said.

“What cake?”

She glanced at the menu. “Apple spice cake.”

"Good choice. I’ll have the same."

They placed their orders and then Connor said, "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay. I’ve been having times when I'm not, though. His brother came to see me this morning. That was hard." With sadness welling up inside her all over again, Cami felt ready to tell Connor what she knew.

Then, with a chill, she wondered if she should.

Ethan had been investigating something, or someone, she didn't know what about. It might be related to Liam or connected to him through others. Perhaps Liam was part of a bigger picture, something that involved more people, some kind of criminal ring.

If so, there was no telling who else was involved. She was sure Connor was not involved and had no idea about it. Cami trusted Connor implicitly.

But she didn't know who else might be part of it. After all, Ethan had had two attempts on his life. Two shootings. The second one had succeeded. She might already be in danger, but without knowing more, she didn't know how she could explain it to Connor.

He might tell the wrong person. Who knew how high up this went? She might draw attention to herself, let slip she knew something, only to find that same car pulling up on the street while she was walking back to university.

It would be better, for now, to say nothing, she decided. She needed to tell him at some stage, and she knew she shouldn’t keep it a secret for too long. But she just had to get her own mind around it and figure out how. Knowing more would also benefit her. Figuring out who else she could trust would be first prize.

"I'm glad Kieran came to see you. I hope it helped."

"It sort of did," she said.

He nodded. "That's why I wanted to talk to you. I know you won't be able to get over this quickly. But I want to make sure you know you're not alone. You are part of my team, and I'm here for you. Whatever you need."

Cami felt tears welling up yet again, and she blinked them away. Connor's kindness was unexpected but genuine.

"Thank you," she said, her voice thick. “What’s happening with the investigation?”

Since the shooting, Cami had been interviewed twice by the local police in addition to her debriefing by Connor and the FBI. She hadn’t wanted to give away that they’d been there to get a voice recording from Liam Treverton, and in any case, the one thing she was sure of was that Liam himself hadn’t been the gunman.

Now, after what Kieran had told her, she felt glad she’d made that decision and had stuck to her basic story that they’d gone in there, Ethan had seen someone he’d thought was trouble, and they’d left. Because now, she was realizing, that shooter could have been someone unrelated to Liam.

“They’re still looking at all angles,” Connor said. “There’s camera footage from a couple of streets nearby. Unfortunately, it’s not from the street where the shooting happened, but there are homes along the way with front door cameras that might have caught something. And they’ve analyzed the bullet—the caliber, the twist of the lands and grooves—there’s a whole process they go through that will allow them to match it with evidence from other crimes to see if the same gun was used. Right now, they’re doing that.”

---