Page 43 of The Surrogate Omega, Part Two

Logan:

Ugh. Fine, I’m frustrated but I trust you. I love you too.

I put my phone away and try to concentrate on my work. I see Donnelly eyeing me from the corner of his eye throughout the next two hours, but I ignore it. I know he will help me if I need it, but he is way too young to have his career destroyed already, so I’m hoping to keep him out of it.

I know I should be more worried about my own career, but I’m honestly not. I’m confident enough in my skills to know I won’t be unemployed for long. The agency may not be happy with me, but until they find someone skilled enough to replace me, I’m not concerned about ending up in a black box somewhere either. Maybe I should be, but if this goes as planned, I won’t even jeopardize their mission and will still save some children. I’m willing to take the risk.

In exactly two hours, I receive a ping that I got a new encrypted message. I fight to keep all emotion off my face when I read it. I had asked, in code, whether he’d be willing to get the kids out if I got him backup and would still be able to salvage the rest of the mission. The agent agreed.

What’s the inventory?I write back. I hate talking about these children like this. Every time I have to, I think how easily this could have been me if Eric wasn’t who he was as a person. But it’s necessary for everyone’s protection.

12 foals. Eight fillies. Four colts.

I blindly reach for my water bottle and take a sip to help center myself. Twelve children. Eight girls and four boys.

I don’t answer right away. There are a lot of things I must take care of on my end to make sure this goes right. If all goes to plan, all twelve children and the two undercover agents in this location will be off the island and safe, the traffickers there will be dead, and the whole thing will look like an accident with no survivors. It’s a lot for me to pull off by myself in a four-hour window, which is all I have.

I may be relatively young, but I have a reputation, and with that comes a lot of allies and favors I’m owed. I’m about to cash in on every single one of them.

I send a final message to the agent. It’s the last one he’ll receive from us. After he reads it, he’ll destroy the phone. I’ll have no more communication with him, and he won’t have any with us. We just both have to trust the other one will do their part. It’s not ideal, but it’s the best I can hope for. The agent knows the score and how this works. He’s used to flying partially blind, unlike Logan, and I know he will make it work.

Now to catch up Logan and hope he’ll be on board.

TWENTY-FOUR

Logan

It’s the longest two hours of my life. I have no idea what Lake means by “get ready to move.” I can only imagine I’ll be traveling somewhere. It doesn’t take a genius to realize I’m probably going to South Carolina, but how or why, I’m not sure. Ev tells me he’ll go home and pack for us. I tell him not us, only me, and he basically tells me to go fuck myself. So hopefully, Lake has room for Ev in—whatever.

Meanwhile, I make preparations here at the station. I realize I gotta tell Sergeant Ramsey something, though I’m not sure what. I find him at his desk, cursing at something on the screen in front of him.

“Sarge, do you have a second?” I ask while knocking lightly on the desk to let him know I’m there.

His dark eyes meet mine, his expression serious. “Sure. Take a seat, detective.”

I sit down as he continues to watch me, waiting for me to answer. Finally, I decide to be as honest as I can without giving up Lake’s connection.

“I might need to be gone for a little bit.”

Sarge’s eyes narrow. “You have plenty of vacation time, but I thought you were saving it for after your partner has the baby.” He’s well aware of Lake’s surrogacy and is on board for me taking some time to help him recover after the delivery.

I maintain eye contact. “I’d still like to use most of it for that.” If I still have a job, I add silently. “This should only be a couple days, tops.” Hopefully.

“Is everything ok at home?” he asks, suspicion rising. Fuck, I just want to tell him. But not only am I trying to protect Lake, I also don’t want to implicate him in case things go tits up. He’s way too good at his job to lose it because of me.

“It’s fine. There’s just, uh, something I may need to do.”

I can see when he catches on as his expression clears. “And I’m guessing this is something you can’t give me any details on. Tell me where you’re going, or for how long you’ll be gone?”

I force myself not to look away. I’m not intimidated easily, but Sergeant Ramsey can be an intimidating fucker, and he’s pulling on that now.

“No, boss. I can’t.” I don’t bother apologizing. I’m not actually sorry, and he doesn’t want to hear it anyway.

“And when you return, should I be prepared for a shit ton of paperwork and evading the media?”

That’s a good question. I have a feeling Lake has ways to avoid that, but again, I can’t mention Lake. “I’m not sure, sarge. I hope not.”

My boss sighs and scrubs his hands on his face. “Ok. Fine. Take the time you need. But please, be careful, detective. You’re way too valuable to end up dead or in jail.”

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