Page 27 of Just Tonight

“Sutherland here?”

“Mr. Sutherland, it’s agent Connor, FBI,” Connor said.

“FBI?” Sutherland repeated, sounding surprised.

“We’ve had a link to your home systems come up in a serial crime. There’s a possibility someone from your organization might be involved.”

His response was instant and reflexive. “From Steadfast? Absolutely not, I’m sure of it.”

“Can we at least discuss this face to face? It’s extremely urgent,” Connor said.

Now, Sutherland sounded decisive. “It’ll have to be next week. I’m on my way to the airport, flying to Honolulu,” he said.

Cami’s heart sank, but Connor simply asked, in an even firmer voice, “Good. What time can we meet you there, and where would you like to meet?”

That was checkmate, she realized. There was no way of not answering it.

“The coffee shop near airport security,” Sutherland said reluctantly. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes. But I must warn you, I’m already late. This will have to be extremely quick.”

Connor was already heading for the door as Cami picked up her bag.

“We’re on our way,” he said.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Evening traffic was still dense, and the rows of immovable headlights and taillights on the main road gave Cami a flash of doubt as she and Connor raced for the car. But Connor was keeping positive.

“We might make it in time,” he said. “I’ll put the siren on. And once we’re clear of this snarl-up, we’ll be able to move.”

Cami wasn’t so sure. The crimson flood of taillights ahead of them seemed like an endless river. She thought Connor might be being highly optimistic. They had to get all the way to the airport? If Barney Sutherland was past this jam already, he’d be far ahead of them. He might have lost patience by the time they reached that coffee shop, or else, he might have been called to board, and had to go.

She used the first few yards of the stop-start journey to message Kieran. All day, she’d been feeling anxious about him after what Connor had said.

“Hey! You okay?”she texted.

A moment later, the reply came back.“I’m fine. Just got home, all good. Going to have TV dinner and early night. Unless I should wait up for you? How’s the case?”

“Complicated,”she texted back."Not sure when I'll be back. Don't wait up. Hope to see you later tonight."

“Stay safe. Love you.”The words hit her right in the heart.

“Love you too,”she replied, warmed by their words, and relieved that he was safely home and that an FBI agent would be watching their place.

Then, Connor put on the flashing lights, and activated the siren, doing his best to navigate through the banks of traffic in a zigzag, stop-start way, grabbing opportunities wherever he could see them, taking risks, swerving and braking as he fought for headway.

Now, Cami was doing her best to find alternative routes, scouring her phone for them, but she had to admit it was a pointless exercise. She didn’t have any special powers in that regard. Everyone in Boston was trying to do the same thing, using the same information and apps, and as a result, every route was jammed.

Nope, finding a sneaky alternate route was not workable. But Connor’s lights and siren were proving effective. Traffic was edging aside for them, and they were able to make a more steady progress as they reached the highway. Her eyes were fixed on the clock as they drove the excruciatingly slow miles and then, finally, peeled off in the direction of the airport.

Connor drove up to the departures terminal, parked right outside on a yellow line with his light still on, and they got out and hustled inside. At a run, they headed through the bustling, impersonal space, past people wheeling carry-ons and texting on their phones and dawdling along with giant cups of coffee and sodas clutched in their hands.

“Coffee shop near security. That must be it,” Connor said, pointing to the bright red and yellow signage.

Was Barney Sutherland still there? It had already been nearly twenty minutes. The possibility of somehow hacking into the airport systems and delaying the flight popped into Cami’s head as they rushed to the coffee shop but she discarded it immediately.

It would be an incredible challenge. She wouldn’t mind trying just to see if it was possible. But it would bring a world – no, a universe of trouble down on her head, and it might put people in danger. Even accessing the systems might create glitches that had knock-on effects. There were things that ethical hackers just could not do. And although hacking the FBI’s homepage with a few choice words of criticism, and replacing the director’s photo with a cat’s face, had felt okay to Cami at the time, interfering with airport systems did not.

But as they reached the coffee shop, they saw a tall man, wearing chinos and a suit jacket, stand up from the round table he’d been occupying. It looked as if he’d been intending to leave, but he swung around as they approached.

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