Knox didn’t want to hesitate, but for some reason he did. “Everything will be fine, Mel.”

Knox clicked off and dropped the phone on the bed. Now he felt worse than he did before he’d called. He knew he’d frightened his daughter and there was nothing he could do about it now. Maybe he wanted to scare her. Or at least prepare her for when he didn’t come back home, or even for when she might have to come and ID his body.

He looked around the dismal interior of his room. How many crappy hole-in-the-walls, how many effed-up towns, how many shitty countries had he spent the majority of his life in? The answer was clear: way too many.

He lay back on the bed feeling lonelier than he ever had.

Wicked? Yeah, I can tell you all about wicked, honey. But then I’m afraid you’d hate your old man, and I’d rather eat a machine-gun round.

His cell phone buzzed.

It was Hayes. He knew without even looking. He didn’t want to answer it but he had to. Official protocol, meaning he didn’t want to be transferred to undercover duty in, say, Tehran or Pyongyang.

“Joe Knox.”

Hayes snapped, “Where are you?”

“On the hunt.”

“On the hunt precisely where?”

“Southwest Virginia.”

“That’s not precise enough.”

“To tell you the truth, I’m not even sure where I am and the reception up here is lousy, sir, I can barely hear you.”

Hayes raised his voice a few notches. “Have you sighted him yet?”

“If I had I would’ve already called you. I’m just trying to run some leads down and get a more pinpoint location.”

“Why didn’t you have the chopper take you all the way in?”

Because then you’d know exactly where I was. “A bird dropping a fed in the middle of this place would’ve aroused a little bit of suspicion. If Carr was around he wouldn’t have been much longer. I’m going to poke around and then get back to you.”

“I’m not exactly on board with how you’re handling this, Knox.”

“Flying by the seat of my pants, sir. Doing the best I can, what with all the prohibitions on what I can look at or the roads I can go down.”

“The minute you know anything, Knox. The very minute!” He clicked off.

Knox looked up in time to see the Fonz deliver his trademark line on TV.

“Sit on it, asshole,” Knox said in his best Arthur Fonzarelli voice.

Chapter 42

CHAPTER 42

ANNABELLE AND CALEB marched into Union Station and went straight up to the clerk that Knox had talked to. Annabelle flashed her fake FBI badge.

“Agents Hunter and Kelso. Was there a man in here earlier asking questions and showing you a photo? He would’ve identified himself as Joe Knox? Said he was with Homeland Security?”