Greer nodded in agreement. “Let’s keep this under wraps. Right now we don’t know who you can trust. I’ll back you up. Take a tracking device. When they pick you up, we’ll be one step ahead of them. I’ll follow you and call your DEA supervisor to get a support team in place as soon as we’ve confirmed a location. Blake is ours.”

++++

“Hello?” Christie stepped through the front door of their apartment and tugged her luggage inside. “Tessa? Are you here?”

“Hey, Mom.” The voice came from her daughter’s bedroom. “I’ll be right there.”

Christie closed the door behind her and noticed five pumpkins on the kitchen counter just as Tessa came down the hallway.

“Pumpkins?” Christie asked curiously.

“Patrick’s been teaching me to drive. Those are the pedestrians. How was your trip?”

“It was good. The pedestrians?”

“I’m not supposed to run ’em over. You need a hand?”

“Yeah, but first a hug.”

Tessa was not a hugger, but Christie was glad that today she at least put up with a brief one before helping to navigate the luggage down the hall toward the master bedroom.

“What’d you pack in this thing?” Tessa grunted. “Bricks?”

“Books. Plus I bought a few at the gift shop.”

“A monastery with a gift shop. Sure, why not?”

They made it to the room. “So have you hit any yet?” Christie asked.

“Hit any?”

“Pedestrians.”

“We might have started with a couple more, I guess, but I’m getting better. He won’t let me drive on actual roads yet, just the parking lot.”

“One step at a time. You need that license first.”

“Yeah, but it sucks. Oh, we went to church yesterday.”

“And how was that?”

“Boring.”

“Okay.”

Christie unzipped her suitcase and handed a shirt that she hadn’t worn to Tessa to hang in the closet.

“The pastor told Patrick and me that we’re supposed to greet you in the glorious name of Jesus. So consider yourself gloriously greeted.”

“Ah. So it was Dr. Williams.”

“Amazing deduction there.”

“What was the sermon about?”

“Something about God. Oh, and Patrick tracked my cell phone. Can you believe that?”

“What do you mean?” Christie was working her way through her suitcase, sorting out the clean clothes from the ones she’d worn. “What happened?”

“I was waiting for him in the lobby of the federal building—he had some sort of meeting and brought me along—but I can’t really complain ’cause I always ask him to take me there anyway—but the point is, it was taking him forever, so I went to get something to eat and he freaked out.”

“He was probably just worried.”

“Yeah, but I was only, like, a block away.”

“Well, he loves you. He’s concerned about you.”

“He—wait. What did you say?”

“Patrick. He’s concerned for you.”

“No. Before that.”

“He loves you.”