She thought of the headache shed felt trying to take her by surprise when shed come out of Harbour Medical Center, that terrifying moment where she feared another blackout was coming. Im good, she said, waving the memory away. Like I said…just wanted to check in.

The police are still around, and Paige and I are fine. Were good. But I have to get back to work, and

Yeah, I know. Thanks for taking the call.

Sure.

The call ended abruptly. She was pretty sure it was the first time in a very long time theyd ended a call without I love you from at least one of them.

She looked back to the bureau car, where Jack was sitting in the passenger seat, waiting. She hated keeping this secret from him, but she also hated the idea of thinking he would treat her differently because there was a tumor in her brain. She made her was slowly to the car, making sure she had her game face on before getting back behind the wheel.

Everything good? he asked.

Yeah. Just parent guilt. Its yet another soccer practice where Paige is being escorted by a sitter.

Will there be a cruiser there watching out for her?

Peter says there will be, and…

She stopped here, sure that she would start crying at any moment. She shook her head and started the car. I cant. Not right now. I need to just wrap up this fucking case as quickly as I can so I can get back home. And Ill just have to tell Anderson Im not working any more until this Alex Lynch situation is resolved.

She could tell he wanted to say something, that he was putting a lot of thought into whether or not he should try to go deeper. In the end, he stayed quiet. She appreciated it because she knew his nature. He wanted to get to the bottom her pain and why she was on the verge of getting emotional. To stomp it down showed great restraint and respect for her.

Jack pulled up a list of nearby hotels while Rachel pulled out onto the street. The drive between Roanoke and Richmond was only about two and a half hours, but it made little sense to head back home when there were active patrols keeping watch on only five out of more than a dozen potential victims. Not only that, but they hadnt really gotten much accomplished.

I say we get a hotel, grab some dinner, and head out to see if we can help with these patrols, Jack said. That good with you?

Yeah. Ill need to call to check in on Paige, too. Sorry for all the personal calls, but I think,

Shut up, Gift. Id be judging you if you werent concerned. You do what you need to do. Okay?

Yeah, she said. She was very aware that she did not sound convincing.