He nodded—and twisted his hands together. “What will happen to me and my family?”

“I’ll discuss it with my boss—but I doubt anything will happen. You’ve brought valuable information to us without prompting, despite what you perceived to be significant risk. I’d ask you to continue on as you’ve been doing. Don’t mention this meeting to anyone.”

His face went blank. “You mean—I don’t have to worry about being deported?”

“I think we can safely assume that isn’t a concern. We dug into your background as part of our investigation, and from what we’ve seen, you’ve followed all the rules since you came to the United States.”

His irises began to shimmer, and he swiped the back of his hand across his eyes as he rose. “Thank you.”

“Thank you.” Zeke held out his hand, and the man returned his firm grip. “Do you think you’ll have any difficulty keeping up the business-as-usual pretense with your brother-in-law?”

“No. I have learned over many months to live with his threats and deceptions. I can continue to play my part, as you are playing a part here.”

“Good. I’ll let you know if we require any additional help from you.” Zeke opened the door, and Eduardo slipped into the hall.

As the man disappeared from view, Zeke pulled out his cell and punched in his handler’s number, inhaling the aroma drifting across the room from the brewing coffee.

But he didn’t need the caffeine anymore.

He was already wired.

Zeke’s limp was more pronounced.

But he was alive.

As he crossed the library toward the study cube, Cate let out a slow breath. Seeing him in person chased away the last of her fears that he’d fared worse in the violent encounter than he’d let on. Other than the more noticeable limp, he appeared to be fine.

He entered the booth, shut the door behind him, and held up his index finger as he pulled out his phone.

After activating the white noise app, he set the cell between them and took the seat next to her.

“You had some excitement.” An understatement if ever there was one.

He shrugged. “All in the line of duty. I’m fine.”

“Your leg took a hit.”

One side of his mouth rose. “You’ve been looking at my legs?”

She rolled her eyes and opened her Spanish book. Enough personal talk. “I’m leaving for the weekend in less than an hour. A visit from Dad was the best excuse we could come up with to pass on the gift I received.”

“Reading between the lines of your text, I assumed your subject had come through. Any hints he has a connection to Stephanie’s disappearance?”

“No—but the whole setup is still troubling.”

“At the very least.”