“Actually, I already did. Of course there was no answer. I had to leave my name and number.”

•   •   •

THE CALL GEORGE had been hoping to get came an hour later. As soon as George started to talk, the caller, who admitted he was not Burim, said that he wanted to hear no details over the phone. If George wanted to talk to Burim, it had to be in person in a public place, meaning George had to travel east. The caller then warned George that he better not be wasting anyone’s time. The invitation, grudging though it might be, was what George needed to hear, but the question then arose of how to get away from Boulder without being seen. Neither George nor Paul thought it a good idea to advertise where George was going as long as Nano had them under surveillance.

George booked a ticket on the 8:37 A.M. United flight to Newark, and then he and Paul strategized a way for George to get to the Denver airport without being detected. Which was why Paul sat in his Subaru at four in the morning in the car park of his apartment building with the engine running.

•   •   •

“HEY, ERIC, they’re on the move.”

Having failed to get Caldwell and Wilson arrested at Mariel Spallek’s house, Chad Wells and Eric McKenzie pulled the Nano security detail’s night shift. They had parked down the street from Paul Caldwell’s apartment building in a spot that afforded them a view of the parking lot. Chad was lucky—he had fallen asleep, as had Eric, but awoke in time to notice Caldwell’s car’s lights on and the engine running and see the men sitting in the vehicle.

“Are they both in the car?” said Eric trying to get his eyes to function. “What the fuck time is it, for chrissake?”

“It’s around four.”

“What the hell are they doing up at this time? Where the hell could they be going?”

“I think that’s what we have to find out. Remember, they are doctors. Maybe they got called on an emergency.”

“It looks like they are both in the car.”

“That’s my take,” said Chad, but he didn’t know for sure as far away as they were. But it seemed safer to sound definite than admit he couldn’t be sure. Besides, it was a good bet both of them were there, as the two of them had done everything together up to this point. Besides, he didn’t want to stand out in the damn cold if Eric suggested he do so.

“Okay, let’s follow. But stay well back, okay?”

“Got it.”

•   •   •