“Absolutely. You still have my number?”

“Yeah,” Walt said.

Avery reached into her purse to pay her bar tab.

“It’s on me,” Walt said.

“I made you come all the way from Jamaica. The least I can do is buy you a drink.”

Avery dropped money next to her glass and slipped off her stool before heading out of the bar.

CHAPTER 24 - Manhattan, NY Tuesday, June 29, 2021

CHAPTER 24

Manhattan, NY Tuesday, June 29, 2021

WALT JENKINS WATCHED THE TALL, ATTRACTIVE JOURNALIST HE’D SEEN a thousand times on television walk out of the Rum House. It had been a week since his old Bureau boss tracked him down at a cliff-side café in Jamaica, and here he was now, sitting in a dark bar in Manhattan. The contrast was startling. After just three years in Negril Walt realized how accustomed he’d become to island life and how far removed he was from his time as a surveillance officer. But still he found himself laying the groundwork, brick by brick, like he’d done so many times before, not sure where he was headed or what the next piece of road looked like.

The plan was to be up-front and honest about his past if Avery Mason broached the subject. She was an investigative journalist, and attempting to hide anything about his career in the Bureau would be a mistake. It seemed to rattle her just momentarily when he mentioned his past connection with the FBI, but she brushed it off quickly. He was certain she would spend the time between now and the next time they met looking into his story. It would all check out. The only thing he hadn’t mentioned was that he was back on the FBI’s payroll. Jim Oliver had been careful to explain that they were paying Walt as an independent consultant, and not refitting him with his old title of special agent. If Avery Mason got nervous and started snooping, Oliver wanted Walt’s connection to the Bureau to end where it had three years ago—retired in good standing and with full pension.