Page 96 of Everything We Found

“Thanks for letting me know,” he said.

They drove through the night, arriving in Phoenix a little after nine in the morning. They refueled, grabbed a quick breakfast at a drive-through, and met with Special Agents Carter and Kovacs in the parking lot. They introduced them to their replacements for the next twelve hours.

“Anything yet?” Simone asked James.

He shook his head. He’d sent a text he’d arrived in Phoenix, but updated coordinates had yet to come through.

“So, what now?” Nadia asked. She was jumpy, she couldn’t stand still. Exhaustion, anxiety, and terror warred inside her.

“Now we wait,” Dan said. “Get some sleep.”

“At the hotel where they know he’ll be?” Nadia pointed at James, incredulous.

The coordinates had led them to a Courtyard by Marriott. Unless the Hidalgos were bold enough to meet in the open, which everyone doubted, they took the message for what it was: to wait.

How would she ever manage to sleep when she knew what could be waiting for Thomas and James when she woke?

“Perimeter has been set and we’ll be onsite the entire time,” one of the replacement agents assured her. “You’ll be safe.”

“Phoenix Division has been notified of your arrival,” the other added. “Operational debrief is at seventeen-hundred hours. Unless we get word to move again beforehand. But intelligence coming in indicates they’ll keep you here at least until tonight.”

“Anything on Thomas?” Nadia asked. “Can we assume he’s in Phoenix too?” He could be at the same hotel. Her heart started racing as if wanting to run right to him.

“He’s in Tucson,” Dan replied. “His truck was picked up on traffic surveillance during the night and we’ve been tracking him since.”

Nadia lost all support in her knees and weaved where she stood. Relief, hot, blissful relief, poured into her. He was alive. “Where is he exactly? Can we go to him?”

“No, ma’am, that’s not advisable. Aside from the fact we haven’t received updated coordinates for James, we don’t know what has been communicated to Thomas. We haven’t made contact, but he’s under surveillance. A perimeter has been set up around him.”

“Are we sure he’s being sent to the same place?”

“At this time, we believe so,” Dan said. “We’ll most likely be sent on to Tucson next because it’s closer. For now, we remain here.”

“Closer to what?” James asked pointedly.

“You’ll be briefed this afternoon,” Simone said. “Until then, get some rest. We’re all going to need it.”

Nadia shared a look with James. She didn’t like knowing where Thomas was and not being able to go to him. What if he met up with the Hidalgos before James received his set of coordinates? Thomas could be dead before they even arrived.

31

THOMAS

Thomas didn’t like being alone with his thoughts, not while he was in what he believed were his final hours. If those killers ever got around to sending new coordinates.

He looked out the window of the diner he’d been sitting in since that morning to stare at the hotel where he’d stayed the previous night. Tucson couldn’t be the end of the line. This was too visible for an exchange, too populated for a fugitive that had launched a nationwide manhunt and closed the border.

He stirred his fourth cup of coffee with precise circles. They were giving him too much time to think. Too much time to reevaluate the decisions that had led him here.

The waitress approached, coffee pot in hand. “Top-off?”

He covered his cup with his palm. “No thanks.” The caffeine was already wreaking havoc on his nerves, his thoughts paced the confines of his mind like a caged animal, restless and aimless.

She set the check on the table face down. “Take your time.”

He’d been taking his time for a day now, wasting away in this sun-bleached corner of Arizona. Mid-day light slanted through the window, reflecting off the laminate tabletop. Every minute sitting here and doing nothing was another minute his motherspent in Hidalgo hell. Another minute he couldn’t negotiate his brother’s safety. Another minute Nadia would hate him for leaving her behind.

“Nadia.”