When Kathleen awoke the next morning, she realized she was alone in the room. She listened intently but didn’t hear Sam moving about in the bathroom.
He’s gone. He kept to his word and got his own room last night. That, or he left without me to find his friend.
She hopped out of bed and glanced around the room.
Did he even leave a note?
Comprehension dawned, and she grabbed her purse. Her car keys were still there. He hadn’t taken the Camaro.
She went into the bathroom to see if maybe he’d left a note near the sink.
Nothing.
Why had she let down her guard so fully with him? He could’ve stolen her car. It wasn’t because she’d done anything to prevent that from happening. She was afraid to be so trusting even with her friends and family. Why had Sam been the exception to that rule? Was it because he’d needed help? Because he was gorgeous? Because she was a thrill-seeker and his predicament promised to be an adventure?
She wandered back into the bedroom and sank against the pillows, swallowing the lump in her throat.
What is the matter with me? Did that bungee jump shake something loose in my brain?
A little voice reminded her that she’d picked up Sam long before the jump, but she could justify that by telling herself that he was in trouble. She’d have stopped to help anyone who’d had an accident.
But she wouldn’t have brought him all the way here. She wouldn’t have fallen asleep in a hotel room with him.
Her heart lifted when she heard a noise out in the hall. More than likely, housekeeping was approaching, but—
No. It was Sam. And he had breakfast. Her mouth widened in a broad smile.
“Good morning,” he said. “You look well-rested and cheery this morning.”
“I am.” She nodded toward the drink holder and bag he placed on the table by last night’s greasy pizza box. “Hungry too. What have we got?”
“The closest place was a doughnut shop. So, we have coffee and glazed doughnuts. If you don’t like doughnuts, we can go somewhere else.”
“Doughnuts are good. But isn’t it risky for you to be out like that? You should’ve woken me up. I’d have gone for food.”
“No one paid me a bit of attention. I watched the local news this morning before I left, and nobody mentioned a fugitive. I’m guessing Amun-Ra killed the story.”
“Why would he when he’s so desperate to find you?”
“He doesn’t want the publicity.” He handed Kathleen a coffee, some sugar and creamer, placed the other coffee on the nightstand, and grabbed the bag before sitting next to her on the edge of the bed.
She sat upright, curling her legs beside her. “Thanks.” Removing the lid from the cup, she inhaled the coffee before stirring in the sugar and creamer. “This is just what I needed.” She licked her spoon, then shot him a glance. “So why go to the police at all?”
“At that point, he needed help to find me. Given his position, he can easily control a local law enforcement agency.” He sipped his coffee. “But if the feds were to get involved, it would become much more complicated for Amun-Ra.”
Smiling, Kathleen placed her coffee on the nightstand and took a doughnut from the bag he held out to her. “Then nobody’s looking for us?”
“Oh, you can bet Amun-Ra hasn’t given up. He’ll use every resource available to him to find me.”
“But there’s one resource he can’t use anymore, right? Horus is free.” She bit into the sweet, sticky bun.
“Horus is free, but he wasn’t Amun-Ra’s only falcon. There are a lot of animals programmed to do whatever he asks.” He put his coffee cup on the nightstand, turned toward Kathleen, and placed a hand lightly on her shoulder. “He’s a dangerous man, and the longer you help me, the more I’m putting you at risk.”
“He’s looking for you—not me. As long as I’m hiding you and helping you, we’re home free. Right?”
Hathor and Montu drove toward the town where Atum and Kathleen Freemont—the woman he was presumably with—were last spotted. After gathering information from the guard shack at the campground yesterday evening, the alert they’d put out on Kathleen’s red Camaro had gotten a hit this morning at a hotel.
It had been twenty-four hours. They should’ve had Atum back at base by now. Amun-Ra certainly felt that way. He’d been pleased they’d discovered the driver of the Camaro. After all, what were the odds they’d had spotted a red Camaro so close to the accident scene and then also at the campground where Atum’s GPS had pinged?
Hathor longed for a hot bath and a meal she could sit down and enjoy, but she knew she wouldn’t get either of those until Atum had been returned to Amun-Ra.
Glancing to her right, she saw Montu texting his wife again. The man had a nasty streak a mile wide, but he adored his family, and being away from them had been hard on him. Sure, it had only been a day, but they hadn’t realized what getting Atum back would entail.
When Montu sabotaged Atum’s motorcycle, they’d thought the man would be in custody by midday. Hathor had no idea what Amun-Ra was planning to do to Atum, although Amun-Ra wasn’t above killing someone. He’d done it—or had her and Montu do it—in the past. She hoped it wouldn’t come to that with Atum. She’d always liked him. He’d never been anything but nice to her and the rest of the staff, and his love for the animals he worked with was heartwarming.
Amun-Ra had reported that Horus never returned to the compound. The new guy—a grad student named Khonsu—said that the system had been hacked last night and that Horus had been deprogrammed.
Hathor wondered how Atum had been able to summon the falcon. It liked him, she guessed. Even though she was a trained assassin, she’d made the choice to pursue that career. The animals under Amun-Ra’s command hadn’t asked to become guinea pigs for government weapon testing. And although she’d do whatever it took to capture Atum—and kill him if ordered to do so—she was glad he’d been able to liberate at least one of Amun-Ra’s weapons from its captor. But, of course, she’d take that secret to her grave.
Sam sat on a chair by the table with the pink laundry bag between his feet and watched Kathleen pack her duffle.
She looked down at her wrinkled dress. “We’re going to need some new clothes, among other things, before heading for Norfolk.”
Sam purposefully misunderstood her meaning. He’d had more time to think about his plans and settled on the fact that he didn’t want to endanger Kathleen more than he already had. “I agree. We need to go somewhere I can buy a cheap used car that will get me there.”
“Why are you being so stubborn? I got you this far, didn’t I?”
“This isn’t your problem. I shouldn’t have let the situation progress as far as it has. I just...” He faltered.
“You just what?”
He slowly met her gaze. “I wasn’t ready to let you go yet.”
“And I’m not ready to let you go.” She shrugged. “I’m offering you a ride to Norfolk. You gonna take it, or leave it?”
“You’re impossible, you know that?”
“It’s summer. I’m bored. I want a good story to tell my kids one of these days…if I ever have any.”
Sam hesitated.
“Come on. At least, let’s go shopping and get a couple of burner phones so we can keep in touch. I want to be able to know that you came through this thing a hero.” She moved over to him and gave him a peck on the lips.
“I could use a few things for the trip,” he said.
“Now you’re talking.” She grabbed her bag as he shouldered his and preceded him out the door.
They put their packs into the trunk and got into the car. Kathleen smiled at Sam again as they buckled their seat belts.
Sam decided she was entirely too happy to be on her way to buy a burner phone. He knew she hadn’t given up on the notion of driving him to Norfolk, but there was no way he could allow that to happen. It was far too dangerous. He didn’t want Kathleen on Amun-Ra’s radar. At least Sam had enough information that he might be able to bargain for his life. Amun-Ra would see Kathleen as a mere liability.
After driving for a few minutes, Kathleen startled Sam by calling out, “Ha! A superstore!”
He grinned. “That should have everything we need.”
“And then some.” She maneuvered through the traffic and came to the store’s massive parking lot. She found an empty space in row nineteen of the lot and threw the car into park.
As they walked into the store, she used her key fob to lock the doors. Then she dropped the keys into her purse and took Sam’s hand.
“We want to blend,” she told him.
“Of course,” he said, giving her hand a squeeze.
Sam wound up getting four burner phones, charger cords, and a tablet from the electronics department. He paid cash, and then he and Kathleen went in search of clothes. He started to tell her she didn’t need clothing since she wasn’t going to Norfolk, but he didn’t want to spoil the moment. He had enough money to pay for everything they were getting—and, hopefully, still enough for a decent clunker—and he owed her more than he could ever repay.
They both got jeans and T-shirts. Sam got a travel toiletry kit. Kathleen insisted on snacks for the road.
After going through the checkout line, they headed toward Kathleen’s car. Sam put his arm around her waist and kissed her cheek.
She grinned. “What was that for?”
He froze, catching sight of a black SUV. His grip tightened on her waist. “Stop.”
“What is it?”
“That black SUV in row sixteen.”
She moved her head like she was going to look, but he caught her chin with his free hand.
“Don’t look. We’re going back into the store.”
“All right.” She dragged out the two words, clearly not understanding what was happening.
Once they were back inside, Kathleen said, “Come on, Sam. Let’s go. I’m sure you’re just being paranoid.”
“I’m certain I’m not. That SUV was one of ours—one of Amun-Ra’s. I know it—”
“Maybe it just looks like one of Amun-Ra’s SUVs. It could belong to anybody.”
“I don’t believe in coincidences.”
“Fine. What are we going to do?”
Hathor noticed a couple coming out of the store. She slapped Montu’s shoulder with the back of her hand. “I think that’s them.”
He looked up from his phone. “Could definitely be him. And she’s a looker. We gonna wait until they head for the car?”
“Yeah. I’ll go for the driver’s side. You go for the passenger’s side. We’ll make sure they don’t get away.”
But as they watched, the couple turned and went back into the store.
“He spotted us.”
“No way. They just forgot something.”
Hathor shook her head. “Come on. Before they get away.”
Montu placed a hand on her forearm as she opened the door. “We can’t go into the shop with guns blazing. It’ll cause too much commotion. Let’s just wait for them. They have to come back to the car eventually. They’re not going to stay in there forever.”
“Maybe.” She weighed his opinion and her options. If Montu was right and they’d gone back inside to get something they’d forgotten, they could lose Atum and the woman while they were looking around the store. If they waited too long, Atum and his gal pal would get away.
She pulled the door shut. “Ten minutes. Then we’re going in.”
And they did. Ten minutes after the couple went back into the store, Hathor and Montu went after them. They looked everywhere—every department, every stall in every bathroom. Thirty minutes later, they emerged to see the Camaro right where they’d left it.
“At least, they didn’t take off while we were inside looking for them,” Montu said.
“Yeah, there is that.” Hathor slid behind the wheel of the SUV, contemplating what they should do next. Was it possible that they’d simply missed Atum? Or had he outmaneuvered them?
A tow truck pulled into the lot and rolled down row nineteen.
“No.” The word emerged from Hathor’s lips as a moan.
“What?” Montu leaned forward, squinting at the tow truck. “Wait—do you think—?”
“We’ve been screwed. Again. That’s what I think.”
A driver procured from a ride-sharing app picked Sam and Kathleen up at the back of the store building. They quickly piled their bags and themselves into the backseat of his car.
“Thanks, buddy, we appreciate this,” said Sam.
“Where are you headed?”
He gave the man the address to an industrial park. From there, they’d plan their next move. Sam and Kathleen didn’t speak while they were in the car. They had to be extra careful now that Hathor and Montu had identified Kathleen.