Page 104 of The Outpost (Jamison Valley 4)
“Speaking of friends, I was thinking of going back to Prescott after Felicity’s baby is born. Any objections?”
He shook his head. “Do you know when?”
“She isn’t due until the end of the month and I want to give her a chance to settle in before I invade. So maybe the end of June?”
“Okay. I’ll try and go with you, but if I can’t, I’ll make sure you’re covered.”
“Do you think I’ll even need an agent with me by then?” The Federovs were scheduled to be sentenced next week, and by the time June rolled around, there might not be any danger left to worry about.
“I’d rather plan to go with you, just in case.”
“Okay.”
Maybe if Henry came with me, he’d act as a buffer between me and Beau. I was certain our reunion would be awkward—if I even saw him. I assumed that if I were in Montana he’d want to see me, but what if he didn’t? A wave of nervous energy rushed to my stomach.
“Do you still want dinner?” Henry asked.
“Sure.” I wasn’t hungry anymore, but if I didn’t get something in my system, I’d have a wicked wine hangover in the morning. I wasn’t drunk but two glasses were just enough to punish me the next day.
“How about we get you home and I’ll go pick up a pizza?”
“Perfect.”
We walked the rest of the way to my apartment building in silence. Normally, I’d spend a few minutes visiting with my doorman but my feet hurt so badly that I only said a quick hello and went straight to the elevator, pushing the button for the fifth floor.
The doors opened with a ding and Henry grumbled something under his breath before stepping into the hallway.
“Mitchell.” Henry’s angry snap sent the young agent’s head flying up and his hands fumbling his phone into his jacket pocket.
“Agent Dalton.” Mitchell stood from his brown metal folding chair, nervously smoothing out his wrinkled suit.
“Haven’t we discussed cell-phone usage when you’re on duty?” Henry asked.
Mitchell nodded frantically. “Sorry, it was my girlfriend. She’s pregnant and I just—”
“Don’t let it happen again. Remember why you’re here.”
“Sure. No problem, Agent Dalton.”
“And shouldn’t you be down by the stairwell?”
“Shit. I mean, right! Sorry, Ms. MacKenzie.”
I nodded and fought a smile.
Mitchell fumbled to fold up the chair. “I just wanted to sit down.”
“Then take the chair down there.” Henry pointed down the hall.
“Right, right.” Mitchell picked up his chair and rushed down the hallway toward the emergency exit sign.
The only way to get to my apartment was from either the elevator or the back stairs. To get on the elevator, you had to pass my doorman and have a key. To come up the stairs, all you needed was a key card. Though the stairwell door was under video surveillance, Henry had deemed it the weakest point in the building, so I’d had a guard by my door for seven months.
“He’s terrified of you,” I whispered as we followed Agent Mitchell, who walked at warp speed ahead of us.
Henry sighed. “He’s not even supposed to be here but I was short on options. We had a break in another case and I needed my full team to wrap it up. So I had to pull him from desk duty. He’s been on probation since he was too busy on that fucking phone to pay attention during surveillance.”
Could Agent Mitchell be the reason why Ivan Federov had been able to visit Montana last summer? Or had he dropped the ball on some other surveillance assignment? I didn’t ask; instead, I frowned when I realized I’d been burdening Henry and taking his focus these last two weeks.
