Page 87 of Shadow of Death
She smoothed her fingers through his hair and said softly, “Hunter, it’s going to be all right. Have faith in me.”
“I do. I swear, I do. I just know...no matter how good we are, things can go south.”
“We won’t let them.”
“Deal,” he said softly.
He was on his back, staring up at the ceiling. She lay with her head on his chest, her arm around him. They slept, and when she woke, he was already showered and dressed in green and beige, ready to blend in with the elements.
“Aidan is coming for you in twenty,” he told her. “I’m heading out—Ryan and Sean will be with me, and both Mickey and Garza have other teams out in various areas. But we don’t want to spook anyone. We just want to make sure we’re covered if there are any twists and turns getting to wherever those thugs meant to bring their victim yesterday.”
She bound out of bed, knowing she needed to hurry.
“Oh, I brewed you some coffee. It’s still in the pot over there,” he said.
“Thank you! Coffee in the morning is much better than chocolate and flowers, I promise!” she teased.
She headed for the bathroom but he caught her. They exchanged one long kiss and an even longer look. He half smiled and half grimaced and walked out the door.
Amy hurried to get ready, trying to replicate Ryan’s ability at makeup. When she was done, she was all prettied up with flattering colors and rich long lashes. She’d planned her wardrobe well, too. She wore khaki trousers with secret pockets, a knit shirt, and a khaki jacket also with a hidden pocket. She wasn’t going to carry her usual service weapon—it was too large and could too easily be discovered and recognized as a law enforcement weapon. Instead, she slid a G42 Glock—less than four inches—into an inner side pocket of the shoulder bag she’d chosen to bring for the outing.
She wasn’t planning on any bullets flying, but if they did, she didn’t want to be defenseless.
She was ready, dressed, hopefully presentable enough to be enticing to a killer, and prepared with her handgun and a lipstick tube that wasn’t lipstick at all—rather a tube that contained several shots of pepper spray.
Her nail file could double as a knife if necessary.
Her phone rang; Aidan was waiting downstairs in the car.
Amy hurried outside to meet him.
Aidan, too, had dressed for the day. Jeans and a light T-shirt that advertised a local band, a jacket to tie around his waist, and a baseball cap.
“So, am I lecturing to you, or are you lecturing to me?” she asked.
He smiled. “Special Agent Larson, I will play it any way you like.” He hesitated and shrugged. “I’m just grateful they twisted the red tape they needed to twist in order to allow me out in the field. I can’t help but want this to end. I know it’s often a long haul. I know some criminals are never caught—but with our technology today, we are doing a hell of a lot better. I know that once you know who a criminal is, you do everything you can to get your hands on them, but...” He glanced her way. “You do know who this is, right? You two figured it out in Colorado. I’ve been briefed, of course, on those we’re looking for.”
“Of course. We have our three suspects—one of whom is just missing. I think we’re supposed to believe he was kidnapped. Another one we’re definitely supposed to believe was kidnapped. And one who was still in his office in Colorado yesterday morning. But I’m willing to bet that one of our suspects lived here or had family here at some point. They also recruited someone who knew the area, but that’s not a surprise. We’ve had so much upheaval in the world lately, I imagine it’s even easier to cater to people’s fears or hatreds regarding society and laws now more than ever.”
They reached the parking lot quickly. When they were in the airboat, Aidan asked Jimmy to make sure he didn’t come after them.
“Stay with your airboat for three hours. If we don’t return after that, just get the hell out of here, all right? If we’re both seized, neither of us will return, but you can’t panic—it’s part of the plan,” Aidan told him.
“I’ll do what you ask. But it’s a dumb plan if you ask me,” Jimmy said.
Amy smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “We’re not asking you!”
The motor revved. They reached the point on the embankment where they wanted to be. Aidan made a point of helping Amy from the airboat. He held her hand and laughed with her as they walked through the grass and foliage to a point between the water and the road—where it had been determined Aidan would act as the tour guide.
“I know I’ve explained this to you before,” he said, grinning with an exaggerated sigh. “Along the Tamiami Trail, you’ll find the Miccosukee village, and at Big Cypress and in other areas in the state—”
“But the Seminole and the Miccosukee were both Creek, right?”
He let out another of his sighs. “Two different language groups. Okay, whatever remained of all the earlier tribes became absorbed as the people who are now the Seminole Tribe, and the Miccosukee Tribe moved south, fleeing into the Everglades. There are, even among Seminole scholars, different thoughts on the true originations. Some believe the Seminole truly absorbed the remains of the more ancient tribes. Some Seminoles—more often those above Lake Okeechobee—still speak the Creek that came before throughout the centuries, and it’s complex. The Miccosukee language developed from the Lower Creek, and the Seminole developed from the Upper Creek—but they are both Muskogean languages. That’s kind of like the way the German and English languages are related. Like howand .in English isundin German.Or Spanish and Italian and Portuguese. Perfecto!Hitchiti-Mikasuki is spoken by the—you guessed it—Miccosukee of Mikasuki. The Seminole language—sometimes here, more mainly in the north of the state—is Creek, or Muskogee. Yes, yes, yes, many of the tribes in the southbeforethe Trail of Tears were close, separated sometimes by something so small as a body of water.
“Ah, like the Irish and the Scots—so similar and yet not!”
“Not so sure that would go over well with an Irishman or a Scot!”
