Page 128 of Unexpected Redemption

Like the joy of the moment was sucked out with a vacuum, Tomer comes flying out of the office with a deadly serious look on his face. “Where’s Sawyer? We need to move. Now.”

Chapter 27

Hasty exfil

TOMER

My Redleg phone trills, causing Jaynie and me to flinch.Without warning, my consciousness is yanked back to the here and now, leaving my filthy childhood bedroom a thing of the past.

Where it belongs.

“I need to check this,” I tell her.

Scanning the screen, I quickly read Klein’s message.My pulse skyrockets.

At the start of my session, I explained to Jaynie that three peoplewould be able to get through to me on this phone in case of emergency—Big Al, Mia, and Klein. Then I placed it on the coffee table between us, just far enough away that I wouldn’t be tempted to check it relentlessly. However, I needed it close in case someone sounded the alarm, which is exactly what happened.

It’s fuckinggo time.

“We have a work emergency. Sorry to cut this short, Jaynie.”

Not really. I’m thrilled to cut it short.

Somehow in less than forty minutes, she’d managed to get me to talk about a whole host of shit I never intended to discuss. How she did it is unclear, but I’ll worry about that later.

For now, I need to shift into operator mode.

I’m almost to the door before she has a chance to respond. “Be careful. Good luck.”

Lettie and Sammy’s stunned faces greet me when I enter the waiting room.

“Where’s Sawyer? We need to move. Now.”

“He’s doing a perimeter check,” Sammy says, pointing behind her toward the door.

“We’re leaving,” I announce without preamble.

No time for explanations.

Lettie bounds to her feet.

However, poor Sammy tries and fails to get up from the couch, immediately sinking deeper into the cushions. “Help. Couch is swallowing me.”

Without hesitating, I swoop in and get her on her feet in two seconds flat. With one hand on Lettie’slower back, I escort her toward the door. Sammy trails a few steps—err, waddles—behind us.

Raising my hand to my shoulder, I motion to halt the girls.“Wait here while I check the hall.”

I jiggle the handle, finding the door locked.Good job, Sawyer.After unlocking it, I stick my head out into the hall, scanning from side to side. “Clear. Let’s move.”

Once we’re in the hallway, I hurry them along at a lightning pace. Poor Sammy’s struggling to keep up.

“What about Sawyer?” she rasps, sucking wind like a lifetime smoker with emphysema. “We can’t.” Deep breath. “Leave.” Another gasp. “Him.”

“We won’t,” I reassure her.

Keeping my head on a swivel, I hit the button on the side of my Redleg phone to engage the voice assistant, enabling me to call him without taking my eyes off our surroundings.

When we get into the stairwell, Lettie grabs my arm. “Is someone after us?” Her voice trembles with fear.

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