Page 8 of His Witness To Love

“You love her, don’t you?”

The question came as a shock, but he straightened his spine and answered, “Yes, yes, I do.”

“You’ve told her?”

“Yes, I have.”

“Good,” she said firmly. “Then remember to hurry back. Don’t make her doubt, don’t make her hurt.”

“I promise you, Rachel, I only want what’s best for her,” he said, reaching out to lift her up.

“I know this, but just make sure she knows it, too. Every step of the way.”

The last light turned green, and Mack rounded the bend to his office.

The building was filled with men trying to better the worldaround them. He hasn’t been around in a while and had to entertain a few drawn-out hellos.

Then Lauren walked into the office.

“I need to see the deputy chief,” was all the big man said to the secretary.

“He’s in his office; just walk in he’s free right now.”

Lauren caught sight of Mack as they got closer, and pleasantries were exchanged.

“What’ve you got for me, Lauren?” Mack asked

“Same thing I’ve got for the chief, you might as well follow me in Mack.”

The swivel doors ushered Mack and Lauren into the view of a very stern Rodgers.

The deputy chief cleared his desk and waited for them to sit down.

“Well, well, well, what do you have for me, Lauren?” Rodgers asked as he sifted through files.

Lauren cleared his throat and spoke, “The cloned devices of agent Mack and the civilian Miss Brianna show no signs of locational crumbing.”

“Meaning what, Lauren?” the chief asked impatiently.

“Technically, it wasn’t sent from anyone’s phone. It bounced across several signals before getting to their phones. Essentially, it's impossible to track anything from these texts; the backlogs would lead us nowhere."

“So, a dead-end is what you're telling me, yes?” The chief’s voice was strained.

“Not necessarily,” Mack chipped in.

Rodgers raised his eyebrows. “Elaborate.”

Mack paused and then spoke, “The suspects already made their demands. They want to see me. So, we give them what they want.”

The other man objected, “Absolutely not, agent. We don’t play into the hands of criminals.”

“Oh, forgive me, but I wasn't asking for permission. I was letting you know I was going either way. I’m just here to lean on the hope that your conscience wouldn’t let me do something that stupid with you in charge.”

Deputy Chief Rodgers and Mack stared each other down for a minute.

“You'll have a full pull with three squads and two cars. Do not mess this up. Pick your people and prepare yourself.”

Mack fought to keep from smiling, “Thank you, sir.”

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