Page 75 of Hack
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Archer paced his motel room as he waited for Xander to answer his phone. Carter hadn't called, and other than a text from Matt over an hour ago, he hadn't heard anything. When he'd tried to call Carter, it went to voicemail, and now he was worried that something had happened.
"Hello?" Xander answered.
"Hey, it's Archer. You guys okay?"
"We're good. He's a little shook up, but okay. We're in the clear," Xander told him.
"Thank God. Can I talk to him?" Archer needed to hear Carter's voice to assure himself he was okay.
"Not at the moment. He needs a little time," Xander said.
"Why? What's wrong?" He could hear it in the tone of Xander's voice.
"He's in the bathroom vomiting, but don't let him know I told you that. Let the guy hold on to his dignity."
"Fuck, I should have known that was going to happen. He's not the killing type. Hell, I threw up for a week the first time I killed someone and I was trained to do it." He remembered the call shortly after joining the police force. It had taken him months to get through what he'd done emotionally, and it was a justified kill, keeping the guy from shooting his wife and kids. "Is he bad?"
"He's in shock, but I think he'll be okay. He just needs some time."
"Take care of him for me." Archer hated he couldn't be there.
"I will. I'll have him call as soon as he can, but that might not be until morning. Just know I'm with him, we're back at the motel, and he's safe."
"The scene…" Archer asked.
"Messy, but we left nothing behind. I got a text from Matt right before you called that the police are on their way there to get the girls."
"Thank God." Archer ran his fingers through his hair. He had a million questions, but now wasn't the time. "Okay, I'll let you go deal with him. Thank you. I owe you for this."
"Any one of us would do this for him. He's family. I'll let him know we talked and to call you."
"Thanks, Xander." Archer hung up, still pacing as he tried to imagine what Carter was going through. He hated that Xander was the one with him, though, on the other hand, he was glad it was someone who could handle whatever mess there had been. Even with his experience as a police officer and with the FBI, he wasn't sure he could have dealt with something so personal. Not when someone he cared about was involved, and no matter how he tried to deny it to himself, he cared about Carter a lot.
Considering what the team did for a living, he had to wonder what messy meant to Xander. The images in his head had to be worse than it really had been, at least he hoped so.
With nothing to do but wait and hope that Carter called him, he flipped on the TV and tried to get lost in whatever was on the screen, but his mind was too preoccupied for that to happen. He watched the minutes tick by. When the clock ticked to two, then three in the morning, he slowly realized that he wasn't going to get a call.
Hopefully, Xander had helped Carter relax and got him to sleep somehow, though he wasn't sure Carter would be able to sleep after whatever had gone down. He wished he knew what the police were doing, what they'd found. Were parents being contacted yet? Were the girls rescued and safe? Fuck, he hated not knowing anything.
He must have eventually drifted off, because the next thing he knew his cell phone was ringing. He reached for it without looking at who was calling, answering quickly, "hello?"
"Archer, have you heard from Carter?" Xander's voice was rushed and filled with worry.
"Uh, no. Isn't he with you?" Archer sat up, instantly awake. He glanced at the clock on the nightstand, seeing it was four in the morning. That meant it was seven where Xander was.
"He was in bed last I saw him. He must have snuck out when I fell asleep. He left a note saying he had something to do and was getting another flight. He left everything here, his phone, and the keys to the rental car. Fuck!" Xander's anger was obvious. "What does that fool think he's doing?"
Archer's pulse raced. He didn't like not knowing where Carter was, but he also was confident that he wouldn't go get himself arrested or cause himself any problems. He probably just needed time alone. "It's okay. Let him go. He knows where we are when he's ready to come back." He sounded more confident than he felt.
"I should have stayed awake to watch him, but I swear I thought he'd finally fallen asleep." Xander sighed. "Listen, my flight leaves in a few hours. I'll turn in the rental and get back there as quickly as I can. I'm calling Matt and letting him know what happened. Maybe they can track him somehow with his credit cards or—"
Archer shook his head even though Xander couldn't see him. "He'll use his fake ID. I know he's got several. If he doesn't want to be found, he won't be. Carter knows better than anyone how to hide." Even as he said it, he had a feeling he knew exactly where Carter was headed. The question was, what to do about it, if anything at all. "I'm staying in the motel another night. I don't want to risk leading anyone to any of you should anyone look into where I am. I'll drive by his house, but I doubt he'll be there. I'm guessing he just needs to work through some shit."
"Yeah, I'm sure he does. He was a mess last night. I know he wouldn't want me telling anyone, but you deserve to know. He would have been fucked had he been alone. He went into shock. I think things got to him more than he thought they would. I had to all but carry him out of that home and to the car. Once back at the motel, he was sick for almost an hour with dry heaves before I thought he finally passed out from exhaustion. He's not in a good place mentally right now." Xander sounded like he was zipping something up.
Archer stared at the TV that was on, not even seeing what was on it. His mind was racing, trying to think like Carter. "Let's give him twenty-four hours. If we don't hear from him by tomorrow morning, then we'll worry. He probably just wants to be alone." He prayed that Carter wasn't going after Levitt or Luis on his own, but that didn't feel right to him. They might have known what was going on, but that was something he'd hoped Carter would leave for the FBI to handle. They'd put everything in the evidence file they'd put together. "Did he send the file?"
