Page 11 of Caught
“Hi, Jake,” Leilah said.
“Hi, yourself, Leilah. You two are a real pain in my ass, you know that?”
Or maybe the lecture was incoming.
“Um—”
“—It’s a rhetorical question. No need to answer it,” he told her.
“Obviously, Trent filled you in,” Ryan interjected.
“Obviously. What he didn’t tell me, because he doesn’t know is why you’re in DC and why you want to go to Fort Detrick.”
Ryan quickly filled Jake in on the conversation with Natsuo Ito’s cousin. After a weighty silence, Jake said, “If DCIS is involved, we should go straight to the top brass.”
“The Pentagon?” Ryan asked.
“Sure. We’ve been running around, chasing our tails for days. If the military’s calling the shots, let’s find out.”
Ryan bobbed his head as if he was considering the option.
Leilah gave him a confused look and asked Jake, “But wouldn’t that mean the military’s behind the murders and the attempts on Ryan’s life? Won’t showing up at the Pentagon and demanding to talk simply provoke them?”
There was a long pause. Before Jake could answer, Ryan said, “Sometimes you have to shake the tree.”
“Shake the tree?”
He met her gaze and said gravely, “Shake the tree and see what falls out.”
She wanted to argue, to tell him that he was being rash. Instead, she held her tongue because she could see there’d be no point. Cautious, risk-averse Ryan’s jaw was set and his eyes blazed with determination.
“We’ll rendezvous in Annapolis,” Jake decided.
“Why Annapolis?” Leila wanted to know.
“It’s a good meeting point. It’s equidistant from the campus and from Trent. Plus, it’s only an hour from both Fort Detrick and the Pentagon.”
“And it’s in Maryland, where Ryan and I are wanted for murder,” she pointed out.
“You’re wanted for murder everywhere, Leilah. That’s how that works.” His voice was gentle but pragmatic.
“Besides,” Ryan said, “A picturesque town on the Chesapeake Bay isn’t going to be crawling with law enforcement agents the way DC is. Probably way fewer CCTV cameras, too. We won’t be as exposed.”
“Hello, what about the Navy?”
“Naval Academy,” he corrected her. “There’s a world of difference between a bunch of midshipmen and the SEALs. I’m sure Trent will mention it a thousand times.”
On the phone, Jake cackled. “That he will.”
Leilah was thinking. “Is everyone coming to this meeting?”
“Everyone except Chelsea.”
“Bring her,” Leilah said. “Please. While you guys are meeting with the military, we can do some shopping. Annapolis has loads of cute little stores.”
‘Shopping?’ Ryan mouthed. He threw her a look that said she had to be kidding.
She just smiled.
