Chapter 28

CHAPTER

TWENTY-EIGHT

Stephen tried to keep his frustration under wraps, but it was difficult—especially since Heidi would be stepping into danger. He couldn't stop her, and he knew that. However, Larchmont shouldn't have put her in this position.

Now it was too late.

Heidi had left the bathroom and avoided eye contact with him. She didn't want to talk, and Stephen wanted to respect that. Hopefully later she'd see things differently. Because he needed to clarify what he'd said.

That conversation hadn't gone as he'd planned. Not at all.

She'd gone back to meet with Larchmont and Cynthia. Larchmont was clearly exhausted and needed rest after everything he'd been through. But the man was determined to see this through. He'd said he could rest later.

As Heidi had addressed Larchmont, Stephen had hoped to hear that she'd changed her mind.

She hadn't.

Stephen and Gage had positioned themselves near the door while Heidi and Larchmont planned all the details. For the past two hours, they'd been rehearsing her cover story.

Stephen couldn't listen to this anymore. He needed a break.

As he excused himself and stepped out of the room, someone stepped out behind him.

"Hey, man." Gage's perceptive eyes met his. "I know this is a stressful situation. Are you doing okay?"

Stephen shook his head. "Not really. I hate this. I hate all of it."

"I know you do. But we're going to make sure Heidi is ready before we send her out there."

Gage sounded so certain. Stephen wanted to believe him. But this whole setup was dangerous. Too much could go wrong.

"I have a bad feeling about all this," he finally said.

"We'll be there to have her back," Gage assured him. "All the safeguards will be in place."

Stephen leaned against the wall. "I know. I appreciate that. But Heidi is still walking right into the lions' den. She has no training and no way to protect herself if things go wrong. If Rafferty catches wind of the fact she's deceiving him, she's a goner. Before we can get to her, he'll pull the trigger, and all this will be over."

Gage placed his hand on Stephen's shoulder, looking ready to talk Stephen down from the ledge. "I know this is hard. We just need to trust the process."

Trust the process? That would be easier said than done.

Especially since Heidi's life was on the line. She deserved better than this.

Why couldn't he be the one in this position? What he wouldn't give to trade places with her . . .

Stephen hated the helpless feeling brewing inside him, and he wished he'd never pulled Heidi into this. If anything happened to her, it would be his fault, and no one would convince him otherwise.

Heidi tried not to second-guess herself as she reviewed everything with Larchmont.

In between memorizing her cover story, she munched on a sandwich someone had brought out for her. She was hungrier than she'd thought, and the turkey and cheese on wheat hit the spot.

The snacks that had been set out on the table earlier had already been devoured, not just by her but also by Stephen and Gage.

As they talked, she could tell Larchmont was getting tired. But he refused to give up. For that reason, neither did she.

She found the man's perseverance inspiring. But she also knew this was important to him. The situation was serious.

Stephen and Gage stepped back into the room, and she glanced at them. Stephen still looked uptight with his squared shoulders and heavy gaze. He didn't make eye contact—probably on purpose.

Maybe it was better that way. She didn't want to see the disappointment in his gaze.

His worry came from a good place. But she couldn't deal with those complications right now.

Maybe later. If she survived to see later.

She swallowed hard at the thought.

She finished reciting her cover story again and then waited for Larchmont's critique.

He stared at her a moment and then nodded. "Good job. Do you have any questions?"

She let out the breath she'd been holding. Then she put her sandwich onto the paper plate on the table, only a couple of bites remaining.

What was she missing right now?

"How am I going to communicate with you guys?" she asked.

"Great question. At first, we were going to put a listening device in your earrings?—"

"Rafferty would notice the new earrings and get suspicious." She wasn't the type to wear a lot of jewelry anyway.

"That's what we concluded as well. Instead, we came up with this." Larchmont motioned to someone in the distance.

A man Heidi hadn't seen before stepped inside. He carried a pair of shoes with him—shoes that looked an awful lot like the thick-soled running shoes she had on now.

It took her a few seconds to realize what Larchmont had done. "You put a listening device in those shoes?"

"It's more than that." Cynthia took the shoes from the man and showed them to Heidi. "The shoes actually have a special compartment in the sole."

Cynthia pressed a hidden lever on the bottom of the right shoe, and the sole pivoted. Inside the foam, nestled in the depths, was a small cell phone.

Heidi raised her eyebrows. "I have to admit . . . I'm impressed."

"If anything goes south, you can use the phone to call us," Cynthia said. "It should stay charged for a couple of days. We can also track you through the phone and listen to you."

"That's pretty amazing." Heidi stared at the shoe, feeling as if she'd stepped into an alternate reality. "I guess I just need to remind myself not to take my shoes off."

"Yes, by all means, see if you can keep wearing them, even if it means coming up with an excuse about why." Larchmont sat up. "Maybe it's that you're cold or your heels hurt or whatever."

She rubbed her temples as she tried to keep everything straight. "I feel like this is Mission Impossible —only it's real life."

Larchmont leaned closer, his weary eyes on her. "You can do this, Heidi. We'll be tracking your every move and listening to everything you say. We'll station people nearby, and if anything starts to go wrong, we'll move in. If you feel threatened at any time, we're going to give you a code word. You just say that word out loud, and we'll step in to help."

That was comforting, she supposed. "What's that code word?"

"Overwhelmed," Larchmont said. "It's a word you should be able to easily work into the conversation if needed. When we hear that, we'll know to act."

She drew in a deep breath and nodded, trying to keep her composure and not freak out as the reality of what she was doing hit her. If she screwed up even just a little . . . this whole operation would be blown.

And she'd be killed.

She pressed her eyes closed, trying not to think about that.

Heidi forced her eyes open and looked at Larchmont. "So, when I get there, you want me to ask Rafferty questions, correct?"

"Yes, and if he doesn't answer those questions, then I need you to eavesdrop. Look in his office." Larchmont paused and locked gazes with her. "But whatever you do, don't get caught."

Don't get caught . . . that was going to be easier said than done. But her only choice was to succeed. Anything else would end in death.

Her death.