the airport bathroom. Her heart fluttered in her chest just like it always did before she made a call to The Falcon.
He answered after one ring. “Seven, one, six, six, nine.”
The numbers clicked in her brain and she responded. “Ten, five, seven, two, eight.”
“Are you secure?”
The altered voice grated against her ear as she peeked through the gap between the stall door and its frame at several women washing their hands, scolding children, and wheeling their bags in and out of the bathroom, too concerned with their own lives to worry about someone reciting numbers on a cell phone.
Their nice, normal lives.
“Yeah.”
“You got the name of the barbershop wrong. There’s no Walid there.”
“That’s not possible.”
“You misheard the name…or they purposely fed you the wrong one because they made you.”
Sue swallowed and pressed her forehead against the cool metal door. “They didn’t.”
“Because they would’ve killed you when you were with them?”
“That’s right.” Sue yanked off a length of toilet paper from the roll and stepped in front of the toilet to make it flush automatically. “I’ve been doing this for a while. I’d know.”
“That’s what I like about you, Nightingale. You’re a pro. You’ve already proven you’ll do anything for the cause.”
She swallowed the lump in her throat and sniffed. “Next move?”
“We need the correct barbershop.”
“I can’t exactly call up my contact and ask him.”
“You’ll figure it out. Like I said, you’re a pro.”
The Falcon ended the call before she could respond.
Sighing, she pushed out of the stall and washed her hands. On her way out of the bathroom, she almost bumped into her stepmother.
“Where have you been? We need to get to our gate. I can’t wait to get out of this place. I hate D.C.”
Sue dropped to her knees in front of her son, regretting that she’d spent their last precious minutes together on the phone with The Falcon—regretting so much more. She grabbed Drake’s hands and kissed the tips of his sticky fingers, inhaling the scent of cinnamon that clung to his skin. “Be a good boy for Gran on the airplane.”
Drake batted his dark eyelashes. “You go airplane, too, Mama?”
“No, cupcake. Just you and Gran this time, but I’ll visit you soon.”
Linda fluttered a tissue between the two of them. “Wipe your hands, Drake.”
“That’s not going to help, Linda. He had a cinnamon roll for breakfast. He’s going to have to wash his hands in the restroom.” Sue waved her hand behind her at the ladies’ room.
Pursing her lips, Linda snatched back the tissue. “Cinnamon rolls for breakfast? You spoil him when he’s here. I’ll get him a proper lunch once we get through security, if he still has any appetite left.”
He will unless you ruin it.
Sue managed to eke out a smile, as Drake was watching her with wide eyes. “Nothing spoils Drake’s appetite. He could eat a horse and ask for dessert.”
“We don’t eat horses, Mama.” Drake giggled and Sue pinched the end of his nose. “Give me another hug.”
Drake curled his chubby arms around her neck, and Sue pressed her tingling nose against his hair. “Love you, cupcake.”
“Love you.” Drake smacked his lips against her cheek. “Can I live here?”
“Not yet, my lovey, but soon.” Blinking the tears from her eyes, Sue straightened up and placed Drake’s hand in her stepmother’s. “Give my love to Dad.”
Linda sniffed as she yanked up the handle of her suitcase. “I don’t know why some people have children if they can’t be bothered to take care of them.”
“Linda.” Sue ducked toward her stepmother and said through clenched teeth, “I told you. This…arrangement won’t be forever, and I don’t appreciate your talking like that in front of my son.”
Linda’s pale eyes widened a fraction and she backed up. “I hope you’re not going to be landing in trouble every other month, or you’ll never have Drake with you. You were right to leave him with your sister. Children need stability. You should give up this crazy job and find yourself a husband to take care of you, a father for Drake, and settle down like your sister.”
Sue opened her mouth and then snapped it shut. She’d promised herself not to argue with Linda—besides, her stepmother had a point. As it stood now, Sue couldn’t keep her son with her and raise him properly—even if The Falcon had allowed it.
And he hadn’t.
“It won’t always be like this. I plan to transfer to another position, and then I can have him with me all the time. I’ll contact you tonight for some face-to-face with Drake. Ask Dad. He knows how to do it.”
“I know, I know. Your father knows everything.”
“Thanks, Linda. Safe travels.” Sue blew a kiss to Drake as her stepmother hustled him toward the line for security.
She waved until they got to the front of the line. Knowing her father would be stationed at the airport in South Carolina to pick them up was the only thing that allowed her to turn away and leave the airport. Drake lived with her sister, Amelia, and her family, but they were in the Bahamas and Sue hadn’t wanted Drake to go along, so she sent him to Dad and Linda.
Linda could take care of Drake’s physical needs and keep him safe, but she trusted only Dad to meet Drake’s emotional needs. Her stepmother didn’t have the capacity for that job, as Sue suspected she trash-talked her to Drake whenever she got the chance.
If Sue had one more incident like the one she’d faced in Istanbul, she had no doubt her stepmother would move against her to take Drake away from her completely and declare her an unfit mother.
Sue clenched her teeth and exited the airport. She’d just have to make sure she didn’t have any more of those close calls.
After she fed her parking receipt into the machine and the arm lifted, Sue flexed her fingers on the steering wheel of the car and glanced in her rearview mirror. With Drake’s visit over, she could finally breathe…and find out who was following her. The possibilities were endless.
She navigated out of the airport and drove straight to her office. She had to confront her supervisor, Ned Tucker, about her suspicions. She’d already been debriefed after the kidnapping. Why was the CIA still dogging her? And if it wasn’t the CIA, maybe Ned could help her figure out who it was. She hadn’t wanted to tell The Falcon about this new development.
He thought she was a pro who could handle anything. She could, but handling everything on her own all the time had gotten old. Sometimes a girl just needed a shoulder to lean on. She’d had that shoulder…once.
She rolled up to the parking gate of the office and held her badge out the window.
The security guard waved her through, and she parked her car. Slipping her badge lanyard over her head, she marched toward her office building. She’d taken the day off to drop off Drake and Linda at the airport, but she couldn’t wait any longer to get to the bottom of this mystery tail.
She punched the elevator button and almost bumped into one of her coworkers coming out.
Peter held up his hands. “Whoa, what’s the hurry?”
“Sorry, Peter.” She stepped to the side.
“Thought