The Planck Factor

Chapter 46

A flurry of activity followed. Billy was taken into custody. Cops descended on the house, a typical brick rancher. A medic unit arrived at the scene, its two occupants hustling a stretcher and drug box inside. George and his twin took the drives and plugged them into a laptop. From the front seat of their car, the agents were able to connect securely to the Internet with a wireless hotspot device and email the files to their counterparts out West.

George breathed a heavy sigh. "Thank God for wi-fi. It's in their hands now," he said, eyes downcast. He looked up again at me. "We need to debrief you."

Great. Without a word, I opened the car's back door and slid inside. The way I slammed it shut conveyed how I felt.

George's liquid brown eyes gazed at me, warming my insides. "Don't worry. We only have a few questions about what happened."

I nodded. "Can we just be done with this?"

"Soon," he assured me. George gazed toward the house. The EMTs were taking Cynthia out on a stretcher. She wasn't moving.

"What's wrong with her? She was conscious when I left her." I started to scramble from the car, but George placed a hand on my arm.

I ignored the gesture, but he tightened his grip until I thought he'd cut off my circulation.

"Someone gave her a nasty crack on the head," he said. "She may have a serious concussion."

"Could I have hit her that hard?"

George squinted my way. "You hit Cynthia?"

"She asked me to. It was part of my escape plan." I mulled the possibilities. "There was this other man. Never got his name, but he had a deep tan and black eyes. Was he in there?"

George's twin spoke. "Along with our operative, we've only found one man lying dead at the door. So far."

I really felt like shit. A serious concussion? I slumped back onto the car seat. Could Billy have gotten to her before he appeared at the door? Or the mystery man?

A Kevlar-vested agent emerged from the front door and called, "All clear!"

George lifted a hand in acknowledgment. I wondered what happened to the nameless man with the onyx eyes and weathered brown face.