Page 56 of Destroyed With You

After the introductions and the summary of what our problem is, Noah nods reassuringly. “Assuming I can get good fingerprints, I should be able to get access. If not, I can try to hack the laptop.”

“No,” I say firmly. I meet Winston’s eyes, and he clears his throat.

“Sorry. We weren’t clear. You’re not getting the laptop at all.”

“It’s not that we don’t trust you,” I say, “although to be honest, I don’t even know you. It’s just that if anything happens to the information on that laptop, we’re really and truly screwed. It stays with us.”

Winston hesitates, then nods. “If it turns out that you need to search the laptop for a clean print, we’ll make more arrangements. But see if you can manage from what we’ve given you.”

Noah nods, looking into the Whataburger bag. “I should be able to tell if I can pull an acceptable print within the next few hours. If you don’t hear from me, then everything’s good.”

“And after that, how long will it take you to make a finger we can use?”

“Minimum of two days.”

“That long?”

He chuckles. “This isn’t an episode of the latest spy drama. I can’t scan a print into the computer and have it spit out a latex thumb that will give you access. I can do this—maybe—but it’s going to take some time.”

I nod.

“And without the laptop I can’t even test it, so we may have to repeat the process all over again after the first time.”

Winston looks at me, and I shake my head again. I want this over. I want to know if the man I trusted my entire life adult life is dirty. And in order to know that for certain, I can’t risk whatever information is on that computer. And that means it stays with us.

“Then I guess we’ll have to start over if it comes to that,” Winston says.

Noah nods. “Fair enough. Here are the keys to the Land Rover,” he says, passing them to Winston. “Where can I reach you? This number?”

Winston shakes his head. “No. We’re going to ditch these cell phones and get new ones. Burners.” I look at him, because that’s not something we’ve discussed yet, but I agree, and nod.

“All right then, you contact me. Do you have a safe location where you can wait until the print is ready?”

“No,” I start to say, but Winston speaks over me.

“Yes,” he says. “We’ve got somewhere to go.”

Chapter Nineteen

“Wait,” I say as he maneuvers the Land Rover through downtown Llano, Texas. Which, to be fair, consists of a courthouse on the square and the few retail shops and restaurants that surround it. And, of course, The Marquis, the movie theater that his parents own.

“Wait? For what?”

It’s a fair question. Traffic this afternoon consists of maybe five cars. It’s a darling town, but a sleepy one.

“Just pull over a second,” I say when he looks at me in question.

To his credit, he doesn’t argue, just pulls into a parking space in front of an ice cream store. “I adore your parents, really I do. And I want to see them again, even though it’s going to be really weird. But are you sure this is a good idea? I mean aren’t we putting them in danger? Surely, Seagrave will look for you there.”

“It’s a good point, but no. Exactly because he knows me well.”

I lift my hands in a sign of general confusion.

“He knows that I’d never in a million years put my parents in danger. Which means he knows I would never hide out there.”

I frown, turning that over in my head. And I have to admit, it’s deviously clever. “And you’re certain.”

“Of course I am. Do you think I’d come here if I wasn’t?”