Sydney walked down the stairs just in time to hear the ominous words come out of Brian’s mouth. Her heartbeat raced. “What do you mean?”
Both men turned and looked at her with deep frowns on their faces.
“You can go back and rest. I’ll catch you up later,” Max told her.
She shook her head as she entered the living room. “No way. This is all about me. I deserve to know the truth.”
“Well, I tend to agree,” Brian said. “But someone’s going to have to help me fill in the blanks.”
She felt Max’s eyes on her, assessing her. She nodded and he turned to Brian. “Ask away.”
“All right. Well, the guy with Lucas Jones was named Rick Ward. And after I was done talking to Jones, he approached me about using my resources to track down and kill someone.” His eyes darkened as he turned to her. “You, Sydney.”
She wasn’t the least bit surprised. It was just as she suspected. Rick wouldn’t rest until she had been punished for what she’d done to him. She’d embarrassed him by running out on him when he’d never expected she’d have the nerve or the courage to leave him. “Brian, that man you met is my ex-boyfriend.”
“Ward is your ex?” Brian asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Unfortunately so.” She didn’t really want to rehash the history with Brian, but considering all he was doing for her, he deserved to know the truth. She gave him the condensed version. “He seemed nice enough at the beginning, but then he became highly abusive. So much so that I feared for my life. One day I was able to make a break for it, so I did.”
“I’m so sorry, Sydney. But now this makes a lot more sense to me. It seemed very personal for Ward. And we had this conversation after Lucas Jones had left the room. Ward was very intent on getting this job done whatever the cost. He offered me one hundred thousand.”
“How did you respond to Ward?” Max asked.
“I told him I’d think about it, but that I’d want a better deal than that, as well as access to Jones.”
Then it hit her. “I have an idea.”
Max walked over to where she stood. “What is it?”
“Have Brian agree to this deal with Ward.”
“What?” the men asked in unison.
“We’ll fake my death.” She stood with her hands on her hips, proud of her idea.
“No way,” Max said. “It’s way too risky. Ward is the type of guy that will want proof.”
“We’ll have to come up with something,” she told him. “But just think about it. It’s the perfect plan. It gets Ward off my back and gives Brian time to investigate the link between Diaz and Jones.”
“And how do you suppose that we’ll make the US Marshals think you’re dead?” Max asked. “They’re still looking for us.”
“All the more reason to go on the run. Get away from here.” She looked at Brian, hoping he’d back up her idea.
“She may have a point,” Brian said. “It could be a great plan.”
Max threw his hands in the air. “Maybe in the abstract. But I’m telling you, the details of faking her death make me very nervous. How are you going to convince Ward that you killed Sydney?”
Brian remained calm as he defended his opinion. “We’ve done things like this before.”
“But this is different,” Max said.
“But it’s doable,” Brian countered.
As the men argued, Sydney grew more certain of her plan. Feeling as though she could fight back against Rick was empowering. Maybe it wouldn’t be with her fists, but this would be even better.
Finally, Brian seemed to win out. He calmly explained how he’d make Sydney’s plan work. “Ward is supposed to get back to me with a new quote for my dirty work and a guarantee of another meeting with Jones. I didn’t want to seem desperate to work with them. I think Lucas Jones and I had a good talk. But it’s going to take more than one meeting to get what I need from him. Guys like him don’t divulge critical details in the first meeting. Sydney’s plan would buy me the additional time to work on the connections.”
She clasped her hands together in front of her. “So it sounds like it’s settled to me. We’re going to do this. Now it’s just a matter of logistics.”
Max scoffed. “If only the logistics weren’t the hardest part.”
“What about Elena?” Sydney asked.
“I think we have to keep her in the dark. The only people that can know the truth right now are the three of us.”
“Well, we better sit down and get to work,” Brian said.
They gathered around the table, developing a plan of action. Sydney loved the fact that they were going on the offensive as opposed to waiting for something else awful to happen.
Brian ordered three large pizzas, mainly because he and Max claimed they were starving. Now with two pizzas decimated and a third being worked on, it seemed like the right choice. She’d even polished off three slices of pepperoni.
“Now, about proving my death,” she said, wiping her hands on a napkin. “Maybe Brian could take a piece of my clothing and a lock of my hair.”
“I don’t know if that would be enough.”
“Could we stage a picture?” she asked.
“We could definitely do that,” Brian said. “That could be my backup if he doesn’t go for the tangible articles.”
“What about timing?” she asked.
Brian looked at her. “Ward wanted it done ASAP. Like I said, it was clear he had it in for you. Once he gets back to me with his revised offer, which could be as soon as tonight, then I’ll tell him I’ll get started.”
“Either way, this will be our last night here. We’re going to move,” Max said.
“That’s smart. Are you sure you’ll be okay for the rest of night? Are you still good with Elena?”
“Good may be too strong of a word, but I think if she wanted to do something, she would’ve already done it. I just have to make sure we’re not followed when we leave.”
Brian seemed unsettled. “Maybe you should leave now. Are you awake enough to drive for an hour or so?”
“Of course,” Max said. “And come to think about it, I agree with you.” He turned to Sydney. “Pack up your things.”
“I picked up two burner phones.” Brian handed one to Max. “I programmed my burner number into yours.”
“Great,” Max said.
“Before you leave, though, I need to get the picture of Sydney and her things.”
These guys were professionals. Sydney was in the best possible hands given the gravity of the situation. And even though she couldn’t stop being anxious, she felt a lot better knowing that they had a plan. Especially a plan that involved making Ward think she was dead. It wouldn’t solve her problem forever, but at least it would be a temporary solution.
* * *
Sydney awoke the next morning with a start. Where was she? Then it came back to her. They’d driven into South Carolina and stopped in the middle of the night so that Max could get some much needed rest.
The night had passed by in a blur as she had cut off a lock of her hair and then posed for the picture to fake her death. Brian had been careful about the picture, setting up the angle and the lighting that would make it the most realistic. As a professional forensic artist, she felt a bit strange being the subject of the photo and not being able to provide her expert input. What was even more troubling was the fact that if she had stayed with Rick, she might be dead right now instead of just posing as if she was.
Max and Brian insisted that they got a shot that could fool Rick. Rick wasn’t stupid, but his arrogance often clouded his intelligence. He used his size and strength to get his way and not his brain.
As she lay in the hotel-room bed, she couldn’t help but think about how she’d ever ended up with a man like Rick Ward in the first place. But there was no use thinking about it now. That was the past. And because of what had happened with Rick, she’d found faith. Her life had forever changed.
But her heart still ached because of something else. Someone else. What if the Lord had put Max in her life for a reason? What if she could be to him what others had been to her? Max had lived a Christian life for years and had only turned away because of his difficult childhood. Did the Lord want her to help bring Max back to faith?
She could only continue to pray that God would give her the strength and wisdom to know how to handle the situation. To show Max that returning to his faith would actually be freeing and empowering. That how his parents lived wasn’t the way he had to live.
One thing was for certain. She wasn’t giving up on Max. He was her friend and always would be—if they made it through this alive. And she wanted to have the opportunity for him to continue to see how God worked through her life. No doubt it would be an uphill battle, but one she was ready for.
But was she ready for Rick and the East River gang to continue their pursuit? She wasn’t sure, but she knew she’d get through it. And when this was over, she wanted Rick to face justice for what he’d done to her. Because if he had treated her that way, he surely had done the same thing to other women.
A knock on the adjoining door had her jumping up out of the bed and throwing on a sweater over her T-shirt. She looked at the clock and saw it was almost 10:00 a.m.
“Hey.” She opened the door, and Max stood there with a faint smile.
“I slept like a rock,” he said. “But I guess I needed it.”
“Yeah, we didn’t get in last night until after one.”
“How are you feeling?” He stepped inside her room.
“Considering everything that’s happened, I’m holding up pretty good.”
He grabbed her hand. “You are strong.”
“Thanks.” She felt her heart warm, whether at his words of praise or at his touch, she didn’t know.
“You must be starving. I know I am. Want to grab some food?”
“Yeah, can you just give me a few minutes to hop in the shower?”
“Of course. Knock on my door when you’re ready.”
When he let her hand go and walked out of her room, she realized her heart was pounding. And it had nothing to do with danger—and all to do with Max.
* * *
Max exhaled after he left Sydney’s room. With each passing day his respect for her grew. The strength and courage she had demonstrated throughout this ordeal was amazing. But he wondered if he was starting to feel something else for her.
How was that even possible, though? He’d had casual relationships before, but there had never been any authentic emotion. He felt as if he understood Sydney more than any of those other women. And even more strangely, he felt like Sydney got him.
His burner phone buzzed, and he picked it up.
“Hey,” he said, knowing it had to be Brian.
“I’ve got good news. The operation is a go. Ward took the bait. I told him I’d have the job completed ASAP and would send him proof as soon as it was done. I’m also supposed to meet with Jones again tonight.”
“How are you feeling about things?”
“Actually pretty solid. I think this plan just may work. I’ll have to feel out Jones to determine how much to push the Kevin Diaz angle. I set it up to where I’d be worried about Diaz being my competition. But I don’t want to come off as too nosy or it may send up red flags. I’ll have to go with my gut once I hear what Jones has to say.”
“I get that, but we also don’t have a lot of time here. We can’t risk that trial restarting without Sydney’s testimony against Kevin Diaz. Once word gets out to Diaz that Sydney is dead, he’ll think he’s home free on the charges. Without her expert testimony, the state’s case isn’t that strong.”
“I understand, man. I’ll do all I can and then some.”
Max took a deep breath. “I know. I appreciate this more than you can ever know.”
Brian didn’t reply right away. A few seconds passed, and when he did speak, his voice was different, more tentative. “Max, is something deeper going on between you and Sydney?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve known you for years. And there’s something about the way you are around her that’s different.”
Max didn’t want to go down this road because he didn’t fully understand it himself just yet. But he wasn’t about to tell Brian that, either. He responded as any marshal would. “I just want to do everything in my power to protect her.”
“Understood, bro. Be careful. I’ll update you as soon as I can.”
Knowing the plan was set into motion, Max ended the call and paced for the few minutes until Sydney was ready. They opted for the fast-food drive-through and brought back an assortment of things to the hotel. They ate in her room since she had the bigger table.
“I’m glad they let us order breakfast and lunch. I’m starving.” Sydney laughed as she eyed the array of food.
It was great seeing her smile and laugh. Over the past few days there had been few opportunities to do so. Her smile reached all the way to her big brown eyes and seemed to light up her face, making her even prettier.
They ate in silence. When they were done he wasn’t sure why he broached the topic he did.
“I know you said that you found a church after you left Ward. But before all that happened with him, what was your stance on faith?”
Her eyes widened. He’d definitely surprised her with that question. “You know, I didn’t really have a stance. I guess I’d say I was neutral. My mom never took me to church. Sadly, she died a few years ago.” She paused. “So, growing up I didn’t have any example to go by. But I wouldn’t say that I was as skeptical as you are. I never had the experience of believing and then wanting to walk away from faith.”
“I am skeptical,” he concurred. “But I have reason to be.”
“What happened to you, Max?”
He looked down. “I don’t really like talking about it.”
“You have walls around you. Believe me, I get that. But I think you realize at this point that I wouldn’t judge your past.”
He knew she wouldn’t. Feeling safe with her, he decided to divulge a bit of his life. “I told you that I grew up going to church. My family was all about show. In the community, they were highly respected. But at home it was a very different story. Both of my parents had issues that led them to being unavailable. My mom was hooked on pain pills and my dad to his job and, unfortunately, other women. I never experienced any physical abuse like you did, but my childhood was filled with apathy. Smiles outside the house and very few words spoken inside the house.”
“That’s a tough way to grow up,” she said.
“When I got older it was hard for me to understand how they could claim to be believers when they couldn’t even show the smallest bit of love toward me—their only child. A complete lack of concern. That is, unless it had something to do with how the community saw me. I had to do exactly what they wanted to be the perfect child.”
“I’m so sorry, Max. Every child deserves to be loved.”
“Sydney, I have to say that seeing how you have carried yourself during this entire crisis has made me more curious about how faith works for you. I can’t help but wonder, what if I was wrong? What if I’ve been too hasty to throw out all religion because of the experiences I lived through?”
“It’s not too late, Max. If you feel like the Lord is calling out to you, then He probably is.”
“You’ve shown me through your actions and words what it’s really like to live by faith. And now a return to my faith is something that I’m interested in exploring further. Believe it or not, as a child I enjoyed church. It wasn’t until I got older that the experience became tainted for me.”
“I’m here, Max. For whatever you need. You’re risking your life for me. The least I can do is lend an ear.”
“Syd, I appreciate everything.”
Silence overtook them as she cleaned up her food wrappers. As she went to gather his trash, he reached up and gently touched her face. “My promise to you has always been the same. To keep you safe.”
“I know, Max. Thank you.”
As he looked into her eyes, he was amazed at how his life continued to change all because she had come into it. And he wasn’t going to let her down.
* * *
Sydney sat quietly in the passenger’s seat as the car sped down the highway to an unknown destination. She couldn’t stop thinking about their earlier conversation. Her heart had almost exploded at Max’s words about his past and how she had influenced him spiritually. For a man like Max, who not only had misgivings about religion but prided himself on his logical approach, this was a big breakthrough. She would continue to pray for him and live her life the only way she knew how.
But even with Max’s desire to return to his faith, she wouldn’t allow herself to think there could ever be anything more than friendship between the two of them. While she trusted Max in his role as her friend and protector, trusting in a romantic sense was a different matter entirely. She truly believed that her heart might not ever be ready for romance again.
It hurt a bit that he was skeptical about her work as a sketch artist. She was proud of all of her accomplishments as a forensic artist—including the sketch-artist work. Just because he’d had one bad experience didn’t mean that she couldn’t do her job and do it well.
Max’s phone rang from the console.
“Put it on speaker, will you?” he asked. “That has to be Brian.”
She picked up the phone and pressed the speaker button.
“Brian,” Max said. “What’s going on?”
“It’s not Brian,” a deep male voice responded.
“Who is this?” Max asked. He kept the car on the road, but Sydney could see the anger streaking through him as he clenched his hands on the steering wheel.
“I’m disappointed that you forgot about me so quickly, buddy.”
“Davies. What are you doing?”
“I could ask you the same thing, but for now here’s what’s going to happen. I have your FBI pal here with me.”
Max blew out a breath. Sydney knew this was bad. Their entire operation had been compromised. How had this happened? Her heart thumped wildly as she worried about Brian’s safety.
“What do you want?” Max asked.
“A trade. Sydney for your FBI agent.”
Before she could react, Max replied, “When and where?”
“Your response was so quick, I almost believe you.” Davies laughed. “I know you’re going to want to save the day—to keep your witness safe and rescue Brian—but you’re smart enough to know that won’t happen. Especially if you pull any fast ones. So you’re going to do this exactly as I say if you don’t want me to put a bullet through your friend’s brain.”
She noticed Max’s jaw clench as Davies spoke. Then he ground out, “Tell me how this will go down.”
“I don’t know where you are, but you need to get yourself back to Atlanta. I’ll text you an address and time later today.”
The call ended and Sydney realized she had been holding her breath. She hit the End button. “What happened?”
“I don’t know. But Brian’s in trouble. They have his phone and they know who he is.”
She was almost afraid to ask the next question. “They’re going to kill him, anyway, aren’t they?”
“Unfortunately, there’s a good chance that might happen, but I’m obviously not going to hand you over to them under any circumstances.”
“But what about Brian?”
“We’ll figure out something, but we need to go back to Atlanta. And I need to call Elena. I’m not going to be able to do this alone.”
“You’re not alone, Max.”
He looked over at her briefly and nodded. “I know that, Sydney. But my priority hasn’t changed. Your safety is still not only my job, but it’s what I need to do.” He asked her to dial Elena’s number, which Max had committed to memory.
She dialed and put it on speaker.
“Sanchez,” Elena answered.
“Hey, it’s Max.”
“Where in the world are you? I thought we agreed you’d let me know before you left Brian’s house.”
“I never agreed to that.” He paused. “But we have bigger problems than that right now. Brian went on an undercover operation to get evidence tying Lucas Jones to Kevin Diaz. And somewhere in all of that Davies got involved and was able to figure out Brian was FBI. They have him.”
“Oh, no,” she said. “Why didn’t you bring me in on this at the beginning of the op?”
“I’m sorry if I was still a bit hesitant about trusting you given all that had gone on.”
“I know, Max. And I’ll be apologizing to you and Sydney forever about that. But I promise you that I’m on your side.”
“Well, at this point I don’t have much of a choice but to trust you. Davies says that unless I turn over Sydney, he’ll kill Brian. Davies is going to send me a meeting time and place later today.”
“You can’t give over your witness,” Elena said in a commanding tone.
“Obviously not. That’s where you come in. You’re going to be the decoy.”
Sydney was just as shocked as Elena.
“What?” Elena’s eyes widened. “It isn’t like Sydney and I look a lot alike.”
“We’ll make it work.”
Without hesitating, Elena replied, “You’re right. I’m partially responsible for this mess. I’ll do whatever it takes. Is Sydney doing okay?”
“I’m right here,” Sydney said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. “I’m fine.”
“Max, Davies has to have something else planned, though,” Elena said. “He can’t really think that you’d actually give him Sydney, even if it was to save Brian’s life.”
“You’re right,” he replied. “But we have to play by his rules for now.”
“I’m on board.”
“Elena, we also found out that Ward is definitely working with East River,” Max said.
“What? I thought the FBI didn’t have any information connecting them since Ward’s release from prison.”
“Well, that information was given to us by Davies.”
Elena groaned. “Yes, I remember now. The problem is that I’m still no better off here than I was. I can’t say for certain that there aren’t other dirty marshals.”
“We might be able to go to Brian’s boss, and my old boss, Tom Hilton at the FBI. Brian didn’t tell him anything about the op, but the guy’s pretty open-minded when it comes to operations. Maybe he’ll help us.”
“Are you sure that he’s clean?” Elena asked.
“No, but we might not have a choice.”
“I’ll reach out to Hilton,” Elena said. “Assuming you’re all right with that, Max?”
“Sure. Elena, now’s not the time for us to have a lack of trust. Once I made this phone call to you, I had made the decision that I was going to trust you. So we need to be able to move forward together as a team to get this job done. Dwelling on the past isn’t going to help any of us right now.”
“Thanks, Max. I’ll let you know what I find out. I’ll also find us a place to meet.”
“Talk to you soon.”
Sydney ended the call and glanced over at Max.
He flicked his gaze to her. “Well, looks like we’re headed back to Georgia.”
“I should’ve known it was too good to be true. There’s no getting away from that monster. From my past. From all the danger that surrounds us both.”
He grabbed her left hand with his right, keeping his other hand on the wheel. “Sydney, I promise you that I will do everything I can to ensure that Ward never hurts you again.”
“That’s a big statement,” she said softly.
He shook his head. “I’m not going to change the way I feel about that. I’ll protect you whatever it takes.”
“I know that, but Rick truly is an evil man. I pray each day to forgive him and to move on with my life, but if I’m being completely honest with you, I haven’t gotten past it. I don’t know if I ever will. I don’t know if I’ll ever be strong enough to forgive him.”
“Well, I’m obviously not the expert on prayer, but I’ll tell you this. He hasn’t asked for your forgiveness. He hired what he thought was a hit man to kill you. So I don’t think you should feel obligated.”
“It’s not good for me to feel the hatred I do for him. I know that logically, but emotionally it’s more difficult to process.”
“I think you’re doing the best you can under incredibly difficult circumstances. Most people would’ve crumbled by now, especially with him back in the picture. But you haven’t. And you won’t. Because that’s who you are.”
She offered a tentative smile. “You act like you know me pretty well.”
“While it hasn’t been very long, I do feel like I know you. Even better than people who’ve been in my life for years. Being with you has made getting to know you easy. If that makes sense.”
“I feel the same way. As tough as all of these issues are, we seem to be working through them.”
“Day by day,” he said. “Along with the rest of this madness.”
Somehow Max’s words settled her, as they always did. His presence had a calming effect on her. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure,” he said.
“Why did you leave the FBI to go to the US Marshals?”
He let out a laugh. “I don’t know what I thought you were going to ask me, but it definitely wasn’t that.”
“I’m sorry if you don’t want to talk about it. I was just wondering.”
“No, it’s nothing like that. I’d been at the FBI for ten years. I enjoyed my job, but I felt a bit boxed in. I didn’t really feel challenged the way I used to. I’d done a lot of undercover work and really enjoyed it, but there were a lot of management demands that came with more seniority. I was behind the desk more and more. Pushing paper and other desk work in the bureaucracy is not my strength.”
She couldn’t help but laugh loudly. “Right, I can’t even imagine you sitting behind a desk all day. You excel working out on assignments in the field.”
“So when this opportunity opened up at the US Marshals, I thought, why not apply? See what happens. My boss was on board with it and thought it would be a good change of pace for me. I wanted something new that would allow me to be on my feet more. I realize I won’t want to be this active forever. I want to embrace it now while I’m still relatively young.”
“How old are you?”
“Thirty-three.” He shot her a smile. “And I know better than to ask a woman her age.”
“I’m not most women. I’m thirty and I’m not ashamed of that.”
“Believe me, Syd. I realized how different you were from day one.”