He said that together it was enough. That separately neither of them had enough to survive what would happen when they filed. I've Cole said carefully. His word, Evelyn said, not mine. Cole was quiet for a moment.
He turned the mug a quarter turn on the table it back. And you don't know if those men in the parking lot know about Dolan. I I don't know what they know, Evelyn said. I don't know how they found me. I I've been careful.
Nathan was specific about what careful meant. And I did everything he said. She stopped less. She frowned. Unless they've been tracking Nathan's contacts from the beginning, not following me specifically, just waiting to see which of his people moved.
Cole's eyes came up. If they've been watching everyone Nathan knew, she said, thinking it through out loud, it doesn't matter how careful I was, following me, they were just watching four when I started moving because Nathan made me a variable by vitting me that night. Her face changed, which means they might know about Dolan. They might not. But if they've been watching Nathan's contacts, they've been watching his communications, Cole said.
Which means they may already know where you're trying to go. Dropped out of the room. Not literally. Was the same as it had been 30 seconds ago. Same sounds, same smells, same Tuesday evening texture.
Something shifted in the air at the table. The way pressure shifts before weather changes. And both of them felt it. Evelyn picked up the drive from her coat where she'd put it back and set it on the table between them. She looked at it like she was seeing it properly for the first time.
Not just as the thing Nathan had given her, as the thing Nathan had given her that might have already led them to exactly where she was trying to go. I may have made things worse, she said. You don't know that yet, Cole said. Oh, she agreed. But I'm not I'm not going to pretend it's not possible, she looked at him.
If they know about Dolan, then going to Helena directly is a problem. Cole said. Yes. Okay. He leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms.
You said Nathan gave you her direct number. Not the office number. Her direct number. Yes. There's a difference.
Cole said. Evelyn looked at him, not sure where he was going. An office number goes through a switchboard. Cole said. Number is her cell, her personal line.
He looked at the table. Nathan gave you a way to reach her that doesn't go through official channels, which means he wasn't thinking about you walking into the field office. He was thinking about you reaching her specifically. Not as a federal agent at an official location. Evelyn stared at him.
Cole looked up. Where's the number? Eyed. Evelyn said, "He made me say it 15 times before he left. " And Cole said, "Don't write it down. " He stood up. Don't use your phone.
We'll get you a different phone prepaid. And you call her from that one call short. You tell her you have what Nathan sent. You tell her you need a meeting somewhere that isn't the office and you get a location. He put money on the table.
After that, we figure out the next step. Evelyn looked at him. It's like that. Just like that, Cole said. You make it sound straightforward.
She said, "I make it sound like what it is. " Cole said, "A problem with pieces. " The pieces. She was quiet for a moment. Then you've done things like this before. It was not quite a question. Cole looked at her steadily.
I've been in situations where someone needed to get from one place to another place without certain people knowing about it, he said. And I've managed it. Evelyn held his gaze. Who were you moving before? Just a beat woman, he said.
Flat factual about it. People who needed to not be found. She understood exactly what he meant. She didn't ask for more. She picked up the drive, put it back inside her coat, stood up carefully, hand on the table for balance, and straightened, she said.
Then let's work the pieces. And that was when Dex appeared at Cole's shoulder. Coffee in hand. Casual as anything, and said quietly, "We got a problem. " Didn't change. What kind?
The sedan came back, Dex said. Lot down the block. But there's a second car now. He paused. And the second car, Cole.
The second car has got government plates. The air at the table went tight. Evelyn's hand just reaching for her coat button went still. Cole said clean plates, correct format for federal, not fake. I ran the partial and the series checks out.
Dex's voice was low and completely even. The voice of a man who had delivered serious information before and knew that the way you delivered it mattered as much as the information itself. Two men's suits. They're not with the other car. They pulled in separately, parked on the opposite side.
But they're both watching the same door. Cole looked at Evelyn. Evelyn looked at Cole. Something passed between them that didn't require words. The particular understanding of a situation that has just become significantly more complicated because two sets of people watching the same door, arriving separately, not appearing to coordinate.
That was not reassurance. Not the cavalry. That was the exact thing Nathan had warned her about. The people who looked like help and weren't. Nathan said they would send people with badges.
Evelyn said low. Her voice was completely steady. He said that was the point that you couldn't tell. Can't always. Cole agreed.
He looked at Dex back door clear. Dex said right now. How long do we have? Not long. Dex said maybe 5 minutes before they reconfigure.
Cole looked at Evelyn. Can you walk fast? I can walk as fast as I need to. She said with a precision that left no room for argument. Cole nodded.
He looked at Dex, tell Ray to pull around to the alley on the left side. Tell him quiet. Then he looked back at Evelyn and his voice dropped to just above a murmur. Here is what's about to happen. We're going to walk out the back.