Off Course Read Online Free Page B

that he thought I looked nice?” Now that felt a little more like the spunky girl she knew she had to be.
    “Dr. Burns, we can handle this one of two ways: either you cooperate with us on your own, over the phone, or you keep this up and we’ll continue this conversation at our LA field office with you in handcuffs, seated on a metal chair in front of a two-way mirror with a video camera and microphone. You choose.”
    There was a forceful knock on her front door. She heard it in stereo, although the left ear heard it through her phone just a fraction of a second after the right ear heard it from across the room. She approached the door cautiously. “You’re outside my front door, aren’t you, Agent Crabtree?”
    “I am, Dr. Burns. Trust me. This is for your protection.”
    Emily peered through the peephole in her front door and saw a tall black man in a suit and tie holding up a badge with one hand and a cell phone to his ear with the other. He was flanked by a blond haired man wearing a dark blazer and knit tie. “Would you like me to call out my badge number so you can verify my identity, Dr. Burns? I’ve got time to wait.”
    “No, no. I’m not that skeptical,” she said, swinging the door open as if revealing a grand prize. “This is for my protection? At six o’clock in the morning?”
    “We believe it prudent to proceed with an abundance of caution based on the folks we’re dealing with.”
    “I see,” said Emily. “But I assure you I don’t have any significant details, probably not the ones you want.” She spoke to his face, although the phone was still connected to her ear.
    “Let’s start with the most important items first,” said Agent Crabtree, holding the phone in front of him as he ended the call. Emily followed suit. “Did he tell you where he was going or who he was planning to meet?”
    Emily grimaced and gestured for him to enter. Not unexpectedly, his partner entered right behind him, a muscled blond standing roughly six foot four. Crabtree introduced him as Agent McCoy as he crossed the threshold of the room. She walked the door to its nearly closed position, but stuck her head out into the hallway before she shut it, as if anticipating more agents streaming in. She pulled her head inside, closed the door, and leaned her back against it.
    “No.”
    “Did he indicate who was helping him? We know he’s not working alone.”
    Emily paused while she studied the faces of the two agents. Crabtree, the more experienced of the two, had a few creases around his dark eyes and in the otherwise smooth skin near his mouth. The white at his temples and in his mostly black mustache indicated he was probably in his early fifties. McCoy, she guessed, was in his thirties and from Texas.
    She answered hesitantly. “I, of course, had a million questions for him. But he said that the less I know the better. He said it was for my own safety. He also told me I should go to the FBI and tell them my story.”
    “Why would he say that? What about your story is so important?”
    “He said that I could be in danger now since he and I met. He thinks the bad guys that are chasing him will follow me or use me to get to him.”
    “So why didn’t you come to us? Why did I have to initiate this conversation?”
    “I checked the FBI website shortly after I returned from Chicago and saw the reports that said he’s dead. I didn’t think you needed to know anything about a man you thought was dead. And if he’s dead, why would I be of any significance to the FBI?”
    Reggie paused for a moment. “As it turns out, we believe he has some connections to crimes that are ongoing. We believe someone helped him survive that storm and that he is out there potentially committing more crimes.”
    “Interesting . . .”
    “We also believe you may be in grave danger.”
     
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