But saying as much would be a slap in the face to the woman who was risking so much to help her. So Rachel settled for simply asking, “How does your husband feel about your brother?”
“Honestly? We don’t talk about my brother… Phoenix.” She glanced toward the hallway, the spare room where the men were making their plans. “Maybe avoidance isn’t the healthiest decision. Married people should be open about everything, and someday we’ll figure that one out.”
“Sounds like a painful situation for anyone, forced to chose between a spouse and your family.”
“I guess my time to choose has come.” She passed the whole leather pouch of papers across the walnut table. “For you and Liam. The ages even match up fairly well. There’s a set with and without photos. You can stop by a drugstore that makes passport photos to replace the grainy pictures if you want.”
“I still don’t know if I can accept this.” She searched for a diplomatic way to put it. “You’ve already done so much, more than I could ever thank you for.”
“Actually, I should thank you.” She crossed her arms over her stomach, hugging herself, her smile sad. “I’m finally letting go of my brother.”
The woman’s pain reached clear across the table. “I’m sorry.”
Sunny shook her head. “This isn’t your fault or even mine. Phoenix put our whole family at risk for years, then he ran when his family needed him. He even abandoned his child… It’s time. Do this for Liam, okay? You may not even need the extra IDs. But just in case you need to watch his six.”
For Liam.
To be his partner, rather than a helpless tagalong.
Tentatively, she placed her hand over the pouch, considering… Accepting. Liam had gone to so much risk for her, she could do something for him, be in control of something.
She hugged the pouch to her chest, smiling her thanks for more than the papers. She owed this woman for the insights and strength. “What if I turn out to be an awful person? What happens if I do something like steal a car while I’m using the ID you gave me?”
Sunny blinked with over wide eyes and exaggerated innocence. “IDs? I don’t know what you’re talking about and you can be sure those can never, ever be traced back to me. So tell me, are you going to do whatever it takes to watch Liam’s back?”
Rachel tucked the pouch into her backpack. “I’m so glad I was able to buy these off that guy on a street corner.”
“Exactly.” Sunny nodded approvingly. “And hey, if you steal a car, make sure it’s a really kick-ass convertible.”
Chapter 10
Liam tucked his duffel into the back of the Suburban as the sun cranked onto the horizon. He hefted a second, larger bag with borrowed camping gear. Hopefully things wouldn’t get that desperate, but better to be prepared.
Wade loaded a box of MREs—meals ready to eat—alongside a flat of bottled water. “What else do you need from me?”
“I wish I knew exactly.” He hoped he’d planned for every contingency, but he was shadowboxing with a faceless enemy. He glanced up at the kitchen window, curtains lifting in the muggy morning breeze. Rachel and Sunny sat at the kitchen table with their heads close as they gabbed. His mom would have liked Rachel’s fighting spirit.
“Seriously,” Wade said, shuffling the gear in the back of the Suburban so it wouldn’t slide around, “talk around the subject if you have to, but give me something else I can do to help you out. You’re a smart dude. Make use of all the resources.”
Liam combed his fingers through his hair, his mind in three different places at once. Planning where to get a replacement vehicle. Here with this friend. Back at base, wondering what was going on. “I wish I had some big revelation to pass along, beyond Harris’s suspicions. I gotta say that even if I did, I’m not sure I would tell you. Honest to God, I don’t want you tangled up in this anymore than you have to be.”
“How do I find you then”—Wade leaned back against the vehicle, arms over his chest—“if you’re not going to tell me where you’re going?”
Liam passed over a slip of paper with the phone number for the throwaway cell he’d bought even before he went to the safe house on base. From the start, he’d sensed he needed to keep his options open. “Memorize it.”
Wade stared at the number intently, then reached into the camping gear and pulled out a small box of matches. One fast strike and a flame lit up. He burned the paper, holding a corner between two fingers until the ashes floated away in the wind. “Anything else?”
He weighed the options, hated like hell to drag anyone else in… but if what Harris said was right? If Sylvia was concerned enough to want him off base? For more than Rachel’s sake, he needed to unravel this mess fast.
And like it or not, he needed help, and when it came to keeping Rachel safe, he would take all the help he could get.
Liam closed the back of the Suburban. “I need Cuervo to do some recon for me, see if he can find Brandon Harris before anyone else does.”
“I could do that for you.”
“You’ve got a wife and I’ve already put you two at risk enough. Besides, you’re supposed make an appearance at work tomorrow, and Cuervo has the day off.”
“And Cuervo needs to do what?”