All He Has Left(19)

Every fifty yards or so, he would come upon the underside of another manhole cover. He pushed up on one, just to see if he could lift it off. The covers were incredibly heavy but not impossible to slide away. That made him feel less trapped. He also began intersecting with a lot of connecting tunnels. Whenever he was at a crossroads, he decided to keep following the flow of water with the thought that it was likely taking him south toward the river. The farther he went, the safer he felt, until he eventually found himself at the very end of a tunnel looking out over the part of the Colorado River known as Lady Bird Lake. He again thought about Dani, still stunned about coming face-to-face with her. He hadn’t seen her up close and personal since the day they’d broken up fifteen years ago.

“I can’t do this,” Jake said.

Dani was sitting on the park bench. He was standing and sweating. He’d been dreading this moment all day. But he knew it was right. He was a Texas high school football coach. He always would be—it was in his blood. He couldn’t move to DC with Dani. He’d thought he could do it—which was why they’d started talking about getting married a couple of months ago. He regretted that now. It made this so much harder. She had to go. But he had to stay.

“Do what?” Dani said.

“I can’t go with you.”

The shock was clear on Dani’s face. “But . . . you said . . .”

“I know. I’m so sorry.”

“I don’t understand.”

“It’s complicated. I just—”

Jake watched as her brow tightened up. “It’s her, isn’t it?”

“Who?”

“Sarah Kingston.”

“No, she’s just a friend, Dani. I told you that. Nothing else.”

He wasn’t lying. Sarah was just a friend.

“Does she know that, Jake? Because I can see it all over her when she’s around you.”

“Dani . . . it’s nothing. This is not about her.”

She was quickly getting angry. “I should’ve known. I never trusted her.”

“Dani, please.”

Tears hit her eyes. But Dani was tough. She didn’t want him to see them. He reached for her. She forcefully knocked his hand away. This was not how he wanted this to go down.

“Don’t touch me!”

She stood, ready to bolt.

“Wait,” Jake pleaded. “Can we talk about this?”

“What’s to talk about? You’ve clearly already made up your mind.”

Thinking back to that moment, Jake shook his head. Dani never responded to any of his texts or calls after that difficult conversation. Crawling out of the tunnel, Jake sloshed through ankle-deep water, then climbed back onto dry land next to a running trail near the Congress Avenue Bridge. He felt relieved to stretch out his back. Taking a moment to get his bearings, Jake again wondered how the FBI had found him so quickly. Could Drew have told them about their meeting after he’d first texted? Would his friend actually do that? But then how would the FBI have even known about Drew? It seemed unlikely they could have anticipated Jake reaching out to this particular friend in such a short amount of time. And Drew clearly had no idea about his current predicament when he’d first sat down at the bar.

Jake noticed the flashlight was still engaged on his phone and pressed a button to turn it off. Staring at his phone, he suddenly cursed as it dawned on him. His phone. The FBI had tracked him on his damn phone. He cursed again. He hadn’t even considered that possibility. That was stupid. He had to turn it off. Or better yet, get rid of it. But then how would Piper get ahold of him should she somehow get the chance to reach out again? Still, Jake couldn’t risk it. If the FBI had tracked his phone to the bar, then they were probably tracking him down right now and might be here at any second. Jake took a moment to study Piper’s new phone number, committing it to memory. Then he reared back and tossed his phone as far as he could out into the river. He turned and began sprinting down the running trail in the opposite direction.





TWELVE


Dani stood under the Congress Avenue Bridge and stared out over the calm, dark waters of Lady Bird Lake. Her breath was still short from all the running. Standing next to her, Agent Mitchell studied a digital map on his phone screen. The rest of her FBI team was out on the running trail on both sides in search of Jake, whom they’d lost track of just a few minutes ago. Dani was shocked by how Jake had managed to think so quickly on his feet by choosing to use the city’s drainage tunnels to evade them. It had taken them too long to realize how he’d suddenly disappeared, and that had cost them dearly. Jake was gone—for now.

“It’s in the water, Dani,” Mitchell said. “I’m certain of it.”

She sighed. “He must’ve realized we were tracking his phone.”

“Yeah, that, or the man is a mermaid who can hold his breath for a long damn time. Because the signal is just sitting out there stationary, right in front of us.”

She gave a half smile, reflecting. “Jake’s a good swimmer but not that good.”

Mitchell tilted his head at her. “What?”

Realizing what she’d just said, Dani quickly dismissed it. “Nothing. Just . . . nothing. Let’s get someone down here ASAP to retrieve the phone.”

“Copy that.”