The Chaos Kind (John Rain #11)(47)

She tried to tell herself again that everything was fine, that she was being paranoid.

But she couldn’t convince herself. Couldn’t even come close.





chapter

thirty-seven





MAYA


Traffic on the GW Parkway was moving at a crawl, and Maya realized she should have taken Chain Bridge to Canal Road. Her fault for not checking Waze first—an embarrassing lapse for a CIA Science & Technology specialist. Usually she left a lot later, when the Parkway was the fastest route. But at rush hour, apparently it was the slowest.

Maybe Key Bridge. You can still make it. And if you’re late, it’s okay. He’ll wait. Maybe it’s even better. You’ll seem . . . nonchalant.

She didn’t feel nonchalant, though. This guy was really hot. They’d been flirting for weeks on Tinder, and tonight he was flying in from touring in Chicago, and they were going to meet at Lapis, an Afghan restaurant not far from her apartment. At 6:00. Less than thirty minutes.

She checked Waze. Okay, Key Bridge was better. But only by two minutes.

She wanted to shower and even put on a little makeup. Twenty minutes, minimum. Seven-minute walk to the restaurant. And she was still fifteen minutes from home.

Twelve minutes late. That’s not bad.

But she had to walk Frodo. The service took him to the park at lunch, but there was no way he would make it until she was back from dinner. Even if dinner was over early—which she was definitely hoping would not be the case.

Maybe Ali. They had been in the same class at CIA, they both lived in Adams Morgan, and they were both Lord of the Rings fans. Ali even had a terrier mix like Maya’s that she’d named Pippin, and they covered for each other on dog care. Pippin had been visiting with Ali’s parents for the last few weeks, so lately Ali had been there more for Frodo than Maya was for Pippin. But Ali missed Pippin, and never seemed to mind walking Frodo anyway. Plus she would understand the reason . . . if she was home . . .

She called. A ring, and . . . success. “Hello?”

“Ali? Hey, I have to ask a favor . . . are you home?”

“Not quite. I’m on Mass Avenue.”

“Yeah, I should have gone that way myself. Listen, I’m running late, and I have a date . . . that guy I told you about.”

“The jazz dude? Dave something?”

“The trumpeter. Yes. He’s back in town and I’m meeting him for dinner at Lapis—”

“Score!”

“Hah, well, we’ll see. But—”

“You want me to walk Frodo?”

“If you could. You have your key, right?”

“Of course. Want me to feed him?”

“No, he can wait until I’m home.”

Ali giggled. “What if you’re home late?”

“You’re bad.”

“Trumpeters. I hear they can do magic things with their mouths.”

Maya laughed. “You’re extremely bad. Okay, if you could feed him, too. I’ll totally pay you back.”

“You can pay me back by having a great night.”

“Deal.”

“And then telling me all about it.”

Maya laughed again. “Hey, first there has to be something to tell.”

“I have a good feeling.”

“Anyway, I should be home in . . . thirteen minutes. And out the door twenty after that.”

“I’ll come by after you’re gone. Don’t want to interfere with the preparations.”

“There are no preparations! Okay, maybe just a few. But thank you so much. You’re a lifesaver.”

“Can’t wait to hear about it . . .”

“We’ll see. Bye!”

Exactly thirty-three minutes later, Maya rushed out the back of her apartment building. Ali was coming the same way.

“Don’t hold the door!” Ali said. “Just go, we’re good.”

“Thank you again! Don’t forget, he—”

“Likes a little chicken with the regular food. I know, you spoil him. Go!”

Maya cut through the parking area behind the building and zigzagged west. She wondered if she should call Dave. What time was it? She reached for her phone and realized she had left it in her other jacket—the navy peacoat. At the last minute, she had decided the leather looked cooler.

Shit. She almost went back. But she was so late already. But what if he was trying to reach her, and couldn’t? Or what if Ali needed to reach her?

Well, worst case, she could always borrow his cellphone. And she was so close already.

But when she got there, she didn’t see him. The hostess confirmed that yes, they did have a reservation for two under David Teller, and offered to seat her.

She waited a half hour. Had he come and gone already? But no, the hostess would have told her that. Besides, she was late, but not that late. She would have waited for him at least that long. In fact, she just had, and then some.

Maybe he’d been trying to call her, or to text. She could have borrowed a phone and tried him, but she didn’t remember the number. And anyway, wouldn’t that look desperate?

Well, it was less than a ten-minute walk. She could just go back, check her phone, and decide at that point. She wished she hadn’t called Ali. She could have walked Frodo herself. They could have taken a long one.