You Can't Catch Me(54)

After lunch, we explore Jackson a bit, then get back to camp around six. We’re still both full from lunch, so JJ suggests we go out for a paddle. The lake is crystal clear and flat, it’ll be light till ten, and I’m keyed up and awake, so I agree.

We walk the paddleboards down to the lake and climb on. The cold water laps at my toes as I splash myself with my paddle. I start to lose my balance, then right myself.

“Careful,” JJ says.

“I got it.”

“Don’t drink and paddle.”

“It was your idea.”

Despite my recent excursions, JJ is more efficient than I am on the water. She leaves her replacement arm behind, tucks the end of the paddle into her armpit, and uses her good arm on the shaft. We stop when we get to the middle of the lake.

“It’s so beautiful here,” she says when I get close to her.

“You could do a whole relentlessly positive segment. Live from the Tetons!”

“That’s not a terrible idea. I mean, look at this.”

She sweeps her arm away from her. The water is a clear blue, and the Tetons’ snowy peaks are sharp and close. The sky contains a few puffy clouds. There’s land across from us, thick pine forest that looks like the perfect home for moose and bears. We’re alone out here, not another person in sight, though I can hear an occasional echo coming from back at the campground.

“It’s pretty amazing,” I say flatly.

JJ shakes her head at me. “Don’t you get excited about anything?”

“I’m just preoccupied.”

“About the operation?”

“Is that so odd?”

“Nah. I always got that way before missions.”

A shiver passes through me. It’s so tranquil here, so different from where she’s been. “Was it tough, over there?”

“Tough?”

“Yeah. You know, I mean, was it . . . Ah hell, I don’t know what I’m asking.”

“It’s fine. We don’t learn how to talk about that stuff.”

“We don’t have to.”

JJ looks ahead. “Have you been over to the other side?”

“Not yet.”

“Looks pretty isolated.”

“It is.”

“Is it too far away?” she asks.

“We’ll only know if we try.”

“True. Shall we paddle?”

“Let’s do it.”

Jessie arrives the next day in the midafternoon.

JJ and I have spent the morning going over the plan again, then lazing around camp, soaking in the sunshine and clean mountain air. Liam’s called twice, but I texted him back that I have bad cell reception and that I’ll call him when I can. The longer I spend here, and the closer I get to tomorrow, the farther away I feel from him, my life in New York, even the person I usually am.

Jessie’s driving a nondescript sedan that she rented at the airport. She’s taken my advice and is dressed in hiking pants and a light cotton T-shirt. She’s got sturdy-looking shoes on her feet, and with her hair in a high ponytail and a pair of Oakleys pushed up onto her head, she looks like a local.

I spent some of the time this morning setting up Jessie’s tent. She looks satisfied when I show it to her, then crawls inside and deposits her bags. When she comes out, she’s changed into shorts and a tank top.

“Who knew it could be so hot in Wyoming,” she says. She fans herself, then swats at a fly.

“Right?”

I give her a brief tour of the campsite—pointing out the bathrooms and where I’ve stashed the cooler under a tree to keep it out of the sun. It’s next to the stack of paddleboards.

“What are these?” Jessie asks.

“Paddleboards. I rented them.”

“You been having a good vacation?” she asks a bit aggressively.

“I couldn’t tail Five twenty-four seven.”

“I guess.”

“Are we fighting for some reason?” I ask.

Jessie blows out a long breath. “Sorry. It’s been a long day. And that landing. You should’ve warned me.”

The Jackson Hole Airport is in the Teton National Park, and you fly right over the Tetons before dropping down into the valley. I’d found it nerve-racking, but the local sitting next to me on my flight told me that I should’ve seen what it was like before they lengthened the runway.

“Bumpy?” I ask Jessie.

“Three people puked.”

“It was smooth sailing for me,” JJ says.

“That right?”

“We are pissy today,” I say. “All of us, I mean.”

“We should talk about tomorrow,” JJ says.

“Will that help?”

“Never know until we do it.” She sits at the picnic table and pats the seat next to her. “Come on, now. I don’t bite unless asked.”

It’s dark now, and we’ve eaten dinner and talked everything over. Our plan is as simple as we can make it. We go to the airport tomorrow. I set up shop inside and look out for Jessica Two. When she approaches Five, I watch from a safe distance. She’s most likely to leave the airport and head for town so she can get to Five’s bank and liquidate her assets. Jessie and JJ will be there to follow her if she does until I can catch up with them and we can confront her. But if it looks like she’s going to get on a plane, then I call in security.