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.”
“And let’s get back over to the bar. I want to know what that guy was doing in there. Seems odd he put himself in those crowds for some reason.”
Dani emphasized that guy since she’d foolishly used Jake’s first name a second ago. She was walking an ethical tightrope and wondered if this would all backfire on her eventually. She didn’t need to be risking her job for an old flame she hadn’t even talked to in fifteen years.
She thought back to roughly twenty minutes ago, when she and Jake had stared right at each other in the dark alley. Had Jake recognized her? There was a split second when she thought she saw a hint of recognition cross his face. Did Jake know she was back in Austin? Had he been keeping up with her through social media like she had with him the past decade? Had Jake thought about her at all over the years? She cursed, shook her head, realizing that last question had nothing at all to do with this case. But she couldn’t deny how seeing him up close and personal had unexpectedly made her feel. And that was already complicating this investigation for her.