Licensed to Kill

Chapter 15

On the way to Wiesenburg, I called Alana. I explained our current predicament to her and then asked for her assistance investigating.

"I need you to hack into the prison's and court's records and find out for me why Enrique Bellucci was in that prison," I told her. "I also want a copy of prison security footage from February 17th, if you can get ahold of it."

Dallas chimed in, "And see if you can find anything on a fake Federal Intelligence Service agent named Camilla Dietrich, or anything involving Bellucci's whereabouts."

"Can I send express carrier pigeons with lattes to you, too, while I'm at it?" Alana laughed sarcastically, probably overwhelmed with our intel request.

"Depends. Can I get fries with that?" Dallas chuckled.

I rolled my eyes. "Thank you, Alana. You're the best."

"Oh, don't hang up yet!" she said quickly. "I have some information for you. Tali, Dallas asked me to look into the police records from the hotel incident the other night. It turns out they didn't arrest anyone. They all got away, with the exception of one dead. So be on the lookout for those guys."

"Well, that's just great," I groaned. "Any more news?"

"Yes. Lancaster flew the coop yesterday. I haven't been able to track down where he went. On top of that, your team leader, Matt, just landed in London. He volunteered to head up the investigation into your disappearance."

"Is anyone else from my team there?"

"No. Just Matt," she said, and I could hear her fingers tapping away at a computer keyboard in the background. "I'll keep you updated and get back to you soon with some answers on Bellucci and that Camilla person. Shouldn't take me too long to find something."

"Please and thank you!" I hung up.

I looked over at Dallas who looked exhausted. I guessed it was a good thing we'd downed so much coffee before leaving the safe house, since neither of us had really slept. I didn't count my unconscious episode.

"You alright over there?" I gave his arm a soft nudge.

He nodded sleepily. "I'll be okay, babe. I'm just tired."

"Want me to take over driving for a while?"

I felt bad that he'd gotten zero rest in who knows how many days, and here he was driving us all over. Dallas always put on the tough guy act and shrugged everything off, but I could tell when he was really burnt out. He needed a break, whether he wanted to admit it or not.

"I'm alright, Tali," he sighed, adjusting his ball cap. "I just have a lot on my mind."

I decided to pry. "Do you want to talk about it?"

He shrugged again. "Just thinking about all this shit... And the last four years."

Nausea infiltrated my stomach at the mention of the past four years without Dallas. It seemed like no matter what I did to rid my mind of those thoughts, something kept bringing them right back up.

"Why are you thinking about that?" I frowned.

He was silent for a while, driving us down pothole-ridden country roads to stay away from the main streets where police could be patrolling, looking for us. I watched him drum his fingers on the bottom of the steering wheel and smiled fondly at all the memories that came to mind. He'd always done that, since before I'd met him. That was how I knew he was overthinking something. It was like his bad habit that gave away his thoughts to anyone who knew him well.