Free Breaking Creed by Alex Kava Page B

sure the handlers who he trained did, as well.
    It was almost time for a break when he noticed Grace start to sniff the air. She pulled him along, toenails clicking on the floor as she went into what Creed called her scamper-mode. He tried not to rein her in as they quickened their pace through a new crowd of passengers that had been waiting for their baggage to come down the carousel. Grace seemed to ignore the squawking beeps on the machines that alerted the passengers that their bags were ready and would be coming down the conveyor belt. She’d been hearing those beeps for hours and they no longer were interesting. Butsomething or someone on the other side of baggage claim was drawing her attention.
    A CBP officer waved Creed over. He had stopped a man on crutches. A cast covered much of the man’s left leg, starting at the knee and running all the way down to his ankle. It wouldn’t be the first time someone tried to smuggle drugs in a cast. But as Creed and Grace continued across the baggage claim area, Creed suddenly realized Grace wasn’t leading him to the man in the leg cast. Grace was taking him to someone else, and her nose was twitching.

16
    A MANDA TRIED NOT TO GRIP her stomach. Zapata had already stared darts at her as she led the way through the baggage claim area. Today Amanda’s stomach hurt even worse. Leandro had promised that this would be the last time, if only she followed his strict instructions.
    The only thing Amanda could think about was that one of the balloons had certainly burst open. It had to have. There was no other explanation for the pain in her stomach. Something was ripping away inside her. And once again, Leandro wasn’t here. Nowhere in sight. He had left her to Zapata’s care, and Zapata’s patience had obviously been used up on the last trip.
    She waited by the restroom door while the old woman weaved her way through the crowd, attempting to retrieve their luggage. The designer suitcase was packed with belongings that Amandararely needed or used. It was all just another part of the disguise, because passengers traveling without luggage drew attention. It didn’t matter if the suitcase continued to look brand-new and never got unpacked.
    Amanda sat on a bench against the wall. Sweat dripped from her bangs. She had pulled back her stringy hair but her bangs needed trimming and were constantly falling into her eyes. They didn’t fall now. Instead, they were plastered to her forehead.
    She tried to get her mind off the nausea. She used to enjoy watching strangers in airports, making up stories about them, guessing where they were going or where they’d been. Now she saw only faces staring at her, faces that pretended to look away when she caught them. She knew Leandro had spies everywhere. He’d told her so.
    Alongside the bench she noticed a newspaper machine. Lately she’d gotten into the habit of reading them through the glass to check the date. Too many hours and days spent in hotel rooms made her lose track of time. But she didn’t even look at the date in the corner. Instead, her eyes fixed on the front-page photo. She recognized the man and his dog from the television talk show: Ryder Creed and Grace. His name sounded like a movie star’s name.
    She was reading the article when out of the corner of her eye she saw something running toward her. At first, Amanda thought her stomach pain might be making her hallucinate. How else could she explain the little dog coming her way with the man from the newspaper following close behind?
    Her heart started thumping in her ears. Her eyes darted in the direction that Zapata had gone. The old woman was at the conveyor, waiting for the suitcase and glancing over her shoulder to check on Amanda. She hadn’t noticed the man and the dog. Theywere zigzagging around people and luggage, but somehow Amanda knew the dog was headed straight for her.
    She stood on wobbly knees and braced one hand against the bench to steady herself. The man