Agent Raines motioned for Sam to follow him. He turned and walked towards the black SUV. Sam followed. The other agents followed behind Sam. When they got to the SUV, Agent Raines opened the rear passenger side door and gestured inside. “You are sitting in the middle. Don’t bump your head, sir.”
Sam climbed in, slid over to the middle seat and patted the spot next to him. “Wilson, I hope you get to sit next to me, because you, my friend, are a barrel of laughs.”
Agent Raines said flatly, “My friends say I’m hilarious. Please give me your cell phone.”
Sam asked, “My cell phone? Why do you need my cell phone?”
Agent Raines held out his hand. “I am just going to shut it off and hold on to it to ensure it stays off. I can’t allow our location to be tracked. I’ll give it back to you when we drop you back off here.”
Sam handed his phone to Agent Raines. Agent Raines put the phone in his pocket and opened the front passenger door of the Ford, climbed inside and sat down. One of the agents climbed in on the driver’s side and sat behind the wheel. The other two agents took a seat on either side of Sam. The two agents who had followed Sam from the Green Onion headed towards a second black SUV parked next to the curb two car lengths ahead.
Sam sniffed towards the agent to his left and then sniffed towards the agent to his right. He leaned forward and touched Agent Raines on the left shoulder. “Your junior agents smell nice. Department store cologne-counter nice! You may want to consider taking their lead. Just sayin’.”
Agent Raines looked over his shoulder at Sam and said coldly, “Put on your seatbelt Mr. Dowell. It’s a three-hour drive to Washington DC. It would be a shame if something happened to you.”
Sam was surprised, “Washington DC? I assumed we were going somewhere in town here. Even if we just drive there and back, I’m going to be gone for most of a day. Which one of you weasels is going to feed my cat? She gets pissy when I don’t feed her. Wilson, you never said we were going so far.”
Agent Raines shrugged. “You never asked, sir.”
The car pulled onto the street. After a couple of minutes of silence, Sam asked Agent Raines, “Wilson, have you ever considered doing standup?”
Without looking towards the back seat, Agent Raines asked, “Have you ever considered how uncomfortable it would be to ride lying in the back of an SUV for three hours while hog-tied?”
