Текст книги "Заговор мечей"

Автор книги: Джейн Doy Press

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 35 (всего у книги 40 страниц)

“Teren?”

Graves’s voice cut into her thoughts, and she moved away from the car, carrying both her’s and Alex’s briefcases.

Alex was beginning to get nervous as they left the District and headed into Virginia.

“So, where’s this meeting supposed to be, Cliff?”

The older man lifted his head and blinked. “Some CIA house. Ken has the directions.” He put his head back against the seat.

“I see. And what about Teren?”

Ken glanced at her. “Teren’s supposed to meet you at the safe house. Don’t worry, Alex. Everything’s been taken care of.”

“Right.” That’s what I’m afraid of.

They turned off the highway, taking the frontage road for a short distance before turning once more, and heading due west. They were no longer in the city, which had given way to sprawling open fields, mixed with forest. Every mile or so they’d pass what appeared to be a small farm, but other than those brief glimpses, there were no other buildings.

Eventually, Ken turned the sedan into a driveway and slowed at the gate. He flashed his badge at the guard, who grunted and waved him through.

Alex could see several security cameras by the gate, and a few more in the bushes as they followed the gravel drive towards the house.

The place reminded her of the sprawling antebellum mansions of the Old South, complete with a wrap around white veranda, and an ivy trellis. There were three floors, without counting the basement, and she estimated her entire apartment would probably not take up a quarter of the main floor.

Cliff whistled. “Wow. What a place. Looks like you’ll be comfy here, Alex.”

She smiled weakly at him. “Maybe.”

Ken pulled to a stop in front of the porch, where two men had come out of the house and were waiting. The three FBI agents stepped out of the car.

“Agent Reis? The Director’s been expecting you. If you’d come with us, please?”

Alex nodded, following one of the men up the stairs.

Teren stared out the second floor window as the car pulled up. A sigh of relief escaped as she saw her blonde friend get out, and walk towards the house.

“Is that them?” Graves asked from behind her.

“Yeah. They’re here. So, I have to wait until after this stupid meeting?”

“‘Fraid so.”

She turned to him. “I hate this, Graves. You know I hate this control bullshit.”

“I know. If it was up to me, I’d let you be down there, Teren, but sometimes we have to play by their rules. Since you’re back on the active agent roles, there’s a lot of concern over the CIA and FBI being on the same case —”

“Wait a minute! When the hell did I become an active agent again?” she yelled. “Last I heard, they weren’t even going to test me for field readiness for another three months.”

Graves looked uncomfortable, and he twitched his shoulders. “Well, it was decided to put you back on, after we learned you had left the country with an FBI agent who’d supposedly gone rogue.” He glared at her. “You should have let me know what was going on, Teren.”

“Why? Until I’m a field agent, you’re not my handler.”

“Because we could have helped you.”

She threw her hands up. “Yeah, right. Help. I call you and two days later my partner is arrested because of your fuck up. That’s helping, alright.”

His face was red. “We were trying to get you both home safely. Without our protection, your friend —” he stopped. “Did you call her your partner just now?”

Teren glared at him, and he winced as her eyes eyes drilled into him like diamond points.

“Yes. I called her my partner.” She took a step towards the shorter man. “Is there a problem with that?”

Graves coughed. “Um, no. No problem. Tell you what, why don’t I let you get unpacked, and I’ll wait down in the, um, kitchen. Okay?” He backed out the door, and offered her a sickly smile before quickly escaping down the stairs.

Teren sighed, and glanced around the small suite she’d been given. It was the same one she had stayed in after Perry’s death. Alex, she’d been told, was to be in the one next door.

She sat in one of the chairs by the coffee table, and waited. Unpack? No fucking way. No way would she sleep in this room ever again. As soon as Alex was in the clear, they were out of there.

Even if she had to shoot her way out.

Alex finished her story to Director Collins and waited for a response. She fidgeted in her seat, frustrated at not being able to read the older man’s impassive face, as he listened and smoked his pipe.

After a moment longer, he nodded, and leaned forward, knocking the bowl of the pipe against an ashtray.

“It’s quite a tale, Agent Reis.” She nodded, but didn’t say anything. “Now, you want to tell me the part you’ve been holding back on?”

Her eyebrow rose. “Excuse me, sir?”

“There’s something you’re not telling me. Though for the life of me I can’t figure out what it is. That’s irritating, especially when you have to know that this is the one chance you have at getting off of rogue status. It would be in your best interest to tell me the whole story, and yet you hold something back.” He shook his head. “If I didn’t know better, I would think you didn’t trust me.”

Alex swallowed hard, and took a deep breath. “Okay.” She thought for a moment longer, making her decision. “We have reason to believe that one of the men involved in this conspiracy is a high ranking FBI official.”

She waited for a reaction, a touch frightened when it didn’t come. Then the director blinked, and raised his own eyebrow.

“Why do you think this?”

“They had information they shouldn’t have had. Brogan mentioned they also had some kind of protection from law enforcement, or he thought they did. Plus, there’s the question of a phone call from the FBI to the Philadelphia police – “

Collins held up his hand. “I heard about that from Cliff. He said the call came from his office, but he doesn’t know who made it. They’ve never been able to track it down.” He tilted his head. “You think it’s Cliff, don’t you?”

For a moment, she didn’t answer. Then she gave a tiny nod, and said, “We think it’s a possibility.”

The director leaned back in his chair. His eyes narrowed in though, and Alex had to force herself not to fidget again. They stayed that way for several minutes, until Collins gave a sigh.

“Well, Alex, you’ve given me a number of things to consider, including the possiblity that we have a turncoat in our midst.”

“I’m sorry, sir. I wish I could give you better news.”

He nodded. “Right. Well, tell you what. Why don’t you step out of here for a minute, and let me think things over. Send Mr. Graves in if you see him, I just need to check a few details with him. I’ll call you when I’ve made my decision.”

“Yes, sir.” Alex stood. “Thank you for hearing me out, sir.”

Collins nodded, and dismissed her with a wave.

She left the room, finding Ken and Cliff still seated in the large living room. Ron Graves was with them.

Alex cleared her throat as she entered, and they all stood.

“Mr. Graves? Director Collins would like to speak to you.”

“Thank you, Agent Reis. Is he still in the study?”

“Yes.” She watched Graves leave the room.

Ken took step and motioned with his hand. “So? What’s the verdict? What did he say?”

“He’s thinking about it. He said I should wait for a few minutes, and he’ll give me a decision.”

Cliff nodded. “It’ll be nice to have you back, Alex.”

“We don’t know that I’ll be back, Cliff. This whole thing could fall apart.”

“No way.” Ken shook his head emphatically. “There’s no way in hell he won’t throw out the charges. He might give you a little disciplinary duty or something, maybe even suspend you without pay for another week, but no way is he just going to toss you in a cell. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I fled the country instead of answering charges, Ken.”

“They were bogus charges, Alex, I know. I was there.”

Cliff nodded. “Yeah, they were bogus. He might discipline you for leaving, Alex, but the charges will be thrown out.You’ll be back on my task force by tomorrow.”

Well, we’ll see, Cliff. I hope you’re right.” Alex took a seat on the couch. “Speaking of the task force, what’s been happening since I left? We got some reports from Ken, but not many.” Ken winked at her as he took a spot on the other end of the couch.

Cliff sat back down in his chair, and turned a little towards Alex. “Well, I’ve had all the teams working on something. Tom and Rudy have been going after Derek White, but they missed him in Alabama, so now they’re trying to track him down here in DC. Bill and Vic found a link between Arturo’s killer, and Mather, and they’re in California chasing down a couple leads. Steve and Louis are investigating the fire at Kittredge. They said it’s arson. Maybe a bomb, maybe something else, but definitely arson.”

Alex sat straight up and stared at her boss. “Whoa, wait a minute. Kittredge? What fire?”

“Happened the night before Radcliffe was killed, ” Ken said. “The whole place burned to the ground.”

“Anybody hurt?”

“Yeah, a couple bodies. One, a woman, is unidentified, and the other – get this – the other, is White’s father-in-law.”

Alex whistled. “Did they die in the fire, or before?”

“Before. The guy was shot, and somebody caved in the woman’s head – M.E. said it could have been the butt of rifle, but he’s not sure.”

“Which makes me think they were killed, then dumped, and the place torched by White, ” Cliff said.

Ken shook his head. “No, I don’t think it was White.”

“Why not, Ken?”

“Alex, why would he kill his father-in-law?”

“Bah,” Cliff waved at Ken, “you might as well ask why he shot Radcliffe. Point is, we don’t know.”

“How do we know he shot Radcliffe?”

“We found a rifle at the scene with his fingerprints.”

“Uh-huh.”

Alex kept her mouth closed. She didn’t know which information she could trust to whom, and she decided it was best to just not say anything.

Instead, she decided to change the subject. “So, tell me what Mark and Ben have been doing.”

Cliff shook his head. “Not a clue.”

Ken laughed at the shocked look on Alex’s face. “For some reason, they decided it was important to follow some corporate links, rather than the right-wing groups. So, they’ve been over at the IRS offices a lot, looking at tax records. You’ll have to talk to them yourself. When they found out you were coming back, they said they had some great stuff for you.”

“But you don’t know what they’re doing, Cliff?”

“Oh, I know where they are, and I know they’re tracking corporate leads, I just don’t have any specifics for you. In the week or so that you’ve been gone, I’ve kind of left them to their own stuff,” Cliff said. “They requested to miss the daily meetings so they could spend their time at the IRS– they were on to something, and they weren’t letting it go.”

“Well, good for them.”

The door to the study opened, and Alex turned to see Ron Graves leave the room and head for the stairs. A moment, later, Andrew Collins called her.

Alex stood and shared a grim look with Ken and Cliff, before going back into the study and closing the door behind her.

Collins seated himself and motioned her to sit down. She did so and he nodded. “You’re off rogue status, Reis.”

Alex let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. “Thank you, s—”

Collins held up a hand. “Don’t thank me, ” he said. “You’re not a fugitive, but I’m afraid I will have to ask for your badge.”

Fuck.

Chapter Thirty-seven

Teren was staring at the two briefcases as they sat next to the door. They hadn’t moved since she’d arrived, and she was determined that they weren’t going to. Instead, she would wait until Alex came in, and then she would pick them up and carry them right back downstairs and out the door.

At the first tap on the door, she was up and across the room, pulling the door open in anticipation, only to find Ron Graves before her.

“What?” Teren growled.

“Uh, I’m sorry, Teren. I thought I’d let you know that your car is here.”

She stared at him. “My car?”

“Yes. I had it brought here from the airport garage. And your luggage has arrived, too. I’ll have someone bring it up to you.”

Thinking quickly, Teren shot a hand out. “No, Ron, don’t bother. Leave the bags where they are for now. I’ll get them later.” She glanced back at the briefcases. “Has Alex finished, yet?”

“Just about. She should be up soon.”

“Good,” Teren nodded. “I’ll follow you down, if you don’t mind.”

Graves shrugged. “Sure.”

He led Teren though the corridor, then turned and went down a long flight of stairs. As they reached the bottom, Teren could see Alex leaning against a wall in the living room, with Ken beside her. Cliff was there as well, and he was shaking hands with a gray haired man that she recognized as Andrew Collins. As she watched, Collins gave a final wave to Alex, and left.

Graves cleared his throat as he and Teren went into the living room. Alex looked up and lowered her eyes quickly. Ken saw Teren and grinned.

“Hey, Teren. How are you?” He tilted his head a little, noting the bandage on her temple. “Ooh, looks like you got roughed up a bit.”

“It’s no big deal, Ken. Nice to see you. How’s the leg?”

“Good. Still hurts, and I’m supposed to be on the crutches, but, ” he shrugged. “I hate those damn things.”

“Yeah, I know the feeling.” Another glance at Alex made Teren’s stomach flip. Something was wrong.

Cliff stepped forward, and shook Teren’s hand. “Nice to see you again, Mylos. Wanted to thank you for helping Alex out. We all really appreciate it.”

“It’s no problem, Cliff.”

“Glad the two of you are back. It’ll be nice to have Alex back on the team.”

Alex shook her head at that and pulled herself away from the wall. “That’s just it, Cliff. I won’t be back.”

“What the hell are you saying, Reis?” Cliff asked.

“I mean, I can’t come back. Director Collins took me off rogue status. However, he also took my badge. I’m no longer a member of the FBI.”

There was a shocked silence that filled the room. Then Ken broke it.

“Fuck, Alex, what does that mean? He fired you?” His voice was incredulous.

“No, Ken. But I’m on indefinite suspension, until this entire case is cleared to his satisfaction. When it is, he’ll reconsider.”

Again, the moment stretched, until Cliff dropped into a chair with a groan. “Holy fucking shit.”

Alex nodded. “I agree.”

Teren folded her arms. “Fine. Alex, you’re not going to be arrested again, are you?”

“No.”

“Good. I figure you’ll feel better in your home than here. Ron, here, has graciously had my car brought over from the airport, and our bags have arrived. How about I get our briefcases, and we can get the hell out of this fucking place? Sound good?”

Her blonde partner nodded. “Sounds great, Teren. I’d love to go home.”

“Good. I’ll meet you at the car.” She turned to Graves. “Do you have the keys?”

“No, I —”

“Well, I suggest you get them. Now.”

He nodded, and turned to leave.

“Ron? Have our bags taken to the car as well, got it?”

“Teren – “

“Got it?” She put more menace in her voice and was satisfied to see him look miserable. He nodded, and left.

Teren put a hand on Alex’s shoulder, then walked back toward the stairs which she took two at a time.

Cliff and Ken just stared at Alex in disbelief.

Alex waited by the driver’s door. As Teren approached, she held out her hand.

“Keys.”

“Why?”

“I’m driving.” Teren started to protest, but Alex held up a hand. “You got shot in the head three days ago. You may fool everybody else, but I know when you’re hurting, Teren.”

The taller woman stood there with her mouth open, then shut it with a snap. Without another word, she dropped the keys in Alex’s hand and walked around to the passenger door.

“Where are we going, Alex?”

“My apartment. When we get there, I want you to sweep for bugs.”

“Right.” Teren paused. “I thought you wanted to go see David.”

“I do. Tomorrow, when he’s home. Right now,” Alex said, “we need to talk.”

They got in the car and drove in silence.

After a thorough search, Alex’s apartment was pronounced clean, and she dropped onto the sofa, glad to be home.

Teren stood near the door, looking uncomfortable. “Should I go —”

“Absolutely not. Get your ass over here and sit.”

The darker woman raised an eyebrow but sat down on the couch.

“You need to see this.” Alex handed her a folded wallet. Teren opened it to find a CIA ID badge, in Alex’s name.

“What the hell?”

“I haven’t been suspended. I’ve been placed on loan to the CIA, as your temporary partner, until we figure this out.”

Her partner stared at her. “Why? Who did this?”

“Director Collins and Agent Graves, with permission of several other people whose names I wasn’t told. At first, they were just going to pair me with you, since the two of us had already proved the international connections, making it CIA territory as well. But, I told Collins about your theory of someone in the FBI working with White and Treville, and he agreed with it. They decided that the best way to cut that person off from us and any reports on our progress is to make them think that I was no longer with the FBI, or on this case.”

“So, they pretended to put you on suspension, but …”

“But, they actually give me temporary status in the CIA so that we can keep working.” She gave Teren a half smile. “I wanted to tell you right away, but we all agreed that it would be better if the two of us got out of there. I’m exhausted, so, I didn’t have a problem with faking my reaction – depressed is easy. But, I thought we should keep your reaction as real as possible. So, I decided to wait until we got back here.”

“Why didn’t you tell me in the car?”

“Well, I thought maybe Graves had bugged it, and I didn’t want to tell you knowing I might be recorded.”

“Which is why you wanted me to check out your apartment.” Teren nodded. “Very good, Alex.”

“Thanks.” She grinned. “So, what now, partner?”

Teren leaned back, staring up at the ceiling. “Now, we find White, Treville, and all the other fuckers involved in this thing.” She turned her head to look at Alex. “It’s not going to be easy, though.”

“Well, if he did kill Radcliffe, he’s probably somewhere in the city. Ken said they had an APB out on him, and the airports were looking for him even more than they were looking for me. As a matter of fact, Tom and Rudy are tracking him. Maybe we should let them find him, and start with something else.”

“Like what?”

“Like the post office box for CJ. We could check that out, and see where the records lead us.”

“Good point. We could check it out tonight – less chance of people being around.”

Alex frowned. “Why not now?” She stifled a short yawn.

Teren pointed at her. “That’s why. You said yourself, you’re exhausted. I’m tired too.” Alex folded her arms and looked at Teren. “Okay, Alex, yes, I also have a headache.” They grinned at each other. “It might be better if we just slept for a while. Get over the jetlag as much as possible. When we wake up, we’ll start looking for CJ. Okay?”

The blonde head nodded, even while Alex’s hand covered her mouth in another yawn. Then she stood, and stretched.

Teren stayed on the couch, her hands on her knees and her head down. Alex noticed a strange look on her friend’s face, and stopped.

“Ter? What’s wrong?”

Teren shook her head. “Nothing. I’m fine.”

“Bullshit. What’s the matter?” Alex was startled to see Teren’s face begin to turn red. “Teren?”

Her tall partner fidgeted for a moment, then frowned, her gaze on her feet. “Alex, could I – um – stay? With you?” She hesitated. “In your room, I mean?”

“Well, you didn’t think I was going to make you sleep on the couch, did you?”

Teren glanced up to find Alex smiling at her.

The blonde woman extended a hand towards her friend. “Come on. I’ll chase your bad dreams away if you do the same for me.”

Teren smiled at that. “Deal.” She took the offered hand, letting Alex pull her from the couch and into the bedroom.

The box registered to CJ was located in a branch post office just barely inside the District of Columbia, near the Maryland border. Box owners could still retrieve their mail after working hours, as long as they had a key. However, since it was nearly eleven o’clock, there weren’t many people around.

Teren was in the passenger seat of her car, having once again lost the keys to Alex’s determination. The blue gaze went back and forth between Alex and the door of the building. Alex just stared at the post office.

“Well?”

“Well, what, Teren?”

She sighed in exasperation. “Did you bring us all the way out here, just to sit and watch the door?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then what are we waiting for?”

Alex finally turned her gaze to her partner. “Do you have a key to the lobby?”

“No, but —”

“Well, I don’t either. Kind of tough to get in there without one, huh?”

“Never stopped me before.”

One blonde eyebrow rose. “You want to break into a United States Post Office?”

“No, just the box area.” Teren glared as Alex shook her head. “Hey, you didn’t have a problem the last time I picked a lock.”

“Number one, you were picking the lock on a tomb. Number two, there weren’t a dozen cameras around. You want someone to get you on tape, picking a lock?”

“Ah, I’m good enough that they’d think I had a key.” Teren slumped down in her seat, though, and mumbled to herself.

Alex shook her head.

“So, then why are we here if we’re not going in?”

“We are going in – we’re just waiting for someone else to go in, and then as they’re leaving, we’ll slip in. Got it?”

“Uh-huh. And then what? Bust into the box? There are cameras inside too, you know.”

“Yeah, but in there they won’t be able to tell that you don’t have a key. They’d be able to see the pick at the door.”

Teren was silent, but Alex could tell she was still frustrated.

“Alex, we could be here all night. For all we know the next person in might be an employee at six in the morning or something. Why don’t we just —”

She stopped at Alex’s raised hand. “There’s someone pulling up. Looks like a single person. Get ready to move, okay?”

“Finally,” Teren grumbled.

They waited until the car was parked, and watched as a young man in a heavy black jacket got out and walked towards the door.

“Okay, as soon as he gets inside the building, we’ll – oh, hang on. Shit! I don’t believe it.”

“What?” Teren leaned forward and looked where Alex was gazing. The young man was being accosted in the middle of the parking lot by another, much taller individual. “Who the hell is that?”

Her partner looked grim. “That’s Derek White.”

Slowly, Alex opened her door. Teren did the same, and slipped around to stand behind Alex’s car.

“They don’t know who we are, Alex,” she whispered. “Let’s walk over as if we’re just going to the post office, okay?”

The blonde head nodded, and they started to cross the street.

Derek and the young man were beginning to shout at each other, and Teren could clearly hear them.

“—no, you’ve got to take me to see him! Those two sons of bitches tried to kill me, and now everyone thinks I killed Stephen. You —”

“I’m not taking you anywhere. The word’s out on you, and you can either leave or —”

“You fucking pile of —”

Teren reached for her weapon, noticing that Alex was doing the same. Her steps quickened, taking her ahead of her shorter companion.

Suddenly the shorter man reached inside his jacket, and White grabbed for his arm. The two were scuffling, and metal glinted in the light of the parking lot.

On instinct, Teren veered to the left, behind a parked car. She took aim on the men, and watched as Alex also pulled up and focused her weapon.

“Freeze! Police! Drop the weapon, and put your hands over your head!”

There was a hesitation for a split second after Alex yelled, then the struggle renewed. With a sudden punch, the short man was on the ground, and White held the gun. He turned it towards the place Alex was hiding. Teren sighted, and squeezed her trigger. The gun in White’s hand went flying as he clutched his bleeding fingers.

“Give it up, White.”

There was a look of panic on his face, and then he turned and ran. Alex took off after him, close on his heels.

The man on the ground groaned. He looked up to see Teren standing over him, her gun pointed at him, and a pair of cuffs dangling from her hand.

Alex followed White as he headed down the block, and turned a corner. She made the turn carefully, and saw her quarry halfway down the block. She thought about taking a shot at him, but even at this hour, DC wasn’t fully asleep, and she didn’t want to chance a civilian getting in the way. Besides, she wanted to take him in alive. So, instead, she picked up her pace, making sure to keep White in her vision.

Her chance finally came when he made a quick left into an alley behind a restaurant.

Perfect. Alex could see that the restaurant was still open, which would mean there would be a light behind it. With that, she could take White down if she had to.

As she approached the alleyway, she heard a loud voice cursing. She paused, peering carefully around the corner.

Derek White had trapped himself. The alley was a dead end, with a cement wall blocking his path. As Alex watched, White turned, looking for an escape or a hiding place.

Alex stepped into the alley and aimed, cocking her weapon. “Give it up, White. I’d really rather take you in alive.”

He turned, and rushed her.

For a split second, Alex hesitated. It was enough to let White get close enough to grab for her gun. She pulled away, but couldn’t avoid his fist as it lashed out. He connected with her arm, and the gun landed on the sidewalk behind her, a good ten feet away.

Her instincts took over. As he threw a punch, she ducked, landing a jab on his jaw. He swung again, but Alex danced back, then sent a kick towards his face. It connected, and he staggered backward.

Shaking himself, White came forward again. Alex saw him glance toward her gun, and she stepped over slightly to keep herself between him and the weapon. He glared at her, and threw a punch. Once again, Alex ducked under it, this time landing a solid blow to his solar plexus. He collapsed.

Teren was putting her cuffed prisoner in the backseat when another car pulled into the parking lot. It had government plates, and she tensed.

Two men got out of the car, and began walking towards her. “Aren’t you Teren Mylos?”

She moved forward a little and nodded. “Yeah. Why?”

“Well, you’re helping out a friend of ours.” One of the men reached into his jacket pocket, and Teren reflexively went for her weapon. “Easy. Just wanted to show you my badge.” He flipped open a small wallet to show her an FBI Identification. “Tom Jorgen. We’re on the task force with Alex.”

Teren nodded again, but didn’t relax. “Nice to meet you. What are you doing here?”

“Well, my partner Rudy and I,” he pointed to the other man, who was hanging back several feet, “we were assigned to bring in Derek White. But he kept giving us the slip.” He shrugged. “We got a tip that he might show up here. Have you seen him?”

“Never met him.” There was a prickling sensation on the back of her neck. She could swear she heard chuckling from the prisoner in the car. “What made you think he’d stop here?”

“Well, it was just a tip.” Tom looked past her into the car. “Who do we have there?”

“A suspect.”

“In what?”

Teren shrugged. “Caught him fighting with someone. He didn’t want to listen, so now he’s under arrest.”

“But, you’re CIA. You can’t arrest anyone.”

Another shrug. “Citizen’s arrest. I hate people who don’t listen to reason.” She noticed the other agent moving sideways, as if to flank her, and she tensed again.

“Well, since we’re here, and we have the authority, why don’t you let us take the prisoner off your hands. I’m sure you don’t want to spend the night filling out paperwork at the police station. We’ll just take him downtown and save you the trouble.”

Teren was finding the man’s smile irritating. “It’s no trouble. Should be a new experience.”

Tom laughed, but it sounded hollow. “Now, Agent Mylos. You don’t really want to do that. Besides, there’s no witnesses, so it’ll be your word against his. Plus,” he looked around, “I don’t see anyone he could have been fighting with. Do you, Rudy?”

“Nope. No one, Tom.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. He’s already on his way to the station. In fact,” she made a show of checking her watch, “I should really get moving myself. Nice of you guys to offer, but I can manage.” She backed up and waved. “Thanks again. Good luck finding this White guy.”

Tom stepped forward, his hand inside his jacket. “I’m afraid I can’t allow you to do that, Agent Mylos.” He drew his gun. “Now, we’ll take the prisoner. Open the door, please.”

She sighed. “Okay. If that’s what you really want me to do.” Teren leaned against the front door, and reached to open the back. As she did so, she watched Tom’s eyes carefully. As she suspected, his gaze was drawn to the movement of the door, and he never saw her draw her gun.

“Oh, Tom.” He looked back at her to find her .45 staring at him. “I think you and your friend had better put down your guns, don’t you?”

His answer was to raise his weapon.

Alex had Derek White cuffed, and standing. He wasn’t being cooperative, though, and had tried to kick her several times. She was seriously considering knocking him unconscious and going to get the car.

Besides, she was worried about her partner.

“Would you stop it? I really don’t want to beat the shit out of you, but I will if you don’t stop squirming.”

“Why don’t you just shoot me? Or are you going to torture me first? Maybe burn me alive, like you did my wife, huh?”

“What are you talking about? Who burned your wife?”

“You’re FBI, aren’t you? You work for CJ!”

He squirmed again, getting himself turned around, and tried once again to kick her. Alex felt a blast of cold anger, and blocked his kick. Then, with all the power she could muster, she drove her knee into his groin, letting him fall back to the ground.

White curled up on his side, mewling in pain. For a moment, Alex was tempted to hit him again, but she shook her head and knelt beside him, forcing his eyes to hers.

“My badge has been pulled, Mr. White. So you’re facing one very pissed off ex-FBI agent. Now, I suggest a little cooperation is in order. Unless you like pain?” She pulled her arm back, aiming a punch at his crotch.

He moaned and shook his head. After several breaths, he coughed, and then looked up at her, grimacing.