Текст книги "Заговор мечей"
Автор книги: Джейн Doy Press
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Текущая страница: 37 (всего у книги 40 страниц)
Alex stared at her old partner, who was sitting on the couch. He was wearing his pajamas, and wrapped in blankets. As she stood there, he turned from his conversation with Ken, and stared at her.
He was pale, she noticed, and looked much thinner. But the spark in his eyes when he saw her let her know that he was doing very well indeed.
A grin broke across his face, and he reached out with his arms.
“I’m not allowed off the couch, but if you don’t come give me a hug, I’ll get up anyway.”
With a chuckle, Alex walked to him, leaning down to give him a hug. David pulled her down, onto the couch with him. She sat there until her eyes stung, then pulled back.
“You look great, Dave.”
“Thanks. You look pretty damn good yourself.” He grinned, and looked over at Teren, eyeing the bandage on her head. “You, however, look like shit. Didn’t anyone ever teach you to duck?”
She laughed, then leaned over to give him a brief hug as well. His eyes showed his surprise, and delight at the gesture.
“I did duck, Dave. If I hadn’t, the bullet would have hit me in a much worse place.”
“Like the head isn’t a bad place itself?”
Teren grinned at him as she took a seat on an easy chair near Ken. “Not this head.” She thumped the top of it for emphasis. “Too hard. Just ask Alex.”
The four of them were chuckling, when Miri entered the room. She was carrying Arlea.
“Alex, there’s someone else here that wanted to see you.” Miri carefully placed the little girl in Alex’s lap. “She missed you too, you know.”
Arlea immediately threw her arms around her playmate, and began babbling at her. Alex, in shock, wrapped her arms around the child.
The tears refused to be halted this time, and they spilled down her cheeks as she sobbed on Arlea’s shoulder.
Chapter Thirty-nine
Alex watched Arlea sleep in her crib. Every few minutes she’d reach down and stroke the girl’s hair, touching her gently, lovingly.
She hadn’t meant to break down like she did, but the contrast between the absolute good of the tiny child, and the absolute evil that she and Teren had been fighting, had suddenly overwhelmed her. Holding onto her playmate, she’d sobbed for several minutes, with Teren softly stroking her back. Ken and David had looked concerned, as Miri had finally convinced her to stand, and carry Arlea with her to the baby’s room.
There, she’d sat in the rocker that Miri normally used, and held her friend tight, even as Miri had knelt beside them and sung a soft lullabye. Once Arlea was asleep, Miri had placed her in the crib and Alex had watched, her eyes half closed, as Miri put a blanket over her and left the room.
Alex knew she should go downstairs and rejoin the group, but she wanted just a few more moments of peace, as she watched her playmate slumber.
Miri opened the door cautiously, carrying two mugs in her hands. She smiled at Alex, and motioned for her to sit back in the rocker. Pulling over a footstool, the shorter woman sat beside her, and offered her a cup. Alex smiled as the scent of cinnamon and chocolate drifted up to her nose.
“Alex, I wanted to talk to you about the night David got shot.”
Alex closed her eyes against the threatening tears. “I’m sorry, Miri.”
“For what?”
“I promised to keep him safe.”
Miri’s small tan hand patted hers, and then gently squeezed. “It wasn’t your fault, Alex. David said he went over everything from that night, time and time again – so did Ken, so did Cliff. With the information you had, there was nothing you could have done to stop the ambush.”
“But —”
“No.” Miri’s voice was firm. “No, Alex. What I said on the phone that night, what I told you – Alex, I’m the one who should apologize. When I got your call, I just reacted to the fact that David had been shot. I didn’t think about anything else. Not you, not Ken, not anyone. Just David.” She pulled away, and stared at her cup. “I spoke from my own pain, and I hurt you even more. I’m so sorry, Alex.”
“It was my fault,” Alex whispered. “Teren keeps saying that it wasn’t, but I was in charge, I should have had better security —”
“You had six agents, and two policemen in a backup car. You had no idea that someone was going to take out your backup, or that two of the agents would disobey orders and leave their vehicle. You took the required precautions, and the fact that it wasn’t enough had nothing to do with you.” She lowered her voice. “David says there’s a traitor on the task force. Is that true?”
“Yes.” She didn’t want to tell anyone yet about Tom Jorgen and Rudy Wilkins. “And someone higher up as well.”
Miri’s let her shoulders sag. “You think it’s Cliff, don’t you?”
Raising an eyebrow, Alex looked at her and sighed. “Yes. Or, Teren does, rather.”
“What do you think?”
Alex shook her head. “I don’t know. I don’t want to believe it, but there are some clues that point to him. It’s enough to make me wonder.”
The two of them were quiet for a moment, just watching Arlea as she slept. Alex could feel parts of her psyche slipping back into place, little pieces that she’d been missing. It was like coming home, and she leaned back to savor that moment of peace.
Teren had watched quietly as Miri guided her partner into the other room, then dropped her gaze to the floor. She let out a deep breath, and closed her eyes.
“How has she been, Teren?” David asked quietly. “Are you taking care of my partner?”
She felt an inward flinch as she heard the term. Teren sighed.
“As best I can, David. And I think she’s been doing pretty good.” She shrugged. “She cries – a little. But she’s tough when she needs to be.” Teren nodded. “Yeah, I think she’s okay. She needs a break, and a nice vacation – we both do.” She leaned forward, her elbows on her knees. “I’ll be glad when we end this.”
“How close are you? To ending it, I mean.”
“Not as close as I’d like, but a hell of a lot closer than we were when we got off the plane.” She noticed Ken was nodding.
“Yep. Told you, Dave. There’s no way Alex is going to let go of this. Badge or no badge, she’ll keep going.” He turned to Teren. “You saying you got something overnight?”
“Yeah.” Teren took a deep breath. “We got Derek White.”
Both jaws dropped, and Teren was tempted to reach over and close them. Instead, she leaned back and stretched out, crossing her legs at her ankles.
David recovered first, and cleared his throat. “So, did you turn him over to the Bureau or the local police?”
“Neither. He’s being held at a CIA facility. And that’s all I’m going to say.” She grinned. “The Bureau may have pulled Alex’s badge, but the Agency put me back on active status – and since Alex and I proved that there are international connections, to possible terrorist organizations, it is the CIA’s right to be involved. And they are – through me.”
Ken nodded. “I figured the Agency was going to get more involved, especially when Graves told Cliff you’d been involved in some kind of mess with – what is it? The Bundskrim?”
“Bundeskriminalamt, or BKA. Yeah, we helped expose a Nazi cell in Munich.”
David looked confused. “What did that have to do with this case?”
“Well, these Nazi’s were part of the money system that was paying for the killings here in the States. We traced the money angle back to Switzerland, and then to Munich, where we got lucky.”
Ken snorted. “Right – your head looks like it got real lucky.” He and David chuckled, and Teren smiled at them.
“Okay, so not all the luck was good. But we took out the bad guys, and found the papers that could connect our conspirators to the Nazi money.” She ran a hand across her bandage. “Okay, Alex found the papers. I slept.”
The guys chuckled again.
“So, you found White. Did he tell you who their contact in the Bureau is?”
“No, he didn’t know the guys real name. But he can, and will identify the man if we can put together some sort of line up. The only problem with that is, without more evidence, it’ll be impossible to get the FBI to agree to any kind of line up, even pictures – and without cooperation, it would be hard to get the photos for anyone at Cliff’s level or higher.”
“Any physical description?”
Teren shrugged. “Pretty general. Middle age, salt and pepper hair, just a touch overweight. Alex said it describes just about everyone from Cliff on up.”
“It does.” David nodded. “So, what else did White tell you?”
“He confirmed a lot of stuff. Who did the actual shooting in each hit, who drove the shooter, and he admitted that a guy that works for him in Alabama built the bombs. He used to be an army demolition specialist, but was released with a dishonarable discharge after a stay at Leavenworth, first.– he blew up his CO’s office.”
“Did he mention Arturo? Bill and Vic said they could put Mather in LA, and talking to the guy who killed Arturo.”
“Yeah, he said it was part of their plan. They chose to use gang bangers to take out him and at least a few other people. But, the one guy, who pulled the trigger on Arturo, started demanding more money, so Treville sent a couple old friends, supposedly to give him cash – they killed him instead.”
Ken shook his head, but didn’t say anything.
“He said that after Mather was killed, most of the leaders wanted to wait, make the Feds think that it was over. Then they could strike without a lot of pressure, and also take their time choosing their new killer. But Treville, and the guy in the FBI decided they wanted another killing to throw off the investigation. So, Treville told Brogan to contact what’s his name, in Colorado. He was supposed to kill Ann Seffren. But he missed. Derek said Treville had decided then that Brogan couldn’t be trusted, and he had White make the bomb for his house. He didn’t know who made the bomb that blew up Kittredge.”
“We do,” Ken said smugly.
“Wanna share?”
He shrugged. “We traced the parts to New York. Steve and Lou went up there, and they found a credit card receipt that led them to this guy that does odd jobs.”
“Why would he be making bombs and sending them to Alabama?”
“Hey, I don’t know,” he said as he raised his hands. “All I know is that they got together with Ben and Mark, and the four of them were real happy. I asked what was going on, and they said they didn’t want to tell anyone until they had it locked down.” He sighed. “Gotta tell ya, this thing with the ambush, and the possiblity of someone in the room being a turncoat —” he shook his head, “people are afraid to work with each other. They trust their partners, and nobody else.”
Teren nodded. “Yeah, I can understand where they’re coming from.”
All of them grew silent at the sound of a door opening down the hall. A moment later, Alex and Miri came into the living room.
Alex stopped and looked at them. “Miri, I think they were talking about us.”
Miri twisted her head to the side and eyed her husband, who was wearing a sheepish grin. “I do believe you might be right, Alex. What should we do to punish them for it?”
The blonde put a hand under her chin, and a thoughtful look appeared. “Well, David can’t leave the couch, so we’ll have to think of something else to punish him,” she said, “but I think maybe the other two should help you in the kitchen, getting lunch together. What do you think?”
Miri ignored the shaking heads, and nodded, putting an arm around her friend. “I think it’s a great idea, Alex.”
Ken groaned, and pointed at his leg. “But I can’t stand up for a long time,” he whined with a grin.
“And my head hurts.” Teren pointed at her bandage, and made puppy dog eyes at Alex.
But Alex wasn’t buying. “Nope, sorry, pal. You told me earlier it didn’t hurt a bit. Remember?”
“Well, that was earlier —”
“And your choice is to help Miri in the kitchen, or you can take a pill and go nighty-night. I’m sure I can handle this afternoon just fine.”
Teren stood. “Come on, Ken, we’ve got lunch to make.” He groaned, and she glared at him. “Don’t even try it. You’re not even using your crutches.”
Finally, he grinned, and stood. Teren glanced back at her partner and winked once as she followed Miri and Ken into the kitchen.
Leaving Alex alone with her partner.
She grinned at him. “I guess your punishment is that you get stuck with me, huh?”
He smiled, and patted the couch beside him. “That’s not punishment. Not by a long shot. Come ‘ere, Alex.”
She sat next to him, they leaned against each other.
“I’ve missed you, David.”
“Missed you, too. When Ken told me they were railroading you, and you were on the run with Teren, I —” he shook his head. “Well, I nearly got out of bed, tubes and all.”
Alex smiled at him.
“But, I figured that if anybody could keep you safe it was Teren.” He sighed. “Lord knows I couldn’t.”
His partner narrowed her eyes at him. “What are you talking about? I’m the one that came through without a scrape.”
David raised an eyebrow. “Really? Then why did Ken say Teren needed suture kits to take care of you?”
Her face got hot. “It was just a graze, under my elbow. It’s healing well.”
“Good. Ken said you were dripping blood and wouldn’t let the doctors do anything.”
“It wasn’t dripping, just bleeding a little.”
“Right.” He grinned and put an arm around her shoulders.
Alex grew somber. “David.”
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry. I led us into the ambush, and I nearly got you killed.” She sighed. “If I had it to do over again —”
“You’d do the exact same thing.” She looked up into his serious eyes. “Alex, that ambush was the result of somebody on the inside playing against us. You didn’t have a clue, at that moment, that the whole thing was a set up. None of us did. You went by the book – and somebody else threw the book out. It’s not your fault.”
“But —”
“It wasn’t your fault.” He held her chin, keeping her eyes level with his. “It was an ambush, nothing more or less than that. We’ll all carry scars, but not because of you – as a matter of fact, I think I owe you a thank you.”
She looked at him in confusion. “Why?”
He sighed and turned his gaze toward the floor. “I remember hearing a click behind me, and I turned. As I did, there was this ripping pain, and I hit the ground. I knew my gun was still in my hand, but I couldn’t raise it, couldn’t even yell. I saw the guy above me, and he grinned and cocked his gun again. I thought I was dead.” He closed his eyes. “Then I saw him turn slightly, and he raised his gun and fired. At the same time the back of his head kind of mushroomed out, and I watched as he fell.” He opened his eyes and looked at his partner. “The last thing I remember thinking is that I nearly let him shoot you. I had my gun in my hand, and I couldn’t stop the bastard.”
Alex reached up and brushed the hair from his forehead. “Tell me you haven’t been beating yourself up for this, David.”
He nodded, his gaze dropping again.
Alex sighed. “We’re quite some pair, you know? You get shot, and I blame myself. I get a small bullet scrape, and you feel guilty about it.” She shook her head. “Teren would probably smack us both on the head.”
David grinned a little, and squeezed her shoulders. “Alex, Ken told me you killed that guy.”
She swallowed. “Yeah, I did. Him and a couple others.”
Her partner frowned at her. “I thought Teren took out the others.”
“In Philly? She did. I’m talking about the cemetery in Germany – where Teren was shot.”
“Oh” He paused. “How are you handling that?”
She shrugged. “Sometimes okay, other times not.” Her hands fidgeted in her lap. “I have nightmares – about that, and you getting shot, and Teren . . ” She let her voice trail off.
“How is Teren?”
“Good.” Alex grinned. “She’s like a kid when she’s not feeling good, but other than that, she’s doing well.” She chuckled. “Wouldn’t let the doctors keep her more than one night. Insisted that she wanted to leave the hospital and stay with me.”
David raised an eyebrow, and caught her gaze.
She blushed.
“Something you want to tell me, Alex?”
She thought about that. Did she want to tell him? And if she did, just what would she say?
“No,” she said slowly. “I don’t think so. I mean, I’m not sure what to say, so I don’t want to say anything. It’s just a little early, Dave.”
His smile widened. “But you like her. A lot.”
Alex nodded.
“Are you in love?”
She took a deep breath and let it out. “I don’t know.”
“Have you slept with her?”
“David!”
The smile became a grin. “You have, haven’t you?” Her blush gave him an answer. “That’s cool, Alex. I’m happy for you.”
“David, I don’t know how she feels.” Her voice dropped, and he had to lean closer to hear her. “We haven’t talked. There hasn’t been time.”
He nodded, pulling her closer to him. “It’ll be okay, Alex. You two are gonna end this, and then you’ll sit down and have that talk.” He kissed her gently on the head. “You’ll say you love her, and she’ll say she loves you, and the two of you will be as happy as Miri and I.”
Alex sat up and looked at him. “David, why do I always believe you when you talk like that? I mean, you’re almost never right, but I still feel better.”
He grinned. “Cause you know that eventually the odds will be on my side, and I’ll get one right.”
She laughed and leaned back against him.
Lunch was a comfortable affair, with David and Alex teasing each other, and enjoying their friendship. Even Teren relaxed enough to hold Arlea, feeding her part of her own meal. Ken kept grinning at the picture the two made, which would make Teren growl. Arlea seemed to enjoy the low rumbling in her new friend’s throat, though, and would laugh playfully whenever she heard it.
Finally, after a leisurely meal, Alex and Teren looked at each other and nodded. They had a plane to go meet.
“Well, gang, it’s been wonderful. But, Teren and I have work to do.”
Miri looked up at her. “Are you sure you don’t wanna stay a little longer?”
“Thanks, Miri, but no. It was a great lunch, though.”
“Alright.” Miri reached over and took Arlea from Teren’s arms. The little girl reached out for Alex, who leaned over and kissed her.
“I need to get this little one cleaned up.” She gave Alex a half hug, and did the same to Teren. Arlea tried to climb into Teren’s arms again, and howled in outrage when she couldn’t.
“Oh, you hush, you. You don’t want to go with them anyway.” Miri winked at the two of them. “Alex, you’ll call soon?”
“Sure thing.”
“And Teren – you’re always welcome, alright?”
Teren smiled and nodded. “Thanks, Miri. That’s nice to know.”
Miri nodded and smiled, then left, carrying Arlea who was still sniffling.
Alex turned to David. “You look good, pal. Hurry up and get well, alright?”
“Will do.” David reached up for a hug, and kissed Alex’s cheek gently. “It’s good to see you, Alex.” He turned his gaze to Teren. “And you – come here and give me a hug before you go.”
Teren raised an eyebrow, but did as he requested.
David whispered in her ear, “It’s a good thing you’ve been taking care of her, Teren. She’s my partner, you know.”
The dark woman pulled back slightly and looked into his eyes. “I know. She’s mine, too.”
The brown eyes in front of her widened, as David’s smile turned to a grin.
Teren straightened back up and turned to Alex, who was watching Ken slip into his coat.
“Where are you going, Ken?”
“With you, Alex.” He pulled up the zipper on his jacket.
“Um, no, Ken, I don’t think so.” Alex smiled, but shook her head. “You don’t have any idea what kind of trouble you could get into.”
“Don’t care. You either take me with you or I’ll follow you.”
Teren folded her arms and looked at him. “Ken, Alex has already lost her badge. You sure you want to risk yours as well?”
“Yes.” He pulled out his FBI identification and laid it on the table. “I’ll give it up in a heartbeat.” He started towards the door.
“Wait, Ken, no. You don’t want to do this.” Alex took his arm and made him face her. “Look, I’ll get my badge back, I swear I will. Don’t get yourself in trouble over this, okay? I mean it.”
“Alex, I don’t care about the goddamn Bureau. I care about you, and tall, dark and dangerous here. Got it?”
“That’s nice, Ken, but you’re not going.” Teren stepped past him, then whirled around to glare at him when his hand grabbed her shoulder.
“You don’t have a choice.” His voice softened. “Besides, I promised Cliff I’d keep an eye on the two of you. Make sure you didn’t need back up.”
At the mention of Cliff’s name, Alex tensed. “Why did he want you to do that, Ken? He hasn’t cared up until now.”
“The hell he hasn’t. He practically begged Graves for information. He was as worried as anyone.”
Teren glanced at Alex, wondering if the shorter woman was thinking the same thing she was. Alex’s brow was creased, and her mouth was pulled into a frown.
Making a decision, Teren nodded. “You want to come with us? Fine. But I’m telling you now, you will do exactly what we tell you, when we tell you, or I’ll stuff you into a locker at the airport, and leave you there. Got it?”
Ken nodded. “Got it.”
Teren growled at him, and glanced at Alex, who was still frowning. Then she led the way out, with her blonde partner behind her. They left Ken to wave goodbye to David and close the door behind them.
Chapter Forty
They were a few minutes early getting to the airport. The plane Dawkins was on wasn’t due for another fifteen or twenty minutes. They took their time getting to the gate, keeping an eye out for Treville.
He wasn’t there, but Alex did spot an old nemesis.
“Shit,” she whispered. “Ken, you see him?”
“Yeah. What the fuck is he doing here?”
“Who?” Teren asked.
Alex answered through clenched teeth. “Captain Davies.”
The unexected appearance of the Philadelphia police captain put them in a precarious position, Alex realized. The only one of the three who had met Dawkins or Treville was Teren. Alex and Ken could have trailed the men without problem. However, Davies knew both of the FBI agents. Which meant that, instead of only Teren staying in the shadows, all three of them had to.
“Got any ideas, Teren?”
“Maybe.” She pulled Alex into a souvenir stand. “Listen up. Ken, you and Alex are going to hang back a bit. I’ll get a baseball cap, and pull it down. With my short hair, and the cap, Dawkins probably won’t recognize me. I’ll go to the gate and watch for him. You two stay out of sight – but not too far away. Alright?”
Ken started to speak, and both women glared at him. He closed his mouth, and nodded.
Alex turned to her partner. “What if Davies is picking up Dawkins?”
Teren frowned. “Why would he be here for Dawkins? Maybe he’s just getting a flight back to PA, and it’s at the next gate. Or he could be picking up someone else.”
Her partner shook her head. “No. Think about it.” She began ticking things off on her fingers. “One, Davies was a guest at the banquet where Dabir was killed. He’s a police captain, and should have either pursued Mather or stayed to help – but if I remember from the reports, nobody saw him for a long period of time before or after the shooting.” She looked at Ken. “Is that what you remember from the reports?”
He nodded. “He said he was in the restroom, and nobody questioned it because he’s a captain. But, I don’t think anyone ever verified where he was.”
“Right. Number two, Davies is the one who didn’t want us bothering Kyle Brogan. He said we were harassing him for no reason – even after we found the pictures and fingerprints.”
Teren nodded. “Go on.”
“Three, Davies is the one who arranged for the back up car – and he handpicked the officers. How hard would it have been for him to slip into the back seat?”
One dark eyebrow went up into Teren’s bangs.
“Four – who was it that tried to pin that on you, Teren? Even though the cop that drove you there told him otherwise?”
“That’s right,” Ken said. “The patrolman had to go to the press to get anyone to listen to him, cause Davies wouldn’t believe him.”
The other eyebrow joined its twin.
Teren nodded. “Alright. So, Davies is a very possible suspect.” She shrugged. “Doesn’t change the plan. If he is here to pick up Dawkins, I’ll trail them, and you two trail me. Got it?”
“Right. We’ll keep out of sight.” She reached out and touched Teren’s arm. “Careful, partner.”
Teren grinned at her. “No problem.” She winked and headed up to the counter to pay for her new hat.
Along with her new cap, Teren got a magazine, and sat down to read. There was actually a very interesting article on the newest computer gadgets, and the time passed very quickly. Before she knew it, the plane was in, and the passengers were disembarking.
It wasn’t hard to spot Dawkins. He had an entourage of several people traveling with him. Davies greeted him with a smile and a handshake, and Teren heard him mention Treville, and “meet at the hotel.” She waited a few moments after they left the gate area, then casually joined the crowd heading toward baggage claim.
She noticed Alex waiting behind a magazine rack, and saw that she had gotten a new cap of her own. Teren motioned with her head for her partner to slip into the group just in front of her. After Alex was in position, Teren leaned a little closer and whispered.
“They’re headed for the parking lot. Treville’s waiting for them at a hotel.” She paused, as they came to a bottleneck point. “I’m gonna keep tailing them, you try and keep an eye on me. Send Ken for the car – got it?”
A nod, and Alex was moving away again, pushing her way through the crowd.
Teren watched as the men got into a white Taurus with local plates and a rental barcode on the window. Davies was in the driver’s seat, and he started the car and pulled out of the parking lot, driving past the CIA operative, who was walking and reading her magazine at the same time.
Within a minute, Ken was pulling up next to her. He opened the driver’s door, and let her slide behind the wheel while he climbed in the back.
“I don’t know what hotel they’re headed to, but Treville is going to be there. There are four of them, Davies, Dawkins, and two guys from Dawkins’ staff. The rest of his group stayed to get the bags.” She pointed to the sedan, which was several car lengths in front of them. “That’s them, in the white Taurus.”
“Right. So what’s our plan? Follow them, and then what?” Ken asked from the back seat.
“We pick them up,” Alex said grimly. “The CIA will house them for the time being – after all, the BKA might want to talk to them about the money from the Swiss bank accounts. Even if they don’t, we should have enough evidence to put them both behind bars – but we’re not allowed to bring the FBI into this again until we know who the traitor is.” She was concentrating on watching the car Teren had pointed out, and didn’t notice the look on Ken’s face.
“Um, Alex?”
“Yes, Ken?”
He hesitated a moment, and then asked, “They didn’t really pull your badge, did they?”
Alex licked her lips and swallowed. “Well, yes and no. Officially, I’m no longer with the Bureau. The Agency, however, has given me a temporary position as Teren’s partner. This way, whoever CJ is, and whoever he’s working with, won’t have any way to control our investigation. We have the backing of the Agency if we need it, but an awful lot of leeway as well.”
Ken nodded. “I figured it might be something like that.” He frowned. “Only thing I can’t figure out is why you didn’t tell Cliff and me. We were really worried, you know.”
Alex said nothing. Teren glanced at her, then looked in the rear view mirror. “Ken – to be honest, we have reason to believe that Cliff is CJ.”
Their friend shook his head. “No way. Not possible.”
“How do you know?”
“Cause I know, Cliff, and so do you, Alex. You know he couldn’t do something like this.”
She stayed silent, wanting very much to believe her fellow agent.
“Alex, come on. He put his own badge on the line to warn you, to let Teren know what was going on.”
“Was he warning us, Ken, or setting us up? It didn’t take long for him to declare Alex a rogue. Barely 48 hours, if I remember right.”
“Yeah, okay, I wondered about that, too. But when I asked him, he said the order came from over his head. He was given a direct order to sign the papers – he did. He still regrets it, Alex.”
“Don’t you think that would be unusual, Ken? For someone to order him to do such a thing?”
“Not if the guy who gave the order is CJ.”
“Did Cliff tell you who the order came from?”
“He said it had three signatures. I didn’t ask who, but any of the three could be CJ.”
Teren shook her head. “Ken, there are other things as well, things that just don’t add up. Cliff is an experienced agent, with a good record. Yet from what he told us, someone has been micro-managing this task force since day one, and he hasn’t even given it a second thought. You’d think someone with Cliff’s record would be given some leeway – or would be asking questions as to why not. Cliff hasn’t asked.”
“That’s pretty flimsy, Teren.”
“Yeah, I know, it’s all circumstantial. I could be wrong. If I am I’ll give my personal apologies to Cliff.”
Alex turned to her. “And if you’re not?”
The blue eyes turned cold but Teren said nothing.
As they were heading into the downtown area, Teren pulled her new phone out and dialed. She handed it to Alex.
“Here. Talk to Graves. Tell him we can get Dawkins and Treville at the same time. He needs to have back up waiting at the office – I’ll call the code in when we know what hotel they’re heading for.”
“Got it.”
“Teren?”
“Yes, Ken?”
“What are we doing?”
“We’re setting up an ambush of our own.”
“I thought no CIA operations could take place on US soil?”
“Right.” She glanced at him. “What’s your point?”
He chuckled and shook his head.
They followed Davies’ white Ford to an underground parking lot connected to a five star hotel in downtown DC. It appeared they hadn’t been spotted.
Teren dialed another number and waited for an answer.
“Redhawk.”
“This is Ghostflyer, command number one-four-seven-dash-seven. Status is red, and the operation is a go.”
There was a pause, and then the voice came back. “Ghostflyer, confirmed. Need current location.”
She told them where they were, and the kind of car they were following.
“Location received. Redhawk is on the move.”
Teren pushed the off button and slid the phone back in her jacket. “We’ll have a team joining us.” She turned the car onto the second underground level, catching sight of the white sedan they’d been following.
