Murder In New York
Chapter 20
August 14
Outside the Apartment of André Andreovich
1130 HoursPerkins and Rabb huddled behind the corner down the hall from the Andreovich apartment. They were cut off from the fire escape and the main stairwell. At least the gunfire had stopped. "Why the hell does shit like this always happen to me?" Mary sighed.
"The two of us together must be some cosmic catastrophe," Rabb agreed. "You think the super set us up?"
"Well, the bastard isn’t pinned down here with us, is he?" Mary said disgustedly. "You think we can make it to that apartment?" She nodded toward the last apartment in the hallway. "Why the hell is there this little hallway leading to nothing but a damn window?"
"What I want to know is why is there this perfectly good window with no fire escape?" Rabb looked out of the fourth floor window, praying he had somehow missed a huge metal-framed staircase. "You know, if they make a concerted effort, we are dog meat."
"Thanks for sharing that sunny outlook, Rabb. Makes me feel like one of the guys." Mary said as she eased her nose around the corner. Rabb heard the snick and jerked her back as more gunfire erupted. "Shit!"
"Where the hell are the cops?" Rabb looked out the window again. «Shit. Still no fire-escape.»
"Hey," Mary hissed.
"What?"
She pulled him closer and whispered in his ear. "Why haven’t they shot up this wall from the inside?"
Rabb considered the wall they were hiding behind. They had questioned the superintendent of the building for nearly an hour and finally made him admit that Andreovich had never left the building and that there had been strange men coming and going for the past three days.
"Hey, de last time dem Feds stawpped by I tole dem dat old Andy was up dere. Dey din’ do nuttin’ but go-r-and knock. Came back down and said’e wa’n’t there. What was I supposed ta do? Give dem de key? Shit. I knows my rights."
Mary had suggested that he give them the key. "Don’t worry we won’t use it unless there’s an emergency." They had come upstairs, knocked on the door and when the old man inside had quavered, ‘who is it?’ she had firmly announced, ‘federal agent!’ She would never figure out how Rabb knew, but he pulled her down the hall moments before the door splintered to nothingness as several blasts from a shotgun rent the air. Next came the automatic fire.
Rabb considered Mary’s question. If Karpov were inside, like they separately told Mac and Cassie, then the only explanation was that Karpov didn’t necessarily want them dead. "I think they’re trying to buy time to let him escape."
"Oh, shit," Mary took a deep breath, raised her gun and took a step forward.
Rabb jerked her back. "What the hell are you doing?"
"My job." She jerked free. "Don’t try and baby me, Rabb."
"Whoa, sweetheart. Baby you? Hell, I would like to knock you out cold, but we need your firepower. There’s not a whole lot we can do but wait." He sighed. "Look, Mary. If I thought we had a chance I would say, ‘hell, yes, anything but waiting here,’ but give them a couple more minutes. Please." «Jesus, she’s worse than me. But this time, I’m the one who can’t bear the thought of her dying. Come on, you guys.»
As if they had heard his prayer, the streets erupted in a symphony of sirens. Rabb looked out the window again and peered down to see several cars pull up outside the building close to the alley that their window overlooked. He peered as far as he could down the alley toward the street and whistled. "I can’t see all of them, Babe, but there’s a bunch of cops out there. Mary?" He looked back and swallowed his expletive. "Rice."
Mary had just glanced away from the corner for a moment when Harm had begun talking about the police. That had been enough time. Rice had been quiet. His arm was around her neck and the barrel of a gun was pressed into her chin in the time it took her to turn to look at Harm. It occurred to her that this was the first time that both of them had looked away from the corner. She met Rabb’s startled look then she looked up and gulped. The green blinking light from the security camera winked down at them. "Gee, let me guess, Andreovich is an old family friend, and Karpov has used this place before."
"You two really are amateurs aren’t you?" Rice sneered.
"We found you, didn’t we?" Rabb decided that bravado was as good as any tactic. "What are you going to do? Take us out by some trap door?"
"If we had a trap door, you wouldn’t be alive now. No, I think Colonel MacKenzie called Chegwidden, and he isn’t going to let his pet lawyer die if he doesn’t have to." He caressed the gun along Mary’s throat. "And I’m thinking Kelly and Ryan aren’t going to just say, ‘go ahead and kill one of our agents.’ No, I think we have a negotiating standpoint." He tugged Mary back toward the hallway. "Come on. Mr. Karpov wants to talk to you."
: :
Cassie hopped in next to Briscoe, ignoring the muttered comments by Khoury as he climbed in back. As soon as the car jerked from the curb, she began calling everyone she could think of.
"You think we might need police back up?" Khoury asked snidely.
"Kelly will call it in. Let’s try and follow procedure." Cassie sighed and thought about calling Mary for an update but feared that it might alert Karpov and whoever else was with him to their position. "Shit. Leave it to those two."
Just then a cell phone inside Briscoe’s pocket bleated out. "Yeah! Speak to me." Briscoe nearly lost the phone as he made a sharp turn. He was just glad they had slapped the light on and weren’t trying to use the siren too. "Hey man! You done? You’re going to miss the party!" Briscoe listened some more then said, "I’m giving the phone to Ryan. She’ll give you the address." He made another turn, and this time the phone flew out from between his ear and shoulder.
Cassie deftly caughttook it and quickly gave Green the location. She tried AJ on his cell, but just got his voice mail. «God, if he’s on the way to the airport by now he will never get there in time. He’s going to be furious if he misses this.»
AJ was already stalking back and forth behind a car, glaring up at the brownstone when they pulled up. There were two Army Rangers looking bewildered but alert, scanning the street. Another police car came careering down the street from the opposition direction. None of the cars had used their siren as yet. Cassie sighed. «This has all the earmarks of getting completely out of hand.» But AJ, who never ceased to amaze her, quickly took control of a situation where he had absolutely no authority.
"You two!" AJ bellowed at the two cops in the first car. "Go back and block off that street. She ran up to him. "’Bout time you got here, Ryan." He smiled down at her. "Mac, keep him in the car, or so help me, I’ll send you both back!" He glared into the limo whose door was just starting to open.
Clayton Webb shook off Mac’s hand and stepped into the street. "Later, AJ." He looked up at the face of the building, biting his lower lip. Mac came out next, looking concerned but also somewhat pleased. "What have we got?" Gunnery Sergeant Galindez was the last person to get out of the car. He looked out of place and unsure of himself, so he hung back for a moment.
Cassie just stood back and let AJ handle the preliminaries while she started fielding one phone call after another.
"No, SAC Kelly, we don’t have time to wait. Just get here with all the men you have."
"Yes, Mr. Anspach, I’ll keep you informed. Come if you like, sir. Just stay out of my way."
"How the hell did you find out so fast, sir? Sorry. No, Director Jacobs, there’s nothing I can fill you in on as yet."
"Mr. Mayor! Yes, sir. I’m keeping your men in the loop. Absolutely, Mr. Mayor. No sir, not another Philadelphia." She finally turned off the phone when other cars, squad and unmarked, police and FBI, started arriving with sirens blasting.
More and more cars were pulling up, and AJ made sure that all the streets were blocked and the men deployed to their best advantage. "Some of you men go down that alley! See if there’s a back entrance into the building."
Cassie wasn’t surprised to see the Crown Vic pull up and Kelly alight from it. It surprised her a little to see Anspach there. How the two of them met so fast was a mystery, but not one she cared about at the moment. Two more agents, both wearing FBI windbreakers, even in the sweltering August heat, hurried out of the back seat. When AJ yelled, "You two go and make sure that the building to the right is evacuated." They just stood in shock for a second before sprinting away.
Kelly raised his eyebrow but stalked over to Cassie. "Fill me in and then take control of this mess."
Cassie knew the moment she so much as raised her eyebrow, AJ would stand down, but right now he was doing just fine. In fact, it allowed her to bring Kelly and Anspach completely up to date. "Perkins called me. Rabb called Chegwidden," she started, but a burst of automatic fire inside the building had them crouching instinctively behind the cars. AJ told the next set of cops and FBI agents to secure the buildings across the street. "Evidently, Andreovich has been hiding Karpov all along. Perkins said the superintendent might be part of it."
"Any damn tunnels under this building?" Anspach demanded.
"I’ll get on that!" Khoury called, a squad car’s radio mike already in his hand. "Dispatch, patch me through to City Planning." He walked off to get out of the way.
"Who’s got a bullhorn?" Cassie demanded.
: :
"Well, Mr. Rabb, or should I say Commander Rabb, we meet again." Sergei Karpov sat in the living room of the fourth floor apartment. Several men with automatic pistols stood against the wall peering down at the growing activity.
Rabb just glared at Rice. "What have you got on him, Karpov? Or did he do it for the money. God damn traitor."
Karpov spared a glance at Rice who paled slightly. "Now, now, Mr. Rice was still unsure where his loyalties lie. Do you still have any questions along those lines, Mr. Rice?" The young agent blushed and didn’t say anything. "I asked you a question, Mr. Rice!"
"No, sir, Mr. Karpov. I have no questions as to where my loyalties lie," Rice bit off. Several of the men at the windows exchanged knowing smiles; one snorted.
"Shut up, Petrov," Karpov demanded. The man immediately returned his attention to the scene out the window.
"Mr. Mitchell?"
Karpov’s voice rose only slightly, but from the kitchen they heard, "Yes, sir, Mr. Karpov, sir. How can this poor boy bees of assistance to ya’ll?" For the first time since landing in New York, Harmon Rabb finally set eyes on one of the people for whom he had been searching. He was profoundly surprised. Pudgy and soft was the only way to describe Joey Mitchell. How had this man been able to stand up to Ada Marshall the way everyone, including Clay, had said he had?"
"I don’t relish yelling out the window. Go downstairs and have them send up an negotiator. Someone who can make decisions. You might try to get them to send up Webb, but they won’t."
"Why do you want Webb up here? He probably isn’t even down there."
"You really believe that, Commander Rabb? Then you don’t know Clayton Webb at all. Why do I want him up here? Why, to make him suffer for what he did to me, of course."
: :
Cassie almost objected to the two Rangers and Gunny requisitioning rifles from the SWAT team that had pulled up moments before. But AJ suggested that, from what he knew of Gunny’s activities over the past nine months, as well as the marksmen scores that the Rangers, by very nature of their status, possessed, they would be helpful from the apartment across the street from Karpov’s building. Khoury hadn’t discovered any underground tunnels nearby, so they knew there was no way down. They had men stationed in both buildings on either side of it, so they weren’t getting out through any escape passage that way. AJ pulled her aside and dropped his voice. "Cass, this isn’t like Baltimore. I don’t see that many guns in the windows above, though I could be wrong. The key to this whole thing might very well be a well-placed shot to the head of someone." She nodded and began placing the rest of the men.
"It’s a fucking circus," she sighed at Mac, who was standing near the limo that had brought her, AJ, and Clay from the hospital. Mac was heartened that Gunny was available. His marksman scores were almost as good as her own. Of course, she hadn’t fired under pressure – ever. Today she would be content to be an observer.
"At least it gives Anspach something to do," Mac said just loud enough for Cassie to hear. Of course with the activity and the shouted questions from the flock of reporters not half a block away, there was little hope of hearing anything lower than a normal shout.
Cassie nodded. SAC Kelly hadn’t been happy with his diminished role in all this, so he had gone with the DCI. Both were fielding questions from the reporters who were gathering like sharks to a sinking lifeboat. Both women spared a moment to study the man whose disappearance had started this whole mess. Webb was standing next to AJ staring up at the building before them. "Why did Greenwald let him come?"
"Because he didn’t want to have to put Clay in a straightjacket, which is what he would have had to do to keep him at the hospital." Mac’s creased brow revealed her worry. Greenwald had thrown up his hands and practically screeched, ‘Fine, go! You’ll never get better this way.’ Only Mac thought that Clay was doing just fine.
Evidently the Admiral thought so, too, because he had supported Webb’s decision. "It’s his right, and we’ll probably need him."
Cassie glanced over her shoulder and groaned. "Oh boy, here comes Kelly and Anspach. I guess the news conference is over.
"How long can you take to say, ‘No comment?’" Mac snorted. "Gentlemen," sShe greeted the two men.
"Have either of you hard from Rabb or Perkins?" SAC Kelly asked.
"Hey! Look!" Someone called out. Everyone turned and looked toward the top of the stairs of the brownstone.
"Don’t shoot me, man. I gots to talk to the head guy."
AJ pulled Webb out of the way. Mac came to stand next to him. Anspach stepped just in front of him. "Bad form, AJ, having the boss cover me."
"Shut up, Webb," both men responded in unison. Mac just sighed and gripped his hand in hers.
"You’re Joey Mitchell," Cassie began.
"Yeah. Thas right, bitch. Now shut up." He grinned at Kelly who just glared at him. "Me and the MAN here has gots ta talk."
"Mitchell. Haven’t you ever heard of equal rights?" Kelly said.
"Huh?" Joey just looked confused.
Cassie continued as if neither man had spoken. "Here’s the deal, Mitchell. You’ve got two of our people under siege up there, and that’s not good for anybody."
"Huh? Whas that mean, under siege? If ya mean that Rice gots a gun stuck under the bitch’s chin and Karpov gots two guys with Uzi’s trained on pretty boy, then, yeah. We gots em under siege."
Cassie recovered from her surprise and anger. "We want them."
"Yeah, yeah. Karpov wants to talk to the head MAN." He grinned at Kelly. "That be you, right?"
Cassie knew Kelly’s background, and she had no doubt that one of the reasons Mary Perkins’ boss kept such a tight rein on her was because he recognized many of the stunts she pulled as ones he himself had pulled at some time during his long, notoriously flamboyant career. So, before he could agree, and she could tell by his stance he was getting ready to, she spoke up. "Grow up, Joey. Run your ass back upstairs and tell Karpov that Special Agent Ryan – that’s me, dumbass – is in charge and if he wants to talk, we’ll set up a phone link."
"Shitfuck. He ain’t goin’ for that shit. He ain’t talkin’ to know cun…" A low, menacing growl from AJ shut him up. He rubbed the palms of his hands over his tee shirt. "Man you be nuts, thas for damn sure. This here’s the Russian Mob you’re disrepectin’. Man says he wants to talk to the head man and you give him shit." Joey’s voice dropped low. "Man you don’t get it. These dudes makes the Colombians look like them bell ringers at Christmas time."
"What does Karpov want for the return of Rabb and Perkins?" Kelly demanded all the while knowing that there was no way the bureau made deals with hostage takers; not for one of their own.
"Well, Karpov says if ya wants to cut to the chase then just send up his boy there." Mitchell nodded toward Webb who had firmly moved Anspach out of the way.
"Mitchell, you want to die today?" Cassie asked.
"Hell, no. Ain’t gonna happen."
"You think any of you fools are walking out of that building alive if you so much as break one of their nails?"
"Look, bitch! You don’t know who you’re dealin’ with here. He wants Webb. He’s gonna get Webb. If he don’t then someone else will. That’s how it works, man. Here’s the rest of the deal. Mr. Karpov gots him a limo waitin’ a few blocks away. He’s gonna call and give the signal then him, me and Rice is gonna come down – with Webb here. We’ll take him for a nice ride and then nobody else gets hurt. We’ll leave them two upstairs. The boys won’t hurt her."
Joey Mitchell saw Webb pull the big bald guy who had been ordering everyone around earlier, toward him. He thought he saw panic on Webb’s face but the two didn’t talk long. «Must be tellin’ him to take care of his old lady there. Man I can’t believe he didn’t remember her while he was at the club. I would never have forgotten that sweet piece.»
Cassie just shook her head. "It isn’t going to happen that way. Once you three hightail it out of here, then we still have to deal with the rocket scientists that are holding guns on them now. You go…"
"Joey?"
"Hey, Clark." Joey Mitchell grinned as Webb stepped forward.
"Knock it off, Joey." Webb was barely keeping his breathing under control. He just hoped AJ heard everything he said. He prayed that Mac would play along. Taking a shuddering sigh, that was mostly, but not all, for show, he stepped closer. "Go up and tell Karpov, this is the way we are going to play it. He wants me? Then he can have me. Tell him to call in his limo. It pulls up here, I get inside. He walks down with Rabb and Perkins. He, Rice and you get in, leaving Rabb and Perkins on the sidewalk. I-I-I don’t know how he’s going to get away, but I’m sure he’s worked that out. Just please," Webb let a whiney pleading enter his voice. "Don’t hurt my friends."
"Well okay then. I can respect a man who would do that."
Cassie exploded, "No way. I’m in charge here, Webb, and there is no way."
"No, Agent Ryan, actually, I am." Peter Anspach said pompously. "I think that it shows the CIA has a compassionate streak." His voice rose loud enough to be heard by several of the reporters as well as the men listening in the apartment above. He had just barely heard what Webb frantically outlined to AJ.
Cassie turned and stared at the man as if he had lost his mind. When she did, Webb said softly, "Go on Joey. Tell Karpov what we’ve agreed to."
Joey turned and ran back into the building. Webb turned to face the shocked Ryan. "Hold that thought for a second, Cassie. Nice touch, boss. Mac?"
Mac took a deep breath, never taking her eyes off him. "FINE! After all we did to find you and now you’re just giving up! Go on! Get yourself killed, but don’t expect me to wait around to watch!" With that she spun on her heel and ran down the street. AJ, after one long look at Webb turned and followed her.
Cassie, thoroughly bewildered watched then demanded quietly, "What the hell are you three planning?"
"I’ll explain it later Ryan. Webb, you sure about this?" Anspach carefully studied the man before him.
"It’s the only chance Rabb and Perkins have. We don’t have a lot of time;, listen carefully. Ten weeks ago, Agent Mary Perkins sent me a report on increased Russian Mob activity she had been hearing from her friends in the Russian community. I did some checking and called her back. Evidently, Palmer or Karpov’s plan was already in place, because the call was intercepted. I thought I had left her a voice mail, but she never got it. The disgruntled faction in Russia is growing. The same people who backed Atif and his dirty bomb are trying to formulate another incident. Rozalina Lukanov’s assassination would have started an international incident. I’m sure Palmer would have figured out a way to blame the CIA for it."
"But why the hell does he want you?"
"Oh, that’s easy enough. I crossed him. Everyone here crossed him. If this spur of the moment plan doesn’t work, then Rabb and Perkins are dead anyway. AJ should be contacting the snipers now. When Karpov comes down there’s not going to be a whole lot of time. He will take his chances, probably sacrificing Rice and Mitchell, to get to the car and me. He’s probably told both men that they are to kill Rabb and Perkins as they are getting into the car. I doubt that he will let them near the door."
"So what are you going to do? Take him on barehanded? You know there will be bodyguards inside the limo."
"Sure in the driver seat and in the passenger seat next to the driver. But not in back – at least I hope not."
"Clay," Cassie was almost embarrassed to bring it up but she had to. "I know he’s an old man, but from what I read he fights hard and dirty even now. Are you up to hand to hand with anyone?"
"Nope." Webb grinned and put his hands in his pockets. "Hope to hell Mac doesn’t let me down." They stood and waited, staring up at the windows which never revealed more than a tantalizing glimpse of one of the bodyguards. "Hey, answer me one question, boss."
"Sure, Webb."
"Who the hell is this Rice kid?"
"Well, well. Something I can answer at last." Anspach looked around the growing mob of spectators. He hoped to hell this cockamamie plan worked because if, after all he had been through, Webb could come up with a plan like that on less than no notice, then by God, Anspach wanted him back and damn soon. He needed all the good men he could get right now. "Rice was assigned to the Moscow office but working out of Bashkortostan. As you well know, that’s where Karpov made his name. He still has a pretty good operation set up there." Anspach stopped and blushed. "I’m sure you know all that."
"Yeah, about Karpov and Bashkortostan, but not about Rice’s connection. I’ve been out of touch. You know that Karpov was in love with Rozalina, but she only had eyes for Boris Lukanov."
"You know guys, I pride myself on being up to date on this stuff, but why do we care about a tiny little republic of the former Soviet Union?" Cassie said, never taking her eyes off the apartment windows.
"Because, Agent Ryan, Bashkortostan is reported to still have two, if not three, nuclear warheads somewhere. That makes Lukanov a player. He’s also a dedicated man, but suspicious. If Rozalina had been killed on his visit, it would have been bad." Anspach said. As he saw Joey Mitchell come back downstairs he muttered, "This better work, Webb."
"Yeah, it better." Webb sighed.
The stretch limo pulled up in front of the building. Rice, his gun shoved so deeply into her neck it nearly choked Perkins, and Karpov, doing the same to Rabb, came out into the bright afternoon. The sun angled so that the light reflected into eyes of the snipers and the people carefully watching the scene unfold.
Joey ran to the limo and looked inside . "Nobody there, boss."
"What did you people do?" Karpov snarled. "My driver said you stopped him." Karpov saw the look of confusion on Ryan’s face.
"What’s he talking about?" she yelled. A uniform came running up and whispered something to her. Karpov was too focused on the situation to notice that Ed GreenAJ had quickly spoken to the young man before pushing him gently toward Cassie. "They stopped him four blocks away, Karpov. They didn’t know what was going on. They thought the limo was Tony Two-Fingers’ car. You know the cops are looking for him."
"That’s bullshit."
"No, this is bullshit, Sergei. You want me or not. Let’s get this show on the road before I back out," Webb let a note of bravado quaver in his voice but still kept his manner meek.
"Yeah, tough guy. Let’s finish this. Get in the car."
Webb looked around the crowd for Mac, but she was nowhere to be seen. «Just as well.» He hesitantly walked over to the car. Joey was holding the door. He made eye contact with Rabb, who looked like he wanted to say something. Their eyes met, and in the only signal Webb could give Rabb, Webb let his eye flicker toward the windows across the street. Turning he scanned the crowed again, sighed heavily and ducked into the car.
"Get in Joey. Make sure he doesn’t try anything," Karpov growled.
Joey just cleared the door frame when Karpov heard a "What the…" just before Joey came flying back out of the door. Rabb felt the old man stiffen in surprise and took the only opportunity he was going to get. They had tied his hands tightly in front of him, preventing him from jabbing back at Karpov. So, in the time-honored method of damsels in distress everywhere, he went limp. The weight of his body drove the gun deeper, but Karpov was thrown off balance and the gun was pushed away. Before Karpov could even curse, a shot ran out, and Karpov’s head seemed to explode, splattering everything and everyone with brains and blood. That served as a signal for everyone in Karpov’s apartment to start firing.
At the same time, Webb came charging back out of the car, a gun held tightly in his hand. Joey seemed to cower on the ground and screamed, "Don’t kill me, man. Please don’t kill me.
Webb turned his attention to Rice. "I’ll kill her!" Rice’s scream was so loud Webb could hear him over the gunfire. He had his arm tight around Mary’s neck, nearly arching her off the ground as he tried to shield himself from the snipers and Webb at the same time. Rabb was trying to crawl closer, but Webb didn’t have a shot that wouldn’t get the FBI agent killed.
"Okay, Rice," he yelled. "You don’t want to die here."
"I want out. I don’t want you. I’ll take her. Let him drive me until I at least have a chance."
The final piece fell into place. "You were in the car that night. It was you who stuck that needle in me when they pushed me into the back of the car." He had been yelling but suddenly the shooting stopped and it was like they were the only people let on the street. "Why?"
"Why? You know why." Webb could see the hysteria and fury overtaking the young agent. "He loved me! He told me everything would be good!"
"Palmer never gave a shit about anybody, Rice. Not even himself." Webb needed Rice to loosen his grip just a little. Rabb was within inches of Rice’s legs. He had just started to coil his body for one desperate lunge when Webb saw Rice’s decision etched clearly on his face.
Twisting Mary so that he could fully face Webb, Rice lowered the gun at her throat and aimed right at Webb. "No! They can kill us all! You killed him and you’re going to die too!"
One shot rang out, catching Rice in the neck, causing him to stiffen, pulling Mary even farther back against him. The finger on the trigger tightened involuntarily and Webb knew he was going to die when, suddenly, he was sent sprawling forward just as the gun exploded; he lost his own gun as he went flying. He and the weight at his knees fell into Rabb, who cushioned his fall.
The weight moved off him and he rolled over. Ed Green was helping Mac to her feet. "Where the hell did you go?"
"Well, someone had to tell the cops what to do," she snorted. "Met Green who was just pulling up. He was the one who convinced the cops do what needed to be done."
"Where’s the gun?" Webb looked around.
"Oh man, don’t tell me you lost the gun," Green said. "Do you know the amount of paperwork involved in that?" His grimace turned into a grin. "But it worked, didn’t it?"
"Yeah, the gun was right where I told AJ to put it. I can’t believe that the driver didn’t go back and search. He didn’t give them any trouble?"
"Look." Ed turned and pointed at two cops standing by their car. One white, one black; they looked like no one had messed with either of them since they were ten.
Webb nodded and turned back to Rabb, who had finally managed to enclose Mary within his embrace. "Someone want to cut the duct tape off the commander?" He squatted down and touched Rabb on the shoulder. Finally, Rabb met his gaze. "You okay?" Webb asked.
Rabb laid his cheek on Mary’s hair. "Now. That was quick thinking," he whispered.
"Hey, you think all the brains are in the Navy?"
"Yeah. Thanks," he said to the FBI agent who cut through his bonds. Taking the knife he cut the tape holding Mary’s hands tight together. "Come on, sweetheart. There has got to be a shower with our name on it somewhere."
Cassie stepped up and took Mary by the shoulders. "Are you okay?"
Mary grimaced. "I hurt. My shoulder hurts. I’m mad as hell, and I don’t know what to do about it." To show her frustration, she started to kick out at the body of Rice where it lay still sprawled on the ground.
Green stepped between her and the body and she softened her blow. "You probably don’t want that seen on the 10:00 o’clock news." He scanned the scene and saw his partner talking with a couple of agents. "Excuse me."
Cassie called out to one of the agent. "Drive Agent Ryan and Commander Rabb to wherever they tell you. I’ll call you later for the debriefing."
"Thanks, ma’am." Perkins tried to wipe away some of Rice’s blood from her face, but only succeeded in smearing it into something worse.
Rabb could see she was on her last nerve. He wrapped his arm around her and led her to the car.
Webb saw the SWAT team coming out of the building across the street. Victor Galindez walked with them, sharing a joke with one of the officers. "Okay. So whom do I thank?" he asked Cassie.
"Excuse me?"
"That was damn good shooting. I want to thank the man or men who took those shots."
"I’ll find out. It’s usually sealed though. For the officer’s privacy and protection."
"Well, Ryan, I’m not going to be granting any newspaper interviews anyway."
"Clay? Can we go back now?" Mac whispered as they watched Cassie walk up to the SWAT team to talk to their lieutenant.
Clay saw his boss walking up to him. "Not for awhile, babe."
Chapter 21
August 15
0700 Hours
Holiday InnVictor Galindez looked into the eyes of Francesca Paretti and suddenly all the activity around them faded to silence. The clinking of silverware again china, the rustling of newspapers, and the murmur of voices ceased for a moment. Her smile captivated him and he knew that this was the one. After the disastrous affair with Sherilee Cloud and then his ill-fated interlude with Fareeza in Afghanistan, Victor had thought he was immune to feeling tender toward any woman again, but her soft cocoa eyes seemed to melt his heart. Her smile made him groan. The memory of the earlier lovemaking made him harden.
"Victor?" she whispered softly.
A very un-Marine-like grin suffused his face. Just the sound of his name on her lips almost made him forget that name. "Yeah?"
"You are sure that you want to go with me to Paris today?" Francesca wore a serious, almost worried look.
"Yes."
"And nothing, not even the chance to help my Papa, will keep you from going?"
Victor reached out and took her hand. "Nothing except an order from my CO will keep me from getting on that plane this afternoon."
Her smile finally matched his. "That is good." Her smile grew even more as she lifted her gaze from his. "Good morning, Papa. Miss Ryan."
Galindez gulped, but bravely stood to face AJ Chegwidden. A glower that Galindez normally used to associate with him being pissed off at Tiner for something now rested on his former CO’s face. "Sir. Ma’am." He came to full attention. The Admiral wore his khaki uniform. Agent Ryan wore a simple but elegant blue suit that did wonders for her curves.
"At ease, Gunny," AJ said. «Well, well. Dear God they’ve…» He gulped hurriedly brushing the very thought from his mind. «She’s a woman full-grown, Chegwidden. And Galindez is a better man than the last couple of men she’s dated. Marcella will have a fit though.»
Francesca watched her father anxiously. She wasn’t worried for herself. She was a little afraid that he might try to keep Victor and her apart. "Sit down and join us, as you can see it is a very big table. We have just ordered our coffee."
AJ heaved a sigh when Cassie made the decision for them. "Why thank you, are you quite sure?"
"Of course. We do not have to go to the airport until 1:00 today. Our plane leaves for Paris at 4:00."
"Indeed." AJ nailed Galindez with a stony stare.
«Oh, yeah. Here it comes.» Victor Galindez who had faced down terrorist bands large and small, who had only lost his cool once the entire time he had been in Afghanistan, tried hard to keep his body from shaking.
"Si! Is it not wonderful? Cassie, have you ever been to Paris?"
"A couple of times, but always for conferences or business." Cassie reached across to take AJ’s hand under the table and squeezed it in silent communication.
AJ let out a breath and quickly placed his order with the waiter. AJ looked at his daughter and saw that she looked calm and very happy. He spared a few moments trying to figure out how many times Galindez had even met her. "How much leave do you have, Gunny?"
"Two more weeks, sir."
Sadness passed over Francesca’s face. AJ prayed that they both knew what they were doing. "Are you planning on visiting your mother?"
Francesca sipped her coffee and met his gaze. But before she could answer she noticed two men bearing down on them. Her lips pursed in annoyance. «Why do they not leave Papa alone for even a moment?»
AJ turned to see what had caught her attention. Two men, both dressed in well-cut suits and of a serious bearing, stopped just short of their table. At Cassie’s gasp of surprise he quickly stood up, as did Galindez. The older of the two, extended his hand. "Admiral Chegwidden? John Adair."
AJ took the proffered hand, glanced at Cassie and quickly scanned the room. "Sir John?"
Cassie stood and Adair released AJ’s grip and took his stepdaughter into a light hug. "Cassandra, you are looking remarkably well."
"Why remarkably, Sir John?" Cassie sighed, already knowing the answer.
"Well, considering the abuse that Admiral Chegwidden has inflicted upon you, I expected to see you bruised and battered." The two shared a wry smile before Adair motioned his friend to step forward. "Cassandra, you remember Sir Edward."
Cassie’s lips twitched. "You seemed to have recovered from your broken heart."
Ashford blushed a deep red. "Uhm, yes, well…uhm."
"Both of you, please sit down, at least they won’t try and put strangers at the table." Cassie insisted. The dining room was becoming quite crowded. "Sir John, Edward, this is Francesca Paretti and Gunnery Sergeant Victor Galindez." Both men nodded in acknowledgement, accepted coffee from the waiter but declined menus.
Sir John turned his full attention to Francesca. "My dear young woman. Please allow me to extend my personal apology for the over-zealous nature of the investigation of your background. The original inquiry was ill-advised, at best. The manner in which it was carried out was inexcusable."
"Why was it carried out?" AJ demanded.
Adair took a great deal of time sipping his coffee before answering. "Let us say that certain people, in their effort to pay back a debt long retired, failed to learn from experience." His look seemed to make Sir Edward shrink into himself a bit.
"Yes. Quite right. Miss Paretti, Sir John offers his personal apology, as do I. I take full responsibility and as such I also am empowered to offer the official apology from her majesty’s government."
Francesca bristled. "You will forgive me, Sir Edward, but who are you to be apologizing? And why did you do it?"
Ashford gave Adair and Cassie and aggrieved look. "I am the security attaché for our embassy in France - officially. I was responsible for sending out the agents to do the background checks. We were led to believe that Cassandra had agreed to marry Admiral Chegwidden and that…" he voice trailed off.
" Cassandra!" It wasn’t quite a bellow, but the rest of the dining room went deadly still. His voice dipped to a deceptive purr. "What else haven’t you told me, Cassie?"
Cassie would swear that her stepfather was enjoying himself immensely. "None of that, Edward." Lord Adair snorted. "The truth is that Lady Adair presumed upon your feelings to try and find some information that would make my stepdaughter bid adieu to not only Admiral Chegwidden, but also, to her job and America and return home where she would finally find a suitable marriage and take over her duties as the heiress of Adair. Really Edward, I’m surprised at you. You know better. Even if Cassie would marry titled gentry, the title will pass to my brother’s son."
AJ sat stunned for a moment then quietly asked, "Lord Adair, is your wife insane?"
"Now see here," Ashford started, but Sir John touched his arm.
"Insane? No, Admiral. Obsessed? Perhaps. Single-minded in her pursuit of what she sees as respectability? More so, as she grows older. I adopted Cassie three months after my marriage to her mother. Mostly to soothe Susan’s anxiety that she would never fit into British society. We both expected to have a child of our own, hopefully a boy, who would carry on the family name. The holdings will be maintained for my wife until her death, and Cassandra will be a very rich woman. But she will not be Lady Adair. Susan could never understand – or never wanted to understand the differences between English and American law.
Cassie sighed deeply. "Wasn’t it enough that you provided for us both? You know how I feel about you. How much I appreciate what you did for me when I was a teenager. More importantly, you made mother very happy."
Sir John gave her a skeptical look but nodded. "Thank you for that, Cassandra. Tell, me Admiral Chegwidden, how are you returning to Washington today?"
"How did you know I was returning today, Sir John?"
"Nothing sinister, my dear sir. A very helpful young woman, a Lieutenant Harriet Simms, I believe, advised me that you were returning today, and that you could be reached tomorrow morning."
AJ considered his answer then said, "I have a seat on the Acela Express from Penn Station at 10:30."
"Edward and I are being driven down to Washington this morning. I wonder if I could persuade you to join us." When Chegwidden quickly looked around the dining room again he laughed softly. "Have no fear Admiral. I’m afraid I was quite stern with Lady Adair. She is entertaining a house full of guests at Adair house this weekend. Mostly my rather far-flung family."
"Oh dear." Cassie giggled.
"Yes. A rather dreadful punishment, I agree. But perhaps it will curb her enthusiasm. "Well, Admiral?"
The grin on AJ’s face was rather frightening to the people at the table who knew him. "I would be delighted, Sir John."
The two men stood. "Very good, we shall pick you up within the hour?"
"I’ll be outside." AJ stood as did Galindez, who pulled Francesca up with him. Once it was just the four of them again, Victor said, "Uhm…we were going to go return your rental car and find me a suitcase for all my new duds."
Francesca sighed. She really did want to stay and discuss the conversation further, perhaps even tease her father and Cassie a bit, but she knew Victor was right. "Papa." She hugged her father tightly. "I’m so happy we saw each, even a little." She shrugged and gave a rueful smile. "Even under such awful conditions." Her smile was brighter when she met Galindez’s eyes, letting him know that he was definitely not part of the awful conditions.
AJ hugged her back, his steely eyes locked on the somewhat embarrassed Marine. He released her and reached out his hand. "Gunny, I can’t thank you enough for driving her up here and watching out for her. As for yesterday, well, you did a good job. A really good job."
Gunny stood straighter. "Thank you, sir. You didn’t do so badly yourself."
"I hit what I aimed for."
"Would you two knock it off," Cassie hissed, looking around to see if anyone overheard them.
"Why darlin’ is that any way to speak to your future husband?"
"Oh, please." She rolled her eyes at him but took his hand as they walked the couple to the elevators. "I better get going, the meeting is in an hour and traffic is already a bitch."
Francesca hugged her father again then let Victor lead her into the elevator. After the doors closed Cassie pulled AJ outside. She waved off the bell cap who started to summon a cab for her. Instead she pulled AJ to a quiet corner of the sidewalk and demanded. "Did I miss something, Admiral Chegwidden?"
AJ calmly returned her gaze. He knew it was mostly for show. "Well your mother has gone to all the bother to ascertain that I am worthy to be your husband."
"Oh, stop it, AJ. You heard Sir John. Besides, what would possess you to want to marry into my fruitcake family?"
"Well, I always wanted a rich wife." His sparkling eyes asked the question.
"Yeah right, money has always been such a consideration on your part." She wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his chest. "We’ve never even talked about it, AJ. Our lives are so…"
He kissed her hair and ran his hands over her back. In eighteen months he hadn’t even looked at another woman. Only their fights over her mother and the fact that their schedules kept them apart more than they were together had kept him from asking her. "Don’t you want to get married, Cassie?"
"Per se? Not necessarily. But to you? Absolutely. You must know, unless we elope somewhere, she will insist upon planning the whole thing."
"Oh, I don’t know. That might be as good a place to start."
"Start what?" Cassie asked warily.
"Why the training of Lady Adair, my dear." AJ’s voice held far too much glee in Cassie’s opinion, but she just sighed and nodded.
"Now, come on. You have a meeting to head, and I have less than thirty minutes to meet my future father-in-law." He led her back to the curb and held the door for her. "You’ll call me when you know your flight?
She should have been thinking about her meeting but instead she just sat there and worried about what AJ would say to Lord Adair. «Oh, well. They’re both big boys. Perhaps they can figure out how to control her. I never have.»
The conference room on the 15th floor of the Federal Building was packed. When she had made her way through scores of reporters braving the early morning heat wave, she knew it wasn’t going to be a low-level meeting. She hadn’t expected the brass that was there. Her boss, Mark Jacobs, and Anspach sat together. The District Attorney, Arthur Branch, sat with McCoy and Southerlyn. Rabb, Mac, and Webb sat together. Finally, Ron Moriki and Stan Greenwald sat huddled together going over some reports. Mary Perkins, who kept glancing down the table at Rabb, sat next to SAC Kelly.
She opened the meeting, greeted everyone and began. "I want to thank each and every one of you for your cooperation in the investigation of this case."
Jack McCoy snorted. "What cooperation, Agent Ryan? Cooperation implies that all the parties know what the hell is going on. If you would have just come to us, we could have worked together FROM THE BEGINNING and perhaps would have saved three police lives and a few others along the way."
Anspach tried to soothe the waters somewhat. "At the time we were operating at a disadvantage. I want to compliment everyone involved. Particularly Agent Ryan. Also, I think that it will be a real feather in the cap of the SWAT team to take the credit for the rescue of Rabb and Perkins. No need to name names."
"Damn straight!" Arthur Branch said. "I don’t think anyone wants to explain why the Navy’s JAG and a vacationing Marine Gunnery Sergeant were the ones to take those shots. What the hell were they doing there?"
"Mr. Branch," Cassie gritted out, "Gunnery Sergeant Galindez was a vital, if unorthodox member of the team. Admiral Chegwidden had gone up to advise the marksmen what was going down. Since neither man is here «Thank God» I have no idea why they had the angle to take out Karpov and Rice."
"They shouldn’t have been there. There better not be any fallout is all I can say."
SAC Kelly, after consulting with Jacobs, spoke next. "In the vein of open communication, we are willing to share what little information we have on the last mystery person in the case. As you now know, a man by the name of William Tyler has been in the background of the entire case. Mr. Webb remembers it was Tyler who led him to the Lucky Chance. And Admiral Chegwidden reported that he and Commander Rabb met with Mr. Tyler there. They received some interesting but ultimately useless information." He placed a file folder on the table. "It turns out Mr. Tyler is – was – one of ours. Formerly of the FBI he now makes his living as a free-lance security consultant."
"How long have you known about him?" McCoy demanded.
Kelly grimaced but gave Mary Perkins the floor. "We’ve had our suspicious about Tyler for a couple of months. His name was in the file I e-mailed to Mr. Webb, before he was kidnapped. It was very prominent." She smiled ruefully at Rabb. "I hadn’t realized his part in all this. I wasn’t told by Commander Rabb or Admiral Chegwidden that they had met with a man named Tyler."
Rabb said, "We had no idea it was important. I told Mac, because she asked me to fill her in on everything, but we’re used to doing that with each other. I’m really sorry, Mary."
Kelly waved it all away. "It’s not important. It’s a common name. Agent Ryan and Lieutenant Khoury heard his name from a policeman at the 15th. Officer Jenkins came forward. He’s sticking by his story that Carter and Agent Rice were using him. Once we figured it was ‘our’ Tyler, we pulled up all the reports. Of course, at the time we couldn’t check with Agent Perkins since she was in the process of trying to get her head blown off." Rabb started to protest, but Mary just shook her head at him.
Kelly looked down the table at Clayton Webb. "While Palmer was still with the DSD, he and Tyler worked together on several projects. Then, of course, the DSD was dissolved and Palmer went rouge. Fortunately, Mr. Tyler was a bit more public in his money dealings and we have already tracked some hits on his credit cards. He’s still in the country – Florida actually."
Kelly’s secretary brought in lunch but they ate at the table continuing the discussion between bites of corned beef or chicken salad. Rabb and MacKenzie had little to offer but answer an occasional question. Rabb was looking particularly antsy.
During a brief break, Cassie pulled him aside, "Harm, a minute. There’s no reason for you to sit through this. Why don’t you go and make your goodbyes to Agent Perkins." She dropped her voice and said, "Say a word to her, and I’ll track you down, but I want Perkins with me in DC."
"That’s great, Cassie." Rabb bent down and kissed the very startled agent on the cheek. Mary came up but before she could say anything he grabbed her hand. "I’m out of here. Walk me to the elevator."
Jacobs and Branch left the meeting soon after. McCoy stood up as if to follow. "Since Clark Palmer is dead, and I’m sure you people will find some way to kill all trace of Mr. Webb in the system, I’m not going to bother to drop the charges." McCoy said.
"No reason why you should." Webb agreed.
"Well then I see…"
Serena touch his arm. "Excuse me. I’m afraid I have a question."
"Yes, Miss Southerlyn?" Cassie said.
"Who killed Bobby Carter? And for that matter, do we really know who killed Ada Marshall and Kusman?"
Moriki spoke for the first time. "We still don’t know about Carter and Marshall. We may never know about Marshall. There’s little signature to a sawed off shotgun. Kusman was killed with the gun we found next to Palmer in the access tunnel. But Palmer didn’t kill Marshall."
Serena picked up the files she had brought with her and hadn’t needed. Then she put them back down and walked the length of the table to stand before Webb. "Thank you. You saved my life. I hope everything works out for you."
"Thank you. I’m glad I could fight it," Webb whispered and took her hand. She and McCoy left the room.
Now it was just the six of them. Stan Greenwald stood and leaned against the window frame. The afternoon sun haloed around him. "Webb, Moriki and I have studied the most recent tox reports. There’s no doubt that there are some interesting chemicals still floating around in your body, but most of them will dissipate in another month. You’ve had the training on how to deal minor, drug-induced hallucinations; that should include any brought on by flashbacks. We also tested the two nickel bags from the evidence room last night, and found they contained less narcotic than most people get in a short hospital stay. Evidently, they just wanted to control you and keep you calm until Palmer recovered. Or, perhaps Karpov was playing with you, trying to see how long the conditioning would last. Frankly, I’m not sure we’ll ever know."
"Like you said, its all speculation. So tell me, Stan, what horrors do you have planned for me?" Webb saw the look of intense sadness flicker across Greenwald’s face before it shut down and just looked grim. "I’m sorry, Stan. I know you think…"
Moriki spoke up. "Actually Mr. Webb, I talked to Colonel MacKenzie, Admiral Chegwidden, and Detectives Briscoe and Green.
"About what?"
"About the way you have handled yourself outside of the hospital."
"And?"
"And everyone is in agreement that, whatever you are feeling, you have shown tight control and have conducted yourself in a professional manner."
"Yeah, that was real professional the way I acted on the precinct steps."
"Actually, after reviewing the tapes that Palmer used on you, I would say you showed remarkable strength of character. After all, you did save ADA Southerlyn’s life."
Webb grimaced but relaxed when Mac reached out and took his hand.
Moriki continued, "Mr. Webb, I think that with about a week of intensive therapy to give you more tools to combat the memory flashes and perhaps with a mild sleeping pill to help you sleep until the nightmares have subsided, there isn’t much more that we can do for you."
Greenwald didn’t look completely happy, but it was Mac who asked the question of Anspach. "How will this affect his career?"
Anspach met Webb’s steady gaze. "Well, Webb? Frankly, I think you’re out of shape. Your reaction time is remarkable considering, but I’m afraid you’re going to have to put in a refresher course at The Farm before you can return to your duties as ADCI."
Webb gulped and whispered, "ADCI?"
"Yes, you didn’t know, but that was the position I was going to offer you before your kidnapping. You have a firm grasp of the situation at Langley. You’ve shown mettle, and damn, son, you bounce back like no one I’ve ever met. I’ve read the reports and after you’re re-certified I need you back." Anspach looked at Mac. "May I assume that you will work with him to get him back in peak physical condition?"
Anspach grew bright red when he realized how that sounded. Webb smiled; Mac pursed her lips to keep from laughing, and Moriki had a coughing fit. Only Cassie and Greenwald managed to keep their composure. Mac took a deep breath. "I’ll make sure that he runs every morning, and I think Havenhurst has a weight room."
"Well, shall we begin?" Greenwald stood and Mac and Webb, hand in hand, followed him out.
"I’ve got a meeting in DC, Cassie," Moriki said. "Call me if you need anything."
"Thanks, Ron. I owe you."
Anspach held out his hand. "Yes, doctor. If you don’t like it at the Bureau, feel free to give me a call."
Once they were alone, Cassie flopped down into one of the chairs and let out a long sigh.
"You’re exhausted, Agent Ryan. Go back to the hotel and get some rest."
"Can’t. I want to go down to the 15th. That’s where Briscoe and Green are conducting their interview of Joey Mitchell." She was tired, but she felt she needed to go there and at least put in an appearance. Perhaps she might get home tomorrow.
"Very well. We’ll go together."
"Sir, that’s not necessary. Besides, the press will be all over you."
"Nonsense. No one knows me. I’ve kept a very low profile."
Cassie just snorted. She called down to the motor pool in the basement of the building and requisitioned a car and an agent to drive them.
Late in the afternoon, they stood behind a two-way mirror with Serena Southerlyn and Anita Van Buren, watching as Green and Briscoe finally broke Joey Mitchell down. "They’ve been at it since 11:30 this morning when they released him from the hospital." Van Buren quietly explained.
"Hospital? I was there, Lieutenant." Anspach said gruffly. "He fell. He wasn’t hurt."
Van Buren and Southerlyn exchanged knowing looks. "He milked it. Said he was hurt then once he was in the hospital, he complained of debilitating stomach cramps. He finally gave up when the doctors kicked his ass out." Van Buren explained.
Through the microphone above the window they heard Briscoe. "Come on, Joey, this is your chance. We found Tyler and federal marshals are bringing him back up. Once the feds are done with him, we’ll give him a chance to talk. First one on base gets the deal." Briscoe lied through his teeth. They still didn’t know where Tyler was, though the FBI’s Miami field office was on full alert.
"Watchu wanta know?"
"Why’d you kill Ada?" Green asked.
Joey surged out of his chair but Briscoe nearly knocked him through the wall sitting him back down. "Man, you just shut up! I din’kill her. That fucker Skolov killed her cause he thought she was gonna talk." Joey buried his head in his chained hands. "Man, Ada had a mouf on her but she’d never have ratted us out. She was sick of that fairy. She was glad they was gonna take him back to that place and fuck wiff his head some more. Man he was one crazy fucker, can’t believe he got his head on straight. They was scared of that you know."
"What do you mean?" Briscoe demanded.
"Well ya see, Bobby thought he was workin’ a deal. Thought he knew who the little fucker really was and him and Willie was plannin’ some shit. But my man, Karpov, had it all under control. Man that Palmer dude – the real one. Man oh man, he was nuts. Almost worse than…" He started to zone out and Green smacked him in the head. "Hey, that’s po-lice brutality. I wants a lawyer."
"I’ll get you a lawyer, now tell us who killed Skolov? You?"
Joey sniffed and wiped his nose on his sleeve. "Wished it was. It was Willie. Willie Tyler done it. I wanted to do it, but he just made me watch. He said, ‘You look real good, boy. This is what happens to people who don’t do what I tell them to.’ Ya see, Skolov was only supposed to get Ada out of town. He din’ know that Willie knowed about the tunnel."
Briscoe took a deep breath, "Okay, we’ll buy for now. Who killed Carter?"
Joey shifted his gaze from one to the other and then looked right in the mirror. "Hey! Bitch! You out there?" He ducked away from Green’s smack and only caught a bit of the blow. "You hear me? You get your fine ass in here. I wants some assurances."
"Jesus, where did you learn a four syllable word?" Briscoe scoffed.
Cassie looked at Southerlyn. "Which bitch does he want?"
"Let’s give him both, shall we?" Serena opened the door and they stepped inside. "There are no assurances or deals I can make for you, Joey," Cassie opened.
"Oh, yeah? You find Willie yet?"
"We will."
"Yeah, in Miami, right." He started laughing hysterically. "Oh man, you’ll never find him."
"I want him, Joey. But I’ve got no power here. This is a local beef. Tell me where he is and I’ll make a plea at your sentencing hearing. «To get you about two days off.»
Serena stepped forward. "I on the other hand have some leeway. Who killed Carter? And don’t try to lie. We know for a fact it wasn’t Tyler."
"Who the fuck said it was, bitch? Ouch!" He glared at Green who just kept his hand raised. "Shitfuck, it was Ada," he sighed. "Crazy bitch tried to cut herself in on a piece of Carter’s pie, only he wasn’t havin’ none of it. She swears he hit her, but I don’t know nothin’ bout that. I wasn’t even there. Willie called me after he seen what happened. Said the dishwasher had already seen your man with the gun in his hand."
"That’s all very well and good, Joey, but you’re lying." Briscoe said.
"Fuck you, man. I tole you it was Ada."
"And I’m tellin’ you it wasn’t. If Ada killed him, how come nobody heard the shots?"
"Well shit. That’s easy. Cause she didn’t kill him in the alley. She killed him in the building behind the alley in the cellar. She always met him and gave him a freebee you know. That’s when she put the moves on him. Told him she was gonna go to the po-lice and tell them that your boy was somebody important. Thas when Bobby smacked her." He glared at Green who looked like he was ready to give him another headshot. "People gets tired of being hit, and they just do what they got to do."
"How’d she get the body upstairs? There was no evidence that he had been dragged?" Cassie said.
"Shitfuck. She had Skolov do it. He put Carter’s body out in the street and then waited until she set your boy up. He had to wait because your boy knowed him. I heard the little dude kicked Skolov’s ass but good. I think Skolov would have killed her right there, but it would have been too messy. I still don’t know how he talked her into going back down there with him. He didn’t kill her until the next night. She hightailed it out of there and found me at The Pit. Told her she was in deep shit and to keep away from me. Man, I didn’t know he would kill her. So whatchu gonna give me?"
Green grinned, "I believe you wanted a lawyer, Mr. Mitchell."
Cassie turned and walked outside. Anspach was still there, waiting for her. "That’s it. Now all I have is about two weeks of paperwork. But Webb is completely cleared."
"You going to stay here and do the paperwork?"
"No. I guess I’ll go back to the hotel, catch some sleep and then catch the shuttle in the morning, or maybe I’ll take the train."
"Well you could do that, but I have a better idea."
: :
August 15
2300 Hours
DuPont CircleShe had gratefully accepted Anspach’s offer of a ride home on a CIA jet. They were back in DC by 5:30. She immediately went to the office and reported to Jacobs before starting on the mounds of paperwork. She called AJ twice, but both times his answering machine picked up. By 9:30 her stomach was making very rude noises, so she called it a night, tried AJ again, left another message and headed for home. She figured she would pop a frozen dinner in the microwave and just stretch out and veg. "Where are you?" She muttered as she used the key to the elevator that would take her to the top floor of the building she owned. Sir John had presented it to her on her 30th birthday. She really did love her stepfather; her own father was a memory long faded. She had been ten when he and his partner died in the shoot out at the liquor store.
Entering the apartment she dropped her briefcase then sniffed the air. "AJ?"
"In here, darlin’."
"Why didn’t you answer my…oh wow."
"I got your messages but the first time I was having lunch with your stepfather.
"You two getting chummy?"
"Oh, I don’t know. He’s a very interesting man, Cassie. I know you told me he had some connection with MI-6 but the man makes Clayton Webb look like a clerk. He was the real James Bond in his day."
Cassie shrugged. "That was years ago. Mother made sure he stopped all that."
"Oh, I think Sir John does exactly what Sir John wants. Why didn’t you ever tell me how they met?"
Cassie stalked up to him and lifted her head. "Because, we spend far too much time as it is discussing the Duchess. Now are you going to kiss me or not?"
He swept her up into his arms. "Dinner is going to get cold, Agent Ryan."
She looked down at him and all thoughts of dinner, her parents or the case went right out of her mind. "Just so long as it doesn’t burn again. AJ, please kiss me."
Her shoes fell to the floor as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Their lips joined, parted just enough for their tongues to begin a familiar ritual. "Oh damn, I’m glad Anspach gave me a ride home on his plane."
AJ carried her into the bedroom and gently lowered her onto the bed, following her until they rested across the large king-size mattress covered in dark damask. He really loved this room. He loved making love to her in front of the mirror over her dresser. His hand reached out and traced a line from her temple over her lips, down her neck, to rest at the "V" of her suit. "Will you, Cassie?"
"Will I what, AJ?" She arched up to claim his mouth again, but he only brushed her lips with his.
"Will you marry me?"
"Yes. Now kiss me again."
He stroked her through her jacket and stared down into her passionate eyes. "You’re sure, Cassie?"
"Ooooooo!" She cried in frustration and when he pulled back slightly she took the opportunity and flipped him over onto his back. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" She laughed. "I will marry you – on one condition."
"And that is?" He grinned and her fingers already began divesting him of his shirt.
She yanked and tugged until he sat up, holding her tightly. She wrapped her legs around him again and pulled off his shirt and undershirt. She was concentrating on pleasuring him, kissing and nibbling at the spot right below his ear that drove him wild.
"No marks, Cass. I’ve got a meeting with the CNO tomorrow and I’ll be damned if I’ll have the man smirk at me."
"He’ll just be jealous," she insisted as she pushed him back and worked her way down his torso, her tongue tracing its own path.
"Oh god, woman, you are good at that." AJ groaned at her onslaught but kept her from going lower. "Come here and sit still." He carefully worked each button loose on her jacket. He started to work the zipper of her slacks down but gently pushed her away. "I’m at a disadvantage here. Take off your slacks but leave your panties on. Those are mine."
"Getting kind of kinky in your old age, Admiral." She stood and playfully teased him, pulling off her slacks. "You know you could be doing the same, Mister."
"You’re quite right, my lady."
She froze and nailed him with a glare. For a moment he was afraid he had gone too far. "Cassie?"
Her eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms under her breasts. She paced the length of the bed and then stopped. "And tell me, my Lord Admiral, will you do as her ladyship demands?"
He kept his sigh of relief to himself. "Within reason, my lady."
"Reason, my Lord Admiral?" She cocked an eyebrow and watched as he gracefully rose from the bed to stand before her. «My God, he’s perfect.» He unzipped his pants and threw them in the corner. Then he removed his briefs. His cock was hard and bobbing, straight out from his body. Her hands were suddenly trembling as she followed suit. "Will you s-submit to my will?"
He smiled and shook his head. "Never, my lady." And with that he pulled her to him, his fingers twisting in her flame red hair and he brought his lips to hers. His cock nudged her belly and she groaned in pleasure. Pushing her back until she was sprawled across the bed, he lowered his lips to her belly and began placing light kisses, trailing down until she arched her sex up to him.
"Please, AJ!" She panted until he took pity upon her and thrust his tongue deep inside. She arched off the bed as his tongue danced circles around and over her clit. While she was still crying out his name he stood and plunged deep inside her, setting the chain reaction off all over again. She loved watching him lose control like this. His hips worked like a piston thrusting his cock deep inside her, his fingers dug deep into the flesh of her hips. His face was a picture of ecstasy, eyes almost closed but still burning her soul with their intensity. Suddenly he pulled her tighter against him, stilled for a moment then shuddered as his seed pulsed into her core.
He fell from her almost immediately and she whimpered at the loss. He was panting from the exertion, but still he remained standing. "AJ? Come to bed."
"Better not, Darlin’. Dinner, remember." He reached out and offered her his hand. "Come on beautiful. Let’s go shower."