Cold & Deadly

by Toni Anderson

  “Hasn’t been turned on since Tuesday night. Around the Medical Examiner’s time of death for Perry.”

  “What does the teddy bear tell you?” Dominic asked the profiler.

  “That someone had strong feelings for Galveston and wanted to prove someone loved him. Probably a female.”

  Dominic grunted. Men didn’t tend to buy teddy bears for loved ones—unless it was for a child. Galveston’s parents were both dead.

  “This could be the work of more than one person,” Dominic stated.

  “At this stage, with this many agents targeted, the UNSUB definitely had help,” Frazer agreed.

  “Gotta go.” Dominic hung up.

  So, who had left the toy? Could he bag it for evidence? For what end? It wasn’t a crime to visit a grave, or to leave an offering.

  The gravediggers and laborers had placed chains under the coffin. The earth moving equipment was now doing double duty as a winch. Four men steadied the casket as it came clear of the ground and eased it onto the grass beside the hole in the earth.

  Dominic looked around impatiently for the ME. Where the hell was the guy? He was about to open the casket himself when a van rolled into place. Two men, both carrying heavy bags, trudged across the dried grass to meet them.

  Dominic held back his irritation but obviously not well enough.

  “What’s the hurry people? It’s not like our fellow is going anywhere.”

  Dominic forced himself to smile and use his upbeat, friendly voice even though his angry voice wanted to tell them to hurry the fuck up. “It’s part of a current investigation that’s time sensitive.”

  “Copycat?” the ME frowned.

  Dominic was sure the last thing this man wanted on his table were raped and murdered girls.

  “I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to discuss an active investigation at this time.”

  The man grunted and scowled up at the sky. “Really want the tent up? It’ll take thirty minutes to erect.”

  Dominic thought about it. All they needed was a photograph of the corpse in situ and to take a quick DNA sample. “You have any umbrellas in the car?” he asked Agent Pine and the ME’s assistant.

  Both men nodded and trudged off to fetch them.

  The man and woman in the churchyard were watching with interest.

  “You guys can leave. We’ll call you when we need you again,” he told the gravediggers and laborers.

  The remaining Feds formed a short wall. Pine handed over a golf umbrella and held a second one himself. Dominic opened the umbrella just as Ava slid up beside him to help form a barrier. The canopy was wide and blocked any viewers from seeing inside the casket from above or the side.

  The ME and his assistant both donned masks and then lifted the top half of the coffin lid.

  Sonofabitch.

  Dominic stared into the box as the world spun around him. Brown stained satin lined the casket but no corpse filled it.

  Someone cursed. Agent Pine.

  Peter Galveston was dead. Dominic knew he was dead, but someone was trying to mess with his head.

  “Can you tell if a body was removed? Or if there was even ever one in there?” Ava asked quietly making sure her voice didn’t carry.

  “Judging from the stains and bodily fluids there was definitely a body in here,” the ME answered.

  But it was gone now.

  Dominic managed to swallow the huge lump that filled his throat. “Close it up. I want the casket transported to the nearest crime lab for processing. ASAP. Highest priority.” He looked at the men who’d assisted getting the coffin out of the ground.

  “I need you to question all these people,” he told Pine and the other agents. “I don’t believe someone stole this body without help. The pastor too. Maybe someone made a donation to look the other way that he couldn’t refuse.” These people were the main suspects until the FBI figured out different. “Push them hard on accessory to murder of a federal agent. Bag the teddy bear and any visitor books inside the church. Get a warrant if the pastor resists—in fact get a warrant anyway. Courier everything except the coffin to the National Laboratory.” Dominic started striding away, Ava on his heels and Agent Pine catching up behind them to drive.

  “Where will you be?” Pine asked.

  Dominic checked his watch. “I’m going to check Galveston’s cabin. You know where that is?”

  Pine shook his head. “But I can find out.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Drive us into the nearest town with a rental office. I can find the way from there.” Dominic called the chopper pilot and told him to go home. He had the feeling they were going to be stuck here for some time.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  From the car, Dominic had called Frazer who had then called the head of the task force about Peter Galveston’s missing body. The press were going to go ape. Now he stood outside the restaurant while waiting for their lunch to be delivered. Neither Dominic nor Ava had eaten anything since last night. Dominic didn’t even remember what it had been. He called his boss, who was thankfully distracted by the fact he was about to get on the plane to fly to Southeast Asia.

  “I hear you had some unexpected help resolving the hostage crisis,” Savage said once Dominic had finished updating him on the Galveston situation.

  Dominic scratched his head. He hadn’t confronted Ava about that yet. Since the siege ended, his focus had shifted straight back to this case and the fact someone wanted him and his colleagues dead. Everything had been a whirlwind of activity as they struggled to get one step ahead of this UNSUB. He was still trying to figure out whether to be impressed with Ava or furious. Or both.

  “How is Frank Jacobs doing?”

  “Alive. Doctors think he’ll make it. Knife missed his kidneys by an inch. Nicked a lung but didn’t do as much damage as first feared.”

  “Any word about the warden?”

  “She’s going to take some time off. All the inmates involved will be transferred.”

  Standard procedure.

  “Including Milo Andris?”

  “Especially Milo. His attachment to the warden could turn ugly. He could feel she owes him now. She might feel she owes him. It’s better if everyone starts from scratch. So,” Savage was clearly striving for casual, “Ava Kanas was in WitSec?”

  “I think officially she still is.” Dominic looked up and spotted a pharmacy nearby. Through the window he noted his lunch order hadn’t arrived yet. He headed for the pharmacy, still talking on the phone.

  “Don’t worry,” Savage offered, “the information about her full identity has been left out of the official records of the incident. We called her a trainee negotiator and as there is no record of her at CNU, there’s no mention of her name.”

  Dominic blew out a breath of relief.

  “Did you know?” Savage pressed.

  Dominic might have lied to Charlotte and Eban, but he couldn’t lie to Savage.

  “No, but looking back I didn’t give her much chance to tell me. I was so focused on the siege that every time she tried to talk to me, I assumed it was about the UNSUB killing agents and told her to wait until the siege was finished. She didn’t even open her mouth in the negotiation room until Gino was seconds away from raping the warden.”

  Dominic picked up a packet of condoms and some headache pills. He didn’t know whether to be disgusted by his lack of self-control, or impressed by his planning-for-anything mentality.

  “I had no idea about her past, but it explains her relationship with Van Stamos. I do know that without Kanas’s intervention the siege would not have ended so well for the hostages.”

  He paid cash and slipped the merchandise into his pocket. Headed back to the restaurant.

  “Always expect the unexpected.” Savage laughed.

  “Don’t ever forget it. Keep safe on your travels, Quentin.”

  The man swore. “Are you sure you don’t want to go to Jakarta?”

  “Hell, no.” Dominic had been there plenty of
times and never on vacation. “You’ll do great.”

  “Watch your back, Dom. Someone has a hard-on to put you in the ground.”

  He thought of Caroline Perry. “That someone might be dead.” God, he hoped so.

  “And they might not be. The good news is even if they are alive, I doubt they know where you are right now, but that won’t last long once the press hears about Galveston’s missing corpse. Until we confirm the UNSUB was Perry, and was definitely working alone, do not do anything stupid and keep Kanas close.”

  Dominic grunted. Keeping Kanas close meant he was definitely going to do something stupid. And that wasn’t even what bothered him about the whole thing. Keeping her close didn’t seem like a problem, and that was in of itself becoming a major issue for him.

  “When will you be back at Quantico?” Savage asked.

  Dominic crossed his fingers. “Tomorrow. I’ll be in touch if anything new turns up.”

  “Do that. Charlotte and Eban are on their way back here right now. There’s some sort of standoff developing in Oregon again.”

  Fucking Freemen.

  “So, everything is normal?” Dominic joked.

  Savage grunted. “Some days it feels like no matter how hard or fast we work, there are still a bunch of whackos ready to come out of the woodwork and cause havoc and pain for others.”

  Dominic thought about Peter Galveston’s missing corpse, which hadn’t crawled out of that coffin on its own.

  “Which is why we’re here, I suppose.”

  Dominic watched a plate of food being delivered to the table where Ava sat talking to Agent Pine.

  His mouth watered. He was starving, but even more than his hunger for food was his completely inappropriate hunger for the agent who was smiling across the table at another man.

  She was a goddamn rookie. What was he doing? He didn’t know. He really didn’t know. But he wasn’t ready to give her up yet.

  He said goodbye to his boss, hung up and pushed back inside the front door.

  * * *

  After lunch, Jerry Pine dropped them at the nearest vehicle rental place. Dominic had been insistent about having their own transportation but had forgotten he wasn’t medically cleared to drive. Ava hadn’t argued with the guy. Whatever their personal relationship, he was still a Supervisory Special Agent and way above her on the pay grade. Instead, she took the keys off the desk and got behind the wheel.

  “What?” she asked when he finally slung his bag in the trunk and climbed in beside her. They both needed to do laundry but neither wanted to waste a few hours on something so mundane when people’s lives were in danger.

  He shot her a resentful look.

  “Where to, Boss?” She smiled determinedly. The fact she was still on the job made her feel grateful enough to ignore his bad mood.

  His eyes narrowed further, and he lowered his sunglasses. The bruises were fading fast and the superiority complex was back full force. Rather than replying, he programmed an address into the GPS and then sat back, adjusting the seat so he could stretch out his long legs.

  She checked her mirrors and pulled away. This was work, and he was the boss. Don’t screw it up, Ava.

  “Why didn’t you tell me about Gino?” he asked after a few minutes of peace.

  She blew out a long breath. She’d been anticipating the inquisition now they were on their own, but the question still took her by surprise.

  “I didn’t know Gino was incarcerated there until we arrived.” Her fingers tightened reflexively around the steering wheel. Facing Gino had been like facing one of her demons. Sure, she’d done it before in court, but that had been years ago.

  Dominic remained silent. The quiet hum of the engine and weight of accusation filled the void.

  Her fingers rubbed the steering wheel. “I never imagined I’d get actively involved with the negotiation.” Still he didn’t speak. “I know I should have told you, but I didn’t think it would make a difference.”

  “It would have made a difference to me.” His words shook her as did the velvet tone of his voice. It wasn’t the voice he used during negotiations. It was the one he’d used when they’d had sex.

  Her pulse skipped.

  She took a right as the GPS indicated and started climbing the hills into a dark forest. “I never talk about it, Dominic. I can’t risk slipping up and condemning the rest of my family to death. That’s the first time I’ve acknowledged the truth in public since the trial.”

  He shifted in the seat, the leather creaking. “Most of that crime family is in prison.”

  “Because of me. And it only takes one. Or for them to pay someone.” She shook her head. “I couldn’t take that risk.”

  “You could have trusted me.”

  “I know I can trust you. I do trust you.” More than she wanted to admit. “At first, I worried if anyone found out I’d be off bodyguard duty and back on suspension,” she told him. “Then I tried to tell you several times but you were either busy or,” she cleared her throat, “we got distracted.”

  He ignored the oblique reference to them getting naked. He folded his fingers in his lap. Her mouth went dry thinking about those fingers on her skin.

  “Gino is gonna be searching for information on you again now.”

  Her attention snapped back onto the threat that had shadowed her for her entire life. “I can look after myself. Should anyone in the FBI or prison service give the crime family information on me then at least my relatives aren’t connected to me in any of my official files. Van saw to that… And the Greek community is tight enough that we’ll know if someone starts asking questions.” A wave of cold hit her. “But I need to warn my family. Tell them to take extra precautions with their safety.” Which sucked. It would give her mother even more ammunition about ditching the FBI and coming home.

  Those intelligent eyes of his were looking at her differently now. It took her a moment to recognize it was respect she was seeing there.

  “No wonder you guys were so close.”

  Her stomach knotted. “Van saved my life but more importantly, he taught me how to take my power back.”

  “No wonder you wanted to be an agent.”

  “Yeah.” She laughed. “Ask the mob what they fear most, and it’ll be RICO charges and the FBI. So being an agent is all I’ve ever wanted.” She was ripping off layers of armor for this man. She knew he wouldn’t return the favor. Maybe that’s why she pushed. “What made you join the FBI?”

  On cue, he grimaced and looked away. Then he surprised her. “Pretty simple really. My father wanted me to become a partner in a big law firm.”

  “So, your whole career is you sticking it to your dad?”

  The smile caught her off guard. The sparkle in those blue eyes. “That’s how it started. Trying to prove he was wrong to push me down a certain path. But it turned out I loved it. Law bored the hell out of me, but being an FBI agent? The adrenaline rush, the danger, making a difference—that was a blast I couldn’t resist.” He rubbed his hand over his thigh. “Then proving that I got where I was on my own merit turned into a bit of an obsession. Van helped me not mess up too many times as a rookie. When you grow up with a silver spoon in your mouth turns out you have a target on your back.”

  “I get it.”

  “You do?” He sounded surprised.

  “Sure, I do. Every good-looking woman has to prove she didn’t get where she was by shagging the boss.”

  She expected him to laugh at her analogy, but he didn’t.

  “Have people thought that about you?”

  “In just about every job I’ve ever had. Even you thought I’d slept with Van.”

  He ran his hand around his collar. “I’m an asshole, and I apologize.” There was a long pause. “What about us… Does sleeping together put you in an awkward position?”

  She checked the GPS and took another turn. “It’s best if no one finds out. I mean if it were an actual long-term relationship that might be different. Other agents mig
ht still question any promotions I received, assuming I’m not fired”—her heart gave a painful squeeze—“but at least it would be something I’d be willing to deal with. But just for sex…” She shook her head. “I wouldn’t want anyone knowing.”

  She risked a look at him, expecting him to look amused or mocking but instead he was grim-faced.

  “I don’t want to jeopardize your career, Ava.”

  “Then no one better find out we’re fucking each other.”

  “They won’t hear it from me.” He finally gave her the assurance she’d thought she wanted to hear. But it rang hollow inside her.

  His eyes lifted to the road ahead. “This is the place where I shot Peter Galveston.”

  Ava put on her blinker and pulled over to the side of the road.

  Dominic got out of the car and walked to the edge of the pavement and stood staring into the thick underbrush.

  Ava followed slowly, tucking away her emotions so they didn’t get in the way of them doing their job.

  “What I don’t get,” Dominic said quietly, “is why wait this long to exact revenge? A decade. Who the hell is that patient?”

  Ava stood next to him, staring at the opposite side of the woods. “Could they have been serving a prison term?”

  Dominic placed his hands on his hips. “I was wondering the same thing.” He shook his head impatiently. “DNA results and other evidence should be in by now. Frazer said he’d call me as soon as anything definite came in. Let’s head to the cabin.”

  Ava followed him back to the car. “What do you expect to find?”

  He shook his head. “I honestly don’t know.”

  “Who owns it?”

  “A corporation based in New York.”

  “Who owns the corporation?”

  His smile was a quick slice of guile. “Alex Parker is looking into that for us.”

  “Parker? Not the task force?”

  Dominic shrugged as he got into the car. “They are presumably also looking into it, but Frazer says Parker is faster, and there are lives on the line.”

  Ava started the engine, feeling oddly melancholic. She was eager to find out the truth but realized that when they did, she and Sheridan would no longer need one another. They’d part ways. The idea shook her. She wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the man.