Covered in Darkness

by Heather Sunseri

  “I need your help,” I said.

  “So this isn’t a social call? I’m shocked.”

  “You can say no of course, but I really hope you won’t.”

  “Well, if you’re calling me, it must be serious.”

  “I think so. Someone is stalking me.”

  “Stalking you? Why don’t you call the police?”

  “This guy was a confidential human source to me for years.”

  “So what’s the problem?”

  “We never found out who he was.”

  “Let me get this straight. The FBI has been accepting information from someone, and you’ve been using this information, yet you don’t know who he is, and now he’s stalking you?”

  “That about sums it up.”

  “What kind of stalking are we talking about?”

  “Well, a few months ago he came out of nowhere and shoved me to the ground, causing me to sprain my wrist. He drugged me when he assassinated Kentucky’s governor back in May. He texts and calls with information about my cases; other times, he just harasses me. He sends photos of me just to remind me that he’s close.”

  “If he murdered the governor of Kentucky, why isn’t he on the FBI’s Most Wanted list?”

  “This guy is as brilliant as he is slippery. He left no evidence, and no one has the slightest idea what he even looks like. The guy’s an absolute ghost.”

  “Do you think he means to hurt you worse than he already has?”

  “He caused me to miscarry.”

  “What? When?”

  “The same night Teddy was killed.”

  Silence passed between us for several beats, then she said, “I’m so sorry, Brooke.”

  I choked back the lump in my throat that her sympathy caused. “My father believed at the time that Romeo—that’s what other agents nicknamed him back then—caused my miscarriage in order to ensure that I didn’t join Teddy that night. I think he knows more about Teddy’s death—knows who’s responsible.”

  “Ahh,” Anya said. “So this is more than just wanting to know this… Romeo’s… identity.”

  “It’s both. I want to know his identity so I can put him away for all his crimes. But I also want to know what happened to Teddy.”

  “And you think I can help? Why me?”

  “That night in the parking garage, I saw something. Romeo has a tattoo on his wrist. It’s of crossing sabers.”

  “As in—”

  “As in maybe he went to the University of Virginia with us. Ty and I have both done some searching, tried to track down where he might have gotten the tattoo, but we come up empty every time.”

  “And you thought I would have more luck?”

  “Well, he’s texting me fairly regularly again, and I trust you. I just thought you might have more resources inside the NSA—that you might be able to trace the texts.”

  “You’re asking me to…”

  “I know.” I was asking her to break the law. “Just look at the information I’m sending over. Maybe you’ll think of something I haven’t. I can’t shake the feeling that he chose me for a reason. That maybe it wasn’t because I was FBI, but because I was a Cavalier. And maybe he was, too.”

  “Shit, either one of us might know him from our college days. Send me the information. I’ll look at it. But no promises.”

  “Thanks, Anya.”

  I hung up, emailed Anya the information I’d compiled to get her started, then turned my attention back to the news. The Lexington stations were showing a list of shelters throughout the viewing area for people to go if they’d been displaced by the storm. I checked the Louisville stations one more time and was pleased to see the local anchors sitting behind the news desk. They were reporting on the storm damage and confirming the widespread power outage.

  “When we reached out to Blake Saltzman of Louisville Power,” said a female anchor dressed in a bright red dress, “she informed us that Louisville Power was doing everything possible to restore power to the residents and businesses of Louisville, but that it could be as much as twenty-four hours before that happens.”

  The co-anchor, a man in a light-colored suit and baby blue tie, spoke next. “The mayor and city officials are urging citizens to stay off the streets. Stay home today, look out for loved ones, and stay cool.” He smiled when he said the final two words.

  Like that was supposed to be funny? If this power outage lasted twenty-four hours, the city of Louisville was looking at major problems. The hospitals would most likely be at capacity, air travel would be hampered, and the city would be in an upheaval.

  I lifted my handset and dialed Jude’s extension. “The Louisville stations are online. Get ahold of them and see where they’re getting their information. Blake Saltzman has already changed Louisville Power’s official word. Now she’s claiming twenty-four hours before power will be restored.”

  “Will do.”

  “I need reliable information to give the governor, Jude. And ask for phone numbers of their contacts. If they’re using cell numbers to reach Louisville Power, I want those numbers.”

  I tried calling Louisville Power’s media relations line next. I wanted to speak to Ryan or Blake Saltzman. The phone just rang and rang.

  Then I called Mac. “Any chance your helicopter can take me to Louisville Power’s downtown headquarters? I think the only way I’m going to find out what’s going on is to get on the ground. We’re getting mixed messages from Louisville Power, and I’m getting those messages second- and third-hand.”

  “Sure. Get over to the mansion. We’ll leave as soon as you’re here.”

  I should have known he would insist on going with me. I didn’t bother trying to talk him out of it. Governor Mac Kale had been a hands-on governor—a governor of the people—from the minute he’d taken office.

  And I was a hands-on investigator. I could turn my back on the FBI job and hide out at Homeland Security, but I would always be an investigator and an analyst. Something about the situation in Louisville didn’t sit right with me—and I was going to find out why.

  Chapter 5

  Declan

  “Romeo?” I said a little louder than I intended. When a couple of the exercise riders stared at me, I walked across the gravel road and away from the Kensington barn where my racehorses were stabled. “How does she know it was him?”

  “I’m not sure, sir,” David said in a small voice. David had worked for me for five years now. He knew every single one of my moods and almost everything about me. I trusted him with my most private affairs.

  “What did Brooke say, exactly?” Had Brooke heard from Romeo? And in what manner?

  “Told me to get ahold of you and tell you that Romeo had opened On Liam’s Watch’s stall door. Said she had things to take care of, and that I should go help you.”

  “Where are you now?”

  “Standing outside Miss Fairfax’s building, sir. I’m happy to stay here until she needs me, or I can head your way.”

  Yes, David knew me well. “Are they saying how bad the power outage is?”

  “Appears to be significant.”

  “Have you talked to anyone at Shaughnessy?” I asked.

  “Yes. We have some downed trees, but no major damage. They’ve scanned the entire fence line and all are intact.”

  “That’s good.” I turned as Aidan walked by with the farrier. He had already finished up with the morning’s workouts. “I’m going to meet with Aidan. You can return to the farm, and see what needs to be done to clean up the storm debris. I’ll check in with Brooke later.”

  “Very good, sir.”

  I hung up with David just as On Liam’s Watch was led out of his stall to the farrier, who was set up to shoe him. I walked over and examined the stall door again. Romeo wasn’t an idiot; he wouldn’t have left fingerprints behind. Which made it pointless to call the police and get them out here with nothing more than what I assumed were a couple of mysterious texts to Brooke’s phone.

  “What are
you after?” I said to myself as I examined the interior of On Liam’s Watch’s stall. “Were you intending to hurt the horse? Or just willing to risk it in order to pull me away from Brooke?” I was betting on the latter.

  “What’s up?” Aidan said beside me.

  “Someone purposely opened the stall door.”

  “What? How would someone do that? We had staff less than fifty feet away.”

  “I already talked to them. They had taken shelter in the interior of the barn while the worst of the storms passed overhead.” Training barns at Kensington were such that stalls faced outward around the exterior of the structure. There was a covered walking track between the stalls and the outer wall. Supplies and an office area for each barn were on the interior. “They were playing cards and swore the thunder and torrential rainfall must have covered the sound of the break-in. They were all extremely remorseful; every one offered to resign for their failure.”

  “You don’t blame the staff, do you?”

  “No, I trust your staff completely. I have a damn good idea who did this.” I looked at Aidan. “Romeo.”

  “The nutjob that’s been stalking Brooke? Are you sure? Why would he go after the horses?”

  “He knows the horses mean something to her. To me. Hell, he could have simply been testing to see if he could pull me away from her.”

  “What should we do?”

  “Hire extra security. Bill me for it.”

  I waved over my shoulder as I headed for the parking lot. I wasn’t sure what kind of game Romeo wanted to play, but he was playing with the wrong person. Eventually, I would discover his identity. Brooke wanted to hold him accountable for his crimes, but as far as I was concerned, he’d already stepped too far over the line for me to care if the wheels of justice turned for him.

  Chapter 6

  Cloud cover hung low, and the sun showed no sign of burning through as the governor’s pilot steered us toward downtown Louisville. The storms were gone, but the damage to the area was evident. Though it was daylight, the city was dark, the traffic lights dead. The interstates were congested, the exit ramps were packed, and in many places traffic was at a standstill. Why were there so many cars on the road? I supposed local businessmen and women felt the need to make sure their property was protected, and everyone else was either thinking they still needed to go to work or just going stir crazy at home with no electricity.

  The only bright lights were those from police cruisers and fire trucks in the shadows of the dark buildings.

  A single light flashed on top of a building in the distance. “There,” I said to Mac through the microphone attached to my headphones. “Is that Baptist Memorial?” Baptist Memorial was Louisville’s largest private hospital.

  “Yes.”

  “They appear to have power.” That was great news.

  I continued to scan the area as the pilot took us lower. People were out in the streets; the parking lots of strip malls and grocery stores were filling with cars. I had no doubt the stores were closed, though. If I had to guess, people were parking to explore on foot or they were abandoning their vehicles until the traffic jam resolved itself.

  “There are a lot of people out and about, but it sure doesn’t look to be the pandemonium that was reported on the news,” Mac said.

  I nodded in agreement. It was true—we weren’t seeing rioting or looting, but I wondered if we were simply looking in the wrong places.

  The pilot glanced at me over his shoulder. “We’ll be on the ground in less than five. We’ll land in the middle of the baseball diamond.” He pointed to the home of Louisville’s semi-pro baseball team. “That’s as close as I can get you. You’ll have to walk three blocks to get to Louisville Power.”

  Officer McElroy, the state policeman in street clothing who led the governor’s security detail, cast a dark look at Mac. His job was to protect the governor, and it was clear he didn’t like the risk involved in walking three blocks through an unknown situation.

  As soon as we had touched down, I pulled a two-way radio from my waist and handed it to the pilot. “We’ll call you when we’re headed back.”

  “Sounds good, but I won’t be going anywhere.” He powered down the helicopter to prove it.

  I climbed out of the helicopter with a backpack of emergency supplies. The governor was directly behind me. I pulled another radio from the backpack. “Tyler, can you hear me? Over.”

  “I can hear you,” Ty responded almost immediately.

  “We’re downtown. Stay close to the radio.”

  “Ten-four.”

  I attached the radio to my hip, then handed a third radio to Officer McElroy.

  “Why don’t I get one?” Mac asked.

  “Because you have him.” I nodded to his protection detail. “And me. Let’s go.”

  The streets immediately surrounding the outside of the baseball field were mostly deserted. We were near the waterfront and just under the bridge that would normally take people over the Ohio River to Indiana—but I knew that state police had diverted traffic to the newly opened billion-dollar bridge eight miles east of downtown. The transportation cabinet secretary, after conferring with the feds, had determined that traffic should be steered away from Louisville until power was restored. Judging by the traffic we’d seen on the interstates leading into downtown, this plan hadn’t helped much.

  I glanced toward the water and beyond. “Carson tells me Indiana is powered by a different company.”

  “That’s my understanding, too,” Mac said. “Spoke with Indiana’s governor earlier. They had very few power outages from the storm.”

  “Yet we lose an entire city.”

  Down the street to our left, a mob of people had gathered near the downtown waterfront park.

  “Wonder what’s going on down there?” Mac asked.

  Officer McElroy gave me a warning look.

  “We’re not here to find out,” I answered. “Let’s get to Louisville Power.”

  As we walked, we heard the sounds of unpleasantness in the distance: the shattering of glass, sirens, honking horns. Though the city had appeared quiet from the air, it was anything but on the ground.

  “This way,” I said. I led them down a deserted alley parallel to one of the main streets, hoping to avoid running into any frustrated citizens who might want a word with the governor.

  Mac walked with confidence and ease. He didn’t appear nervous at all. Officer McElroy and I weren’t nearly so relaxed. Maybe it was because we were cut from the same cloth, or maybe it was a sixth sense. Luckily, I was paranoid enough most days to keep a gun attached to my hip. And today I had also packed one at my ankle.

  I touched the state trooper’s arm. “If there’s trouble, you protect Governor Kale. I’m fully capable of taking care of myself.” I opened my cropped jacket to reveal the Glock on my hip.

  The trooper nodded. “Good to know.” He seemed to relax a little.

  But when a group of two men and two women turned a corner ahead of us, just one block away from Louisville Power, McElroy and I both tensed. We moved to walk in front of the governor in a protective shield.

  “Yo!” yelled one of the men. He wore a baseball cap with a red cardinal, the mascot of the University of Louisville. “Wassup?”

  The trooper cast a sideways glance at me.

  I didn’t look at him, but instead focused on assessing the weapons of the four people in front of me. “Hi,” I said in a friendly voice. “We’re just trying to figure out what the hell is going on. You know anything?”

  “I know you’ll be handing over your money and jewelry.” He leaned his head to the side. “And whatever you’re carrying in that backpack.”

  The women in the group looked tough, but backed up a step. The Cardinal opened and closed his right hand. I could see a bulge under his T-shirt on his right hip. The second man had a jacket on, which was strange in this heat, and he was cupping his sleeve in a way that made me wonder what he was hiding there.

&nbs
p; “What do you have up your sleeve?” I asked, smiling at my own joke.

  “Why don’t I show you?” He let a knife slide down into his hand and held it out in front of him. “Money. Jewelry. Backpack. Now!”

  I held my hands out in front of me. “Okay. Okay. You win. You can have everything I have.” I sensed Officer McElroy shifting beside me. I was about to find out just what kind of state trooper he was. Would he act too quickly? Overreact? “I’m just going to reach in my back pocket. I have cash and a credit card there. And a phone. You can have it all.” I slowly slid the backpack down my right arm.

  “Come on,” the man with the knife yelled. “Hurry up.”

  “Fine.” I nodded at McElroy.

  He pulled his firearm and trained it on the man with the baseball cap.

  At the same moment, I kicked out a leg and dislodged the knife from the second man’s hand, then pulled my Glock and aimed it at his head. When one of the girls shifted and appeared to be reaching behind her, I changed my aim to her. “I wouldn’t do that.”

  She stopped and let her hand fall back to her side.

  “Now, nice and slow, I want each of you to lay your weapons in front of you,” Officer McElroy commanded.

  I let my eyes dart to each of them, looking for any sudden moves. All four of them slowly pulled guns and knives from their waistbands and from sheaths at their ankles. When they were disarmed, the governor stepped between the trooper and me. “Listen. I realize we’re dealing with a bit of the unknown this morning.”

  “Oh, shit, it’s Governor Kale,” one of the women said.

  I tensed for what might come. Were these fans of the governor, or not so much?

  The men narrowed their eyes, then backed up a step. “Oh, hi, Governor. Had we known it was you…”

  “Don’t move,” I ordered with a shake of my gun, and the four of them stilled. The trooper and I traded another uneasy look.

  “Ahh, man!” said the Louisville fan. “We’re so sorry.” He looked between me and the trooper. “You two must be cops or something. Please accept our apologies. You can’t blame us for looking out for ourselves in these troubling times. No idea when we might see our next meal. Everything’s closed. We don’t have rides out of here.”