Fourth Day

by Lisa Phillips

Talia actually laughed. “I need you to have all the information, so you’re properly equipped when your friend calls back. Yes, I’m accessing your phone so that I can deliver it.” She paused, then explained, “Also so I can try to figure out where she is now.”

  Allyson sat back down.

  “The missing pharmaceutical employee was found on the side of the highway. Cause of death is blunt force trauma.”

  “Car?”

  Talia shook her head. “Smaller than that. Investigating detectives found a series of emails between the chief operations officer and Bridget McNamara. Threats and hostility on both sides. They got a warrant for her condo and found signs that she fought with someone. DNA was run, it’s the dead guy’s blood.”

  Was Bridget being framed, or was Vanessa a killer? “On the phone she sounded distressed. She reached out for help, and I’m going to help her.”

  “Even if she’s a murderer?”

  “Everyone is entitled to tell their side of the story.”

  Allyson didn’t like bullies, and she had a compulsion to help victims. The deep things that drove her had everything to do with being alone after Van had gone missing.

  Being questioned.

  Those side glances from teachers and students. She’d been at dinner with her father, a minister, at the time of the abduction…kidnapping. The night Vanessa had run away. She still didn’t know which it was, but she was closer to finding out the truth about what had happened. No one had been able to accuse Allyson of involvement because of her alibi. Still, that didn’t mean people hadn’t talked behind her back.

  “This is our case now.”

  Allyson blinked. “Excuse me?”

  “Bridget McNamara’s boss is Malcom Kennowich.”

  Everyone in the room braced. Allyson glanced around. “That means something to you guys?”

  “Malcom Kennowich is the man behind Cerium. The man who had me sold. We’ve been chasing him for months, trying to figure out who he is.”

  And Allyson had just tossed him into their laps.

  . . .

  That was why they’d had her come to the office?

  “…talk to you.”

  He turned back to Dakota. She should have just spat it out.

  “It’s more important than a thirty second question/answer by the sink.”

  Sal gritted his teeth. “I’ll make time. But I have to deal with this right now.” He pointed toward Allyson, who had stood up again. Didn’t look like Talia would be able to get her to sit back down this time.

  Dakota started, “I know how to deal—”

  “Don’t.” He didn’t need her attitude when he knew—or at least was mostly sure—it was because she saw everything changing around her and was getting freaked out at the speed of it. Even though Dakota was the one who’d fallen in love first. Before any of the other team members.

  He said, “Not right now.”

  Allyson’s whole demeanor was stiff. “You guys aren’t taking my case.” She shot him a look. Hurt. Disappointment.

  He didn’t know which was worse. Together they caused a sharp pain in his chest. “Ally…”

  She looked like she wanted to be halfway out the door.

  It was Haley who said, “We’ve been tracking this guy for months, trying to figure out who he is and who has been selling modified CX gas, stirring up all kinds of mayhem. He almost destroyed us. We’ve barely survived up until this point. But we think this Kennowich is Cerium, and your missing friend could be the key to busting the case wide open.”

  Talia said, “If we can find her, then maybe we’ll be able to prove it. Prove she didn’t kill that guy.”

  “Which means you don’t know for sure if the two things are linked,” Allyson countered. “My friend’s call for help might have nothing at all to do with your case against Kennowich.”

  “But it could—”

  “You aren’t taking my case.”

  He strode after her, shooting a side glance at Talia. “You didn’t think to warn me about the connection?”

  “There wasn’t time.” Talia didn’t get up. Clearly she didn’t think there was anything wrong with springing this information on all of them.

  He picked up his pace, even though it made a low thrum of pain slice through his leg.

  None of the others had seemed surprised. Maybe it was just him and Allyson that Talia had sprung this information on. An attempt to get her honest reaction to this news about her friend’s involvement with a criminal.

  Sal pushed through the door into the hallway where Allyson waited for the elevator, jabbing the button. The set of her shoulders said more than any words needed to. She was hurt, but she hid it well under a layer of irritation.

  “I can smell what you guys are doing from a mile away.”

  “You think we’re trying to steal your case?”

  “I know you didn’t know.” She turned around. “And I know you’ve been looking into this Cerium thing for months now. But whatever’s going on with Vanessa, it’s mine to deal with.”

  “You’re right to be the one to help your friend. She called you.”

  How was he going to convince her that his team wouldn’t hijack it, though? She was never going to believe he didn’t bring her here just so they could absorb her into their investigation, or hijack the search for her friend.

  “I didn’t share it with you so you could take over.”

  “That’s not what I’m doing. I want to help you.”

  “Because you have nothing better to do?”

  He couldn’t tell her why. She would get the wrong idea if she thought he was there because he had feelings for her, and that wasn’t going to help him be able to walk away later. Too much had happened between them. Too much water under the bridge, or so the saying went. It wasn’t like it would ever work, and the fact was he’d waited too long. They were past the point he could have transitioned them from friends to something more.

  He’d missed his shot with her.

  She would never be happy thousands of miles from here in a small town, and he couldn’t live in the city forever.

  After all, when he’d brought up his urge to get away, she’d barely known what he was talking about, the idea was so foreign to her.

  Sal moved closer to her. “I had no idea your friend’s disappearance was connected to our case. I thought we were just coming here to hear about the murdered guy.” But they should pool their resources, right? That would be a quicker win for everyone.

  The idea they could get the Cerium guy energized him.

  “Great. Job done, you know all about the murder and so do I.” She turned and jabbed at the button again. “Now it’s time to go find Vanessa.”

  Before the cops did?

  He was just about to say, “Fine,” when the elevator doors opened.

  Allyson flinched and took a half step back.

  Victoria, several inches shorter than Allyson, but somehow more imposing, stepped out. “She knows about Kennowich and the Cerium connection?”

  Allyson braced. “You’re not taking my case from me.” Then she stepped onto the elevator. “I don’t care who this guy is y’all are chasing.”

  Victoria’s eyes narrowed.

  Sal stepped between the open doors. He reached around to press the button that would hold the doors open and looked back at his boss. “How is Welvern doing?”

  “He’s out of surgery, and he woke up.” Her face went carefully blank. “The prognosis is good, though he’s going to have to work his way back to being fighting fit.”

  Sal nodded. Maybe Victoria was venting her frustration on Allyson, considering she wasn’t a personal friend. It was possible she was more willing to get mad when she had no connection. No camaraderie or friendship to burn. Which just made Allyson a handy punching bag.

  Was that what was happening? And were the rest of them taking their cue from her?

  It was possible there was another reason Victoria was stressed, but he didn’t know what it would b
e.

  Regardless, this was hardly the way a State Department Director should be acting. Not the first indication he’d had that Victoria wasn’t a professional politician or diplomat. She definitely had her own ways of doing things. And it was often not the wisest, most people-friendly course of action. He’d actually respected that about her.

  Was it possible to bring some harmony between the two of them?

  “We’re pooling our resources.” The last thing he wanted was to be in the middle of two strong women at odds with each other. “We need to find Allyson’s friend, and that’s not going to happen by standing around talking.”

  Victoria lifted her chin. “Keep me apprised.”

  He didn’t miss the look the two women shared before the elevator doors slid shut.

  Here he was trying to make peace, and they were just going to continue with this animosity? Honestly, that irritated him. Not that he thought his work environment had to be harmonious all the time. That wasn’t realistic. People butted heads and miscommunicated.

  But why couldn’t they figure out how to be professionals about it, rather than falling back on all that passive-aggressive stuff? They didn’t need to be friends. They just needed to get over their hang-ups enough to show each other a little more respect.

  The elevator opened in the lobby, and he stepped off the elevator.

  “Guess I’m not the only one who’s mad.”

  He turned to Allyson. “Let’s just find your friend.”

  Hopefully fast.

  Then things could go back to normal.

  Chapter 5

  “Copy that.” Sal hung up and tossed his phone into the cup holder.

  “Was that about Kennowich?”

  He shook his head. “It was the Marshal’s office in Portland, about a case from last year.”

  She’d been searching online via her phone, looking into the pharmaceutical company Bridget McNamara worked for and reading everything she could find on the man who employed her friend. Was he involved in her disappearance years ago? It wasn’t impossible, but still very unlikely.

  And until she found Vanessa to ask her, Allyson would continue to not have an answer.

  Sal gripped the wheel as he drove, the muscles of his forearms flexing. He insisted they get coffee and something to eat while they figure out a plan to find Vanessa. Allyson would’ve been fine on her own, but he made the decision. She had too much respect for him to argue with that. It was his steadiness that helped her stay calm. Despite being angry at his team, Allyson could admit—at least to herself—that maybe she was better with him here.

  It was like he was completely at peace, both with who he was and where he was. Probably also with what he was capable of. Had she ever been that sure of herself? He just had that…calm about him. In a way no one did these days. Everyone seemed to live their lives on their phones. She used hers for work but, at home, barely looked at it.

  Would it ring now? She took a second and prayed, as she did often when she needed movement on a case. However Vanessa had managed to get a call out to her, Allyson felt that window may have closed. Otherwise her friend would have tried to contact her again, right?

  So had the phone broken somehow? Or had she been captured? Maybe something else happened. Thinking of the terrible possibilities made her shudder.

  If she made contact just once more, Talia could track the call. Given what she had done to Allyson’s phone at the office, she figured the NSA analyst would know the second it started to ring. She would happily give up a little privacy for that protection.

  Besides, it wasn’t like there was anything personal on her phone.

  Every awful conclusion to a case went through her mind, a trailer of all the times she had failed. All the hurt and pain she had seen.

  That day everything erupted at the federal courthouse. The day she’d had to watch Sal get overpowered, and then fight to get the suspects back in cuffs. And then, there it was, right at the end—the grand finale of her mistakes. That split second before she’d pulled her stun gun to take down the bad guys had felt like an absolute eternity. Sal had been hit and kicked several times before she and the other ATF agents managed to get everyone off him.

  That feeling of helplessness wasn’t something she liked. The fact they both still had scars wasn’t something she liked to think about…the experiences that unfortunately connected them.

  Ugh. She’d been trying to occupy her thoughts to keep from thinking about him. But here she was, falling into that spiral of distraction because of her attraction to him. She had to stop allowing her mind to wander. After all, look at what had happened at the federal courthouse? Not that she’d been swooning over him at the time, but the fact was, she’d lost focus, and if there was ever a time she needed to focus, it was now.

  Her phone buzzed about the same time his did. When she looked down at the screen, she saw it was a group thread including her, Sal, and Talia.

  “Talia’s facial recognition program got a hit. She has Vanessa on a surveillance camera at a shopping center early this morning. She’s tracking her, trying to figure out where she went after that.”

  “Good. Let’s pray she comes up with a solid lead.”

  Allyson nodded. She knew he was a believer as well. Probably a huge part of that peace he had, and why she felt so calm around him. But it wasn’t like they shared that stuff with each other. Her own faith was pretty low key.

  “Is Talia bringing in the FBI, or is it just your team going after my friend?”

  He glanced at her, but she didn’t see what the look was. “They’ll keep her safe.”

  So maybe she’d had a tone. But that hadn’t been what she was asking for assurance on. She wanted to know that he would do what he could, not that he had faith in his team. Their friends’ opinions would tear them apart, even if they tried not to allow that to happen. She’d figured out that much, and also figured it was why he’d never asked her out.

  There would be no way to stop the wedge that would form between them. It was already there, even now. Before either of them had even voiced anything about their feelings for each other.

  She knew they had a connection. They’d been through an intense experience and shared something that involved the darkest of fears—death.

  His team didn’t get that.

  She decided then that she didn’t care if they were going to swoop in. She would get her friend to safety before they showed up. Allyson was going to keep Vanessa from winding up in their custody. If she was innocent, there was no way she’d allow Van to end up in anyone’s custody. At least as much as she could help it.

  Sal was the wild card. She didn’t know which way he would go. In the heat of the moment he was going to make what he thought was the best decision. She admired that about him, even as much as it frustrated her. He had a core of nobility that was missing in a lot of men she met—good guys and bad guys.

  He would do what he thought was right, even if she didn’t agree with it. There also wouldn’t be much she could do, considering it was just her. She’d have to combat what she could, but that would be the end of it. She wanted to work with his team about as much as they were interested in having her join them. Talk about mutual respect.

  Ally glanced out at the mountains in the distance. Maybe she should just jump on her motorcycle and take off. Get lost.

  He’d mentioned wanting to get away from it all. What had rolled through her then was...fear. Did he want to leave her?

  Allyson had to face it. “Sometimes…when I get restless…I take my motorcycle up to my dad’s cabin. It’s where he got away from everything and took time to just pray in the quiet. Seek the Lord.”

  Maybe she should do that again. Or offer the option to Sal. Maybe he could use her cabin for a weekend.

  There was something wild in him. Formidable, like the mountains. Craggy and harsh, but beautiful. Uncharted, yet solid and steady. Ugh. You’re doing it again.

  “Wilderness and the road is in my blood
. It’s what I do whenever I have time off.” He smiled at the street ahead. “I have a spot where I camp, up in the mountains. Total silence except for the breeze, and the sounds of nature. No people. No Wi-Fi.” He shot her a grin.

  She mostly figured trying to “find yourself” was a total cliché. But maybe a cliché by its very nature was based on someone’s true experience. Otherwise it wouldn’t be so universally understood, right?

  “You think that’s what people need? Like we should all take the chance to unplug?” It was a legitimate question. She didn’t feel that burning desire in her.

  “I think it’s about what your soul needs.” He spoke more softly than she’d heard him speak before. “We all have a cry in us for something. Most people either don’t know what it’s asking for, or they think they have to pack it into a two-week vacation every year. Then the rest of their lives are soul sucking. People get divorced, or they fall into addiction, all because they refuse to admit what they really need. Some people just don’t want to get off their backsides and go claim it. They settle, instead of taking the hard steps to grow.”

  Was that what she’d done? Settled. Refused to take the next hard step? “Maybe they just…don’t know how to ask. Or what to ask for.”

  Their phones both buzzed again.

  “Vanessa got into a vehicle.” Allyson read aloud. “Talia has it parked outside a house.”

  . . .

  Sal drove past the residence twice, then parked. No movement. All the blinds were drawn, which meant it could be empty or full of people, and they wouldn’t know until an army poured out with guns drawn.

  They walked together down the sidewalk. A simple holding of the hands would be the only difference between two people strolling beside each other and an official couple. If they wanted to not look like cops, they should probably grab each other’s hand. And it was on the tip of his tongue to suggest it when they reached the car.

  He’d memorized the model, color, and plates from a photo Talia sent over. So he didn’t need to check back on their text string to make sure it was the right vehicle. Not many other red nineties cars on this street. A stack of what looked like mail sat on the front seat.