Fourth Day

by Lisa Phillips

  What did you tell them when they held you?

  She needed to have Sal get those photos. Help Vanessa identify who the men were. Her friend would need to look through mug shots and probably pictures of people who worked security for Kennowich.

  “Talia.” She called the NSA analyst’s name across the room. When she had the woman’s attention, she said, “Are you looking through Kennowich’s financials to see if he paid anyone under the table—or otherwise—recently?”

  That might clue them in as to who these men were. Someone he’d hired to find and capture Vanessa. Which could lead this team to successfully track the men and capture them.

  Which could, in turn, result in the missing flash drive. Assuming they were the ones who had taken it from the alley. Perhaps that was why they’d all left the house with Vanessa in the garage. They’d gone to get the evidence she’d stolen.

  Talia tipped her head to the side. “Of course.”

  She might as well have said “Duh.” Talia didn’t wait for Allyson’s reaction to her answer. She just turned to her computer and got back to work. Vanessa sat on a couch at the far end of the room, sipping from a steaming mug.

  Still apparently busy fixing the coffee pot, Sal observed each of them. Allyson. Talia. Even Dakota and her sideways looks. What had he thought would happen when he brought her here again? He knew what the deal was. Or did he hope that one day his friends were going to magically forgive her for “letting him get hurt,” as they describe it?

  Allyson’s phone chimed with a new email. One more message to add to the bunch she had yet to read.

  But the subject line caught her attention. She swiped through and read the email, standing up as she did so. “Another smash and grab at an FFL.”

  Sal turned around. “Like the one last night?”

  “Yes.” She stowed her phone. Looked at the pad of notes on the chair beside where she’d been sitting.

  “FFL?” Niall asked.

  “It’s a Federal Firearms Licensee. Like a gun shop.” She glanced at Sal. “Someone drove another rental truck into the side of one and ran off with every gun and box of ammo they could carry.” Again.

  Dakota leaned back in her chair. “So you’ve gotta go?”

  Any other time she’d be out the door already, except for the look on Vanessa’s face. “This is my case.” And this was where she would stay. No matter that they didn’t want her here.

  She sat down, hardly able to figure out why they seemed to still hold her responsible for what had happened to Sal. Or, at least, Victoria’s interpretation of what had happened with her and Sal at the courthouse. Who knew exactly what she’d told them?

  The alternative was that he’d told them the story himself, and they came to these conclusions on their own. Either way, the consensus was that it had been all her fault. She was the one who had messed up and allowed Sal to get hurt. He’d nearly been medically retired from the marshals over that attack. Sure, she’d been hurt as well. Badly. But not like him.

  She felt the sting of guilt every day and woke up sweating to the memory of seeing him go down.

  Maybe she should go to that FFL and look around. Work with her team, not his. Her boss followed up the news about the robbery with an email. She was authorized to be here. He was fine with her looking after her friend, so long as she kept him up to date. He knew she was working on the Kennowich thing with the task force and with Vanessa’s help.

  Maybe she should give that up and let this task force work on it, go back to her regular job…maybe it was for the best.

  Then she locked eyes with Vanessa again, and all the guilt welled up again. She hadn’t been able to find her. Hadn’t been able to prevent her from being taken in the first place. Hadn’t kept her from harm years ago, or since she had first called.

  Just like Allyson hadn’t stopped the attack that led to Sal getting hurt.

  Her gaze locked with his, and he shook his head. She knew then that she was in the right place. He didn’t want her to doubt herself.

  When had she come to rely on his opinion so much? It wasn’t like she needed his approval. But being with him felt right, even if it was just about work.

  She was going to have to deal with this case for the time being.

  And then she would go back to her team.

  Her office.

  Her life.

  . . .

  Sal finally got the coffee going. “Whoever made the mess that clogged this up is going to have to answer for it on Judgment Day.”

  No one laughed. He wandered back to his desk and sat.

  Vanessa was still sipping her tea. Allyson had gone back to whatever she was writing on her notepad. He hadn’t been surprised that she’d wanted to go to the scene of a robbery. After all, hadn’t he just been thinking in the car about how they were both cops? The kind of cops who were cops. Something that might not make sense to many people. Except for cops.

  His team was a whole different breed of federal agents. He wasn’t surprised they acted frosty to Allyson. They were insulated at the best of times. It came with the territory, working on the fringes of what government agents did.

  They might have been standoffish with her, but they were professionals, weren’t they? Niall had even introduced himself.

  Victoria wasn’t there. Though, she likely knew they were here. Maybe she would stay away. Do boss things elsewhere, so she didn’t have to see Allyson. So she wouldn’t be tempted to tell her—again—how she was responsible for what happened to him.

  As if Ally was to blame.

  But no matter how many times he’d told them, they wanted someone to be culpable. They wanted a place to put the guilt they all felt about not being able to stop bad things from happening. To him. That insular way of doing things. The same thing that kept them so tight knit also meant outsiders were treated like just that. As though they didn’t belong. The team had worked together for years. They could collaborate, and had, with the FBI and Secret Service.

  For some reason, however, Allyson seemed to rub them the wrong way.

  His email chimed. A message from Dakota, one single word.

  Corner.

  He looked over at her and shook his head. He was not going to walk to the corner and “chat” with her where no one could hear them.

  She typed on her keyboard, angry stabs of her fingers. Sal’s email chimed a second later.

  It’s not about her.

  She got up and walked over there, getting a drink from the water dispenser. Sal sighed but followed. On the way, he shot Allyson a reassuring smile.

  Dakota gave him a look, lowering the tiny paper cup from her lips. “I told you I needed to talk to you.”

  He waited for her to tell him what it was.

  “It’s personal.”

  “So spit it out.” He folded his arms.

  Her expression changed, and he realized it really was personal.

  He’d been sighing a lot recently and felt the need to do it again. “What is it?”

  Maybe there was something wrong between her and Josh. Or she’d developed an allergy to Neema. Were there problems?

  Dakota crushed the paper cup and tossed it in the trash. When she turned back, it was a second before she lifted her gaze to his. “Will you give me away, at the wedding?”

  “Like the father of the bride thing? That stuff?”

  She shrugged, and he saw a lack of surety she’d never possessed before. Proof that emotions clouded a person’s judgment. But she seemed to be fine with it. No, thank you. He wasn’t interested in being overcome by feelings. He had work to do, so he could get on with his life.

  “You really want me to do it?”

  She shrugged again, realized what she was doing, and stepped back. “Who else am I going to ask? You’re, like, my oldest friend.”

  “Wow. That’s kind of sad for you.”

  She didn’t laugh.

  Would he really be able to do it? Give her away. Let her go. Gift her to someone else
so that she could move on and go live her happy life. The loss was palpable. In a way he hadn’t anticipated.

  Sal lifted his free hand and rubbed at the ache in his chest.

  Dakota crossed the couple feet between them and clasped his elbows. “Please? I don’t want to walk down the aisle by myself.” I need you. She didn’t say it, but the words hung between them nonetheless. She might even be a little bit scared.

  You’re my oldest friend.

  Sal touched her shoulders, leaned down, and planted a kiss on her forehead. “Sure.”

  Dakota let out a whoop.

  “He said yes?” Talia asked.

  Niall grinned over at him. “Never had a doubt.”

  Sal walked across the office again, where he poured him and Ally coffee. The rest of them could get it themselves, for all the emotional upheaval they put him through.

  As he walked back to Ally, Talia tapped a tablet on the edge of her desk. “It’s ready for you.”

  He handed Ally the cup of coffee, then motioned for her to go with him. Sal grabbed the tablet he’d had Talia load with pictures. Only some of them were mug shots. The rest were headshots from the employee page of the website for Kennowich’s pharmaceutical company.

  He pulled over a chair for himself. Allyson sat with Vanessa on the couch. “I’m going to show you a series of pictures.”

  He showed her the first photo.

  Vanessa giggled.

  Sal looked at the screen. It was a picture of him from high school—at a bull-riding championship if he wasn’t mistaken.

  “Can you tell me if you see anyone in here who was at the house where you were held?”

  Vanessa nodded.

  Ally leaned close but otherwise didn’t interfere. As though she trusted him to be careful with her friend.

  He saw the second Vanessa recognized one.

  “Him.”

  He shifted the screen so he could see it. “Can you confirm for us whether this was the man?”

  “His name is Peter Tines.” She shivered but nodded. “He is the leader. He’s also Kennowich’s head of security.”

  Sal turned back to Talia. She nodded and got to work. The NSA analyst would look for him, find out where he’d been recently. If they could place him at the house somehow, they could probably get a warrant for his phone. But then they would have to go before the judge and convince him this was worth pursuing.

  They had two big issues right now. First was the flash drive, and the second was what Kennowich was planning.

  “Can you tell me what Kennowich is planning?”

  Dakota strode over. “Telling us is your best course of action. Because the alternative is that we need the flash drive. And the fastest way for us to find out if they still have it is for you to get taken again.”

  Allyson shot to her feet. “You want to use her as bait?”

  Dakota shrugged while Vanessa glanced between them.

  “I cannot believe you just said that to the victim of a kidnapping.” Ally fisted her hands by her sides. “If anyone’s going to be bait, it’ll be a federal agent who looks like her.”

  Dakota’s gaze hardened. “Of course, that’s what I meant.”

  Ally rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right.”

  Sal didn’t believe it either. But he also didn’t need them fighting. Especially not if it meant he’d be in the middle of it.

  Ally sat back down. “Please tell us what Kennowich has planned. What is it that he’s going to do?”

  “You don’t think I can be bait?” Vanessa frowned. “You’d catch them, right?”

  Sal said, “It wouldn’t be you. It would be a decoy.” Neither he nor Allyson would risk an untrained innocent.

  “They’d never fall for that.” Vanessa swallowed. “Peter knows me too well.”

  Sal figured that with him and Allyson working together, they could make it work with a decoy. It was an out-there plan, but Allyson was good at that kind of thing. And it would be a chance for his team to see what a valuable asset she was. Then maybe they’d see what was so obvious to him. They were all entirely too quick to believe the lie that she somehow could have prevented what had happened to him.

  Vanessa lifted her chin. “The only way they’ll believe it is if they see me. You can be close by, and then move in.”

  Allyson was already shaking her head, before Vanessa even finished. “No, I don’t want to risk you like that. I lost you once, and I don’t want that to happen again.”

  “I know.” Vanessa nodded. “Then keep me safe, because I want to do this.”

  Chapter 10

  Even as much as Allyson strained to see, she couldn’t make out the inside of the other SUV. The one where Vanessa was being wired up. Ready to be sent out to face the same wolves who had held her captive in that hot garage.

  On top of not being able to see, Allyson had also been stuck with Dakota and her almost-family. “I don’t like this.”

  “Did anyone say you needed to like it?”

  She didn’t turn from the window. Not even to shoot her the evil eye so Dakota would know she was mad, even though otherwise not bothered. By Dakota, or how she’d decided she felt about Allyson.

  “So you’ll needlessly risk an innocent person just to get a result on a case?” Allyson pressed her lips together, then said, “Good to know that’s the kind of team you have.”

  “Victoria signed off on it.”

  “I’m well aware of that, considering I was standing there when you put her on speakerphone to tell everyone the same thing. That doesn’t make it right.” Allyson huffed without a sound, so Dakota didn’t hear it and think she was immature, or something. “If she says jump, do you all ask how high?”

  “Yes.”

  Allyson turned to her then. Yep. She’d heard the right tone in Dakota’s voice. On top of that, the woman sat in the front seat and had a totally straight face. “Vanessa has been through enough already. You saw as much for yourself. This is too much.”

  Not to mention it wasn’t right. No matter that they were following the orders of their boss, they were still risking Vanessa. Dakota didn’t seem to even care that a woman would be in danger. Whatever it took to get the result. Was that who they were?

  She needed to ask Sal. There had to be extenuating circumstances or security protocols she wasn’t seeing. Something they hadn’t clued her in on that would justify this recklessness.

  He was here somewhere. In fact, so were the rest of Sal’s entire team—minus Victoria.

  Allyson glanced again at Dakota. “Don’t you guys have other open cases?” As soon as Victoria gave them the word, it was like they had nothing better to do than get in the middle of her thing.

  “This is the biggest case we’ve ever worked.”

  “So you’ll risk everything to get a result? Even someone’s life.”

  Dakota stared her down instead of answering the question.

  Just because this woman, and her colleagues, were so sure about it didn’t mean Allyson had to approve. Vanessa was barely out of the hospital and now they were putting this on her. Yes, she volunteered. But wasn’t it, in fact, their job to keep her safe, regardless of what she wanted?

  Sal understood that. She knew he did. He was a US Marshal and knew what it took to adequately protect someone. But he wasn’t here to argue about it with her. He was in the car with Vanessa, Haley, and Niall. She was here with Josh—in the front seat—and Dakota. And the dog, asleep behind Allyson’s seat.

  The dog was ignoring her, as Josh had said she would. Because she was not part of Neema’s pack, and neither was she a threat. Apparently, those were the only two reasons for the animal to pay attention to her.

  All the dogs Allyson knew were bite dogs. She’d seen them train and didn’t like the idea that Neema might suddenly decide she was a threat. Like maybe because Dakota indicated she was. She liked dogs. Cute ones, like the little retriever her father had found in the churchyard. Thin and injured. It had snarled at him until he’d won it
over.

  Allyson didn’t want a dog that was aggressive. She also didn’t want something that couldn’t defend itself. Which meant stalemate.

  She was still on the fence about the whole thing. Maybe she should ask Sal. No. She made a face to the window again. She didn’t need to confer with Sal every time, about everything.

  Besides, tonight was about getting Vanessa safe. Finally.

  “Did you know this was all about an internship?”

  Vanessa had escaped, been abducted, and then escaped again. What more did she have to go through before this was over? It was past time for her to be free of this man for the first time in nearly a decade.

  “What?” That was Josh. He twisted in the front seat to look back at her.

  “Kennowich had her interning for him in college. Then he basically lured her to full time.” Allyson blew out a breath. She didn’t want to say it, but they had to understand the stakes. “Who knows what he employed to persuade her—or force her—to be loyal.”

  Dakota turned in the front seat and glanced at her. “You know, it’s pretty hilarious that you don’t want to risk an ‘innocent’ right now. Especially considering how fast and loose you usually play it.”

  “You mean four years ago, the last time we worked anywhere near each other?” It wasn’t possible that she’d changed since then? That day at the courthouse had flipped her life inside out. She would never forget seeing Sal go down and realizing it could result in the worst outcome, fast.

  “We know you, and the kind of cop you are.”

  And apparently, they didn’t like any of it. “I guess you do.”

  Allyson wasn’t going to bother arguing with her. The whole group of them had made their minds up about who she was and that it had all been her fault.

  She’d thought long and hard about that day at the courthouse since then. It was the last time she’d spent more than one night at her dad’s cabin. Not coming down off that mountain until God had given her an answer. Absolution. Forgiveness. Direction. She’d been like Jacob, wrestling with the angel. But instead of refusing to let go until he blessed her, she hadn’t gone home until he gave her an answer.