by J. M. Madden
"Yes, sir," she laughed, pulling her computer out again.
The next time she looked up they were getting off on the Fourth Street exit and heading toward the prosecuting attorney's office. It was a Monday afternoon and things were still hopping, but no one had parked in her parking spot. She glanced at him as they got out of the car. "Um."
Parker seemed to anticipate what she was going to say. "I'm sticking with you. It's that easy. You've had two attempts on your life. You might want me to stay here but it's not going to happen that way, so get used to it."
Andromeda grinned slightly, loving this flash of ego. "I didn't think you would listen, but I had to try. Come on."
The guards at the security checkpoint gave her a funny look as she walked in, and she realized they'd never seen her in anything but a business suit. She pulled her ID tag from her messenger bag. "You can see who I am. And he's with me. Give him a visitor tag."
They did as they were told and didn't even blink as his weapon set off the metal detector. Parker held his arms up obligingly for the scanner, then moved on when they waved him through. Andromeda was impressed with the extra steps the security people were taking right now. All of the recent deaths had to be setting people on edge.
She received more second glances, then third glances as they turned to look at her shadow in black. Leading him down a hallway, she unlocked her office and stepped inside, then relocked the door. Parker looked at her curiously.
"I have a change of clothes here."
Crossing to the coat rack in the corner she grabbed a plastic wrapped hanger. "I'm sorry. Can you turn around?"
Parker lifted his brows in surprise. "Really? It's not like I haven't seen your delectable body before."
Andromeda laughed lightly, then shrugged. "Okay."
Shrugging off her shirt, she tossed it across a chair in the corner. She wore a nice pink lace bra. It cupped her breasts like it was supposed to, but still gave her room to move. Parker huffed out a breath and she had to hide a smile. This was what he'd wanted.
Andromeda removed the blouse from the hanger and slipped it on. The bra was too dark for the cream-colored blouse, but it would have to do. She would keep her jacket on over top of it.
Turning, she pushed her jeans over her hips and tossed them in the direction of the discarded t-shirt. Then she pulled the black pants from the hangar and slipped them on. Yeah, so maybe she took her time… a little. A few extra seconds teasing Parker wasn't going to make a difference in the day.
Within just a couple of minutes she had her armor on and was ready to walk into war. Grabbing up her computer bag, she stopped in front of Parker. Without a word she went up on tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips, then let herself out of her office.
Mike was in his own office. She knocked on the doorjamb but the man behind the desk was a little busy. He waved her in and to a chair in front of his desk. Even as he continued to talk to the person on the other end of the line, his gaze tracked Parker as he entered the room behind her. Then he looked back at Andromeda.
"I don't think that's going to work, but I'll let you know."
He hung up the phone, then pulled a sheaf of papers from a stack at his right. He handed them to her.
Andromeda looked at the two-page transcript from the phone conversation. Surely they knew they were monitored while they were in jail? Even when they spoke Farsi, there was an interpreter on duty. When things had started heating up around their city, the county government considered it a necessary expense to hire an interpreter for things exactly like this.
"Oh. Parker Quinn, this is my boss, Mike Maddox."
Neither of the men moved to shake hands, which she thought was a little curious, but she didn't push it. Her eyes continued to scan the words.
'Did you read the paper this morning?'
'No.'
'Seems like there is more evidence that the police have. If you had completed your task like you were supposed to, they never would have seen your face and we could have disavowed your actions. Dalir lived up to his name. He was brave and completed the task given him. He honored our family name. You are threatening that.'
'My apologies, Father. I only wanted...'
'I don't care what you wanted. It only matters that we honor the State. You acted rashly and without family support. Now you will deal with the consequences. Whatever happens to you happens. I disavow you.'
'No, Father. Wait!'
'No, Mozi. You have had many chances to honor the family like your brothers have, but instead you persist in behaving like a lazy asshole, looking for the easy way to do things. You have shamed us too many times. If you have any respect for us at all, you will take yourself from this earth.'
'Father!'
'I am not your father any longer, you cursed child. We will continue our campaign against the infidels without you.'
'Father! No!'
END OF CALL
Andromeda looked up at Mike, excitement vibrating through her as she handed the sheaf of papers to Parker to read. "This is perfect! Where is he? I want to talk to him. He waived his right to further counsel, correct?"
Mike nodded. "He did. After Mozi signed the plea agreement, he told his counsel to leave, and he's been in the interview room cooling his heels since then, waiting for you."
Andromeda stood up. Parker handed her the transcript back and she arranged it into her messenger bag next to her computer. "Did you run Dalir al Fareq?"
Mike handed her another set of papers. "Supposedly as clean as his brother. But it sounds like he may have been the one driving at the Christmas parade."
"Yes, that makes sense."
She looked up at Parker, and he gave her a grin and a nod. As the three of them walked down the hallway to the interview room, she tried to order her thoughts. Even though his family had disavowed him, he might still try to protect them, unless she could make him so angry that he chose the opposite path.
Chapter 14
Before she opened the door Andromeda took in a long breath. Her heart was thumping with excitement because she had been working toward this for months. So much was riding on this interview.
"You'll have to wait out here," Mike told Parker.
"Not happening." Parker told him flatly. "I don't care what you say. She," he pointed a finger at Andromeda, "is not going in there without protection."
"I'll be with her," Mike said placatingly.
Parker gave him a long up and down look and crossed his arms. "Exactly."
Oh, shit!
"You two need to quit. I don't need this right now." She looked at Mike. "Parker goes in with me."
His expression coldly furious, Mike nodded once in agreement. "Fine. It's your call. If he breaks his muzzle it's on you."
Grinning, Parker leaned in and snapped his strong white teeth at Mike, making the other man jump back. Andromeda would have laughed if it wouldn't have been mean to Mike. This was the Parker she remembered from years ago.
Parker stepped into the room and scanned every square inch. It had a decent view of the Scioto River and concrete, and that was it. He doubted the young man handcuffed to the table cared about the view, though. Crossing to the man Parker pulled his chair away from his ass and stood him on his feet, then started to search him. The man was cranked over the table and started cursing, but Parker continued. He found what he was looking for in the bottom hem of the tan jail uniform shirt. Working the small hard thing with his fingers, he pulled it from the fabric. A paperclip had been straightened and inserted into the heavier hem fabric, camouflaging it. Parker handed the modified clip to Mike, then continued to search. He found a second, similarly bent piece of metal in the hem of the white t-shirt he wore beneath the tan, this time in the back hem. He handed that one to Mike as well.
The prosecuting attorney glared, but not necessarily at him. "Two of them?"
"One in front and one in back, useful for either way he's cuffed."
Parker 'helped' the gentleman back into his cha
ir and scooted him tight to the table, then stood back one foot and off to the side just a bit. He had a perfect view of every move the man could make.
Andromeda, looking beautiful and strong, sat across the table from Mozi and began removing papers and her computer from her bag. There was a raised electronic bank in the center of the table and she flipped a couple of switches.
"Thank you for choosing to speak to me, Mr. al Fareq. I know this hasn't been an easy process for you. I'm sure you remember my name is Andromeda Pierce. I've been prosecuting your case. And this is Mr. Michael Maddox, lead prosecutor."
Mozi muttered something under his breath and Andromeda looked at him, then down at her notes. "Now, since you've waived your right to further counsel, do you consent to speak to us without representation?"
The young man glared at her but didn't say anything.
Andromeda smiled patiently, unruffled. "Mr. al Fareq, you have to agree or disagree verbally. This conversation is being recorded."
"Yes," he hissed. "I consent, jendeh."
Parker's anger spiked as the punk called her a slut, but Andromeda didn't even blink, just continued to unpack her bag. Finally, she set a pen on top of a legal pad and smiled. "Now, then. I know you're very angry right now, but you really are doing the right thing. If we had gone to court you would have been even more publicly humiliated than you already are. I mean, I appreciate that you were trying to honor your family and the Islamic State by pulling off the attack on the art fair, but even you have to admit it was pretty lame. I mean, did you think that you and the bomb you put together would actually blow up? Our techs looked at it and the timer wasn't even wired into the explosive. Were you aware of that?"
"Kiram too un dahane sag gaaeedat."
Fuck your dog raped mouth. That was a good insult, Parker thought, but not in relation to his woman.
He glanced at Andromeda, but she gave him the tiniest shake of her head.
"Mr. al Fareq can insult me all he wants, if that's what he just did. It's not going to change the fact that he fucked up and his family has washed their hands of him." She looked directly at Mozi. "Doesn't that piss you off that you are basically giving your life for a family that won't even recognize you? Why are you protecting them?"
"You have no concept of honor,” the young man snapped.
"Mm," Andromeda looked down at her notes. "But I bet your brother did. Dalir. He was the one that drove the truck in the Christmas Parade, wasn't he?"
Mozi glared at her, disgust curling his lips. His dark eyes blazed with fury. "Yes, kusi, and he will be blessed beyond measure for ridding the earth of unbelievers and supporting the Islamic State."
Andromeda frowned, tilting her head. "Those children were noncombatants, which makes your brother's actions an insult to Allah."
Mozi rattled his cuffs against the metal loop they were connected to in the center of the table. "They don't matter. They were part of the coalition fighting the Islamic State. My brother will be blessed, and I will be blessed. We are doing as we are commanded."
"How will you be blessed, Mozi?"
He clamped his lips and looked out the window, anger sitting heavily upon his young brow.
Parker looked at Andromeda. She was in her element. There was an excited light in her eyes that couldn't be tamped down.
"So, what were you plans when you drove the truck through the crowd, Mozi?"
"I wanted to kill as many people as I could, because they are enemies of the Islamic State."
Andromeda gave him a condescending smile, and her expression turned sympathetic. "Ah, but you didn't, did you? You completely botched your lone wolf attack. And you got taken down by a lowly security guard, a mall cop. Isn't that embarrassing? Will ISIS disavow you as well as your family?"
Parker actually heard the young man's teeth grinding in his mouth, but he didn't say anything. But Andromeda didn’t seem bothered.
"So, let's get down to brass tacks, Mozi. Your plea agreement stipulates that you will name your co-conspirators, and those of the Christmas Parade attack. So let’s get to it. Your brother Dalir carried out the attack on the Christmas parade, but who planned it?"
"We all planned it. There is shared glory in a goal achieved, and we wanted to kill as many Americans as we could."
"So your father supports ISIS as well, and your mother. What about your three sisters, and the rest of your brothers?"
He shook his head. "We will all be blessed. You Americans have no chance against us, because we will attack you when and where we want. We are all soldiers and we will sow terror."
Andromeda leaned forward, intent. "But will they remember your name? Will the Islamic State remember you as a nameless bumbler who screwed up an easy job? If you give me the names of your co-conspirators, only then you will receive the glory you deserve, because you will be standing up for what you believe in. And you will bring them glory because they've fought their fight. They will be given credit for the attack on the Christmas parade that killed so many."
That seemed to make Mozi think. Parker had to admire Andromeda's craftiness.
"Your family members will be recognized as fighting for the Islamic State,” she told him. “That's what you want, right?"
He blinked, and when Mozi looked down at his hand, Parker knew she had him. Andromeda began to list names. Parker recognized the names of Mozi's family. When Mozi answered yes to every name, she nodded. "These are your co-conspirators in the attack that killed nine children, correct?"
"Yes."
"And who of them helped you plan the art fair attack?"
"Ibrahim, my younger brother. We walked the path I was to drive the week before but there were barriers put in the way I was going to go. I had to work around them."
With the Islamic State encouraging truck and semi attacks against pedestrians, many cities had adopted the practice of placing concrete barriers at venue entrances and exits to keep people safe. Parker was sure, though, that they would come up with some other devious way to kill innocent civilians.
It took them an hour to interview Mozi, but at the end of that time they had a list of fifteen people. As well as the incredibly important addresses. Now they knew where they were.
"Mozi, they will talk about you in videos and on Bayan."
Mozi's eyes lit with a fanatic heat at the mention of the Islamic State radio station, and he nodded his head.
The three of them left the room after that and Mike called a deputy to transport Mozi back to jail. "I've already called the jail administrator and they're going to place him in Administrative Segregation for his own protection until he's shipped out to prison, which should be within the next few days. The judge has already signed off on the plea deal."
Andromeda nodded, then looked at Parker. "Thank you for not stepping in when he was insulting me. I've been called worse than a whore or slut before. I didn't catch the other one, though. Something about a dog?"
Parker looked at her, brow raised. She'd known what he'd said? "I'd rather not repeat it."
She smiled slightly and nodded.
It didn’t surprise Parker that she’d understood some of the language. Andromeda had a passion for her job that would make her acquaint herself with every aspect of a case. She wouldn’t allow a language barrier to impede her progress.
When they returned to Mike's office he made a copy of the list of names and addresses Mozi had given them. "I already notified both Columbus PD and Franklin County that we might need their SWAT teams to execute warrants. I'll call Judge Aviano and get warrants on these people within the hour. Hopefully, if the al Fareq family is as bright as the son, they'll stay exactly where they are and just wait for us to come get them."
Andromeda laughed. "Somehow I doubt it will be that easy."
Chapter 15
They had warrants in hand within thirty minutes, and after a joint planning meeting with the sheriff’s office and the PD, multiple teams went out to serve the warrants and bring Mozi's conspirators in. Park
er watched the men plan and offered a few pertinent suggestions, which were received and implemented. Once they realized he'd been a SEAL doing insertions just like this for so many years, and that he spoke several different dialects of Middle Eastern languages, they asked him to ride along.
He said yes without a moment of hesitation, then snapped his mouth shut so that he didn't let out a mighty yell of excitement. It had been years since he'd been in on a plan like this, and in spite of the amount of pain he was in, he was going to go.
Andromeda gave him a conspiratorial smile, as if she knew he felt like a kid that had just been told he was going to Disney World. He leaned over to whisper in her ear. "Where can you go while I'm doing this?"
"I'll go to my condo. Roz and Mac are there waiting for me. The people that attacked me in the garage couldn't get onto the elevator because they didn't have a resident’s card. Once I'm in my condo I'll be fine."
Parker nodded. "You're probably right."
"Besides," she continued. "Mike had the chief put officers on my building."
Okay, that made him feel a lot better about the situation. As excited as he was about being invited into the SWAT command vehicle while the warrants were being served, he didn't lose sight of the fact that Andromeda was his priority. Since Mozi had taken the plea agreement, they would no longer need Mac to testify in court against him. It was smart for Andromeda to keep him close, though, just in case.
She looked up at him, her big golden eyes concerned. Even without makeup she was beautiful to him, and the worry in those eyes for him made his feel… humble.
"I suggest that you take one of those pain pills Roz gave you before you go out. It's hard to tell what you'll get into."
Parker loved that she was comfortable with him doing this. He was a long ways from running raids like he used to, but it was satisfying to be included even in a peripheral way. If he could help the SWAT teams with communication, he absolutely would. And it would keep up his end of the deal with Lambert. He would be exposing this sleeper cell of terrorists and putting them out of business.