by Carsen Taite
“And what’s that?”
“We need to set a trap.”
“And how exactly do you plan to do that?”
“That’s your job. And I don’t have a clue, but we’ll figure it out together. In the meantime, I’ll distract him as best I can while the rest of you will need to gather more information about his activities.” She turned to Peyton. “We can set up a regular meeting here, right?”
“Sure,” Peyton said. “We’d be happy to have you join in at our regular poker game.”
Sydney smiled and shot a look across the table at Tanner, whose expression was mostly unreadable, except for the slight strain behind her eyes. It was clear her presence here made Tanner uncomfortable, but there was nothing she could do about it even if she wanted to. And she wasn’t sure she wanted to.
Chapter Three
“Agent Cohen, isn’t it true you threatened my client in an attempt to gain his cooperation?”
Tanner started to say, “That’s Special Agent,” but she knew he was baiting her. Instead she leaned back in the uncomfortable witness chair and took a moment to size up Enrique Garza aka Razor’s attorney. She’d come up against this guy in court several times before, but he obviously hadn’t learned from the experience. A veteran of the courtroom would’ve taken his time, asking more specific questions to lead up to the conclusion he wanted to draw instead of leading with the overarching issue. His carelessness or impatience was to her benefit. She kept her tone even as she leaned forward slightly to speak into the microphone. “No, that is not true.”
“But you offered him witness protection, isn’t that right?”
Tanner cast a quick glance in Sydney’s direction and noted her nod before answering. “I explained to him that we could explore WITSEC as a potential option to assist him with his legal troubles.”
“And I imagine that you explained another, less palatable option as well.”
Tanner cocked her head. “I’m sorry, was there supposed to be a question there?” She looked at the judge and hunched her shoulders. She wasn’t sorry, and in front of a different judge, she might not let a hint of sarcasm invade her tone, but she and Judge Casey knew each other well and she knew exactly how far she could go before he’d admonish her to keep her remarks to herself.
“You threatened to put out the word that he’d cooperated even if he didn’t, a move that would place my client’s life in jeopardy. Isn’t that correct?” He overemphasized each word of the last sentence to punctuate his frustration.
“I’m confused,” she said, making a show of scratching her head. “If your client wasn’t working for the Vargases, then why would his life be in jeopardy?” She shrugged. “In any case, the answer is no. I didn’t threaten your client.” She delivered the lie coolly and calmly. This entire hearing was a colossal waste of time. Razor was well known as an enforcer for the Vargases. He’d tried to kidnap Bianca’s daughter, thwarted only by the quick thinking of Jade Vargas. They’d caught him in the act of a capital offense—no confession necessary. What she’d questioned him about at the hospital—the location of Jade’s horse and where Sergio Vargas was holed up—was extraneous as far as Razor’s fate was concerned. If he’d stuck to the deal, then he’d be able to live out the rest of his days in freedom, but he’d made the choice to go back on his word. Not her problem, and she wasn’t about to confess to strong-arming him when she’d essentially been offering him a way out of his troubles.
The back-and-forth continued for a bit longer, but eventually Razor’s attorney decided he wasn’t getting anything else out of her. Dismissed from the witness stand, Tanner stayed in the courtroom and watched as he and Sydney made their best arguments to the judge, who told them he would take the matter under consideration. As the bailiff yelled, “All rise,” Tanner slid out of her seat and ducked out of the courtroom, running smack into Bianca.
“Running from the law?” Bianca laughed. “Oh wait!”
“You’re hilarious,” Tanner said. “You have a hearing right now?”
“No, I was in Niven’s court, but I finished up early and thought I’d check on you. How did it go?”
“Okay, I guess. I never know how these things will work out until the judge rules. We’ll probably hear later this week.”
“And Sydney? She do okay?”
Tanner shifted her feet and glanced back at the courtroom doors. “Sure. She was fine.”
“Fine, huh? Faint praise. When are you going to warm up to her? I admit, I wasn’t keen on adding a stranger to the team, but Peyton vouches for her and she seems pretty on top of things.”
At that moment, Sydney burst through the doors and started walking toward them. Tanner looked everywhere but directly at her, planning an escape route, but Bianca enthusiastically waved her over. As Sydney walked toward them, Tanner let her gaze stray up Sydney’s long, well-toned legs. Sydney had always been athletic. They’d spent hours in the gym and the racquetball court during law school, making a game out of quizzing each other over what they’d learned in class between sets, each of them preferring to work out with a partner instead of going solo. Clearly, Sydney still kept up some kind of exercise routine. Did she have a workout buddy back in DC? Was it a girlfriend?
“Tanner says it went fine. What say you?” Bianca asked Sydney.
“Fine, huh?” Sydney looked at Tanner, her gaze appraising. “I don’t know this judge, but I’d say we have a better than even chance of winning the hearing. Never hurts to have an attorney on the stand.”
Bianca’s face scrunched into a frown, and Tanner shook her head, but before she could deflect, Bianca said, “Excuse me?”
Sydney looked between them, wearing a confused expression. “What?”
“Tanner’s not an attorney.” Bianca turned to Tanner. “Are you?”
“Kind of.”
“She is.” Sydney nodded.
“Which is it?” Bianca asked, looking between them.
Tanner cleared her throat. “I went to law school before I joined the agency. I’m still licensed. Obviously, I don’t practice law, but yeah, I’m a lawyer.” She watched Bianca for her reaction, but Bianca was staring at Sydney.
“And you knew this? How?”
“Long story,” Tanner interjected, tugging Bianca by the arm. She wanted to get her far away from Sydney before more secrets of her past leaked, but Bianca stood firm. “Wait a sec,” she said. “I want to hear from her, because if she’s digging around in everyone’s past, then maybe I misjudged our ability to trust her.”
Tanner looked at Sydney and saw sympathy reflected back, but what she couldn’t tell was whether Sydney cared if Bianca knew their story.
Sydney faced Bianca head-on and it was her turn to lie, apparently. “I reviewed Tanner’s file as part of my prep for the hearing so I could make sure she didn’t have any prior disciplinary actions that defense counsel could use to challenge her credibility.”
Bianca stared at Sydney for a moment and then broke into a smile. “Sorry about that. I have a tendency to leap ahead. I should’ve known it wasn’t anything. Hey, do the two of you want to grab lunch?”
Tanner watched the exchange with a mixture of relief and regret. On the one hand, it would’ve been nice to get the fact that she and Sydney had been a couple once out in the open, but on the other hand, she kind of preferred to hang on to the hope that she’d never have to deal with it.
“Actually,” Sydney said, “I need to go over some of my notes from the hearing with Tanner, and I don’t want to raise any conflicts by involving any of the rest of you. Rain check?”
“Absolutely,” Bianca said. “Catch you both later.”
As Bianca walked away, Tanner decided to act fast. “I should go too. We can talk later, right?” She was a step into her escape when Sydney’s silky but firm voice stopped her retreat.
“No, Special Agent Cohen. We need to talk and it can’t wait.”
* * *
They were early enough to be seated right away at Ste
phan Pyle’s popular Flora Street Cafe, located in what Tanner told her was the Arts District. Sydney took a moment to look around and size up her surroundings. They’d walked from the courthouse, and Tanner had barely spoken two words along the way. When they finally entered the doors of the restaurant, Sydney’s first thought was this wasn’t the kind of place she would have assumed Tanner would like, but then again it had been years since she and Tanner had shared a meal. People changed.
In some respects. Tanner was still the trim, fit, beautiful woman Sydney had fallen in love with, but her eyes were harder now, as if she’d witnessed things she’d rather not have seen, which was saying a lot since she’d done a tour in Afghanistan before they’d even met. Sydney was well acquainted with the effect atrocities could have on a person’s psyche. She’d seen plenty in her time as a prosecutor, but working out in the field like Tanner did took a deeper toll, and she wished she could go back in time and do a better job of convincing Tanner to chart a different course for her life.
“This place okay?” Tanner asked as the hostess led them to a booth.
“Looks great.” Sydney settled into her seat and half listened to the hostess who was giving them a preview of the specials. When she finally left, Sydney waved a hand. “Seems a little froufrou for you.”
“Oh really,” Tanner said, eyebrows raised. “I thought you liked froufrou. The chef’s really popular with the foodie crowd.”
Sydney chose not to dwell on the assumption that Tanner had picked this place especially for her, obviously remembering her love of all things food. “There are a lot of things I used to like.” Sydney immediately regretted her choice of words, but rather than compound the implication, she buried her head in her menu. “What’s good here?”
“The lobster and the prime rib sandwiches are both solid bets, but you’re definitely going to want to start with the white asparagus soup.”
“Really?”
“Are you surprised these things are good or that I know they’re good?” Tanner set her menu down. “So what if I used to live on hamburgers and you used to be on the way up at one of the biggest firms in the country. Lots of things have changed for both of us.”
They placed their orders and Syd fiddled with her iced tea while she worked up to what she wanted to talk about. Tanner sat perfectly still, but Syd could tell she was simultaneously casing the place and her. Unable to bear the silence, Syd asked the one thing she wanted to know the most. “Are you happy?”
Tanner inclined her head and studied her thoughtfully. “That’s a tall question. Care to break it down a bit, counselor?”
“Never mind.” She’d had no right to ask the question. Tanner’s personal life was none of her business.
“Did you really bring me here to ask if I’m happy?”
“No. Yes.” Sydney shook her head. “I mean, both. I have a million things to ask you, but it’s hard to do when you seem to be trying your best to avoid me.”
“I never expected to see you again.”
Tanner’s voice cracked slightly as she delivered the words, but her expression was impassive. Sydney fiddled with her napkin, trying to decide if she wanted to keep going. “I can’t decide if you’re happy or sad about that.”
“I’m not sure how I feel, but I didn’t have much time to prepare. But you did. Do you think maybe you could’ve called to let me know you were coming out here?”
Sydney took a sip of her tea. She’d seen Tanner’s name in the file while she was still in DC, albeit within moments of boarding the plane to Dallas. She’d considered calling but settled on a very rational reason not to—she didn’t have time to track down Tanner’s number, and even if she did, the airport setting had too much ambient noise to allow them to conduct any kind of conversation. But the truth was a long-distance phone call to her ex-lover to say, “Hey, I’m on my way to your neck of the woods to help out with a secret investigation into the guy who’s running your task force, and oh, by the way, looking forward to catching up,” seemed insincere, not to mention crazy. She settled on a simple response. “Would you have taken my call?”
Tanner looked down at the table. “I don’t know. I put everything about us so far behind me I never imagined I’d have the chance to talk to you again.” She stared at her water glass as if it were an oracle. “There was a time when a call from you would’ve brought me running.”
Sydney wanted to ask when that was. Was it before or after Tanner had cleared out all of her belongings from the apartment they’d shared? Or was it later, after she’d entered the academy at Quantico? Tanner’s words, which in another context would have warmed her heart, magnified how far they’d drifted apart. The chunk of time when Tanner had loved her more than anything had passed long ago, and now they were just two women who shared a past but had no future.
“You said you wanted to talk. So, talk,” Tanner said.
Sydney drew back in her seat and placed her hands in her lap. Tanner clearly didn’t want to discuss anything personal, and that was for the best, but they needed to clear the air if they were going to work together and she said as much. “So, I don’t care what you tell your colleagues as long as we’re on the same page.”
“They don’t need to know specifics, but it’s probably a good idea to mention we know each other from law school. I already feel a little silly that we didn’t bring it up already.”
“Agreed. The sooner, the better. You handle Bianca. That girl is a pistol and if she weren’t in a relationship, I think she’d have a thing for you. If she knew we’d been a couple, she’d probably beat me up.”
“Especially if she found out you broke up with me,” Tanner said. “Don’t mind her. She’s super loyal, but she wouldn’t hurt you too badly.”
“If that were true.”
“What?”
“I didn’t break up with you,” Sydney said, her eyes wide with surprise.
“You gave me an ultimatum, which is pretty much the same thing.”
“There was no ultimatum. I asked you to put our relationship before anything else.”
“You asked me to choose between a career that would make me happy and one that would crush my soul, and you made our relationship contingent on my choice. If that wasn’t an ultimatum, I don’t know what is.”
Sydney stared at Tanner for a moment, certain that pursuing this argument would be pointless for both of them but desperate to dissect their past. When all the anger and misunderstanding was stripped away, she could think of only one thing she really wanted to know. She’d already asked it, but she tried one more time. “Are you happy?”
“Happiness is overrated.”
“Said only the unhappy people.”
“Are you?”
“Happy?” Sydney took a moment to reflect. “Comparatively.”
“Could you be any more vague?”
“Probably.” Sydney offered a smile to try to lighten the mood. “I have a job I like, a few good friends, and I’m healthy. Is there more to life than that?”
“I guess not.” Tanner relaxed back in her seat. “About this job. Any chance you want to fill me in on how you went from the partnership track at Chamblee and Ives to scrubbing it with the rest of us on a government salary?”
She wanted to tell Tanner everything. How she’d spent four years working her ass off and the only thing she’d had to show for it was exhaustion and compromised ethics, but she wasn’t in the mood for an “I told you so” from Tanner, who’d never hesitated to sacrifice personal gain when duty called. She distilled everything down to a simple conclusion. “That life just wasn’t for me.”
Tanner’s slow nod was a gentle acknowledgment of the truth she’d known all along but Syd had to trip over to find. What would her life be like now if she’d taken the shorter path?
She’d never know.
Chapter Four
Sydney studied the bulletin board in the office break room while she waited for the coffee to brew. The space between the usual workplace notices a
bout OSHA and family medical leave was dotted with random posts: free kittens to a good home, a Ford F-150 pickup for sale, a house for lease by a DEA agent on assignment out of the country for the next year. The post about the house made her think about her apartment back in Alexandria. Her neighbor had offered to water plants and take in the mail, but if she was going to be in Dallas for a significant period, she would need to make other arrangements.
The prospect of being here longer evoked mixed feelings. While she didn’t necessarily relish investigating a sitting US attorney, the challenge involved in working with this task force was way more interesting than her usual gig overseeing a unit of young white-collar crime prosecutors. And then there was the surprise of working with Tanner, if she could call it that. They’d barely spoken since sharing lunch earlier in the week, and even then their conversation was a minefield with neither seeming to want to admit they’d both made mistakes that had led them down different paths. Now that they were walking in the same direction, wasn’t it time to put the past behind them? And do what? Fall into each other’s arms?
No. They were different people now, no longer resembling the naive law student couple who’d planned a life together. Besides, Tanner didn’t seem to have any regrets about walking away from their dreams, so essentially the only thing that hadn’t changed was the reason they’d broken up in the first place.
“Thinking about getting a kitten? I hear this batch is feisty.”
Sydney shook her head at the sound of Peyton’s voice, wondering how long she’d been standing, staring at the bulletin board. “Feisty is exactly the opposite of what I’m looking for at this point in my life.”
“Is that so? Are you looking to settle down? Did you finally meet someone special?”