“All right. I am with the FBI. And therefore I can arrest you right now. But instead I’ll give you five seconds to get the hell out of here.”
Sean didn’t move. He just looked at her, a tight smile edging across his features. “Just so you understand, Carla, the next minute or so will determine whether you end up in a federal prison or not.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You just made a big mistake.”
“I’m warning you.”
“You’re not FBI. You’re not even close to being FBI. So if anybody’s going to call the Feds I think that’ll be me.” He took out his phone and poised his finger over the numbers. She watched him dumbly. “But maybe you want to talk first,” he said.
“Maybe,” she said nervously.
Sean reached out and slipped the cell phone from her hand, and set it down on the kitchen counter.
“I think you want the FBI to believe you’re working with them. You’re certainly going through the motions. You have Murdock convinced. But he didn’t put you into play at Cutter’s Rock.”
“Look, I told you I’m with the FBI.”
“Then show me your creds.”
“I’m undercover. I don’t carry them.”
“Where’s your Beretta?”
“In my bedroom.”
Sean shook his head. “SOP for FBI undercover is to get into the part. Your office is barren. Not even one fake family picture on your desk.” He pointed to his gun. “And FYI, the FBI doesn’t use the Beretta. They carry either Glocks or Sigs.”
Dukes said nothing.
“So someone else put you at Cutter’s. Which means your loyalties lie elsewhere. The FBI really frowns on being played for chumps.”
“I was assigned to work at Cutter’s Rock. I have a long career in federal correctional institutions.”
“It doesn’t matter. You’re here temporarily. You haven’t even bothered to move into your office. And this place is a rental. With a six-month lease.”
“You’ve been spying on me?” she said.
“I’m an investigator. I spent a productive afternoon digging up stuff on you. And I’m not the only one.”
Dukes paled at this statement. “What do you mean?”
“I mean there are lots of people interested in you, Carla. You didn’t think you could just waltz right into this, play both sides, and think no one would notice? That kind of naïveté could get you killed.”
“These are not people to play around with.”
“Believe me, I get that message loud and clear.”
“Then you know I can tell you nothing. Please leave. Now.”
“I’ll just subpoena you for the court case.”
“What court case?”
“Edgar Roy? Six bodies? Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“Edgar Roy is the only reason you’re at Cutter’s Rock, Carla. And since I represent Roy it’s my ethical duty to try to have him exonerated. In order to do that, I have to muddy the waters. It’s called reasonable doubt.”
“You’re a fool.”
“Are you any less of one?”
“Get out.”
“By the way, Murdock already knows the truth about you.”
“That’s impossi—” She caught herself too late.
“Say what you will about the FBI, they do tend to get the right answer.”
“I need you to leave. Now.”
He turned to the door. “One more thing—the Bureau has a tap on your phone and your e-mail.”
“Why warn me about that?”
“In the hopes that you come to your senses and want to make a deal with me instead of them.” He let that sink in. “Carla? Are you getting any of this?”
“I’ll… I’ll think about it.”
“Fine. Just don’t take too long.”
Sean walked down the street and climbed into the Land Cruiser he had earlier parked there. He started the engine and sped off. After he was out of sight of Dukes’s house, Michelle, who’d been hiding in the back of the truck, climbed into the passenger seat.
“Everything go okay?” asked Sean.
“Easy. She should watch the garage door come all the way down before she goes in the house. I was able to sneak in behind her.”
Sean checked his watch. “Okay, I spooked her about her phone and e-mail. Now she has only one avenue of communication.”
“Face-to-face. But if she believes she can’t communicate via phone or e-mail how will Dukes arrange a meeting?”
“Coded text, probably. Innocuous on its face, it’ll set up a time at a prearranged place.” He stared down at the electronic tracking device cradled in her hand. “What’s the range on that?”
“Couple of miles. Plenty for our purposes, even in the great wilds of Maine.”
“Where’d you put the bug?”
“On the underside of the rear windshield wiper mechanism. Nobody ever looks there. Then I just climbed out the garage window. I’m actually getting good at that.”
“So now we wait,” said Sean.
“I don’t think it’ll be for long.” She eyed the device more closely. “Looks like she’s already on the move. Boy, you really did scare her.”
“I had my lawyer hat on. We naturally scare the crap out of everybody.”
CHAPTER
37
AFTER LANDING at LaGuardia and being driven into the city Peter Bunting did not go home to his lovely, socially active wife and his three privileged and accomplished children at their luxurious Fifth Avenue brownstone across from Central Park.
Nor did he return to his office. He had somewhere else to go because he was focused on keeping Edgar Roy alive.
And probably me, too.
He walked fifteen blocks to a rundown six-story building well off the famous boulevards of Manhattan. He took care to avoid being followed, going into lobbies of buildings and exiting by different ways. In the lower level of the six-story building was a pizzeria. In the upper levels were offices for small businesses. On the very top level were two rooms. He took the stairs and knocked.
The man ushered him in and closed the door behind him. Bunting moved through into the next room. The man followed him and closed the door to this room too. He motioned for Bunting to sit on a chair set next to a small table.
Bunting did so, unbuttoning his suit jacket and trying to get comfortable in a chair that was not designed for comfort. The man remained standing.
James Harkes was dressed, as always, in a black two-piece suit, starched white shirt, black straight tie. He would be anonymous among the millions of other men in this city.
“Thank you for meeting with me so quickly,” Bunting began.
“You know that I’m tasked to take care of you, Mr. Bunting,” said Harkes.
“You’ve done a good job so far.”
“So far.”
“The six bodies at the farm? I believe that Roy was framed.”
“And who would want to do that?”
Bunting hesitated before answering. “You’re joking, right?”
“I don’t normally employ humor in my job.”
“I meant there are obviously those who would have a problem with the program.”
“But why frame Roy? Either kill him or coopt him. That’s what I would do.”
Bunting didn’t look confident as he said, “But we can’t use him either. That weakens us.”
“But he may be free one day. Better for our enemies to kill him. Then he can’t come back to work ever.”
Bunting studied him closely. “Foster is talking about taking preemptive action with Edgar Roy. Do you know about that?”
Harkes said nothing.
“Harkes, did you take preemptive action with the lawyer, Ted Bergin?”
Harkes remained silent.
“Why kill him?”
Harkes’s gaze remained fixed on Bunting but he still said nothing.
“Who i
s authorizing this? Because I’m sure as hell not.”
“I don’t do anything without the requisite approval.”
“Who is it? Foster?”
“I’ll be in touch.”
“Harkes, once you go down that road, there’s no going back.”
“If there’s nothing else, sir?” Harkes opened the door for Bunting to pass through.
“Please don’t do this, Harkes. Edgar Roy is one of a kind. He doesn’t deserve this. He’s innocent. I know that he is.”
“Take care, Mr. Bunting.”
Once he reached the street Bunting started to walk back to his office but then veered away at the last moment. He went inside a bar, found a seat, and had a Bombay Sapphire and tonic. He checked e-mails, made a few phone calls, all routine, just to get his mind off the mess of Edgar Roy. He was caught right in the middle. People were getting killed and there was nothing he could do about it.
Lost in his own problems, he didn’t notice the tall woman who had come in after him. She settled into a chair at a table in the back of the bar, ordered an Arnold Palmer, and watched him closely without ever seeming to.
Kelly Paul patiently waited for Peter Bunting to finish drowning his worries in good gin.
CHAPTER
38
“SHE’S STOPPING,” said Sean, as he stared down at the miniature screen. “Slow down a bit when you come around the next turn.”
Michelle decelerated as they hit the curve. About five hundred yards up ahead they could see the taillights of Dukes’s car wink out.
“Lonely place,” said Michelle.
“What else would it be for a meeting like this?”
“We need to get closer.”
“On foot. Come on.”
A low stone wall provided cover and also allowed them to draw near enough to see who Carla Dukes was meeting in a small clearing that had an old picnic table and rusty charcoal grill.
He was shorter than she was, young and thin.
She walked up and down in front of the man, talking animatedly while he stood still, watching her and nodding from time to time. They could see all this, but they couldn’t hear what was being said.
Sean pulled out his camera, which he’d taken from the truck, and snapped some pictures of the pair. He studied the screen and then showed Michelle. “Recognize him?” he said quietly.
She studied the face. “No. Young and geeky. Not my idea of some super-duper spy.”
“They come in all shapes and sizes these days. In fact the ones that don’t actually look like spies are the most valuable.”
“Then this guy is golden.”
When Dukes drove off, they didn’t pick up the tail again. They followed the man instead. He was the next link in the puzzle chain. And he might just lead them where they needed to go. Since they didn’t have a tracking device on his car they had to stay closer than Michelle would have liked, but the man made no sign that he knew he was being followed.
Several hours later it was apparent where the man was going.
“Bangor,” said Sean, and Michelle nodded.
“Do you think he lives there?” she said.
Sean looked up ahead. “No. His car looks like every other airport rental.”
“Then he’s going to fly out of Bangor.”
“I think so, yeah.”
A bit later they were proved right as the car they were following pulled into the airport on the outskirts of Bangor.
On the way Sean and Michelle had already made their plans. She parked and Sean climbed out of the truck.
He said, “Get back to Martha’s Inn and keep a lookout over Megan. I don’t want her ending up like Bergin or Hilary.”
“Call me when you know where you’re going.”
“Will do.” He pulled his pistol out of his holster and handed it to her. “Take this.”
“You might need it.”
“I don’t have a case for it to take on the plane. And me getting stopped by the cops and losing this guy won’t help us.”
He turned and started off.
“Sean?”
He turned around. “Yeah?”
“Don’t die!”
He smiled. “I’ll do my best.”
Only when he was out of sight did Michelle put the Toyota in gear and drive off. But she was clearly not happy about separating from him again.
CHAPTER
39
DURING HER DRIVE back to Machias, Michelle had gotten a call from Sean at the airport. The man was on a six a.m. flight to Dulles Airport in northern Virginia with a connection in New York City. Sean had booked a ticket on the same flight.
“I caught a glimpse of his tickets. He’s in the third row on both legs. I snagged a seat in the back on both flights. The first is a Delta, the second a United. I’ll call you when we get in a little before noon.”
“Did you see the name on the ticket?”
“Unfortunately, no.”
He’d clicked off and Michelle had continued her drive. Around four in the morning she pulled into the dark parking lot of Martha’s Inn. Guests had a key that opened the outer door. She stopped in the kitchen and got a snack, then headed up the stairs. She stopped on the second landing when she saw a light on in Megan’s room. She knocked on the door. “Megan?”
The door opened a crack and Michelle eyed her. “Anything wrong?” she asked.
“I heard you drive up. I thought we could talk.”
“Okay.” Michelle parked herself in a chair by a small pine bureau. “What’s up?” she asked.
Megan was in green surgical scrubs, which she obviously used as pajamas. “Where were you guys? You just disappeared after we spoke this afternoon.”
“We had some sleuthing to do.”
“I thought you said you were going to protect me, but all you do is go off and I don’t hear anything until you come back.”
“Look, Megan, you have a point, but we’re doing the best we can with the limited resources we have. In fact, Sean is running down a lead now, but he sent me back here to keep an eye on you.”
“A lead where?”
“D.C., apparently.”
Megan sat on the edge of the bed. “I’m sorry. I know you all are doing the best you can. It’s just…”
“Scary?”
“I didn’t really intend to do any criminal defense work when I came to work for Mr. Bergin. This case just got dropped in my lap.”
“But Sean is a terrific lawyer and he’s done lots of criminal cases.”
“But he’s not here right now. I’m trying to draft these motions but it’s not easy.”
“Well, I’m afraid I can’t help you there.”
“Murdock came by to see me again.”
“What the hell did he want?”
“He seemed particularly interested in what you and Sean were up to.”
“I bet.”
“It seems with every step we take we get farther away from the truth.”
Michelle said, “But then one little piece falls into place and it’s off to the races.”
“You can’t count on that happening.”
“We try to make our own luck.”
“I guess.”
“Get some sleep. And how about we grab some breakfast around nine? We can talk more then. But right now I need some sleep.”
“Okay, but I’m going to lock my door and then slide the bureau against it.”
“Not a bad idea, actually.”
Michelle left the room and headed to her own. She yawned and stretched some kinks out, and then became fully awake. There was someone moving downstairs. At first she thought it might be Mrs. Burke, but the elderly landlady undoubtedly would have turned on a light in her own inn. Michelle crouched low and slipped over to the staircase, her pistol out. She focused on the movements downstairs.
It actually took a lot of energy to tread quietly. One had to hold his position, shift, and balance at optimal points.
Young. Fit. Trained.
&nbs
p; Definitely not Mrs. Burke.
“Maxwell? Is that you?”
“Dobkin?”
“If you have your gun out, put it away. I don’t want to get shot accidentally.”
“Then stop breaking into places in the middle of the night.”
“I have a key. And I’m the police. I’m allowed.”
She holstered her weapon and came down the steps.
“Over here.”
He stepped in front of a window where the moonlight was coming through. Eric Dobkin was in uniform and looked anxious.
“Where’s your partner?” he said. “Upstairs?”
“No, he went out of town. What’s up?”
“Have you heard?”
“Heard what?”
“They found Carla Dukes dead about an hour ago in her home.”
CHAPTER
40
THE PILOT EASILY HANDLED the swirling winds off the East River, and the plane touched down on the runway at LaGuardia right on time. Sean was one of the last passengers off but picked up his pace once he left the jetway and entered the airport. The man he was tailing was up ahead, walking at a leisurely pace. Sean slowed but kept him in sight. The flight attendant on the Bangor-to-New York leg had announced the number of their next gate, and the connecting passengers headed to it. They reached it; the flight was not yet up on the marquee because they had a three-hour layover before the short hop to Virginia.
Sean grabbed some coffee and an egg sandwich. He remembered something, reached in his pocket, and turned his phone on. He immediately saw that Michelle had called numerous times. He quickly phoned her.
When she heard his voice she said, “Thank God. I tried calling you before, but it wouldn’t go through. Lots to fill you in on.”
“Don’t tell me—someone else is dead,” he said in a joking tone.
“How the hell did you know that?”
Sean’s face fell. “What? I wasn’t being serious. Who is it?”
“Carla Dukes. Dobkin came by the inn a little while after I got back and told me.”
“In the middle of the night? Why would he do that?” Sean said suspiciously.
“I’m not sure. Maybe he thinks he still owes us for covering for his guys with Murdock. Whatever the case, she’s dead and they have no leads. The FBI is handling it.”
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