Deadly Agenda

by Lisa Phillips

  “That would be good.”

  He was still convinced the truth, utilized by the law, was the way this would be resolved. Remy could find anything, apparently, but only when applied to the justice system would the blackmailer’s plans be thwarted.

  Adrian kept an eye on Megan’s mother while he checked with the SAC on scene. He didn’t need anything to happen to her on his watch. It was the guilt making him do it. Megan had gone off on her own. But he could have made sure she stayed safe, right? He could have caught up to her in time.

  She was all right now—he hoped. But who knew what she’d gone through, or how she’d gotten out?

  Adrian drove her mother toward the Denver airport, and into an alternative entrance. One for private parties and their private planes. Usually businesses the FBI would be interested in knowing about.

  Megan’s mother gasped. “Look.”

  A small plane was coming in to land. Much too fast.

  Smoke poured out of the tail of the aircraft.

  “Is that her plane?”

  Adrian didn’t know. He couldn’t even speak to tell her mother that. His foot stuttered on the gas pedal, and the borrowed federal vehicle slowed. He couldn’t watch the plane Megan might be on, crash right in front of him.

  This had to have something to do with Zimmerman.

  Adrian twisted in his seat to look around.

  He drove past the hangar. Down the runway a man stood out in the open, a bulky object on his shoulder like a rocket launcher. Zimmerman. He’d exposed himself, on orders from the blackmailer, to bring down Megan’s plane. All of it rolled through Adrian’s mind, one realization after the other.

  Adrian hit the gas and drove straight toward the man, standing out in the open.

  Megan’s mother gasped and grabbed the handle on the door.

  “Hold on.” He honked his horn. If it didn’t get Zimmerman’s attention, maybe he could alert emergency services. Or at least someone in the airport watching out the window. Please God, let us be seen.

  He couldn’t watch Megan die.

  And while it wasn’t the same as her witnessing Will’s death, Adrian at least understood what losing his partner would be like. He knew he wouldn’t survive it nearly as well as Megan had.

  She needed to live.

  Zimmerman didn’t turn, despite the fact Adrian laid heavy on the horn. He just kept pointing the weapon at the airplane.

  Adrian’s speed hit sixty miles an hour, as he barreled right toward Zimmerman.

  At the last second, the man turned. He saw Adrian coming and dived out of the way. Adrian clipped him with the car. The rogue agent flew through the air and landed on the runway with a thud. Megan’s mother screamed. Adrian hit the brakes and turned the car around.

  Behind them, the airplane’s engines screamed as it headed for the runway.

  It was going to crash.

  Chapter 19

  Megan swam in and out of consciousness. Kind of…disconnected from her body. Everything was soft and warm. It made her wonder if she was dead and maybe floating instead on some cloud. Until she heard the vague sounds of a hospital intercom. Beeping machines.

  She blinked against florescent lights.

  Too bright.

  Soft pressure touched her forehead. “Get better soon. We need you.”

  The voice was familiar. She fought the pull of unconsciousness and blinked. Tried to focus. Finally managed to blink away the blur, just in time to see Steve dart out the door.

  Her strength slipped away, like water down a drain, and she was out.

  Megan came around the next time to the sound of low voices. Two people, a man and a woman, trying to keep the volume of their conversation down. She tried to speak and heard only a low moan emerge from her throat.

  “Megan!” Her mom touched her hand.

  She did the blinking thing again. There wasn’t so much warmth this time, and her left leg didn’t feel good at all. Nor did the rest of her.

  But her mom was here. That made her smile.

  Her mom’s hand touched her cheek and she pressed a kiss to the other. “Honey.”

  “Hi.” Her voice sounded awful.

  “Oh, I’m so glad you’re awake. The doctors were starting to get worried about when you were going to surface.” Mom smiled. “It’s so good to see those pretty blue eyes.”

  Megan didn’t want to use up her energy, otherwise she would fall asleep again. Not like she had with… “Steve.”

  “He isn’t here, but Adrian is.”

  Megan tried to shake her head. That wasn’t what she meant. Steve had been in her room.

  “He’s actually in a lot of trouble.” The voice was low. So warm and familiar. Adrian came into view at the side of the bed, his face a war between relief and something else. “The feds are looking for him in connection with the restaurant shooting.”

  She shut her eyes.

  “But you knew that, didn’t you? He was the one you saw fleeing the scene.”

  She opened her eyes. Nodded as much as she could.

  “Hank?”

  She said, “He shot… El Cuervo. For me.”

  Adrian said, “I got a report from the scene. Looks like he saved your life. But he was the one who put you in that situation in the first place.” He paused, a frown across his forehead. “Time will tell what role the blackmailer played in that. The FBI has a lot to go through, between him and Zimmerman. Your part in all this. And finding Steve.”

  The blackmailer should’ve been found. This was going on entirely too long. Like a disease, now out of control. And it was spreading beyond the initially infected people. It was destroying even more lives now.

  Megan took a deep breath and let it out. It hitched a few times as she tried to process everything, and her eyes filled with tears.

  “That’s enough for right now, I think,” her mom said. “I’m going to go and find the doctor. Tell him you’re awake.”

  Adrian shifted as well, and opened his mouth like he was going to say something. He was going to go, too? She didn’t want to be alone.

  Megan moved her hand and grasped his with as much strength as she could.

  “What?”

  She didn’t know what to say. Didn’t know where to begin. This man had been with her through so much that she didn’t want him to leave. But she also couldn’t be that crazy, clingy woman who refused to let him go.

  All she said was, “Adrian.”

  His face softened, and he leaned against the bed.

  “What…?”

  He finished for her. “What happened?”

  She nodded.

  “The plane you were in crashed.” He looked down. Played with her fingers, while he said, “I won’t ever forget watching it hit the ground. You were lucky to survive. One of the pilots didn’t, and the other is in ICU.”

  She squeezed his fingers, and he looked at her. “Not lucky.”

  He nodded. “You know what I mean.”

  She should be dead.

  “You have a concussion the doctors were worried about. Your left knee was shattered and they had to replace it. But all in all, you came out pretty amazingly intact.” He paused. “Do you remember it?”

  “No.”

  “They said that probably would happen. I guess it’s a reaction to extreme trauma like that.” He blew out a breath. “I wish I could forget it.”

  She moved her fingers across the back of his hand.

  “Zimmerman is here, too.”

  Her whole body twitched. A wave of pain moved through her.

  “No. Sorry. He’s in ICU.” He ducked his head, then lifted it. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m no good at this.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “You’re doing fine.”

  “You have to say that.”

  Megan rolled her eyes as much as she could.

  “You say plenty, for someone who doesn’t have much strength to speak.”

  She smiled.

  “I guess I learned your expressions.”
>
  They stared at each other for a while. Her body wanted to sleep, but she refused to look away.

  “The doctor will be here soon. And I have to check in with the bureau.” His mouth twisted in a wry smile. “I hit Zimmerman with my car, and they’re not too happy. I guess I should have gotten out and arrested him, but I think your mom would have done it if I hadn’t. Either way, it didn’t stop the plane from crashing.”

  But he had saved lives. And Zimmerman had been caught. If he pulled through from his injuries, he’d be arrested. Right?

  “Another thing we need to go through.” Adrian ran a hand over his hair. “There’s going to be a lot of unpacking on this. And maybe we still won’t know who the blackmailer is, even when we tear this whole operation apart.”

  Remy hadn’t given him the information? Megan tried to remember what account she’d have used to send that email. What had she gotten messages from before…

  “Eckhart…” She paused to garner the strength to say, “Industries.”

  Adrian’s head jerked back a fraction. “I got an email from them a couple of days ago with an attachment. I assumed it was a virus.”

  A couple of days ago?

  Megan pushed aside that question and got to the important thing. “Remy.”

  “It was her?”

  She nodded, just as the door opened. Her mom came back in, followed by an older man in a lab coat.

  Adrian leaned down and touched her cheek with warm fingers. “I’m going to go look at what she sent me.”

  Megan nodded.

  “Don’t go anywhere, yeah?” He smiled, then touched his lips to her forehead. Kind of like Steve had done the first time she woke up. That soft pressure on her head. It better mean a whole lot more than that coming from Adrian.

  He frowned. “What is that look about?”

  Megan grasped his tie and pulled his face closer again. She tipped her face up, and he got the message.

  Touched his lips to hers.

  She heard her mom sigh.

  Adrian said, “I’ll be back soon.”

  **

  The door clicked shut behind him and both Bradley and Mint approached.

  “Is she okay?”

  “What did she say?”

  Alexis and Emma were with them, looking as worried as their men sounded.

  Adrian lifted both hands and took a breath. Being close to her, pretending there was nothing to worry about, had been harder than he’d thought it would be. And he’d thought it would be pretty hard.

  Alexis put her hand on his arm. “Are you okay?”

  He nodded to the woman he’d hauled into the FBI office for interrogation. The woman he had accused of being involved in her best friend’s kidnapping.

  Now that he knew her, and fully understood the scope of everything happening, there was no way he could believe she was capable of that. It was embarrassing to think he’d ever believed it.

  Alexis’s eyes softened. Bradley put his arm around her, and pulled his wife against his side.

  Emma slipped her hand into Mint’s, and Adrian noticed the ring on her left hand. They’d gotten engaged, even in the midst of everything swirling around them. No time to waste. Not when life was so short.

  Adrian said, “She thinks Steve visited her. She said he was here, in her room.”

  “Someone would have seen him, wouldn’t they?” Emma glanced around.

  Mint shook his head. “If he didn’t want to be seen, no one would have noticed.”

  “The feds are closing in on him,” Adrian said. “Or, they think they are.”

  Alexis frowned. “And we’re just going to stand here, doing nothing, pretending like our friend isn’t being wrongly accused of being a blackmailer and a terrorist? We can’t just lie down and let Steve take the fall for all of this. It’s not right.”

  “Of course we’re going to fight,” Bradley said. “But if the real blackmailer thinks we’re going to come at him, then he’ll double his efforts to pin it all on Steve.”

  Adrian sighed. “I need to get to the Denver FBI office. Megan says Remy sent me something.” Plus there were more debriefs to give. More details to go over. Every part of Hank Cromwell’s life and career were being taken apart. The same was being done with Daniel Zimmerman. The FBI had been torn apart in the media, and the whole bureau was reeling.

  If they took down the blackmailer, they could prove they still had the ability to bring justice.

  Too bad they were looking at the wrong man.

  Steve.

  Alexis said, “We can stay with Megan until you get back.”

  He nodded. It would take some time but as soon as he got all the paperwork straightened out, and then turned in his badge and his gun, he’d be back.

  When this was all over, maybe Steve would hire him on at Double Down. Because wherever Megan was, that was where Adrian wanted to be.

  “That doesn’t look good,” Mint said, studying Adrian’s face. “Then at the end, it got better.”

  Adrian wanted to laugh over the man psychoanalyzing him just from the look on his face, but there was no humor right now. Inside he felt the same cold since he’d seen the plane Megan was in, falling out of the sky.

  He was lucky the bureau hadn’t decided to bring charges against him for what he’d done to Zimmerman. Adrian had argued the timing. He’d had to act as quickly as possible, and he’d used what he had on hand. Still, he figured it was Megan’s mother’s pull that had smoothed out the repercussions.

  The doctor came out of Megan’s room and walked by them.

  Emma said, “What can we do for Steve that will help him?”

  “Not much,” Bradley said. “I put a few kits of supplies—gun, money, etcetera—together. Left them in places I think he might go.”

  Mint nodded. “I put out some feelers to a few people I think he might contact.”

  “So we just wait?” Emma glanced between them.

  Adrian said, “Steve knows what to do. He’s not on the run, he’s working. He’ll find a way to clear his own name, and out the identity of the blackmailer.”

  “None of us managed to do it.” Alexis looked near tears. “Why will Steve be able to?”

  Bradley squeezed her shoulder. “Because we’re going to pray, and we’re going to trust God.”

  “But it’s taking so long. Why can’t this just be over?” She twisted to bury her face in her husband’s jacket.

  He rubbed a hand up and down her back. “We don’t know why, but we know there is a reason. God has more he wants to do.”

  Alexis lifted her head. “With Rachel?”

  Bradley shook his head. “What is it with you and the idea of Steve and Rachel?” The corners of his mouth curled up. “It’s cute, how optimistic you are.”

  Alexis slapped at his shoulder. “Now isn’t the time for that. This is serious.”

  He sobered. “I know.”

  Megan’s mother touched Adrian’s shoulder. “She’s drowsy, but she’s asking for you.”

  He nodded, then turned back to the group. “I’m available, whatever you need.” The blackmailer had torn Megan’s life apart, and Adrian wanted him exposed. He fully intended to see this through to the end. “Just give me a call.”

  Bradley and Mint both nodded. They shook hands. The women doled out cheek kisses, and then the four of them headed out down the hallway.

  Adrian let himself into Megan’s room. Her eyes were closed, her breath moving rhythmically.

  “My mom looks tired,” she said, not bothering to open her eyes. “Can you get her to go back to the hotel and take a nap?”

  He leaned his hip against the bed. “I can try.”

  Her mouth twitched. “Now you feel my pain.”

  Adrian didn’t. There was no way he could when she was lying beaten and bruised in a hospital bed, and he’d done…what? Hit Zimmerman with his car.

  Closed the case.

  Caught the rogue agent.

  Averted a national disaster.

>   If he was lucky, the FBI would decide not to give him a commendation. That was the last thing he wanted, especially when more than a cursory look into his life would reveal the fact he was actively still searching for the blackmailer. Outside the FBI.

  Too many people had been touched by the man behind all this. Adrian wasn’t going to trust anyone outside Double Down until it was over.

  “What?” She touched his hand.

  Adrian leaned forward. He put his head on her shoulder, overwhelmed by all of this. “I’m sorry.”

  She curled her hand around the back of his neck. “You saved me, didn’t you?”

  He blew out a breath. “Please tell me what El Cuervo did.” She still had the marks on her wrists from being bound. The doctor had told him there hadn’t been any sexual assault, but he wanted her to tell him.

  Her fingers flexed against his skin. “Tried to talk me to death.”

  He lifted his head, but only so he could see her eyes.

  “I’m okay.”

  “Not because I saved you. Hank took you, and he’s the one who killed El Cuervo. What did I do?”

  “Your job.” She shot him a look. “Or, how about, ‘everything you could?’ Which included saving my mother, and a whole lot of other people, and making sure Zimmerman didn’t do something awful.”

  “They found his family.”

  She nodded slightly.

  “The blackmailer had them killed.” Adrian blew out a breath. “He had evidence planted there that makes it look like Steve is the one who did it.”

  Her mouth opened, but no sound came out.

  “He’s on the run.”

  She said, “We have to help him.”

  “We will.” He leaned in and touched his forehead to hers. “I promise you, we will.”

  She kissed his cheek. Adrian turned his face, and their lips met. When he needed to catch his breath, he said, “I’m not sure I’ll ever get tired of doing that.”

  She smiled. “We should keep doing it. Just to make sure you don’t.”

  He chuckled then, and said, “Promise?”

  “Only if you promise this is going somewhere good, and real. And maybe forever.”

  Adrian knew exactly what he was going to say. He straightened, then lifted his hand, palm out. “I, Adrian Jefferson Walker, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend this relationship from all enemies, foreign and domestic—”