Lucky Like Us

by Jennifer Ryan

“Vernet, Davies, and I are meeting with her today to hear her official statement. It should be interesting to see Vernet try and coax her into taking you down.”

  “Elizabeth will surprise him. She’s not one to let anyone tell her what to do or what to say. Don’t forget Judge Hamilton is her father. I understand she’s the only one in the family that goes toe-to-toe with him. I have to say, I’d love to see that. He’s notorious for his brilliant arguments and his temper. She’s probably quite something to see going up against him in an argument.”

  Tyler grinned, recognizing Sam’s infatuation with her. Not surprising, since they’d been through a traumatic experience together, but Tyler thought it a good sign Sam wasn’t as close to burnout as he’d thought.

  “I’ll get to see her in action later today if Vernet pisses her off.”

  “Don’t let him upset her. She’s been through enough and with that dickweed, Jarred, showing up the other night, she doesn’t need any more stress during her recovery.”

  “I’ll try to keep things calm and remind Vernet she’s our only link to the Silver Fox at this point. We need her cooperation. If she can ID the Fox, I’ll have a sketch artist work with her on a drawing of the guy. We can have her look at mug shots, but I don’t think this guy has ever been arrested. We didn’t find anything on the DNA profile in our system. As for Dickweed, the local police paid him a visit and warned him about contacting or seeing Elizabeth again. It seems the restraining order ran out. She’ll have to petition the court for another if she still believes the guy is a threat.”

  “He is a threat. He grabbed her leg and hurt her. And then, the guy says she’s marrying him. He’s completely delusional. He won’t stop harassing her.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m sure her father will make sure the restraining order is put in place again. I understand he was the one who insisted she have one in the first place.”

  “He did. She’s very important to him. Watch out for the brothers too. If they find out you were there that night and lost track of me, you might get decked. The young one, Daniel, is a hothead when it comes to his sister.”

  “Sounds like there’s a story there.”

  “He got in my face the first time I got out of bed.”

  Sam ignored Tyler’s cocky grin. “Let me know about the missing girl. I’d love an update after you see Elizabeth. I don’t want to be blindsided by Vernet if things don’t go well.”

  “I’ll be in touch. Good luck with Vernet.”

  “Thanks.” Sam rolled his eyes and got to his feet prepared to face anything Vernet had in store for him.

  Chapter Sixteen

  * * *

  SAM WALKED INTO Vernet’s office without so much as knocking. Taking a seat in front of Vernet’s desk, he glared at the man staring at him. Vernet was one of those people who thought everyone else owed him something, but never worked to earn anything on his own. He hadn’t qualified as a field agent and decided to be part of the internal investigations of people he thought didn’t deserve to hold the spot he should have had himself. At least, that’s what he thought.

  “Don’t you knock?”

  “You knew I was coming for our meeting, so let’s get on with it.” Sam kept his voice cool.

  “I’m glad to see you cleaned up your look for our meeting and you’re taking this matter seriously.”

  Sam didn’t care what the guy thought about his appearance. Let him assume Sam gave a shit about anything the guy had to say, as long as it got him out of that office and back to doing his job. He needed to get back to working the Silver Fox case and eliminating the threat to Elizabeth and anyone else the Silver Fox planned to kill.

  Vernet expected Sam’s attitude, but he’d get the answers he wanted and file his report detailing Sam’s incompetence and culpability in the shooting of Elizabeth Hamilton despite it.

  “I’ve already met with Deputy Director Davies and Agent Reed, who detailed what happened. I’d like your accounting of the Elizabeth Hamilton shooting.”

  Vernet put a small recorder on the desk and pushed the record button. He gave the date, time, and their names for the record. He sat poised behind his desk with pen and paper waiting for Sam to begin.

  “Agent Reed and I were outside Ray’s Rock House waiting for our contact to arrive. We had a meeting to discuss the final details of the contract murder for hire. Our contact was late, so Agent Reed and I decided I would go into the bar to wait.

  “I entered the bar and scanned the room for my contact. He wasn’t there. Before I made it to a secure position, someone stuck a needle in my arm and drugged me. They grabbed me and took me out the side door. Dazed and unsteady on my feet, I never got a look at him. I was thrown into the backseat of a vehicle and punched multiple times. I fought to get away without success. When we drove away from the bar, I was disoriented and trying to remain conscious.

  “The car stopped, and I jumped out and tried to escape. Someone shot me in the back twice. I turned toward the suspect and fell to the ground, apparently, outside Elizabeth Hamilton’s home. The drugs incapacitated me. I was groggy and in and out of consciousness. My sense of time was off. I can’t say how long I was in the street, or how long I had been in the car.

  “The next thing I remember is Miss Hamilton lying on top of me. She rolled me under a car. I heard a loud crash. When I came to again, I discovered a woman beside me with the gun and knife from my ankle holsters in her hand. I believed she was a threat, and I took the gun away from her. She still had the knife in her hand, and I shot her. After I fired, I don’t remember anything until I woke up in the hospital on Saturday.”

  “That’s it. You have nothing further to add or explain?”

  “No.”

  “If you knew she got you under the car to protect you, why would you then shoot her?”

  “I was drugged. I vaguely remember a woman landing on top of me and rolling me over and over. I didn’t know why. I remember hearing a loud crash, but at the time I couldn’t have told you what it was, or that it was the threat and not the woman. She had my gun and knife. She appeared to be a threat.”

  “Why weren’t you wearing your regular weapon holstered under a jacket? I believe you prefer to wear a shoulder holster.”

  “I do. I didn’t want to blow my cover. The meeting was with a middleman of sorts to set up the hit on my fictional wife and draw the Silver Fox into the open so we could arrest him. If my contact noticed the gun, he’d make me for a cop, so I only had my backup weapon.”

  “Did you suspect the Silver Fox would show up in place of your contact?”

  “No.”

  “Did Miss Hamilton say anything to you before you shot her?”

  “Not that I remember.”

  “Did she at any time indicate she was trying to help you?”

  “Not that I remember.”

  “Did Miss Hamilton threaten you in any way prior to you shooting her?”

  “Do you mean besides disarming me and holding my gun and knife in front of me?” Sam’s anger tugged against the tightly held reins he’d put on it.

  “Did she indicate she meant to harm you?”

  “She had two weapons. I was drugged and incapacitated. She held the knife up in the air, and I shot her in the arm,” Sam said, losing his patience.

  “So you shot her because she was going to stab you.”

  “No.”

  “No, she wasn’t going to stab you?”

  “Exactly.”

  “You said she had the knife in her hand, raised in the air.”

  “She did.”

  “So you believed she was going to stab you.”

  “She had the knife in her hand,” he said sarcastically.

  “I suggest you cooperate with this investigation. You’re lucky Deputy Director Davies only put you on administrative leave. In my opinion, you should be suspended until this investigation is complete. You shot an innocent woman.”

  “Yes. I did.” Sam kept his voice even, belying the emotions those w
ords invoked inside of him.

  “So you admit that you shot her.”

  “I already said I shot her.”

  “Are you saying you shot her knowing she tried to help you?” Vernet thought he was so close to finally getting Sam to admit he’d screwed up and shot an innocent bystander.

  “No.”

  Vernet thought he had him on something, but the recording would show exactly what Sam wanted it to show. Vernet wasn’t after the truth, but to make Sam look like he’d done something wrong.

  “Give me a straight answer?”

  “I did.”

  The muscles in Vernet’s jaw twitched, his fists clenched in front of him on the desk. No wonder he hadn’t made it to working in the field. He couldn’t control his emotions and everything showed in his face and body language. Right now, Vernet wanted to seriously harm him, and Sam thought it was hilarious.

  “You are evading and being uncooperative. I want to know what you knew about Miss Hamilton prior to shooting her.”

  “I didn’t know anything about her, except she had my gun and knife. At the time, in my altered state, I believed she meant to harm me. I did everything possible to protect myself.”

  “So you shot her because you thought a woman who weighed at least sixty pounds less than you and is about six inches shorter than you posed a mortal threat.”

  “She’s only about four inches shorter than me.”

  “That isn’t the point.”

  “You brought it up. You apparently think her size and weight have bearing. She may be smaller than I am, but that doesn’t make her any less dangerous when she’s armed and I’m incapacitated.”

  “But you had taken the gun from her. Why not try to take the knife away? You’re much stronger than her.”

  “I am stronger when I’m not drugged and going in and out of consciousness. I did what I thought necessary to eliminate what I believed was a threat. Let’s cut to the chase. I didn’t shoot her without reason. She had a knife. Had I known she was trying to help me, I wouldn’t have shot her. It’s that simple.”

  “I beg to differ. I believe you shot her without determining whether she was a threat or not.” He watched Sam closely for a reaction, but Sam continued to sit, unreadable.

  “Did you identify yourself as an FBI agent as is standard procedure?”

  “No, I did not identify myself as an FBI agent,” Sam admitted.

  “So you didn’t follow procedure and as a result shot an innocent woman.”

  “No.”

  “Excuse me, you said . . .”

  Sam cut him off. This had gone on long enough, and he wouldn’t let it continue. “I followed procedure. I didn’t identify myself as an FBI agent because at that point I couldn’t determine if Elizabeth was the Silver Fox, or working with the person who is. Identifying myself to the wrong person might have blown my cover and months of work, not to mention getting me killed.

  “Now, I’ve answered all your questions, and you have my statement of the facts.” Sam emphasized the last word. He got up and turned to leave when Vernet stood up to address him again.

  “We’ll see what Miss Hamilton has to say about you shooting her. I’ll bet she has a lot to say. I wouldn’t be surprised if she told you she was trying to help you.”

  She had said those very words. He didn’t register what she’d said until he lay beside her in the hospital, but Vernet wouldn’t take that into consideration. Let Elizabeth tell him. He’d simply state he didn’t remember her saying it at the time. He’d already spoken words to that effect and it would be reflected in the recording.

  “I think you’ll be surprised by what she has to say, because I have no doubt she’ll tell the truth about the events that happened that night. That is, if you don’t distort her words like you’re trying to distort mine.”

  Vernet puffed himself up to his full height. “I’m doing my job and investigating a shooting involving an agent who is on the verge of burnout and went into a situation he knew had the potential to be dangerous. You didn’t call in backup, even though you felt something wasn’t quite right about the situation at the bar. You put Agent Reed in danger and an innocent woman has paid an extremely high price for your recklessness.”

  “Is that so? Agent Reed was never in any danger. We work as a team. We both agreed calling in more backup would have been a waste of time and resources. We had no indication the Silver Fox would attend the meeting himself, and even if he did attend the meeting, we don’t know how he found out I’m an agent. We still have to find out why, knowing I’m an agent, he would show up with the intent to kill me. He could have stayed away. We have no idea who he is. So why would he come just to kill me? These are the questions that need to be answered, not whether or not I shot Elizabeth out of malice. I’ve answered that question, and I’m sure Elizabeth’s statement will support that fact.”

  “We’ll see. We both know you’ve been skirting protocol and taking on the most dangerous cases without regard for yourself or your fellow agents. This latest incident proves you need to be pulled out of the field, and someone needs to seriously consider whether or not you’re capable of continuing as an agent.”

  “And I’ll bet you’re that someone. You’d like nothing better than to see me go down, even if you have to manipulate the facts to make that happen.”

  “I do want to see you go down. I think you have little respect for the position you hold, and your lack of discipline and your recklessness with your life puts others in danger. Your little joke cost me a promotion. Payback’s a bitch.”

  Sam made a show of looking at the recorder on the desk. He waited until Vernet realized what he’d done.

  “Threats and accusations will get you fired. I thought you would have learned that in your ethics class. The facts of this case stand on their own. But for the official record,” Sam leaned in close to the recorder, but kept his eyes on Vernet the entire time, “I shot Elizabeth because she wielded a knife and appeared to be a threat.” Sam stood to his full height and continued to stare down Vernet. “I’m sure the recording will be transcribed in its entirety and provided to Deputy Director Davies for his review, as well as your superiors. I’d also like to request a copy of the transcript from your interview with Elizabeth, once it’s complete. As is my right under the guidelines of the investigation, and since you seem hell-bent on proving something that is false.”

  Sam left Vernet’s office without saying another word. If Vernet was carrying a gun, he’d have likely shot him in the back. Vernet either needed to alter the tape or let the recording stand with his threat and admission that he wanted to see Sam go down, even if it meant putting a slant on the facts. Sam left knowing Elizabeth’s account of what happened would back up his recollection.

  Stopping by Tyler’s cubicle, he gave him an abbreviated version of what happened with Vernet and asked Tyler to call later and let him know how things went with Elizabeth. He wanted to be there with her, but couldn’t because the investigation was about him. He’d go home, spend time with his family before they went back to Colorado and not think about her. Yeah, right.

  Chapter Seventeen

  * * *

  Friday, 4:10 P.M.

  ELIZABETH SPENT MOST of Thursday dozing off and on. The doctors were pleased to see her stay awake for several minutes at a time and later in the evening more than a half hour. They moved her out of intensive care and into a private room. Her parents and brothers were thrilled each time she woke up and spoke to them for even a few minutes. Her father had been sweet and kind. His eyes misted over when she called to him from the bed. He told her it was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard, hearing his Ellie Girl call him Dad after so many days spent worrying about her.

  Her whole body hurt. She felt as if she’d been run over by a Mack truck and all eighteen wheels had flattened her. Her back throbbed where she’d been shot, her ribs ached from being kicked, her abdomen was sore from surgery, and her arm and thigh ached constantly. The doctor upped her pa
in meds, but it didn’t take the edge off and only made her groggier.

  Sam had asked the doctors to give her a double dose the night before, after Jarred’s visit. She’d fallen asleep holding Sam’s hand and listening to his deep voice.

  Each time she woke up, the memories flooded her mind and she couldn’t shut them off. The terror and fear of what happened came back to her like crashing waves. She tried to hide her fear and the trembling in her hands when her family visited, but when she was alone it was much harder to keep the emotions at bay.

  She’d only felt safe over the last couple of days when Sam was with her. Maybe because they shared the trauma of almost being killed. She liked the way he opened up and talked to her. Maybe it was that he’d talked to her about his family and his job, and she felt like she knew him better than most, because he didn’t seem like the kind of man who opened up to many people. Perhaps it was the connection between them. She needed to know someone understood how she felt, how scared she had been that night, and since then, lying helpless in bed.

  The FBI agents were due to show up for the interview they insisted couldn’t wait any longer. She knew what they wanted to know. Could she identify the man who tried to kill her and Sam? Hell yes, she could ID him. She’d like to fillet him and feed him to the sharks in the San Francisco Bay for what he’d done to her and Sam. Her only consolation, she’d managed to fight the man and hurt him before he’d almost killed her.

  She raised the bed so she wasn’t lying flat on her back when the agents arrived. The minor change in position sent pain shooting throughout her body. She accidentally tightened the muscles in her thigh to adjust her position. Pain shot down her leg and up into her hip. She broke out in a fine sheen of sweat over her skin. The three men who entered stared. She hoped she wouldn’t pass out before she had a chance to talk to them.

  Her parents and brothers wanted to be with her for the interview, but she’d insisted they stay away. She wanted to say what happened without them asking questions, or becoming upset about what she’d been through. She wanted to spare them the strain of hearing her tell the story. It would be easier for them, and for her, if they got the details from Deputy Director Davies.