Athena Force 7-12

by Carla Cassidy, Evelyn Vaughn, Harper Allen, Ruth Wind, Cindy Dees

  She wasn’t going in the same way she had last week. She’d found another air vent that led to what appeared to be a small janitorial closet.

  It would be a little trickier, as this particular vent was on the side of the building rather than in the back. She’d have to keep an eye out for security guards.

  When she reached the side of the convention center, she crouched in the shadows of a large bush and eyed the scene before her. Thankfully there was little light on this side of the building, just enough for her to see the vent she intended to use to get inside.

  She pulled on gloves, then exchanged the ball cap for the stocking cap to completely hide her hair. She cocked her head and listened, ignoring the audible beat of her own heart to focus on the noise surrounding her.

  She heard the scrape of boots against the concrete walk out front, heard the strike of a match and the intake of breath as one of the guards lit a cigarette.

  There seemed to be only one guard on duty, and while he smoked his cigarette Lynn removed the cover of the vent and slithered through. Once inside she turned back to the vent cover and balanced it so it looked as if it hadn’t been removed, then she clicked on her penlight to orient herself.

  Just as she’d hoped, she found herself in a small room used to store janitorial supplies. The air in the room was thick with the scent of astringent ammonia, bathroom deodorizer and floor wax.

  The penlight showed metal shelving units of supplies, not only the cleaning items, but also rolls of toilet tissue and paper towels.

  She moved to the doorway that would lead her out of the supply closet and pressed her ear against the door. She heard absolutely nothing to indicate any human presence on the other side of the door.

  She shut off her penlight, twisted the doorknob and eased the door open, grateful there was no squeak or groan. Once again she stood perfectly still and listened. Again she heard nothing to cause her alarm.

  The hallway outside the closet was dark, but she knew from studying the floor plans that if she followed it to the right it would lead her into the main artery that ran between the various exhibit rooms.

  Using a hand to anchor herself against one wall, she moved silently, slipping over, under and around the laser alarms, eager to get the job done and get back home. For the first time since she’d begun this work for Jonas, it didn’t feel quite right. Her instincts were all screaming that something was off.

  She reached the end of the hallway and paused, her senses all alive. So far so good. She hadn’t really expected trouble, and so far she hadn’t found any.

  Her heartbeat accelerated when she reached the lobby area that she would have to cross to get to the room where the Treasure of the Nile exhibit was being held. It was in this same area she had nearly been caught a week before.

  Tonight faint moonlight drifted in through the bank of windows, illuminating just enough of the area for her to see there seemed to be nothing amiss.

  She took a step out of the dark hallway, then another and another. Suddenly every light in the place flashed on, momentarily blinding her. Panic clawed up her throat.

  “Freeze,” several voices shouted. One came from in front of her, another from behind her, letting her know that this time there was no escape.

  Chapter 10

  “Get those hands up where we can see them,” one of the men yelled. “Simms, call headquarters and tell them we have the perp in custody.”

  Lynn thought of fighting, of using her skills to try to escape. But rational thought won over emotional impulse. There were too many of them and they had guns. She slowly raised her hands above her head as her vision adjusted to the bright overhead lights.

  Six men surrounded her. They all wore black T-shirts with the yellow FBI acronym emblazoned across their chests and backs. She should have heard them, their breathing, but she’d been too focused on the alarm sensors, on getting in and out.

  “There’s been a mistake,” Lynn began, her heart knocking almost painfully against her ribs.

  “Yeah, your mistake.” A tall blond-haired man with cold blue eyes approached her. “You got any ID on you? Any weapons?”

  “No…neither,” she replied. To her horror he patted her down. It was both intrusive and humiliating. He checked her pockets, then took her backpack off her back.

  “We’ve been waiting for you, sweetheart,” the blonde said. “We’ve been hoping you’d come back to see us after the last little fiasco.”

  “How did you know I’d come back?” she asked, curious as to how they’d guessed this would be a target and not someplace else.

  “We weren’t sure. We’ve got teams set up all over Miami in museums and galleries just hoping you’d show.” Lynn slowly digested this information. “What’s your name?” he asked when he’d finished frisking her.

  She hesitated a moment, then decided there was no reason not to cooperate with them to the fullest. Surely when they got to the station or wherever they would be taking her, the whole thing would be straightened out and she’d be released immediately.

  “Lynnette White.”

  “Ms. White, put your hands behind your back. You’re under arrest for attempted robbery and suspicion of several other robberies.”

  The snap of the handcuffs around her wrists sounded like gunfire in her ear. The cuffs were cold and tight. As the agent began to lead her toward the entrance of the convention center, he read her her rights.

  This will all be straightened out soon, she told herself as the officer’s words rang in her ears. There was no point in trying to explain things to these men. She needed to talk to somebody in charge.

  A phone call from Jonas or the contact he had with the government would surely effect her immediate release. All she needed to do was be patient and stay calm. However, it was difficult to stay calm with her hands cuffed behind her. It seemed to take forever before she was finally led toward the entrance of the convention center.

  The thick night air wrapped around her as she was led to the door of the building. They had just stepped out when a car screeched to a halt in front of the building. She stared at the car…a familiar car.

  For a moment her mind refused to make any sense of it. It looked like Nick’s car, but that didn’t make any sense at all. What would he be doing here?

  Her heart leaped as a thought occurred to her. Maybe he was here to help her. Maybe Uncle Jonas had sent him. But even as she thought it, she knew it was impossible. How could he be here to help her? How could he or her Uncle Jonas know she was in trouble?

  She stared in confusion as he stepped out of the car.

  “Agent Barnes,” the officer behind her yelled. “We got the perp.”

  Agent Barnes? For a moment her mind simply refused to understand. Agent Barnes? Nick was Agent Barnes? But he worked for Jonas. He was head of security.

  His gaze met hers, and in his eyes she knew the truth. He was an FBI agent. Numbness swept through her as their gazes remained locked for a long moment. With a gasp, she tore her gaze from his.

  Moments later as she sat in the back of a car driving her to wherever they intended to take her, her mind tried to wrap around what she had just learned.

  Agent Barnes. FBI Agent Nick Barnes. When their gazes had met for that single moment, she’d seen the shock in his gaze, but no amount of shock he felt in seeing her could compare to what she felt at seeing him, at learning who he was.

  She closed her eyes and leaned back, instantly feeling the painful pinch of the cuffs biting into her wrists. She welcomed the physical pain that momentarily obscured anything else she might feel. Tears burned at her eyes, but she focused only on the pain at her wrists.

  Soon enough the cuffs would be removed, the numbness of shock would wear off and she’d have to face emotions she didn’t want to feel.

  The blessed numbness remained with her as she was taken into the local precinct. She was fingerprinted and her mug shot taken, then finally she was led into a small interrogation room.

 
The room was like something from a movie, containing a table and two chairs and nothing else that could be used as a weapon against an officer or herself. A long mirror stretched across one wall and she assumed it was some sort of two-way mirror that allowed people to see into the room.

  She was left alone, and, as she sat at the table, the first real wave of emotion struck her. Pain. It seared through her heart.

  A fool. She’d been such a fool. Initially she’d been afraid Nick was using her to get closer to her uncle, to gain a more favorable position in Jonas’s employment.

  In the time they’d spent together, he’d assuaged those worries, seducing her into believing that his only reason for spending time with her, sharing moments with her, was that he liked her, he wanted her.

  And she’d taken the bait, hook, line and sinker. An aching bereavement shot through her as she realized it had all been false. Every heated glance he had given to her, every special word he had spoken to her, every touch and kiss he’d shared with her had been lies, all lies.

  Tears once again burned at her eyes, and she swiped at them angrily. He didn’t deserve her tears. He was a liar, a deceiver.

  She had no idea what was going on for sure. Had this been about trapping her, concerning the robberies? She leaned back in the chair and rubbed her fingers across her forehead. Think. She had to think. She had to somehow make sense of all this.

  Looking back now over the past two weeks they had shared, she realized how often he’d asked her little things about Jonas, about where he was, what he was doing. His casual questions had seemed benign at the time, but now nothing that had occurred in the past two weeks seemed benign.

  Why had he been using her? What had he wanted from her? Information about Jonas, or had he been trying to entrap her for the robberies?

  Thank God she hadn’t shared her innermost secrets with him. Thank God Jonas had spent her lifetime warning her about people like Nick.

  But that didn’t make his betrayal any less painful.

  She stared at the door, waiting impatiently for somebody to come in and speak with her. She needed to make a phone call to let Jonas know what had happened. He would straighten this out. She was certain it was just a matter of time and she’d be released.

  At least they’d removed the cuffs. She rubbed her reddened wrists absently. She couldn’t wait to get out of here and when she did, she’d never see or speak to Nick Barnes again. Certainly he could be assured his job as head of security for Jonas was over. Not that losing his job there would probably bother him. After all, he was apparently a hotshot FBI agent.

  What was his game? Why had he been working for Jonas? Obviously he’d been undercover, but why? At the moment nothing made sense except the pain that ripped through her heart.

  He’d used her. For the first time in her life she’d allowed a man to get close to her, had let down her guard and had trusted like she’d never done before.

  She closed her eyes, remembering each touch of his hand, every word he’d uttered to her, the fire of every kiss they had shared. Lies. All lies.

  The pain inside her transformed to a rich cold anger. She opened her eyes as she heard the door to the room open. She frowned as Nick walked in and closed the door behind him.

  “Get somebody else in here to talk to me, because I’m not talking to you,” she said, her voice thick with the anger that rippled inside her.

  He ignored her words and seated himself opposite her at the table. “Why don’t you tell me what in the hell you were doing tonight?”

  She wanted to scream at him, ask him what in the hell he thought he was doing, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing how utterly devastated she was by his subterfuge. “It’s complicated,” she said, refusing to meet his gaze.

  “Well, uncomplicate it for me.” There was a toughness in his voice she’d never heard before.

  “I’d like to make my phone call, then all of this will be straightened out,” she replied.

  “I don’t think you recognize how much trouble you’re in, Lynn. You’re facing felony theft charges, along with a multitude of other charges. No phone call from anyone is going to straighten this out.”

  She looked at him then and raised her chin in a show of defiance. “Trust me, you’re all going to have egg on your face when Uncle Jonas talks to his government contact.”

  He stared at her as if she were speaking a foreign language. “What government contact?”

  “If you just let me call Uncle Jonas, then he can explain it all to you. This is all one big mistake. I’m not a thief, there’s just been some sort of mix-up.”

  He slammed his hands down on the table. She jumped at the force of his action. “I don’t want Jonas to explain anything to me. I want you to talk to me. We have over a dozen thefts on the books, and right now you’re looking good for all of them. I want to know what in the hell you think you’ve been doing.”

  She jumped up, the chair skittering backward on the floor as something snapped inside her. “Why don’t you tell me what in the hell you think you’ve been doing, Agent Barnes?” She was appalled by the tremble that seemed to take possession of her voice. “Why don’t you tell me what kind of game you’ve been playing?”

  For a moment the air between them crackled with tension, with the acrid scent of broken trust and the simmering rage of betrayal. “Tell me what you were doing, Agent Barnes, working for Uncle Jonas. Tell me why you’re on our payroll as a security expert when you have such a prominent position with the FBI. Tell me what you were doing every time you held me in your arms and kissed me.”

  The words fired from her and the tremble that had been in her voice disappeared beneath the cold, hard anger that ripped through her. “You get me a phone so I can make my phone call, and beyond that I don’t have anything else to say to you.”

  She sat back down, folded her hands and glared at him.

  A muscle ticked ominously in his jaw. He stood and pulled his cell phone from his pocket. “Make your call. I’ll wait outside.” He set the phone on the table, then turned and left the room.

  The moment he left the room the anger that had sustained her vanished, leaving in its wake a heart heaviness she’d never known before.

  He hadn’t answered any of her questions. She still had no idea why he’d been working for Jonas. More important, she had no idea why he’d worked to get so close to her, what he could possibly want from her.

  She picked up the phone and dialed Jonas’s number, praying that he would answer. As she’d feared, it went directly to voice mail.

  “Uncle Jonas, it’s me.” She paused a few seconds, then continued. “I went after the urn tonight and I’ve been arrested by the FBI. I’m at the South Patrol precinct. You need to talk to your contact and get me out of here. Please, Uncle Jonas…get me out of here as soon as possible.”

  She clicked off and set the phone down on the table. How long would it be before Jonas checked his voice mail? Even on those rare occasions that he told her he would be incommunicado, he’d always assured her that he listened to his voice mail frequently and would always be available should she need him.

  She needed him now. This room, this place, was getting to her. She could smell the odor of the people who had sat at this table before her. The stench of sweat and fear permeated the room.

  A surge of panic swept through her and she grabbed the phone and once again punched in Jonas’s number. “Uncle Jonas, please hurry and call me as soon as you get this message. I need you.” She read off the number from Nick’s cell phone, then disconnected.

  She remained in the room by herself for what seemed like an eternity, staring at the phone and willing it to ring. She looked up as the door opened and Nick walked back in.

  He sank down in the chair across from her and for a moment they sat in silence, their gazes locked. As Lynn stared at his familiar features, she realized the depth of her emotional involvement with him.

  She’d been perilously close to falling in
love with him, and this recognition refired the flames of her rage. It had felt so real with him, but she realized now that her relationship with him had been no more real than the cyberspace relationships she shared through the Internet.

  “Did you get in touch with Jonas?” he finally asked.

  She shook her head. “I left a message for him. I also gave him your phone number. I’m sure he’ll be calling very soon.”

  “Are you going to tell me why a woman who has everything she could want would spend her nights stealing antiquities and jewels?” he asked. There was no anger in his voice this time. Instead there was a deep weariness. “I’d really like to understand. Can you explain it to me?”

  “I don’t owe you any explanations,” she said with a forced coolness.

  His lips thinned. “Perhaps you’ll feel more like talking after spending a night in jail.”

  “I shouldn’t be here more than an hour or two,” she said with a burst of confidence. She stood. “Take me to a cell. I’d prefer to cool my heels there than in your company.”

  “Lynn, let me explain—”

  “I don’t want to hear any explanations,” she said, interrupting whatever he was about to say. No explanation he could offer could take away what he had done. He’d taken her emotions, all her trust and abused them in the worst possible way.

  “Fine.” The muscle once again ticked in his jaw as he stood and left the room. A moment later a uniformed police officer came into the room to escort her to her accommodations for the night.

  Lynn had never been in a police station in her life. As the officer walked her toward the back of the building, she noted that this particular station house was smaller than she would have guessed most police stations to be.

  It was housed in an old brick building, and she fought a shudder as she anticipated the cell where she’d be spending the next couple of hours or so.

  There was absolutely no doubt in her mind that her uncle Jonas would move heaven and earth to get her out as soon as possible. All she had to do was endure until he made the appropriate arrangements.