Known Threat

by Kara A. McLeod

  Walker hesitated longer than I thought he would, and I was considering a new tack when he finally replied. “We’re done.”

  His words were slow and thoughtful, almost a question, as though he was weighing the statement and looking for hidden meaning. I let out a shaky breath and typed again.

  “Yes. We’re done. If you’re not going to be honest with me, I can’t talk to you. Thank you for calling.”

  “Wait!” Walker’s voice was panicked. “Wait. What about my wife?”

  “What about her?”

  “Do I get to see her?”

  “Absolutely not.”

  “But—but you can’t do that.”

  “Sure I can.”

  “But don’t you want Agent O’Connor back?” Now he just sounded confused.

  “I thought you said you let her go.”

  Walker didn’t reply.

  “See? You lied to me. I can’t trust you. Which means you just lost whatever leverage you thought you had. We’ll do this another way. And you have only yourself to blame. Remember that.”

  Walker absolutely lost his shit. He started shrieking at the top of his lungs, and between the volume and the pitch of his voice, I couldn’t understand anything he was saying. He’d gone off the deep end, and we had no hope of reining him in.

  “Hang up,” I told Rico. Walker was too busy screaming. I wasn’t at all worried he’d hear me.

  “What?” His expression was incredulous.

  “Hang up. Trust me.”

  With a slight frown, Rico did as he was told. The silence left in the wake of that phone call was ominous, and the entire room seemed to hold its breath. I tapped my foot as the seconds ticked by, each feeling infinitely longer than the one before it.

  The phone rang again, and I put my hand on Rico’s arm to prevent him from answering it too quickly. I didn’t even bother to look at him. I didn’t want to see his expression. I was already doubting myself enough as it was. I didn’t need anyone else feeding my fears. After three rings, I released my grip.

  “Secret Service,” Rico said as though he didn’t know exactly who was calling and why.

  Walker picked up right where he’d left off, screeching like a car alarm in the middle of the night. A lot of loud banging sounds accompanied his yelling, which made me wonder exactly what he was hitting and how close Rory was to the chaos. For her sake, I hoped she was in another room.

  I did glance at Rico then and bobbed my head once. Rico thumbed the call-end button and took a long, slow, deep breath. He ran his free hand through his hair a couple times before allowing it to rest back on the top of his thigh. With his other hand, he was holding the phone slightly aloft, waiting. He didn’t have to wait too long before it rang again.

  “Secret Service.”

  “Why do you keep hanging up on me?” Walker screamed.

  I could imagine his face all too easily—the blotchy red hue of his cheeks, the bulging eyes, the spittle flying from his lips as he screeched—and the mental picture sent chills up my spine. I shivered and swallowed hard.

  “Because I refuse to talk to you until you can conduct yourself like an adult. If you want to talk, you do it calmly and respectfully. If you can’t, then I have nothing to say to you.”

  Walker took several deep breaths. If not for the length of each, I’d have said he was gasping for air, but this sounded way more deliberate. The knot inside my chest loosened slightly. I’d seen him do this before. He was trying to calm himself. I hoped this was a good sign.

  “Okay,” Walker said after a full minute. “Okay. Let’s talk.”

  “Thank you,” Rico said. “I appreciate that. Let’s try again. Did you let Agent O’Connor go?”

  A long pause. Then, so soft I almost missed it, “No.”

  I grimaced and closed my eyes for a moment, battling the sudden nausea that’d just hit me like a cannonball to the gut. I ran a hand across my brow, wiping away the beads of perspiration there before depositing them on the leg of my pants. I set my jaw and opened my eyes again.

  “Is Agent O’Connor okay?”

  Another pause. “She’s fine.”

  He’d just lied to us again, but I didn’t want to get into that at the moment, mostly because I couldn’t do anything about it from here. I resolved to reopen that discussion with him after we had Rory back. In the meantime, I opted to move on.

  “Okay,” Rico said, shooting me a look of disbelief. “Have you given any thought to what I said earlier?”

  “Yeah. I have. And I’ve decided not to let Agent O’Connor go. Not until you let me see my wife.”

  I tilted my head back as far as it would go and sighed. Damned if he wasn’t determined to be a complete pain in my ass.

  “That’s an interesting choice,” Rico said. “Are you sure you don’t want to think about that some more?”

  “I’m sure. And you know what else I’m sure about?”

  “What’s that?”

  “That I’m tired of you jerking me around. I gave you more than enough time to set this up. Now you’re just playing games. You’re stalling.”

  “Not at all, Adam. I don’t think you appreciate the delicacy of the situation—”

  “What I don’t appreciate is being played for a fool. No more tricks. You have one hour. Have my wife meet me in Prospect Park or Agent O’Connor dies. And make sure she comes alone. If I so much as see another agent, Agent O’Connor will pay the price.”

  “Okay, Adam. Okay. No need to get jumpy. Just tell me where in the park you want her to meet you, and I’ll get it set up.”

  “I’ll find her.”

  I heard a loud clattering sound, as though the phone had been dropped or thrown, and then nothing. Leaning forward, I struggled to hear anything but couldn’t. He’d either hung up or broken the device.

  I frowned as my mind drifted for a moment. My fears for Rory’s safety were metaphorically drowning my thoughts of the operation. I choked back the bile rising in my throat with great effort and raised my eyes.

  The weight of the collective gaze of everyone in the room was pressing down on me. Allison’s, of course, felt heavier than anyone else’s. I forced myself to look at Claudia instead, who was watching me in her infinitely patient way.

  “What do you think?” she asked.

  I took a deep breath before I replied. “We should get this info over to the cell-tracking guys in the office to see whether they can muster up and track Walker down before our hour deadline is up.”

  “I’ll do it,” Rico said. He vacated his position on the arm of the chair and moved toward the hallway, where it was quieter to make his call.

  “And then?” Claudia wanted to know.

  “Is Ivy working today?” I asked. I hadn’t seen her when I’d stopped in the CP earlier, but that didn’t mean anything.

  Claudia looked to Hannah, who shook her head. “Not right now. She’s on mids this week. She’ll be in later.”

  “Damn. I was hoping we could use her as a Hurricane stand-in to draw Walker out in the park.” I rubbed the palm of my hand across the back of my neck and tried to ignore Allison, who I could see staring at me out of the corner of my eye.

  “I’ll call her,” Hannah said. “Maybe she can get over there in time.”

  “Doesn’t she live up in Ossining?” I asked. “She’ll never make it.”

  Hannah shrugged. “Perhaps we’ll get lucky, and she’ll be in the city for something. You never know.”

  I waved her on. “Sure. Doesn’t hurt to ask, I guess.”

  “I’m on it,” Hannah said, plucking her phone off her belt.

  I turned back to Claudia. “I’m trying to think of who else we could use as bait if Ivy isn’t available. We don’t have all that many women to choose from. Ivy is the closest one to Hurricane’s body type. After her, I guess we could try—”

  “Me,” a voice chimed in from the edge of the room.

  We all turned to look, and my heart sank as I took in Hurricane standing j
ust inside the door. Her hands were on her hips, and a defiant fire burned in her eyes. Inwardly, I groaned. She sure had picked one hell of a time to leave the confines of her apartment and start exploring. And who’d left the damn door unlocked? Seriously, I couldn’t catch a break today.

  “Miss Carmichael,” Claudia said as she started to stride over to her. “How long have you been standing there?”

  “Long enough.”

  Hurricane allowed her attention to float around the room as she sized up each of us in turn. Finally, her gaze landed on me. My heart picked up speed, and I swallowed. Or I tried to. My mouth was suddenly dry, which made the action difficult. I wondered exactly how long “long enough” was and how much she’d heard.

  “This man, he’s taken someone because he wants to meet me, right?” Hurricane asked me.

  I debated lying to her, but what could I have possibly come up with? I nodded reluctantly. “Yes.”

  Hurricane smiled then, but it was a wicked sort of smile, and it looked altogether wrong on her face. “Well, let’s give the man what he wants.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Claudia kept her eyes locked on Hurricane, who continued to stare insolently back at her. No one moved. No one spoke. Stagnant, awkward air filled the room. Again, I craved to seek out Allison for reassurance, and again, with much effort, I bested my compulsion.

  “Excuse us for a moment,” Claudia said to the rest of the group, never taking her attention off Hurricane. She then raised one eyebrow and gestured toward what I assumed was the bedroom. With a dark glare, Hurricane followed, and the door shut softly behind her.

  I let out a long, slow breath, glad that was over, but my relief was short-lived. In my periphery, I saw Allison take a step toward me and then stop as though uncertain what to do. My midsection suddenly felt as though it were encased in an extremely tight corset, and my heart was hammering violently to break free of the confines.

  Hannah approached me then, saving me from having to deal with Allison and the disaster that was our relationship. She was shaking her head. “Ivy’s at home. There’s no way she’d be able to make it in time. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be. We knew it was a long shot.”

  “What are we going to do now? Do you think you could pass as a decoy for Hurricane? You have similar hair color and skin tone.”

  It was my turn to shake my head. “I considered that, but I don’t think it’ll work. For one thing, I’m shorter than she is. For another, I’m a little more…” I was unable to think of the term I wanted.

  “Busty?” Hannah said with a tiny smirk.

  “Yup. That’s the word.”

  “A little?”

  I cracked a smile. “Shut up.”

  Hannah allowed her eyes to drop to my chest as though sizing me up, and I shoved her playfully. She flashed me a quick grin and then was all business again. “Do you really think he’d notice? It’s dark outside.”

  “I know, but he’s been fixated on her for years now. He’s watched her. He knows what she looks like and how she moves. I don’t want to take the chance that he’ll realize it’s not her before we can take him down or get to Rory.”

  “So what do we do?” Hannah asked again.

  I picked at my cuticles, not eager to break the news to her. “Hurricane volunteered to meet him.”

  “Absolutely not,” Hannah said without hesitation.

  “Hey, I’m with you. I’d much rather take the chance and do it myself than get her involved, but I’m not so sure I have any say in the matter.” I shot a meaningful glance toward the closed door on the other side of the room.

  Hannah picked up on my implication and glanced around long enough to note that Claudia was missing. She rolled her shoulders, obviously tense. “Ah. Well, if anyone can talk her out of it, it’s the SAIC.”

  “From your lips to God’s ears.”

  “So who do we have to use in the event that the SAIC does manage to pull off the impossible?”

  “We have a new girl in the office. Her name’s Anna. She’s been out of the academy for a couple of months, I guess. It’s way too soon for her to do this kind of work, but she’s built similarly to Hurricane. Her hair’s a different color, but we could always have her tuck it underneath a hat.”

  “Perfect. Will she be able to get there in time?”

  “As long as she’s not out on something, yes. She lives in Crown Heights, right by the park, actually. As soon as Rico comes back with my phone, I’ll call her and see if she’s available.”

  The door to the other room swung open then and Claudia strode out, her face an impassive mask. It was impossible to tell from her expression how the discussion had gone—until Hurricane wandered out looking pleased with herself. My heart sank, and I bit back a groan.

  Claudia approached me and took my elbow, leading me toward the front door. She leaned into me a little so she’d be able to speak without being overheard. “Miss Carmichael will be accompanying us on the operation.”

  I frowned, not even attempting to conceal my displeasure. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

  “I’m fairly certain it isn’t, actually. But she won’t be deterred.”

  “Okay.”

  “I assume you have a ballistic vest in your car?”

  “Of course.”

  Claudia’s eyes were stormy. “I hate to ask you this, but would you mind letting her wear it? I’d give her mine, but I don’t have it here.”

  “Not at all. I’ll run downstairs and get it. I have to change out of this suit anyway, and my stuff is in the trunk.”

  “I don’t like the idea of her wearing a vest and you not, but…”

  “But she’s the protectee. I get it. It’s not a big deal. If you hadn’t asked, I still would’ve insisted.”

  “Please don’t think this means I value her life over and above yours. That’s not what this is.”

  “I didn’t think it was. Seriously, it’s fine. Besides, I have an extra vest. A lower-profile one I purchased myself that’s much more comfortable. I’ll wear that, and she can have my issued one. No problem.”

  Claudia looked relieved. “Perfect. I really appreciate that.”

  “Any time. I’ll go get it now.”

  “Thanks. I’ll just chat with these guys to see what kind of tactical plan we can come up with.”

  I nodded. “Be right back.”

  I stepped out into the hallway and punched the call button for the elevator. Briefly I wondered where Rico had gotten to, but my curiosity took a backseat to my anxiety over the more pressing situation. My mind was twirling like some sort of runaway carnival ride, taking all my internal organs along with it. I tapped my foot, willing the car to hurry up already. I consulted my watch. We’d already used up five minutes of our allotted hour. Claudia needed to pull her tactical plan together fast. It’d probably take at least twenty minutes to reach Prospect Park, and that wasn’t accounting for the traffic snarls commonplace in the city. We needed to get this show on the road.

  The apartment door opened behind me before I got too deep into the weeds of thinking about what could happen to Rory if we were late, and Allison and Hannah stepped into the suddenly-too-small hallway with me. My heart and my stomach swapped places and then began an epic struggle to return to their rightful positions. All the while, the rest of my body was humming, and not in a pleasant way.

  Allison hesitated just outside the doorway to Hurricane’s apartment, but the door swung shut behind her, effectively trapping us all together. If she went back inside now, it’d look like she was avoiding me, and the expression on her face for the split second I looked at her told me she knew it. Trying to keep my nerves from forcing me to do something stupid, I turned back to the elevator and stared at the doors.

  Allison lingered behind me for another beat before she took a step forward so we were standing shoulder to shoulder. At the edge of my vision, I saw her cross her arms and duck her head. Her silky, dark hair swung forward to rest agains
t the hollow of her cheek, and my fingers itched to brush it back to its rightful place. Fuck. Even when I was upset with her, I wanted to touch her. I scowled, irritated by yet still marveling at the phenomenon.

  The atmosphere in the hall continued to swell and press in on me until I felt as though I would either collapse or explode. Neither proposition appealed to me, although I did think both would effectively cut through the tension, which was something.

  The sound of Hannah clearing her throat was loud, and my heart slammed violently against my rib cage as it rammed itself back into place. “The elevator doesn’t usually take this long.”

  “Who are you kidding?” I said, my words sounding a tad sharper than I’d intended. “This elevator always takes forever.”

  “Yeah.”

  Hannah was clearly miserable, and I felt a stab of remorse. I hadn’t meant for anybody to get caught up in my personal drama. And if I could’ve come up with a way to fix it, I would have. But my toolbox was empty. I was absolutely devoid of ideas.

  A small part of me wanted to take Allison aside and talk this whole thing out. Now that I’d had a minute to reflect on the situation, I had to admit that she hadn’t done anything wrong in sleeping with Byers. She hadn’t even necessarily been wrong in keeping it from me. Her past was her business, not mine. I didn’t need to know everyone she’d ever been with, although a little honesty on her part would’ve gone a long way to alleviate the way he’d just blindsided me. But it hadn’t been her fault that Byers had chosen to hit me with that revelation when he had, so I wasn’t all that positive that my earlier ire had been one hundred percent justified.

  However, I was still hurting and had less than no interest in getting into any kind of discussion with her about anything at the moment. Childish, I know, but that didn’t change the reality. I was upset, and I needed space and time.

  I also needed to separate and compartmentalize my feelings so I could focus solely on Rory. Allison and I could settle whatever we might or might not have had to talk about after my sister was safe. That was the right call. So why was I still so sick and miserable?