Sworn to Protect

by Susanne Matthews

  “You’re a great lawyer, Merry,” Nancy said and smiled. “Don’t even think of putting yourself in the same category as Pratt. There are slime balls in every profession. Clive Connors came to mind once more. “I know a few accountants I don’t trust. When it comes to lawyers, Pratt happens to be one of the worse. The law needs people willing to protect the innocent and see that justice is served. People like you who actually care and want to see people treated fairly even in a divorce settlement.”

  Nancy sipped her margarita. Another reason she’d chosen Lucifer’s for their dinner out was because it had been where Neil had proposed—a fitting place for the end of everything.

  “I’m going to ask Larry to get a Duces Tecum subpoena on Monday and go to Baltimore to have a look at the paper trail and attend that meeting Tuesday. By the time I’m finished, I’ll know where to find every last dime Paxton has or doesn’t have. Have you heard of Claymore Investments?”

  “No,” Meredith said. “Why? Are you thinking of moving stuff around?”

  “Uh-uh, not that I have much to move even if I wanted to, but Paxton’s seems to have a lot of his eggs in that basket—never a good idea in this kind of economy. The name’s familiar. I’ve seen it recently. There must’ve been clients at OJM with investments there. I’ll have a closer look at the documents Larry sent me tomorrow. For now, let’s eat, drink, and be merry. Who knows what the future will bring? Hopefully good things for all of us.”

  But she didn’t believe it for a minute.

  * * *

  Neil Copeland stood and smiled down at the young woman sitting in the lounge chair, cuddling the toddler on her lap. She reminded him of why he chose to do this job in spite of what it had cost him.

  “I’m going to miss you far more than anyone else,” Rebecca said, her eyes tear-filled. “Without the two of you, I would never have gotten through these last two and a half years. When I was told Jared had been killed in action just before Scotty was born, I wanted to die, and then that monster … I doubt I would’ve had the guts to testify without your help.”

  He watched the boy go down the steps and over to the sand box. Thoughts of the child he’d fathered, the one who’d never play in the sun, filled him with sorrow.

  “I think you’d have done the right thing, but I’m glad we were able to keep you safe until it was over. Jared would have been proud of you. He may have died serving his country, but you’re every bit as brave as he was.”

  “Scotty’s my life now. He’ll never know his father, but thanks to you, he’ll have a mother he can be proud of.” Rebecca smiled weakly and stood on tiptoe to kiss first Neil’s cheek and then Todd’s. “Thank you.”

  Neil swallowed awkwardly. Normally, he tried to stay detached, but with this case, it had been impossible. They’d been assigned to look after Scotty and Rebecca at what he considered to be the lowest point in his life, when he’d lost faith not only in the system, but in himself. Keeping the boy and his mother safe had given him a purpose, a reason to get out of bed each morning. He grabbed his suit coat off the back of the deck chair, and hooking it with one finger, put it over his shoulder.

  “Who knows? Maybe when you’re in this area again, we’ll run into one another,” she said.

  “I’d like that, too,” he lied, knowing it could never happen no matter how much she might want it. He smiled confidently, hiding his own sorrow at this farewell. “Everything will work out fine, you’ll see. Be happy.”

  “We will,” Rebecca answered. “I’ll never forget either of you.”

  Neil nodded, said goodbye, and together he and Todd left the house.

  “She’s a remarkable woman.” He started the rental car they’d used for this trip. “I’m really going to miss that little guy. Have you heard from Anderson yet? I wouldn’t mind a little down time before the next case.”

  “I phoned first thing this morning and left a message telling him we’d have everything wrapped up today. He hasn’t called back. Maybe he’ll let us stay in Charleston for a while. I have an apartment there.” Todd frowned and tied his seatbelt. “It seems like a waste of money considering I’ve spent more time in safe houses and hotel rooms these last three years than anywhere else.”

  Neil nodded, signaled a left turn, and merged onto the highway. “I know how you feel, but everybody needs someplace to call home.”

  “Have you figured out where you’ll hang your hat? Will you go back and try to patch things up with Nancy?”

  “There’s nothing left to patch up. I have to go to the house and get the rest of my stuff, but after that, I’m not sure what I’ll do. I sent back the signed divorce papers, so I might as well look for something in Charleston, too.”

  Living in Crystal Beach, even on as temporary a basis as he did given his job, wasn’t an option. Seeing Nancy, especially since it didn’t seem as if she wanted to have anything to do with him, would be like rubbing salt in a wound. It would be hard enough collecting his stuff. She would want him to do it while she wasn’t around, but there was no way he would go for that. He needed to see her face to face and hear her say it was over, no matter how painful that would be.

  Two hours later, thanks to heavier than normal traffic that kept him focused on the road, allowing little to no time for idle chit-chat, Neil pulled into the driveway of the San Diego safe house.

  “What time’s our flight?” Todd asked.

  “Just after five tonight. We have a layover at LAX, another at O’Hare, but we should arrive in Charleston around noon tomorrow.”

  “Okay. It’s almost two now. Give me half-an-hour to pack, and then we can have a late lunch and turn in the car before going out to the airport. Has Nancy returned your call yet?”

  He shook his head. “No. As much as I wish she would, she simply may not be up to it. Yesterday would’ve been a rough one for her. She probably went to the cemetery and then spent the rest of the day sitting in her rocker holding that quilt her mother made just before the accident.”

  “It was tough on you, too, whether you admit it or not,” Todd reminded him. “You may have been here, but your heart was in Crystal Beach. That baby was your son. You’re allowed to grieve, Neil.”

  He swallowed his sorrow. He’d accepted that loss long ago. It was knowing Nancy blamed him, even if she hadn’t said so, that hurt.

  “I’ll call the airport and make sure the plane is on time,” Todd continued. “Then I’ll notify them downtown that we’ve vacated. We can head out around three.”

  “That works.”

  Neil unlocked the door to the adobe bungalow, and his heart soared at the flashing light on the phone indicating he had a message. Dropping his jacket, he picked up the handset, punched in the code, and waited for Nancy’s voice. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say. It was true he’d signed those papers, but a divorce was the last thing he wanted. What he craved was his smart, sassy, sarcastic, beautiful wife, the woman he’d essentially lost four years ago.

  “I’ll be in my room,” Todd said, giving him some privacy.

  “Copeland, Higgins, call me as soon as you get this message. It’s important.”

  Neil’s hopes plummeted as the line went dead. Not Nancy returning his call, but Anderson. It wasn’t logical to blame the man for everything that had gone wrong with his life and marriage, but he did. Neil was tempted to ignore the call. They’d be back tomorrow, but his personal feelings had no bearing on his job. He hung up, picked up the receiver once more, and pressed the speed dial button on the phone. It rang twice before Anderson answered.

  “Anderson,” he snapped.

  “It’s Copeland. What’s up?”

  “Is Higgins with you? I’ve been trying to get you guys for hours. Don’t you check your messages?”

  The man was as abrupt as ever.

  “Standard protocol has all phones turned off during transfer. You know that,” Neil said, no more polite than his boss had been. “Besides, reception’s lousy in the mountains. Higgins is just down the hall
. What do you need?”

  “Your current assignment is finished, right?”

  “It is,” he admitted reluctantly, wishing he could lie about it. “We delivered the packages this morning. We’re getting ready to fly back in a couple of hours.”

  “Cancel those plans. I have a new assignment for you.”

  Neil frowned. “Todd and I were hoping for a little down time. We’ve been on this job for more than thirty months.”

  “I’m aware of that, but I need you for a priority case. We’re shorthanded, and you two are already out there.”

  “What do we have to do?” he asked, knowing Todd wouldn’t be any happier about this than he was.

  “Get to LA. You’ll pick up a package, and bring it to Baltimore. The Justice Department has put one of its planes at your disposal, so you’ll be flying home in style.”

  “Is that the sugar to help us swallow this bitter pill?”

  Anderson chuckled. “Nothing gets past you. It was the best I could do.”

  “Who’s the package?”

  “Fred Russell, he’s a Baltimore investment broker, currently in protective custody with LAPD and the JD.”

  “What’s his story?”

  “He’s convinced one of his clients tried to blow him up yesterday, so he’s making a deal the feds can’t refuse. LAPD is cooperating, and the press release says two bodies, one male, one female were in the vehicle. Your job is to bring him in, sit on him until he testifies before the Grand Jury, and then help him disappear into WITSEC.”

  “The full enchilada, I see,” Neil said. You had to have something really good to get total immunity and a new life these days. “Who’s he rolled over on?”

  “Carlos Ramirez.”

  Neil whistled. “Ramirez is rumored to run one of the big Columbian drug cartels, but no one’s been able to pin anything on him. He supposedly has ties to the Russian mob.”

  “Married into it as I understand, but it’s his alleged American connections the feds are salivating over. This case is top priority. How soon can you get there?”

  “Our plane tickets will take us to LA. That’ll get us there by six, six-thirty at the latest. Where do we find him?”

  “786 Moreno Drive.”

  “Got it. We’ll pick up a rental car at the airport, and I’ll plug it into the GPS. Out of curiosity, if that’s where the guy’s from, why bring him back to Baltimore?”

  “Not my call. The feds reason that if anyone suspects the package wasn’t destroyed, and I’m sure they will when the investigation begins, the last place they’ll look for him is under their noses. Plus, the closer he is to the trial venue, the better they like it.”

  “Makes sense, but it doesn’t make our job any easier. We’ll head back as soon as we can.”

  Neil hung up and proceeded down the hall. The last thing he wanted right now was another extended case, but Baltimore was just a hop, skip, and a jump away from Crystal Beach. It could be worse. He knocked on Todd’s door.

  “Come in.”

  Todd was busy folding shirts and adding them to his suitcase.

  “How’s Nancy?” he asked, without looking up.

  “I don’t know. It wasn’t her,” Neil answered, his disappointment buried deep inside.

  Todd stopped packing and turned to face him. “Anderson, then?”

  “Yeah. Our down time didn’t last long. We’re picking up a package in LA and flying the rest of the way home in a private jet.”

  “Nice. What gives?”

  “It seems that just because someone tried to kill him, some dirty investment broker has grown a pair. We’re accompanying the JD’s newest snitch to Baltimore, and they’re really anxious to get their paws on him.”

  “Weatherman claims there’s a front moving in. Won’t be a comfortable flight.”

  “Great, just great,” Neil said. Flying wasn’t his favorite mode of transportation, and flying in bad weather just made it worse.

  Chapter Three

  Neil sat at the bar, nursing a pint of beer, paying scant attention to the hockey game on the television screen in front of him. Their plane had been one of the last to land before the storm grounded everything. He’d tried Nancy earlier after they’d checked in. It was too late to call again, considering it was after ten, which made it after one in the morning in Crystal Beach. Since she’d always returned his calls, the thought she was washing her hands of him hurt.

  When was the last time he and Nancy had actually spoken to one another? It couldn’t possibly have been over the speaker phone in Meredith’s office last December when they’d discussed the divorce. He’d called at Christmas and left a message. She’d returned the call and gotten his voice mail. How could he have let it come to this? Signing those papers last week had been a colossal error. He’d screwed up, and now it was too late. Life wasn’t a game of marbles. No one got a do-over.

  Todd sat down on the stool beside his and motioned for a drink. In his mid-fifties, bald and built like a wrestler, there wasn’t another guy Neil would want guarding his back.

  The bartender came over and wiped down the gleaming oak countertop.

  “What can I get you?”

  “I’ll have a draft, thanks,” Todd answered. “Whatever you’ve got on tap that’s light.”

  “Coming right up.”

  “I’m worried about Nancy,” Neil said, unable to hide his frustration. “I phoned a couple of hours ago and got her voice mail again. That more or less sums up what went wrong with our marriage. Either one of us or the other was always unavailable. We couldn’t find the time to talk to one another, let alone listen.”

  “That doesn’t stop you from loving her still, does it?”

  His partner was far too perceptive. Neil swallowed a mouthful of beer.

  “No, it doesn’t, and nothing ever will, but it goes to show why things didn’t work out for us. I feel like my guts have been ripped out.”

  Todd shrugged. “You’re an idiot for letting her go, but you know that. If you want another chance to make this right, you have to go see her in person.”

  Todd was right. If he wanted things to change, he had to face her. She’d never gotten angry, never yelled ... No, she’d let him walk away, and he still didn’t know why he had. He simply hadn’t known what to say—hadn’t known where to begin. At the time of the accident, everything had been crazy. Only one man had known where to find him, and that man had decided the job came first. Neil might have to work for him, but he’d never forgive him. By the time he’d learned the truth, it was all over.

  “Well?” Todd asked when he’d been quiet for some time. “Are you going to tell me what you’re thinking or am I supposed to use the force to figure it out?”

  Neil laughed bitterly. “You can try, but the only thing on my mind right now is my wife.”

  Todd shook his head. “I don’t know what to tell you.”

  “Maybe it’s time to pack it in,” Neil continued. “If Nancy agrees to give me another chance, and that’s a big if, something has to change.”

  “This last case took a lot out of me, too,” Todd agreed. “I’m getting too old for this stuff. I know what we do is important, but I’m tired of watching people walk through my life and having to say goodbye. I guess that kid got to me. When we were ready to have children, it was too late. The cancer took Mary. I never expected to grow old alone.”

  “And on that depressing note…”

  Neil stood, threw a twenty down on the bar, and waved at the bartender. Going back to Baltimore might be a blessing. Before this assignment was over, he vowed he’d talk to Nancy and beg her to give him another chance. At the very least, he’d apologize for being a cold unfeeling jerk, because even if it wasn’t true, it was the way he’d acted.

  Thirty-six hours later, Neil stepped out onto the back deck and scanned the area. The property was fenced, and while no one could see into the house and yard, the security detail was blinded too, and that was never good. A sniper could fire from the high
rise buildings nearby or the trees in the surrounding yards, and no one would see a thing until it was over. Once the feds got the ball rolling, it wouldn’t take Ramirez long to figure out who was squealing.

  Neil rubbed the back of his stiff neck and stretched, trying to unkink his sore muscles. Because of the storm, they’d been delayed in LA until late Monday night. The plane had been more comfortable than a commercial jet would’ve been, but he’d still been awake the whole trip. While he didn’t dislike flying, he just preferred having both feet on the ground.

  Todd had gone out like a light. Fred Russell, thanks to the alcohol he’d consumed early on, had slept right through everything. Between bouts of dozing, frequently interrupted by the drone of Todd’s snoring, Neil had spent the flight time trying to figure out what he’d say to Nancy as soon as he could get her on the phone. He’d called her cell once he had a secure line, but voicemail picked up once more. It wasn’t like her not to answer at this time of day.

  Things didn’t add up here, and not only between him and his wife. He and Todd had been introduced to Russell yesterday morning. Something about the man didn’t sit well with him, and he couldn’t put his finger on exactly what it was. From his outward appearance, Fred Russell was a nerd, in fact he was a super nerd—right down to the flip sunglasses and the pocket protector—and that didn’t work these days. Fred didn’t have the presence necessary to carry off the kind of charade he’d confessed to. He reminded Neil of an actor cast in a role that just didn’t fit.

  Fred might well be on the run from Ramirez, but he had a feeling there was more to it than what he’d told them. If anything, he looked like the kind of guy who would be bullied and henpecked to death. In a way, that was the problem. Guys like this didn’t suddenly grow backbones. Having someone try to kill him would rattle the man, but turning himself in to do the right thing? Not likely. This guy looked to be guilty as sin and was definitely a “grab the money and run for the hills” type. Unfortunately, whatever the slime ball had done to get on the outs with Ramirez wouldn’t be an issue. His deal included full immunity. Neil just hoped whatever he gave up would be worth it. Not knowing exactly what was going on made the job harder.