On their way up to the main floor to pick up their visitor badges, Carly’s mind buzzed a mile a minute. As the elevator rose, so did the tension in her body. Her shoulders twitched, as if unable to contain the energy vibrating inside her and she felt as if she might explode. Subtly, Drew’s hand wrapped around hers, grounding her body, if not her mind, and she stilled.
“Carly?” Vivi said.
Carly turned to look at her friend.
“I have a surprise for you,” Vivi said, her eyes flitting to Drew. She held her phone in her hand and Carly realized she hadn’t even noticed that Vivi had taken a call.
She frowned. This didn’t exactly seem like the best day for surprises. “Yeah?” she asked as the doors opened onto the lobby.
And there stood Marcus.
She stared in disbelief, then walked into her brother’s hug. She hadn’t realized how much she had wanted him there, how much she had wanted them to do this together, until he was there, holding her in his arms.
“How did you get here? Isn’t there only one morning flight down from Albany?” she asked, referring to the flight Vivi and the others had caught.
Marcus gestured in Drew’s direction. “He had his plane bring me down. He thought we should be together.”
That, more than anything, nearly caused her to lose it. Blinking away the gathering tears, she gave her brother one more squeeze then turned to face Drew. “Thank you,” she said.
He said nothing, just gave her a small smile as his eyes bounced to Marcus.
Marcus owed him a thank-you too, but given that her brother was still less than thrilled about him being a part of her life, that might be asking too much at the moment.
She glanced back at her brother and hesitated when she noticed the assessing expression on his face as he watched Drew. Why it should catch her attention, she didn’t quite know—after all, Marcus hadn’t been a fan of Drew’s from day one—but it had. She tried to push it aside as they walked toward the reception desk for their visitor passes, but when they paused and Marcus put a proprietary arm around her shoulders and leaned in to ask her how the arrest went, it clicked like a guillotine falling into place.
“Carly?” Marcus asked, sensing something and drawing back.
She glanced around—everyone was looking at her, expectantly. “Can you,” she started, then paused and took a deep breath. If she didn’t want to freak anyone out, especially Drew, who was watching her with hawk-like intensity, she needed to calm the rush of adrenaline that had burst through her system.
She swallowed. “Damian, can you get my visitor badge for me while I make a phone call?”
The agent tilted his head. “Of course.”
“Carly?” Drew said.
“I, just give me a minute, I need to make one quick call,” she said, then stepped away before anyone could ask any questions.
After dialing the familiar number, she held a quick conversation with Naomi. She could feel Drew and Marcus’s eyes on her back, and even the occasional questioning glance from Vivi, Wyatt, and Damian, but she didn’t turn their way. What she wanted Naomi to look into was such a long shot that she didn’t want anyone else to know about it yet. But she had to try. Drew had prepared her for the possibility that she might have to live without knowing all the answers, but if she didn’t try this one thing, she knew she’d regret it forever.
“Everything okay?” Drew asked when she rejoined the group.
She didn’t know if it was or wasn’t, but she nodded.
“Do you have my pass? Are we ready to go up?” she asked Damian.
In response, he handed her the badge, which she clipped to her shirt just as the man she’d seen Drew talk to at the coffee shop walked in.
His step faltered when he saw all of them gathered around the reception desk, but then his gaze focused on Drew and he continued toward them. As he approached, Carly could see that he held a small thumb drive in his hand—similar to the one Drew had given him a short time earlier, but of a different color and shape.
“This is for you,” the man said, holding the drive out to Drew.
“Everyone, this is Jason Moran,” Drew said as he took the device and handed it over to Damian.
Jason’s eyes darted between all of them, but when he spoke, he spoke only to Drew. “I’ve left contact information on that drive, along with details of everything Vince Repetto asked me to do. There are also scanned images of the contract he gave me and the warrant he showed me. I have the originals—I thought it best if I kept them for the time being. When you get to the point that you need me, you’ll be able to find me.” With that, he turned and walked out.
“Drew?” Vivi was the first to speak as a surprised silence had followed Moran’s departure.
Everyone turned to Drew to hear his response.
He shrugged. “Naomi and Brian said he skirted the edge of legalities but didn’t cross it. I figured if he knew what Repetto was doing with the information he was providing, he wouldn’t want to be involved.”
“So what was on that thumb drive you gave him this morning in the coffee shop?” Carly asked.
“Data Naomi and Brian had pulled from the chip, along with the reports we’d pulled together on the death of your mother and uncle, as well as Marguerite,” he answered. “Pretty much everything that would prove to Moran the kind of illegal activity he was supporting or facilitating.”
“And what do you think is on that?” Wyatt asked, pointing at the drive Damian held.
“Other than the specifics of what he just said, my guess is details he gathered on Marguerite that will help prove he was tracking her, along with how he erased her from the system, and probably also the reasons he was given as to why he was being asked to do it,” Drew said.
Everyone looked at the device. Then Damian grinned and shrugged. “I’ll guess we’ll find out won’t we? Let’s drop this with an analyst I trust, then head up to the interrogation room.”
Several minutes later—after the flash drive had been left in the hands of an Agent Lamb—Carly, Marcus, Drew, and Wyatt watched Vince Repetto drink a cup of coffee from their vantage point in the observation room. Damian had relieved the previous agent and now stood guard in the interrogation room while Vivi and Joe remained in the hallway going over some last minute details before starting the interrogation. As they waited for Vivi and Joe to begin, Carly took the opportunity to study Vince more closely.
He wore a dark blue suit with a light gray button-down shirt and a steel gray tie with thin dark-red stripes. His mahogany hair had turned a bit gray at his temples, but with his Mediterranean skin and dark eyes, the effect was more striking than aging. He sat with one ankle resting on his knee, his deep brown eyes traveling around the room with a lazy kind of curiosity. Leaning back in his chair, coffee in hand, he looked like he was the one waiting to do the interrogating, rather than the other way around, such was his calm, confident exterior.
And that confidence didn’t falter even a tiny bit when Vivi and Joe walked into the room. Which meant that he was either a better actor than they had anticipated or was delusional about his situation. Even Carly found Vivi, her own friend, a bit intimidating. She didn’t look stern or attempt to appear bigger than she was—either in size or ego—but Vivi’s confidence, confidence that communicated itself in every move she made, seemed to fill the room.
As for Joe, well, he was an imposing guy with nearly fifteen years of anger for motivation. To Carly, Repetto’s bored gaze seemed childish when compared to Joe’s eyes, which seemed to say he’d been to hell, stayed for a drink or two, and was considering going back and taking Repetto with him.
She couldn’t help the tiny little smile that crept onto her face at Joe’s appearance. And judging by the way Repetto’s fingers stopped twirling his coffee cup, she wasn’t the only one to sense Joe’s intensity.
“Franks.” Repetto acknowledged his former partner with a nod.
Joe said nothing in response as he shut the door.
“Vincent Repetto?” Vivi asked, establishing his identity for the record.
Damian, no longer needed in the interrogation room, joined Carly, Drew, Marcus, and Wyatt at the observation window.
“Yes,” Repetto answered. His body language didn’t change, but his voice held a hint of something, perhaps concern or maybe curiosity.
For the next two minutes, Vivi and Joe went through standard procedures, notifying him that the interview would be recorded, verifying with him that he’d been read his Miranda rights, and introducing themselves—or re-introducing themselves in Joe’s case—as well as reviewing the charges being brought against him.
“Do you understand the charges, Mr. Repetto?” Vivi asked.
For a moment, he watched her. Then he dropped his foot to the ground, leaned forward and smiled as he put his paper coffee cup on the table. “I do, but consider this my official request for a lawyer. In fact, I believe he’s already on his way,” he said, knowing they couldn’t question him further once he’d made the request.
Joe let out a low chuckle as he leaned against the wall in the corner of the room and crossed his ankles. “You’ll be waiting a while, Mr. Repetto.”
Repetto’s bravado didn’t falter a bit. “I doubt it,” he shot back. His persona, when seen in contrast to the quiet certainty of Joe and Vivi, became almost a caricature of itself.
“Well, actually, he’s right,” Vivi said, sliding a sheet of paper across the table. “We forgot to mention, you’re being charged under the USA PATRIOT Act.”
Beside her, Carly heard Marcus mutter, “What the fuck?”
Drew chuckled in response.
She straightened and strained to hear what Vivi would say next. The PATRIOT Act was meant for terrorists. She might think what he’d done constituted an act of terror, but even she had to admit that it would be a hard argument to make in front of a judge. So what was Vivi doing?
“The PATRIOT Act?” Repetto repeated. His voice still held disbelief, but in it, Carly heard the first strains of real concern.
“Yes, according to your after-incident report, Anthony Lamot was involved in funding terrorist activity, is that correct?” she asked, knowing full well Repetto would have to answer in the affirmative, since he’d created that part of the record.
Slowly, he nodded then answered, “Yes.”
“Well, since we have proof that you engaged in financial dealings with him, that means that, potentially, you have also conducted financial activity with terrorists which, as you know, comes under to auspices of the PATRIOT Act. And, as a natural-born citizen of Canada, not the United States, the judges are currently debating whether or not to officially classify you as an enemy combatant,” Vivi said. Not a single ounce of emotion came through in her voice and Carly suspected it was that, more than anything, that got to Repetto. Emotions were not running high. Mistakes had not been made. No, this allegation came from someone who knew what she was doing and didn’t care one iota about him or his record with the bureau.
“But she knows—” Marcus started, but Drew cut him off.
“Vivi knows a great deal, Marcus, including how to run an interrogation,” he said.
And then what Vivi and Joe were doing clicked, making Carly smile. They all knew full well that Tony and Sophia weren’t involved in terrorist activity, but the official record said differently. Knowing the kind of legal power Repetto had access to, Vivi and Joe had opted to use Repetto’s own words against him in an effort to cut him off. By arresting him under the PATRIOT Act and invoking enemy combatant status, they had ensured that it would be a good long while before any legal counsel would be allowed to walk through the door. In the meantime, while the powers that be debated whether to transfer him to a federal civilian court or a military one, Vivi and Joe would have unfettered access to Repetto. Once they got what they needed, they could disprove the terrorist links at a later time and clear Tony and Sophia’s names.
Still smiling at the brilliance of the plan, Carly continued to listen until her phone, vibrating in her pocket, pulled her attention away. Glancing at the number, she moved away from the one-way glass toward the back of the room—away from Marcus and Drew’s curious looks.
Without greeting, Naomi said, “You were right.”
“Can you send me what you have?” Carly asked.
“Yes, we only have the tip of the iceberg but we’ll put together some reports and e-mail them to you. Can you get them on your phone?”
“Yes,” she answered. Then she spied a printer in the observation room and thought she might be able to go one better, but she’d have to look into it first.
“Give us twenty minutes and we’ll have gold for you.”
“I owe you, big time,” Carly answered.
“Just get him and we’ll call it even.”
Carly smiled as she hung up. Briefly, she let the feeling of pending triumph wash over her.
“Carly?” Marcus drew her attention back to the window onto the interrogation.
“Yeah?” She stepped in between Marcus and Drew. With Wyatt and Damian on the other side of Marcus, and Vivi and Joe inside the interrogation room, she had to admit to feeling a bit invincible. They were going to get Repetto. One way or another, they were going to get him.
“I’m not answering that,” Repetto said to some question Joe had asked.
After a few more minutes, it became clear those words were going to be Repetto’s refrain. “I’m not answering that.” It was either that or complete silence.
“Well, this is going to be fun,” Marcus said. His impatience rolling off him in waves. Irritating, negative waves that interfered with the excitement she felt creeping into her body.
“Damian, is that printer wireless?” she asked, nodding her head toward the printer, but not taking her eyes from the trio on the other side of the window.
“It is,” he confirmed. “Why?”
She pulled her phone out and started looking for the wireless devices available in her area. After a few seconds, it showed up on her list. “I may need to print something in a bit,” she said, connecting the device to her phone so that as soon as she received the e-mail from Naomi she could print it.
Once the connection was confirmed, she turned her attention back to the interrogation. Sort of. Repetto’s consistent response came on the heels of every question, so Carly let her mind turn toward coming up with a plan to talk to him herself. She’d need to convince Vivi and Joe to allow it, and in order to do that she needed to be clear not only about what she intended to say, but, more importantly, how she intended to say it. Just delivering the information Naomi had gathered would rock Repetto, but if she delivered it right, she could destroy him.
Finally, after what seemed like ages, her phone vibrated with a new e-mail message. “Found even more. We’re still looking and verifying, but this should give you a good start.” Attached to the message was a text document. Quickly, Carly opened it, scanned it, then sent it to print.
The machine whirred to life, startling the men in the room, who turned.
“Sorry, I need to print something,” she said, taking the three steps to the machine and grabbing the papers as they came through the feed.
“What’s going on?” Drew asked, pulling his attention from the interrogation altogether and turning to face her.
“Just an idea I had,” she said, scanning the pages. There were only three, but three would be enough. For now.
“Care to share?” he asked.
At his tone, she looked up to find him watching her, arms crossed, feet apart.
Telling Drew and Marcus was the first of her hurdles—she knew they’d insist that Vivi handle delivering the new information. And while she had every faith in Vivi and Joe, Carly wanted to be the one to put the nail in Repetto’s coffin. Not because she was feeling vindictive, but because, for what felt like the first time since Marguerite had been found, this was something she knew she could do to help the case. True, she had never interrogated someone
like Repetto. But that didn’t mean she’d never been in this type of situation.
“Carly what the hell is going on?” Marcus demanded, joining the conversation.
“Marcus,” Drew warned, no doubt disapproving of her brother’s tone.
Marcus shot him a quick glare, but otherwise kept his focus on her.
“I want to talk to him,” she said. In for a penny, in for a pound.
Everyone seemed to respond at once.
“Not a chance,” Marcus said.
“No way,” Wyatt and Damian echoed.
Drew asked, “Why?”
Drew’s response seemed the only reasonable one, so she focused on him. “Because I know why it started,” she said.
Drew eyed her with quiet contemplation, but Marcus wasn’t so sanguine.
“Like hell! There are a hundred and one reasons why you will not be walking into that room,” her brother barked, not even bothering to ask her what she knew. “You’re not qualified, you’re too involved, and he still has no idea you and I are a part of this, to name a few.”
“I have to agree,” Wyatt weighed in. “It’s not a good idea.”
“What’s in those documents, Carly?” Drew asked, indicating the sheets she now held protectively against her chest. She didn’t think either Drew or Wyatt would try to snatch them from her, but Marcus, well, she wouldn’t have been surprised if he tried.
She took a deep breath and met Drew’s eyes. “I was right,” she said. And that was all she said. It took longer for it to sink into Drew’s brain than she thought it should, but when it did, only the tiny little tightening of his lips gave him away.
“Let Vivi handle it,” he said.
“I want to do it,” she responded.
“Someone tell me what the hell is going on,” Marcus demanded.
Neither she nor Drew paid him any notice.
“Why? Why you?”
She had expected the question but not the slightly panicked look in Drew’s eyes.
“Because I want to,” she replied.
“Or because you discovered it, you want to be the one to deliver the news?” he clarified. “That’s nothing but ego talking, Carly.”
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