Next Exit, Use Caution

by CW Browning

  “What is it? Did you find the guy who broke into my house?”

  “Not yet. No one’s seen him since Friday. We’re still looking. This is something else.” Ken paused, clearing his throat again. “What can you tell you me about a woman named Tina Ricci?”

  Blake frowned.

  “Tina Ricci?” he repeated. “Nothing. I recognize the name, but I couldn’t tell you how. Why?”

  “She was a witness two years ago on a case you worked, the Finaldi case. Remember it?”

  “I remember the case but I don’t remember a specific witness. We had no shortage of witnesses on that one. It took more time to sort out the witnesses than it did to track him down.”

  “Well, she remembers you. In fact, she’s filing formal charges against you.”

  Blake stopped short, his brows snapping together.

  “For what?!”

  “Professional misconduct and sexual assault.”

  “What?!” he bellowed.

  “The Prosecutor called me this afternoon as a courtesy,” said Ken. “She claims you sexually assaulted her during the investigation.”

  “That’s...that’s ridiculous!” Blake sputtered, stunned. “I would never...I don’t even know the woman!”

  “Look, I know this is a lot to take in. I’m emailing you a photo and a list of the charges right now. Take a look at them, especially the photo. See if you even recognize her. It may just be some crazy who’s fixated on you for some reason, or she could have you confused with someone else. Whatever it is, we need to figure out what’s going on and come up with a game plan.”

  “A game plan?” Blake repeated, his head spinning. “How do you game plan for this? It’s a flat-out lie! I would never assault a woman, especially a witness, for God’s sake!”

  “I know, but unfortunately there are steps that need to be taken and procedures we need to follow. I have to place you on LOA until the charges can be investigated internally.”

  “Place me on...Ken, you don’t honestly believe any of this, do you?” Blake demanded, his blood running cold.

  “Honestly? No, I don’t. I know you. I know you would never do the things she’s accusing you of doing. Don’t think I haven’t noticed how quickly this is happening after someone planted a brick of heroin in your house, either. Trust me Hanover, I know the whole thing smells rotten. That’s why we have to make sure we follow the procedures to the letter. We don’t want to make this any more difficult than it already will be.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning if we do everything by the book, we have a better chance of convincing people of your innocence,” Ken said bluntly. “You want to keep yourself as clean as possible so the mud they sling won’t stick.”

  Blake ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

  “What do I do?” he asked after a moment. “Do I come back to DC?”

  “Right now, check out the email and write down anything and everything you remember about any interaction you may have had with her. Stay where you are for the time being. I’ll have to tell Rob, of course, and you’ll be on formal leave of absence starting tomorrow. God willing, we’ll get this cleared up quickly.”

  Michael watched as Angela climbed out of his truck, moving stiffly. Once they left the hospital, she had dropped her façade. It was clear she was in pain and exhausted, but she hadn’t shown any of that in the hospital. Grudgingly, he admitted she was a lot stronger than he gave her credit for. Not only was she careful not to worry Stephanie, but she did her part to make sure Stephanie stayed put under doctors’ care. It was only when she got into the truck that the mask faltered.

  “I don’t see Lina’s Jeep,” she said, looking around. “Where the hell is she?”

  “I have no idea,” he said, closing the door behind her. He looked at her purse, dangling from her hand. “Do you want me to take that?”

  “I’m ok,” she replied, glancing up at him. “It’s not heavy. I just can’t get it onto my shoulder.”

  Michael nodded and turned to walk across the grass with her toward the deck.

  “How will we get in if she’s not here?” Angela asked suddenly.

  “I have a key.”

  She stopped and stared at him.

  “What?! Why do you get a key and I don’t?!” she demanded. “I’ve known her since we were six!”

  Michael shrugged and laughed, going up the steps to the deck.

  “I don’t know what to tell you,” he said over his shoulder. “She gave it to me last night, along with the security code if I needed it.”

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys. He waved the small wand Viper had given him in front of the pad next to the sliding door and heard a faint click.

  “Well, I like that!” Angela huffed, joining him at the door. “What if we didn’t come back together?”

  “I’m not letting you out of my sight,” he retorted, sliding open the door and standing aside for her to enter. “She knows that.”

  “Why? It’s not your responsibility to protect me.”

  “Alina made it my responsibility,” he said, following her into the house and closing the door behind them. “Until you’re not in danger anymore, my place is wherever you are.”

  Angela dropped her purse onto the dining room table tiredly.

  “Do you really think I’m still in danger?” she asked. “We don’t even know who it was that broke into my house. It could have been some random crack-head.”

  Michael pressed his lips together and was silent. He walked over to the bar and dropped his keys on the granite top before shrugging out of his suit jacket. Angela watched him thoughtfully.

  “You know something.”

  He looked up in surprise to find her staring at him with an uncannily sharp gaze. Once again, Michael was forcibly reminded that Angela was not as dumb as she appeared.

  “What?”

  “Don’t try to pretend. You and Alina know something you’re not telling me,” she said pointedly. “I don’t appreciate you two knowing something about me that I don’t even know myself.”

  “It’s not about you...” Michael began, then stopped. He ran a hand over his short hair and sighed heavily. “I can’t tell you. I’m sorry. If Lina wants you to know, she’ll tell you.”

  “Fine.” Angela picked up her purse and turned to stalk down the hallway running to the front of the house. “I’ll take it up with her, if she ever comes home. I’m going up and getting changed.”

  Michael watched her go and went into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and gazed into it, his stomach growling. Glancing at his watch, he realized it was already past six and he hadn’t eaten anything all day. For that matter, neither had Angela. He examined their options. There weren’t any that didn’t involve cooking. He closed the fridge and opened the freezer. All he could see was frozen meat, vegetables, ice, and a bottle of Ketel One. There was not one bag of chicken nuggets or a frozen pizza to be had.

  He closed the freezer and turned to go out of the kitchen. Pulling his phone from his pocket, he swiped the screen. He didn’t know where Viper was or what she was doing, but if she was coming back, she could damn well bring something to eat.

  Michael typed a quick text to her and moved down the hall towards the stairs. Where was she anyway? She’d gone after the shooter, but when he spoke to her, she hadn’t found anything. He paused at the foot of the stairs. Or had she? He scowled and started up the steps. If she found something, would she have told him? Michael didn’t know anymore. Viper had never been very forthcoming with information, but Michael had felt a decided shift in the past few days. It was almost as if she didn’t trust him.

  He went into the spare room next to Angela’s and closed the door. Crossing the room to the closet, he pulled out a hanger for the suit he had bought yesterday for the funeral. He’d get changed, go downstairs, and get back to work on Trasker. Trying to figure out what Viper was up to was akin to trying to decipher a dead language. It was never going to happen. Not
for him, anyway.

  Michael pulled a pair of jeans out of his open duffel bag on the floor. To be honest, he didn’t even know if Damon had a good grip on what Viper was up to. She’d locked them both out, going her own way instead. He frowned and began undoing the knot in his tie.

  When she had come to see him that night at his house, she was very matter-of-fact when she told him there was someone hunting her. She’d been calm, collected, and very clinical about the whole thing. Yet he’d sensed that under it all, she was furious. Not just at her agency for allowing her identity to be leaked, but at everyone around her for holding her back. Michael had no doubt in his mind that Viper was capable of attacking any threat head-on, but this wasn’t her typical target.

  He pulled the tie off and tossed it onto the dresser. Michael stilled as a thought occurred to him. Alina wasn’t a stupid woman. She knew the threat she was facing, and she knew better than most how people in her line of work usually ended their careers. Last summer, when he met her again, she hadn’t known if she would make it out of the situation alive. It wasn’t until after it was all over that he realized just how much she had faced down her own potential death. If there was one thing he could say for the deadly assassin his best friend’s kid sister had become, she had grit. Viper had the kind of grit that was rare these days. It was a kind of prosaic strength that allowed her to do what she did, safe in the knowledge that if she died, she was going on her own terms and taking a few more bad guys with her. She would give it all to fulfill the oath she had taken to protect the country, even with her own life.

  Michael sucked in his breath and stared at his reflection in the mirror above the dresser as the cold truth hit him.

  Viper didn’t expect to make it out of this alive.

  The realization crashed into him, rocking him to his core. She was keeping them all at a distance, making sure everyone knew exactly what they needed to know and not one detail more. Viper was moving them all into position so when the end came, they would be as minimally affected as possible. The less they knew, the safer they would be. She’d take the fall for all of them.

  Michael sank down onto the side of the bed. He swore to Dave he would take care of her, promised to keep an eye on her. How the hell was he going to do that when he couldn’t even keep a shooter out of a church? How could he protect her when he had no idea what was going on in her world?

  His head lifted after a moment and Michael got up to finish changing. He would work on Trasker. He would find the link between Trasker, the Cartel and the terrorists. He would find out who brought the terrorists here, and who had the most to lose by them failing in their mission. Once he had a name, he would know who wanted Viper dead.

  Then he could help her.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Stephanie looked up as the door to her hospital room opened. The nurses had made their rounds five minutes before and the doctor wasn’t coming back until morning. Her hand moved under the blankets to her Glock which Blake had slipped to her before he left. If she was going to be stuck in this bed, temporarily helpless, at least she had a way to protect herself.

  Her shoulders relaxed and she lifted her hand from under the covers as Alina materialized, closing the door softly behind her.

  “Lina!” she exclaimed. “You’re ok!”

  A faint smile crossed her friend’s lips and she moved silently to the side of the bed, her eyes flicking to the monitors briefly before coming to rest on Stephanie's face.

  “Of course I’m ok,” she murmured. “Nice guard out there.”

  “I’m surprised he let you in,” Stephanie said with a grin. “He’s been a pain in the ass. The nurses changed shifts and he demanded ID from the new ones before he let them in.”

  “He didn’t see me. How’s the leg?”

  “Fine. The bullet missed the artery, but I lost a lot of blood just the same. They say I also have a concussion. All in all, not enough to keep me here, but they’re doing it anyway.”

  “And Angie?”

  “Discharged earlier. They stitched her up, and sent her on her way. Where’ve you been?”

  Alina sat in the chair Blake had pulled over to the bedside earlier.

  “Busy,” she said shortly. “Was anyone else hit?”

  Stephanie shook her head.

  “Not that I know of. I think there were some minor injuries from the statue. Angie got the brunt, but Father Angelo also got caught by some of it. I think a couple others did as well. I don’t know for sure. I was out when it all happened. The last thing I remember is hearing a kneeler hit the floor and then pain shooting through my leg.”

  Alina nodded and Stephanie studied her for a second, noting the rings under her eyes and the alertness in her shoulders.

  “They said the shooter was in the organ loft,” Stephanie said slowly, watching her. “He only aimed at the altar, didn’t take any shots anywhere else. If he wanted to, he could have massacred half the Bureau today.”

  “He wasn’t there for the FBI,” Alina finally spoke, her voice void of any emotion.

  Stephanie waited, but nothing more was forthcoming.

  “Well, thank you Captain Obvious,” she muttered. “Care to loop me in on what you know?”

  “He was there for me.”

  Stephanie stared at her, her irritation forgotten with those five words.

  “You? But...how? Why?”

  Alina sat back and crossed her legs, meeting Stephanie's gaze calmly.

  “Remember I said I wasn’t sure it would be safe for Angela to stay with me?”

  Stephanie nodded.

  “And I said you were going to have to explain that,” she said. “So explain.”

  Alina’s lips curved briefly.

  “Be careful what you ask for,” she murmured half to herself. “There’s something I haven’t told you. I didn’t think it was necessary, but after this morning, it’s only fair to tell you so you can be on your guard. A few weeks ago, I was compromised. Someone leaked my identity, and I was pursued across Europe.”

  Stephanie’s jaw dropped and she stared at her friend.

  “What?!” she exclaimed. “How did that happen?”

  “That’s what I’m trying to find out. Last week they tried again. They missed me, but hit Damon.”

  “Oh my God!” Stephanie felt her heart drop and she stared at Alina, almost afraid to ask. “Is he...?”

  “Dead? No, but only because of sheer luck. He should be dead. We both should be.”

  Stephanie sucked in some air and raised a trembling hand to run it through her hair.

  “Where? What happened?”

  “A shooter took a shot from a hotel window,” Alina told her, ignoring the first question. “As luck would have it, a helicopter was passing. I think the spotlight blinded him. The round was off target.”

  “Is he ok? Where did he get hit?”

  “In his side. He’s recovering.”

  “Alina, why didn’t you tell me any of this?” Stephanie demanded. “I could have helped somehow.”

  Alina looked amused.

  “How?” she asked politely. “I was half a world away. Anyway, when I got back you were busy trying to deal with the funeral, and then Angie had her incident,” she added quickly as Stephanie looked ready to argue.

  “I still could have done something,” Stephanie muttered, “even if only to be a shoulder to lean on. Hell, I know what Damon means to you, and we just lost John. Lina, you don’t have to handle everything yourself.”

  “I’m fine.”

  The steel thread in Alina’s voice warned Stephanie to back off and she sighed imperceptibly.

  “So the shooter this morning is the same one who missed Damon?”

  “No. That one’s dead.”

  Stephanie looked at her, startled despite herself.

  “How do you know?”

  “Because I shot him.”

  Stephanie threw up her hands.

  “Of course you did. Lina, I swear if I hadn’t known
you since we were five, I’d hate you.”

  Alina was surprised into a laugh.

  “Why? Because I’m honest?” she asked, amused. “Why does everyone think I’d just let the man who shot Damon walk away?”

  “Everyone?” Stephanie latched onto that. “Who else knows?”

  Alina sighed.

  “Michael,” she admitted. “Before you get all pissed off, I had no choice. He had to know.”

  “Why does he have to know and I don’t?” Stephanie demanded.

  “He’s working on something and it was pertinent knowledge he needed. That’s all I can tell you.”

  Stephanie was silent for a long moment, staring across the room, her mind spinning. A lot of things were falling into place now, but more and more questions were emerging.

  “The shooter this morning, do you know who it was?” she asked finally, turning her head to look at Alina.

  “Yes.”

  “Is that where you’ve been all day? Looking for him?”

  “Yes.”

  Stephanie nodded and dropped her head back on the pillows, staring up at the ceiling.

  “They know where you live,” she said slowly. “They know you’re in this area.”

  “They knew John’s funeral was in this area,” Alina corrected her. “They knew I’d go.”

  Stephanie raised her head again, studying Alina’s face.

  “You’re awfully calm about all this,” she said. “How are you not freaking out right now?”

  Alina’s lips curved humorlessly, the smile not reaching her eyes.

  “What’s the point? I knew the risks when I came back for the funeral. My regret is that you were caught in the crossfire.”

  Stephanie waved her hand impatiently.

  “I’m fine. What are you going to do?”

  Alina raised her eyes and Stephanie found herself staring into Viper’s cold, emotionless eyes. She shivered.

  “What can I do?” she asked, looking away from those eyes quickly. That was a look she’d seen only once before, and one she never wanted to see again. “You can’t expect me to just sit back and not help.”

  “There is something you can do,” Alina said slowly. “It would help Angela.”