“Someone on the inside?”
I shrugged.
“Does Carlos know about Mike?” Ty asked. Sadness eased into his voice. All agents knew they could lose a partner, and often that partner had become their best friend—a person they trusted their life to when on duty. Carlos was going to have to deal with the fact that he wasn’t there when his partner was killed. Just like Mike had learned he wasn’t there for Teddy.
“I don’t know,” I said.
“Who does your dad plan to bring in on this case?”
I swallowed hard. Kept my eyes on Ty’s.
“What?” he asked. “Don’t tell me one of those idiots from your class at the academy.”
I shook my head. “I told Dad I want on the case. Not as an agent in charge or anything, but I want the privilege of analyzing the evidence and making my own inquiries.”
“What?” Ty’s voice rose a couple of octaves. “Why you? Are you crazy? You retired—we retired from the FBI.”
I dropped my gaze. When I lifted it again, I handed Ty the envelope of photographs.
He pulled out the stack. “These are from last night,” he said when he saw the pictures of me in the black dress.
“And from Friday night at the hotel.”
“He was inside your hotel room?”
“We think he somehow got onto the balcony. Declan and I had left the drapes open so that we could watch it snow. There were more photographs than what you see there. I removed the ones of Declan and me before we fell asleep.”
Ty’s head snapped up. “You don’t mean…”
“’Fraid so.”
“What does he want? Exactly.” Ty asked. I didn’t think he was expecting an answer, since he knew damn well I had no idea. “He’s been following you and helping you with cases for years. What made him start killing?” He returned the photos to the envelope and handed it back to me. “Is he jealous of your relationship with Declan, and that’s escalated his passion into a need to torment those around you?”
“I don’t know, Ty. The killings started when I found out who he is. Clearly, he doesn’t like that. But now that the secret’s out, what’s the point of killing the guys he went to school with? And why do I get to live?”
“Do you think he killed Teddy?” Ty asked.
Ty and I had considered that idea before. “I don’t know. We’ve always discounted the notion because we were certain he had to have been near me to ensure I took the drug that caused my miscarriage, which kept me from joining Teddy on the stakeout.” I shook my head. “But now… I’m not sure about much of anything anymore. The only thing I know is that it has to be me. I have to lure him out into the open. It’s the only way to capture him and hold him responsible for what he’s done.”
Ty nodded. Thought about it for a few beats. “So where do we start?”
“First, you need to understand what this means.”
“I know exactly what it means. You’re taking on the risk of getting closer to this psychopath. And now, more than ever, you need backup.”
“You and James just uprooted yourselves and moved to Kentucky for a quieter life. You just said that you were retired from the FBI.”
“Bullshit. I moved to Kentucky because you and I are partners, and you’re in Kentucky. Are you telling me that we’re now working for the FBI?”
I stared at Ty. Thought about it. “Okay. Fine. You and I are partners. So yes, if you’re willing, I would love for you to back me up and help me work the case. But we also have our jobs at KOHS. I need you now more than ever to help me there as well.”
“Okay. You tell me what you need. I’m ready.”
“Will James be okay with this?” I asked. I didn’t want to come between Ty and James. James had been so thrilled when Ty left the FBI. Of course, we’d gotten pulled into dangerous cases while working for Homeland Security. But this was different.
“James will understand.” Ty closed the distance between us and wrapped me in his arms. “James and I both love you. We want to see you safe and happy. That’s all we’ve ever wanted. And if putting Romeo away will do that, then I’m here to help.”
“Thank you,” I managed.
He let me go and asked again, “So, where do we start?”
“We start by packing up everything in this room that Romeo left for us. Quietly. When I act like this is nothing and keep it from the media, I’m hoping Romeo will be compelled to contact me.”
Ty nodded. “I still can’t believe he came up here and left all this, managed to kill Donaldson in a barn less than a hundred yards from the house, and all without anyone noticing until he was gone.”
I was suddenly overcome with emotion that Mike had lost his life working a case I should have been helping him with. I squeezed the bridge of my nose with my thumb and forefinger. “Romeo executed him, Ty. One shot to the head and one to the heart.” I opened my eyes at the memory of my late husband’s death—realizing the similarities. “Just like Teddy,” I murmured.
“What?” Ty said.
I focused on Ty. “Just like Teddy,” I repeated. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed Dad.
He answered on the first ring. “Brooke?”
“Yeah, it’s me. Where exactly were Mike’s gunshot wounds?”
“Why?”
“Just answer the question. Where on Mike’s body was he shot? Be specific.”
“He was shot in the temple just above his right eye, and directly in the heart. He didn’t have a chance.”
“Thanks. I’ll call you back.” I hung up and looked at Ty. “Mike was shot in exactly the same two places that Teddy was shot. That seems like a pretty big coincidence.”
“Which we both know you don’t believe in.”
“We don’t believe Romeo shot Teddy, but Romeo knew exactly where Teddy was shot?”
Ty raised an eyebrow. “He’s sending you a message.”
“He certainly is.”
Chapter 17
Brooke
I stared out the window of my father’s study and recited the words from the back of the photograph. “You’re looking in the wrong direction…” I turned and looked around the study. “So what do you want me to be looking at?”
Precisely opposite the window was my father’s credenza, which held an old television. I crossed to it and ran two of my fingers along the top of the television as if checking for dust.
Declan and Dimitri were standing just inside the door, looking around as well. “That TV is an antique,” Dimitri said. “Does it even work?”
I turned the knob. The screen flickered as it came to life, but on the screen was nothing but snow. I’d had no idea a TV could even produce a snowy picture like that anymore. “Dad used it to monitor a broodmare in foal back when he kept mares on this farm,” I said.
“These days, most farm owners simply link video through the security system and straight into a computer feed,” Declan explained to Dimitri.
“You mean you can watch a horse birth a foal directly on your computer?” he asked, sounding amused.
“Or from a phone,” Declan said. “And if a mare appears to have trouble, or when she begins to foal, I can call the vet and meet him at the barn.”
Below the television was a VCR. I pushed my fingers through the opening, feeling for a VHS cassette tape. There wasn’t one. No surprise there. This television was from the 1980s. Why my father still had it in his office, I had no idea.
“You do realize you’re giving Romeo exactly what he wants,” Dimitri said suddenly. “He leaves you these little clues, then watches you play his game. It’s his only way to interact with you. It’s his entire motivation.” He faced Declan. “You’re really going to let her do this?”
I stiffened, but before I could defend myself, Declan spoke up. “Have you met my fiancée, Dimitri? Let me introduce you. Meet—”
Dimitri held up a hand. “You two are daft. Do you realize how highly skilled this man is? He’s a psychotic killer, with exceptional training
, and he’s been playing Brooke for years. Watching her. Learning how she operates.” He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He wasn’t addressing me, but Declan—his friend—hoping he could convince Declan to… I don’t know… put his foot down or something. As if I would be with anyone who “put his foot down” in an attempt to control me.
“You’re right,” I said. “Woodford Clay Harrison is trained. He was a highly successful computer hacker, was discovered by someone at the NSA, and then later was scooped up by the CIA. He picked up a breadth of skills along the way—until he pissed someone off and fell off the grid. The CIA is refusing to talk about him beyond that.”
“Your father talked to you?” Declan said.
“Yes. He told you last night he would, and he did.” I angled my head. “I was surprised you didn’t tell me after all that ‘honest talk’ we discussed Friday night.”
“I’m sorry,” Declan said. “Timing was awkward with everything that has happened.”
“What do you mean, he ‘fell off the grid’?” Dimitri asked.
“I mean the intelligence community has no idea what happened to him as of a year and a half ago.”
“Other than he was already monitoring everything about you,” Declan said.
“I don’t know how much the intelligence community knows about that. The FBI didn’t know that Woodford Clay Harrison and Romeo were the same person, which means they didn’t know Harrison was feeding me details of my cases, or that it was Harrison who drugged me the night Teddy was killed. Though obviously they know now.”
“And you really think you’re the best person to find him and stop him?” Dimitri asked.
I looked to Declan, who gave me a little nod. “I think it’s the only way I’m ever going to find peace.”
Declan stepped beside me, put an arm around my waist, and faced Dimitri. “We need your help,” he said. “I can’t be with Brooke one hundred percent of the time, and neither can Ty. I’m in agreement that Brooke is the best person to bring this arsehole to justice once and for all.”
“I need to draw him out of the shadows,” I added. “He’s a coward who likes to hide.”
“But I—we,” Declan corrected, “need someone watching Brooke’s back at all times.”
Dimitri paced for several seconds.
“Dimitri, “ I said. “I don’t have a death wish, nor am I stupid enough to think I’m invincible. I would really like your help.”
Dimitri stopped and looked at me. Another couple of beats ticked by. “Fine. I’m in.” He let out a heavy sigh. “Of course I’m in. How do you propose we draw him out?”
It wasn’t that I’d thought Dimitri would turn his back on us, but I needed him on my team. So I was pleased that he asked how “we” planned to draw him out. That told me he was ready to play Romeo’s game with me, not just take on the role of protector.
“I’m going to go live my life—business as usual,” I said. “Before we leave Virginia, I plan to visit some old college friends, ask a few questions, and make sure they’re warned about Harrison. But then I’m going back to Kentucky. He tends get rather irritated when I ignore him. He’ll find me.”
There was a knock at the door, and Ty walked in.
“I thought you left,” I said. Then I saw the look on Ty’s face. His hands were shaking. “Ty? What is it?”
“I was about ten miles up the road when Carson called,” Ty said. Carson was the critical infrastructure analyst for the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security. “Someone shot up the fusion center.”
My stomach lurched. “Was anyone hurt?” I asked, but immediately realized it was probably a stupid question.
Ty was already trying to get Carson back on the phone. “Yeah. It’s bad.”
“Who was even there? It’s a Sunday.”
“Well, Sam, Jude, and Carson had come in to talk about the white supremacist groups that held a recruitment rally at the old courthouse up in Joplin, Missouri on Friday.”
I placed a hand over my belly. My heart was racing. I had read this morning about the clash between the Traditional Workers Party—basically a rebranded version of the Ku Klux Klan—and radical left counter-protestors. Any time the idiotic racists gathered to spew their hatred, they attracted myriad counter-protesters in their wake, and unlike the flower-wielding hippies of the sixties, this new wave of the far left favored hiding their faces under bandanas and using baseball bats and physical aggression to express their opposition. Authorities in Joplin hadn’t expected such a large turnout, and they had completely underestimated the violence these groups tended to bring with them.
“But that’s Missouri,” Declan said. “Why would the Kentucky team need to come in to discuss this?”
“Because there’s talk of the groups heading to Kentucky next,” I explained. “I expect the team wanted to discuss possible target locations. We would need to put Kentucky State Police and local law enforcement on alert.” It was our job—me, Ty, and our fusion center analysts—to be well informed ahead of any event with potential terrorist involvement, whether the bad actors were ISIS or home-grown. And I had no tolerance for extremists coming into a Kentucky town to stir up trouble.
“Was our office the target?” I asked Ty. “Who was hurt? How bad is it?” When Ty concentrated on his phone, ignoring me, I pleaded, “Ty, tell me what happened.”
Declan placed a steadying hand on my back. He knew I could handle whatever the situation was, but I appreciated the touch.
“I’m sorry,” Ty said. “I’m trying. The call won’t go through.” He put the phone back in his pocket. “Jude was shot. He’s in surgery. I don’t know anything more about his injuries. A couple of custodians who were working on the lower level were also shot. One was killed, the other was taken to the hospital. No word on his prognosis. There may be more, Carson didn’t know yet. He was going to try to get more information from the police and FBI on the scene.”
“Why didn’t anyone call me?” I pulled my phone from my back pocket, only to see that I had ten missed calls. I immediately realized I had forgotten to take it off of silent after the morning’s photo shoot. I had gotten so caught up studying the note from Romeo. “Damn it. People have been trying to call me.”
“It’s okay,” Ty said. “You couldn’t have done anything. And the authorities responded quickly. Carson said police have completely locked down the scene and Special Agent Marshall is already there.”
“What about the shooter? Are they calling this a terrorist attack?”
“Not so far. The shooter is in custody. A woman. But that’s all I know. I don’t know a motive.”
I was surprised it was a woman. “That’s good she’s in custody. I need to get back to Frankfort. Immediately.” I turned to Declan.
“We can leave whenever you’re ready.”
“When can you return to Kentucky?” I asked Ty.
“I already scheduled my flight. Wasn’t sure you’d head back quite yet. Thought I would offer to go ahead of you to give you more time.”
I considered it. I had an investigation to perform here—I wanted to visit with Miles Holbrook, the conspiracy theorist, and I had scheduled a visit with Jeremy Lannister at the state penitentiary for first thing in the morning—and I knew Ty could handle things in Kentucky until I got there. But how would that look? I was torn.
“Thank you,” I said faintly. “That’s actually not a bad idea. But I won’t take long. I’ll see if I can pull forward my visit with Lannister, then I’ll head home. Hopefully I’ll be on my way back tonight.”
“I’ll alert the pilot to file a flight plan,” Declan said. “And have him on standby. We can leave whenever you’re ready.”
“Well, I need to get going,” Ty said. “I’ll call you as soon as I know more.” He walked over and wrapped his arms around me.
“Thank you.”
As Ty left, Dimitri, Declan, and I stared after him. “I’m going to get hammered by the media for not returning immediately,” I said.
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“To hell with the media,” Dimitri said. “You’re allowed to have a life.”
“Not since I started working for the government. Reporters will be looking to me to explain the situation. If I’m not there to answer questions…”
“Since when do you worry about public opinion?” Declan said. “The reporters will do their job as they see fit, and you will do yours as you see fit.” He smiled. “I would expect nothing less.”
Chapter 18
Brooke
Declan and I entered the central detention facility in southeast DC around seven p.m. On the drive in, I had tried calling the men on Anya’s list—the ones still alive—but was greeted by wrong numbers and straight-to-voicemail messages. I also tried to call Ty, but he couldn’t talk because he was back in Frankfort, meeting with FBI agents and police.
“Brooke Fairfax and Declan O’Roark,” I said to the receptionist at the detention center. “We’re here to meet with Jeremy Lannister.” Dad had called ahead to make sure we’d have no problem getting in to see Jeremy.
The man behind the ballistic glass examined my credentials, then looked at me. “Come on through,” he said, never cracking a smile.
A loud buzzing sound, followed by a click of the door, made it clear which door we were to enter. An officer was waiting for us and escorted us down a hallway. We passed through the processing area, where a couple of men who looked strung out on something were handcuffed to benches secured to the floor. Declan switched sides with me, putting himself between me and the two men. I smiled up at him.
He returned my smile. “Can’t blame me for wanting to show my manliness by protecting you when I can.”
The officer showed us into a meeting room where Jeremy Lannister was already waiting in a chair, his hands cuffed to the top of the metal table in front of him. Without another word, the officer left, closing the door behind him.
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