Mac stood and reached out a hand to me. “You okay?” He turned to his detail. “Arrest her.”
“No,” I said, holding out a hand. “That won’t be necessary.” I approached Claire so I could talk to her without the entire restaurant hearing. “What are you doing here, Claire? Where is Declan?”
She cried out in pain. “Wait until my Declan hears that you ordered these men to hurt me!” she yelled. Everyone in the café was staring.
Declan appeared in the doorway, Darren hot on his heels.
Claire cried out again. “Stop hurting me!”
Declan crossed the room. “What are you doing to her?” he asked the troopers, then looked at me. “What is this about, Brooke?”
By this point, the diners had either gone silent or were quietly whispering to each other.
“You’re asking me?”
“This woman just came in here and attacked Brooke,” Mac said.
“It’s okay, Governor. I don’t need to be defended. But I suppose this puts an end to our lunch.”
“Sure. I’ll talk to you when you get back from DC. I’ve got lunch covered. Have a safe trip.”
Without speaking to Declan, I calmly walked around him and Claire.
“Brooke,” Declan called behind me.
I barely made eye contact with Darren as I brushed past him and out the door. I spotted Dimitri sitting behind the wheel of a vehicle down the street. He straightened when he saw me. I pulled my phone from my pocket and called him. I wanted to walk over and yell at him to his face, but I never knew if Romeo was in the vicinity.
“Something wrong?”
“You suck at your job. You’re fired!”
“What happened?”
“I’ve been attacked twice in two days. Stop following me! And if this upsets you, take it up with Declan. He’s inside.”
I walked to my car and got in. I opened the secret compartment that comes with every Mini Cooper; I kept a Faraday bag in there. I stuck my phone in the bag, then pulled out of my parking spot and turned down a one-way alley going in the wrong direction. Thanks to my small car, I was able to maneuver through the streets easily and efficiently. I made a few more quick turns and headed out of town, hopefully losing Dimitri in the process.
I slammed clothes into my carry-on bag, including a black dress for tomorrow’s funeral. I hadn’t been to a funeral since Teddy’s. I wasn’t looking forward to it.
But mostly I was thinking about the meeting with my father. He had told me I could investigate Romeo, but then he’d prevented me from getting access to my old files. He would probably say that I shouldn’t need access to those files. And maybe he was right. Romeo had interjected himself into many of my past cases, so why were these particular case files necessary to my investigation? I couldn’t answer that question—other than to say something wasn’t sitting right with respect to the drug borracheromine.
I paused in the middle of folding a cardigan to think about that. How had Romeo gotten his hands on this illegal substance? Could he have been part of the CIA team that was investigating the same ring of terrorists that Teddy and Mike and I had been looking into?
Hopefully I’d find out tomorrow.
I heard the sound of the front door opening and closing, but I decided to keep packing. I went to the closet and picked out a couple pairs of shoes. As I was tucking them into the bottom of my suitcase, Declan appeared in the doorway.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
Without looking at him, I said, “Oh yeah? What are you sorry about?” I walked to the bathroom and began gathering my makeup and toiletries.
Declan followed. “I’m sorry I didn’t get there in time to stop Claire from assaulting you.”
I stepped to him. I was holding my toiletries between us. “You took her side,” I said in a low voice through gritted teeth. “You think those officers had her in a hold because… what? Because I told them she was mentally ill and she scared me?” I pushed past him and carried my toiletries to the suitcase.
“No. I… I don’t know what I thought. Her coming here has knocked everything off its axis. I don’t know. But I can’t stand the thought of you being angry with me.”
“Declan, I’m not mad.” I zipped up the case and stood it on the floor. “I don’t know what I am. I’m…” I took in a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling, then at him. “I’m irritated. I don’t want to go to a funeral. I don’t want to be followed around by Dimitri. And I especially don’t want to have a stalker who’s killing people.”
“And now a skeleton from my past has come into our lives.”
“Yes, it has. Nothing is stable right now. And that scares me. The last time my life felt this jumbled and out of sorts, both personally and professionally…” I let my voice trail off.
“Teddy died.”
Tears sprang to my eyes. “Yes. Teddy was murdered and I lost my child.”
“This is killing me, you know?”
“What is?”
“That I’m making life harder for you right now instead of easier.”
“You are not making life harder for me. Life is making life hard.” I pulled up the handle on the suitcase. “I have to go.”
“Dimitri is downstairs.”
“Whatever.” I was definitely still angry with Dimitri.
Declan crossed the room and blocked me from leaving. He moved my suitcase out of the way and grabbed my hand. “I can’t let you leave like this.” He pulled me closer, letting a hand slip around to the small of my back.
“Declan, we both have stuff to fix in our lives. We were crazy to think we were going be able to get married and make all our troubles go away.”
He ran the back of his hand down my cheek. “We are always going to have troubles. We will face them better as a team.”
I couldn’t argue with that. Well, I could… but I would lose. I sighed. “I brought nothing but trouble to this relationship. So it’s impossible for me to stay angry at you for taking care of a woman that you have a past with.”
“Brooke, you will always come first in my life. And I’m going to prove that.”
“You don’t have to prove anything to me. I know you love me.”
“Just as I know you love me.” He leaned down and placed his lips on mine.
What started as a small goodbye kiss ignited into a flame of passion. I threw my arms up around his neck, and we stayed like that for nearly a minute.
When I pulled back, I was breathless—and less irritated.
“Promise me you’re going to be careful.”
“I always try to be.”
“And you’re not going to lose Dimitri again.”
I swallowed back the smirk. “He deserved it.”
“Maybe, but if I can’t be there to protect you, and Ty’s not with you, I feel better knowing someone’s watching your back.” He touched a finger to my chin. “Even if he did fail you the last two days.”
“He didn’t exactly fail me today. How was he supposed to know your crazy childhood lover was going to attack me?”
I turned to leave, and Declan quickly pulled me back. His face was serious. “Don’t ever call her that again.”
I framed his face. “I won’t. I’m sorry. She just pissed me off when she put her hands on me like she did.”
“That’s not going to happen again.”
I kissed him again. “Great.”
“Now, one more thing before you go.”
“What’s that?”
He pulled my engagement ring from somewhere like a magician pulls a coin from behind a boy’s ear. “You would make me very happy if you would wear the ring that was always meant for you and only you.”
I stared at the ring, then up at his face. Several beats passed before I held out my hand and let him slide the ring into place again.
Chapter 26
Brooke
I could sense Dimitri’s grin out of the corner of my eye, and it pissed me off. He sat beside me in the car Declan had arrang
ed to pick us up at the airport.
“You can’t hold me responsible for what that crazy woman did to you at the café,” Dimitri said. “I’ve never met Claire. I’ve heard stories about the mad bird of course, but I never had the displeasure of meeting her.”
I flipped through some of Mike’s notes I had brought with me. I lifted my eyes and studied Dimitri a few seconds before I asked, “Why did you come? Why do you drop everything to help Declan?”
“Because I owe him my life, several times over.”
“Yeah? How?”
“Let’s just say he’s always had my back. And now I get to repay him.”
“By having mine?”
“Absolutely.”
I went back to scanning Mike’s notes—notes from our two-year-old case. The sheet I was looking at had the word “borracheromine” written in block letters. Mike had traced over the letters several times the way I do absently when I’m on the phone sometimes. Below it, he’d written “not terrorists,” and had circled the two words over and over again. A line was drawn from “borracheromine” to “not terrorists.” I tried to imagine what that meant, exactly.
The car slowed to a stop in front of The Jefferson. Declan had reserved for us the same suite on the top floor. There was a second bedroom for Dimitri, which would allow him to be close enough in case there was trouble.
Dimitri touched a hand to my arm. “I know this must be hard for you.”
I glanced at his hand, then up at him. “How so?”
“You wish Declan was here. You wish you could get on with your job and life without a madman after you. You wish you weren’t going to a funeral of another federal agent. And without Declan.”
“Yeah, well, I wish a lot of things.”
The bellhop opened the car door for me, and I stepped out.
“Checking in, miss?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“We’ll take care of your bags.”
Dimitri followed me toward the doors of the hotel, but stopped me just short of letting me enter. “Brooke.”
“Why are you so intent on talking so much today?” I snapped, then immediately squeezed my eyes closed and apologized. “I’m sorry.”
He smiled, but I had no idea why. I was being terribly difficult to be around. “I was going to suggest we get takeout at a restaurant around the corner before we go up.” He stepped closer as I shivered in the cold. “Look, I get that you’re angry. You’re angry at Declan because of Claire. You’re angry with me for not doing a better job of having your back. You’re angry at the turns your life has taken over the past year and a half.”
I blinked up at him. “Not all the turns.” I had been given a second chance at many things—work, love, and happiness. “Some of the turns my life has taken are still showing a lot of promise.”
“Then why are you spending so much energy being angry?”
“I’m not. I’m just… focused. Just like Declan is focused on helping Claire. I’m focused on finding a psychotic killer—to get him out of my life once and for all.”
“Then let’s get some food, and we’ll turn in early.”
I smiled at him then. “That would be nice. Thank you.”
Instead of takeout, we ate at a Thai restaurant, not something I did often in Kentucky, but very much enjoyed in the larger cities like DC. On our walk back to the hotel, I looked over at Dimitri. “Thank you for being here. Whether you’re doing it for Declan or for me, I appreciate it.”
“The lines have definitely been blurred since that night I saved you from the burning cottage, and since I’ve gotten to know you. You’re important to me, Brooke.”
I smiled. “So tell me about you?”
“What about me?”
“It must be hard traveling the world alone. Where do you call home when you’re not living in one of Declan’s guest houses? Do you have anyone special in your life?”
Dimitri looked away.
“There is.” I touched his arm. “Tell me. Who is she?”
When he looked at me this time, I wasn’t sure what I was seeing. Embarrassment, maybe. But he didn’t speak.
“You don’t have to tell me,” I said. “We barely know each other. I understand.”
He stopped dead in his tracks.
I stopped as well. “What?”
“We barely know each other? Seriously? I would do anything for you and Declan.”
I squared my shoulders and crossed my arms. “Fine. Then tell me who she is.”
He began walking again. “It’s complicated.”
I had to jog a few steps to catch up. “More complicated than mine and Declan’s lives?”
“Good point.” He sighed. “There is a girl, but she’s probably never going to speak to me again.”
“Why? What did you do?”
“I left her in the south of France without so much as a simple note telling her I was leaving. And… she’s being investigated by Interpol.”
“Interpol? How the hell did you get involved with a woman being investigated by Interpol? And for doing what?”
“Long story.”
“Well lucky for you, I’m in need of a distraction. You can tell me over a glass of wine when we get up to the room.”
“First, tell me this: did you just use some sort of FBI mind trick to get me to tell you that information? With all that ‘we barely know each other’ bullshit?”
I couldn’t stop the lift of my lips.
“You did! I can’t believe it.”
“Why can’t you believe it? You think I’m not good at what I do?”
Tires screeched on the street behind us, and Dimitri and I both spun around. A dark car sped past us. We both pulled our weapons, but the car was already turning the corner.
“Was that Harrison?” Dimitri asked.
“No.” I holstered my nine millimeter. “That was Christopher Callaway.”
“I thought he was in hiding, nowhere near DC or Virginia.”
“Me too.”
Chapter 27
Brooke
When we went to FBI headquarters the next morning, both already dressed in dark suits for the funeral, Dimitri decided to wait outside. After all, he said, I should be safe inside one of the most secure buildings in the world. But my guess was that Dimitri was nervous to be inside FBI headquarters, given his shady past. I smiled at the thought. I wondered if Declan would be nervous as well. I knew they’d both worked mysterious “jobs” all over Europe, maybe even did some contract work for Interpol a time or two, but they didn’t talk about the specifics—which meant I probably didn’t want to know.
Of course, I did want to know more about the mysterious girl in the south of France who had put a smile on Dimitri’s face. And who was wanted by Interpol. That sounded like a story worth hearing.
“Miss Fairfax,” a gentleman said. I was waiting in a chair outside of security. Since I no longer had FBI credentials, I had to be announced, even to see my own father. “Director Waller will see you.”
“Thank you.”
The man led me through a set of doors that bypassed security. As we walked down the hallway toward the elevator that would take me to my father’s office, we passed photographs of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted, along with articles featuring some of the FBI’s most notorious cases in the last ten years.
The man gestured for me to enter the elevator first. I looked down at his dark suit and perfectly shined black shoes.
“Are you a special agent?”
“No, ma’am. I’m an executive administrative specialist. My name’s Patrick. I’m new here. Director Waller’s usual executive administrative specialist is out on maternity leave.”
I couldn’t help but wonder if they really said “executive administrative specialist” every time they told people what they did. Sounded like too much of a mouthful to me. I supposed “assistant to the director” didn’t sound prestigious enough for what they handled—or put up with—on a daily basis.
The elevator sp
it us out into another hallway. This one was lined with photos of past FBI directors. Patrick led me to Dad’s office.
“Thank you, Patrick,” I said.
He nodded, then closed the door behind me. Dad came around his desk and hugged me. “Hi, honey.”
“Hi, Dad. How’s the new assistant working out?”
“Don’t let him hear you call him that.”
I smiled. “I gathered.”
“Have a seat. Can I get you some coffee?”
“Is the coffee better than the last time I was here?”
“No.” He smiled.
“Then I’m fine.” I sat in one of his guest chairs. “I believe Romeo is behind the shooting in Frankfort.”
“And what makes you think that?” He sat in his desk chair, leaned back, and rested his interlocked hands on his chest.
“Romeo got hold of a drug similar to the one that Teddy, Mike, and I were investigating more than a year ago. He’s using it to control people.”
“Do you have any proof of this?”
“No.”
“Okay. What do you have?”
“Deborah Farrell said a man with a tattoo of crossed swords on his wrist told her to bring a gun to work and to shoot up the first floor of the building, starting with the fusion center. My guess is he did it just to draw me back to Kentucky.”
“He wants to pull your strings.” Dad sighed. “Ironic, as you were already going back to Kentucky to draw him there.”
“I don’t find it ironic at all. I find it strategically planned on both of our parts. He’s playing a game with me, and he’s becoming more desperate. That’s why he’s escalated.” But did I believe that? Was Romeo killing people out of some sort of dark desperation?
“And you still think you’re the one to stop him.”
“If I don’t, I’ll probably be killed waiting for someone else to hunt him down. Mike was being pulled in so many directions, he couldn’t get ahead of Romeo.”
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