Chasing Shadows

by C Paradee

  "Let me see that," Huey said. Taking the log from Sarah and looking at the entry, he asked, "Did he remove the file?"

  Frowning at Huey, she said, "No, of course not. You know that’s against our policy. I pulled it for him and he looked at it in the file room. He returned it within 15 minutes."

  "If you remember who the agent was, call me," Huey said, before leaving. This was very odd. Regulations stipulated that the individual signing out the record sign the log no matter what the reason was for pulling it.

  Walking back into his office, he said, "Jean, would you get Ed in Quality Control for me?"

  Jean smiled, and said, "Sure." Once she got the Director on the phone, she put him on hold and dialed Huey. "He’s on three, Mr. Straton."

  "Thanks." Huey said, before picking up the call. "Hey Ed, how’s it going?"

  "Same as usual. What’s up?" he asked, knowing Huey did not make arbitrary phone calls.

  Drumming his fingers on the desk, Huey asked, "Did you request the personnel record on Antonia Viglioni last week?"

  Wondering what prompted the question, Ed said, "No. She’s not working covert anymore. I’d have no reason to."

  "That’s what I thought, too. Thought you might like to know an agent signed out her file and used your name on the log."

  "Do you know who?" Ed asked, suddenly very interested in the conversation.

  Huey sighed. "No. But Sarah has worked in the Records Room forever and she said she’s seen him around. I may have her start looking through some pictures of the agents assigned here if she doesn’t remember who it was. She said he was young so that should cut down the list some."

  "Keep me informed. I’d like a few words with whomever it was," Ed said, his voice hard.

  "Will do." Huey said, before hanging up the phone. Settling back in his chair, he looked out the window. Sarah held the key to the investigation. He would go back to records and talk to her.

  * * *

  Megan walked to the waiting Jeep and opened the door and got in. Smiling at the woman she loved, she said, "Hi."

  Tony looked at the bright warm smile lighting up her partner’s face and her heart sank. She knew her plan was going to upset Megan. If there was any other way, she would do it, rather than put Megan through the worry she knew this was going to cause her.

  "Hi," Tony answered, unable to match the engaging smile with one of her own.

  Looking at her lover, a feeling of trepidation came over Megan. Placing her hand on Tony’s thigh, she asked, "What’s wrong?"

  Tony placed her hand over Megan’s and squeezed it, before shifting the car into drive and pulling out of the parking lot into the street.

  "I need to discuss something with you. I figured we could stop at Friends, get something to eat, and talk there."

  "Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like this discussion?" Megan asked, her uneasiness growing.

  Tony didn’t have an answer, and changed the subject. "How was work?"

  Watching her partner’s face, Megan went along with the subject change. Alarm bells were going off and she wasn’t looking forward to the ‘discussion’ Tony wanted to have.

  "Work was fine. I told David about the latest adventures of Huggy and Velcro. He wants to stop over and see the kittens. He and Mike are going to look at puppies this weekend."

  "Did he mention what kind they were going to get?" Tony asked, happy Megan had gone along with her.

  "He’s not sure. They’re thinking about a medium sized dog. Although, he did mention that they’re going to check the Animal Protective League, and the City and County Kennels first, and see if they can find a puppy there."

  Arriving at Friends, Tony pulled into the parking lot and they entered the restaurant. After being seated, they both ordered coffee and the sautéed seafood with linguini.

  Megan looked at the serious expression on her partner’s face, and waited patiently for Tony to tell her what was on her mind. When it became apparent Tony was in no hurry to begin the conversation, she decided her partner needed a nudge and said, "So what’s going on?"

  Sighing, Tony said, "I talked to Huey today. He’s going to check and see if my personnel file has been pulled."

  "Ok," Megan said puzzled. They’d talked about this last night. "Did he say anything else?"

  "No." Tony was still trying to figure out how to approach her role in the sting operation with her partner. Deciding to be blunt, she continued, "I went to see Brian today."

  "What for?" Megan asked, sensing this meeting had something to do with whatever Tony was reluctant to tell her.

  Looking at Megan, Tony said, "I suggested we set up a sting operation to draw this guy out."

  Megan knew there had to be more to it than this, and asked, "How’s the sting going to work?

  Her face expressionless, Tony said, "We decided to set it up at the Red Chimney. Brian said a lot of cops from fifth district go there to eat, and if we run into trouble we’d probably have extra help."

  "Tony," Megan waited until her lover met her eyes. "How do you fit into this?" And why do I know I'm not going to like it?

  Glancing away from the piercing hazel eyes, Tony said, "I’m going to be outside in a parking lot across the street covering the front door of the restaurant. I’ll be parked in the Shopper’s Mart. He should feel fairly secure because of the traffic from the store and make his move."

  Megan’s eyes narrowed, and she said, "You’re purposely setting yourself up," already knowing the answer.

  Tony looked at her partner earnestly. "I have to. If it’s not realistic, it’ll never work."

  Megan sat back in her chair, and crossed her arms. Capturing her partner's deep blue eyes with her flashing hazel ones, she said, "No."

  Tony sighed. There was no mistaking Megan's anger. She couldn’t blame her partner for not liking the idea, and it was nice to know how much she cared, but she was going to have to make her understand.

  Tony leaned forward. "Megan, listen to me. I know it’s dangerous. But don’t forget, this is what I am trained for. It’ll be ok."

  Megan looked at her partner sitting across the table. She knew Tony was highly trained and very capable, but this left too much to chance. "There has to be some other way. What if he tries to take you out from a distance? No one can protect you then because no one will see him," Megan said, voicing one of her biggest concerns about the plan.

  That thought had occurred to Tony, but she really felt he would want to make sure she was the one in the car. She now believed he had been behind both accidents and would be much less willing to leave things to chance.

  Trying to allay Megan's concern, Tony said, "I don't think he'll do that. It leaves too much to chance."

  Megan glanced out the window. This was just too dangerous. "That’s not good enough. What if you're wrong?"

  Megan captured her partner’s eyes with her own, before continuing, "I love you. Twice in the past week I could have lost you. I couldn’t do anything about those times, but I can about this. I don’t want you to do this."

  "I love you, too. And that’s why I have to do this." Tony then voiced her worst fear, " What if he tries to get at me through you? I’m not willing to take that risk. If anything happened to you because of me I could never live with myself."

  "What about how I would feel if something happened to you? Doesn’t that matter at all?" Megan asked, momentarily hurt until a thought pushed its way to the forefront of her mind. This doesn't make sense. We are sitting here arguing and the thing we are both trying to do is protect each other. We need to work together on this.

  Tony saw the hurt expression flicker across her lover's face. That was the last thing she wanted to do. I am really blowing this. "Of course it does." Tony sighed, "I just want this to be over and our lives to get back to normal, and I don’t know any other way to do that."

  The waitress removed the uneaten salads and served their dinner. Neither woman was hungry.

  Megan pushed her food around
on her plate trying to think of likely alternatives and not having any success. Would this dangerous plan really put an end to this nightmare? Or would she end up losing her partner?

  Tony felt guilty because she knew she was asking more than was fair of her partner, but felt she had no choice. The last thing she had wanted to do was hurt Megan's feelings. She had to end this and the only way to do that was take the offensive.

  Megan looked up from her food. "When is this supposed to happen?"

  Relieved that Megan had broken the silence, Tony said, "Brian’s going to bring some of his friends over tonight and we’re planning to have a staged conversation."

  "There’s no guarantee this will draw him out," Megan mused aloud. "You really think this will work?"

  Tony breathed a silent sigh of relief. Megan didn't seem so upset. "I think there's a good possibility it could."

  Making a decision and praying it was the right one, Megan said, "Ok. What time are we going?"

  Tony met Megan's eyes, and said gently, "We aren’t going. I am."

  "If you’re going, so am I," Megan said, emphatically.

  "You’re not trained for this. I am," Tony said, her eyes imploring her partner to understand.

  "I didn’t say I would participate. I said I was going. And you can just stop right now, because if you think there is any way I am letting you put yourself in danger without being there if you need me, you better think again."

  Tony looked at her partner and raised an eyebrow. She ruefully thought, I guess I didn't convince her.

  Megan never gave her lover a chance to respond and continued, "So when do we do this?" There was no way she was letting Tony do this by herself. It was bad enough she was going to do it at all.

  Tony gazed at her partner silently. She captured the hazel eyes with her blue ones and watched the gold flecks whirling around angrily. How can I ask her to do something I would not? This might not be such a bad idea. There was always the possibility the sting would not work. If Megan went, at least she would know she was safe. She’d just have to do her best to make sure she was out of harm’s way. Maybe Brian could assign someone to her during the sting.

  Tony rested her elbow on the table and supported her chin in her palm. Quirking a half smile, she said, "Tomorrow night."

  * * *

  Tony sat on the couch next to Megan and looked at Brian and the other four officers gathered in her living room. Brian had briefed the others back at the station, and each knew that this meeting was simply to set up the trap they had devised. Each of the officers present had worked with Tony on the Shadow case, and had volunteered to help out.

  Tony began speaking, "We just got word that one of the big players in a money laundering operation we’ve been doing surveillance on is going to be meeting with the local head of the operation. The meet is at the Red Chimney."

  "We’re meeting here to discuss a sting operation. The reason we are asking you to help is because some pertinent information has been leaked. To avoid any other leaks, my boss set it up with Brian."

  Nodding her head at Brian, Tony turned the briefing over to him. She wanted to give the impression that the plan would be all his idea.

  Brian said, "Ok guys, this is what we’re going to do…"

  * * *

  Sherman sat in his hotel room listening to the tape. Not expecting to hear anything useful, his ears perked up when the conversation turned to the sting operation. This had real potential. Sitting down, he rewound that part of the tape and replayed it.

  This just might be the opportunity he was waiting for. Getting out the phone book, he looked up the Red Chimney. He located the street on his map and decided to check the area out the next morning. If the location fit his needs, he would take advantage of this unexpected break.

  * * *

  Megan looked at the ‘watch’ on her wrist that Tony had given her to wear before she went to work. It was really neat. Her partner had told her that if she pressed the stem, an alarm would go directly to Brian, who would have the receiver with him.

  It did make her feel a little uneasy. She hadn’t really thought about any danger to herself, even though she knew Tony was worried about that. But somehow, wearing this little gadget made it very real. But it wouldn’t do any good to dwell on it.

  Preparing for bed, she realized this would be the first time she had to spend the night alone. Even the night Tony was in the car accident, she hadn’t spent the entire night by herself. She chuckled to herself. Geez, it was only for the next two nights. I’ll sure be glad when that case she’s working on is over.

  Megan’s thoughts turned to tomorrow. She hoped the guy never showed up. The idea of Tony setting herself up as a target was very scary. And one that literally scared the hell out of her. There had to be another way, but she didn’t know what it was.

  Sighing, Megan got into bed. Huggy and Velcro soon joined her and she slept fitfully, waking several times, against the backdrop of loud purring.

  Tony arrived home with her usual patrol car escort. Getting off the elevator, she walked into the apartment. Megan was sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee. Laying her gun down, she walked into the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee.

  Joining her partner at the table, she said, "You look tired."

  "I didn’t get much sleep," Megan answered, smiling wanly.

  Tony reached across the table and took hold of Megan’s hand and squeezed it. Ad-libbing for the sake of the bug, she said, "Is it because of the sting tonight?"

  Megan sighed, "That’s part of it." All of a sudden she blurted out, "I hate sleeping alone."

  Tony almost spewed coffee all over the table. She certainly hadn’t expected that comment, especially since her lover knew there was a bug in the kitchen.

  Standing up, she walked around the table and leaned down, kissing her partner on the forehead. Holding out her hand to Megan to grasp, she led out of the kitchen and into the bedroom. Tony closed the door.

  Placing her arms around Megan, she hugged her. "I hate sleeping alone too, Love. Hopefully this case will be over soon. We’ve got enough to move in on them anytime. It’s just a matter of waiting on Braxton to figure that out. He’s a little slow on the uptake."

  After gently kissing her lover, she said, "If we’re really lucky, the sting will work tonight, and Braxton will order us to move in on the money launderers over the weekend."

  Megan relaxed against her partner, the contact lifting her spirits. She smiled at Tony’s attempt to make her feel better. Looking up at her lover, she said, "You’re a real dreamer, too," in an attempt at levity.

  "Me?" Tony said, winking at her partner, happy to see the smile on her face. "Not really."

  Megan hugged Tony, and said, "Well, I hope you’re right." Reluctantly releasing the tall woman, she said, "You ready?"

  "Yeah."

  When Tony returned from taking Megan to work, the phone was ringing. Walking into the kitchen, she picked it up and said, "Hello."

  A familiar voice asked, "Are you busy?"

  Tony smiled grimly. This was a simple code they’d set up indicating she should go to a secure phone.

  "Yes. Can I get back to you later?"

  "Sure," Huey said, standing in his office looking out the window.

  Hanging up, Tony carried the phone into the bedroom and attached the scrambling device. She knew it would be a lot easier to use the portable phone but they were notorious for being intercepted and the scrambler might not be totally effective.

  After dialing Huey’s number, she waited patiently for him to come to the phone.

  When he answered, she asked, "What’s up?"

  "Your record has been accessed and it’s not clear who pulled it or why. It may just be a coincidence. I am still checking things out at this end," Huey said.

  Tony's eyes narrowed and anger briefly flickered across her face. "I don’t think it’s a coincidence. So I’m going to go on the assumption that it’s another agent, or someone from the inside hired
a mercenary."

  There wasn’t much Huey could say. He happened to agree with her. "Be careful, Tony. I’ll call you when I know more."

  Hanging up the phone, Tony was glad that she had decided not to include any of her FBI coworkers, because she had no way of knowing if they were connected to the attacks on her.

  After taking a shower, Tony retrieved her gun and placed it on the night stand. Getting into bed, she fell into a light sleep, her subconscious mind tuned to wake her at any odd sound. Velcro and Huggy joined her a short time later.

  * * *

  Megan sat at her desk unable to concentrate on the lab reports she was looking at. Setting them down, her thoughts turned to the sting operation planned for that night. There was so much being left to chance and she was very worried about Tony’s safety.

  When the phone rang, she welcomed the interruption.

  "Dr. Donnovan."

  "Hi. Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. With the deadline for people who filed extensions drawing near, work has been unreal," Ashley said.

  Megan smiled, glad to hear from her sister, "No problem. I figured you were just busy."

  "Any chance you can get away for lunch today? Two appointments I had scheduled canceled and I’ve finally got a little free time." Ashley said, hoping Megan would be able to get away. It seemed like ages since she had seen her younger sister.

  Glad for the diversion, and wanting to see Ashley, Megan smiled and said, "I’d love to. Where?"

  "How about the Boarding House at 11:30?" Ashley chose a place close to where Megan worked figuring they would be able to take a little longer lunch that way.

  "That’ll work. See you then," Megan said, looking forward to lunch