by Lisa Hughey
He liked to understand his partners, liked to understand what made them tick, so he could predict their actions and accommodate for their responses to a case and its stimuli.
But so far Kita Kim wasn’t conforming to any of his preconceived expectations.
Shep was giving him a funny look and Alex realized he was staring at Kita’s delicate hand, her fingers curled around the throwaway cup, her unpainted nails neatly trimmed.
A knock at the front door galvanized everyone into action.
Immediately all three agents had their weapons out. Except for Kita, whose weapon was in the purse in the bag the other agents had just brought back. But she was on alert. Alex ordered her, “Take the judge in the back bedroom and wait for the all clear.”
Kita’s eyes sparked, outraged. “Why me?”
“Because you’re the only one who isn’t armed.” Alex didn’t want her in the first line of fire, but she was his partner and he needed to let go of his worry about it. He respected her abilities. “And I know you have mad hand-to-hand skills but you don’t have a weapon.”
“Good save,” Dwayne said under his breath.
“Except if the judge becomes incapacitated, I can’t carry him.” She made a valid point.
“Fine. Dwayne, you get the judge to the first bedroom.”
Dwayne escorted the judge down the hallway, and once they were in the room with the door closed, Alex gestured to the front door.
Shep and Alex took up positions on either side of the frame. Who the hell was at the door? “How the fuck do people keep finding him?”
Alex gestured to Kita to stand behind the half wall that separated the living room and dining room and was not in a clear line of sight to the front door. If the person on the other side started shooting, the odds they would hit her were slim.
It sucked, but he wanted to protect her any way he could.
She hesitated, as if she were going to argue, then took position.
The living room sported a couple of folding chairs. Only the television appeared to have been manufactured in this century. The state-of-the-art surveillance system connected to the television displayed four quadrants of pictures. The front door. The garage. The back door and the basement exit.
Whoever was at the front door was standing too close to the door and out of camera range. All the security cameras caught was a wool coat on a woman’s back, but nothing else was detectable on the screen. The person’s shadow was visible behind the glass and curtains that covered the windowed panels on either side of the single door. Alex frowned. Not very security minded. They had to know that there were agents inside.
Right?
Alex crouched behind the other half wall with a direct line of sight to the front door and the security monitor mounted at the ceiling.
The knock came again.
What assassin or stalker in their right mind knocked? Maybe this was something else?
“Hello?” A female voice called from the porch. Suddenly she moved and tried to peer into the living room, her hands cupped around her eyes and pressed to the glass.
Vanessa, the judge’s assistant.
Alex relaxed slightly. Shep too. But Kita stayed on guard. “Women are just as dangerous as men.”
Truth.
Protocol dictated that they get the judge out. The safe house had been compromised.
“Before we move again,” Kita whispered, “let’s talk to the judge.”
She sprinted down the hallway and opened the bedroom door. Shit. That wasn’t protocol. “I think I know where she’s going with this,” Shep murmured.
“Doesn’t matter.” Alex’s blood pressure rose as he heard her yelling at the judge. Also against protocol. After a minute, Kita, Dwayne and the judge reentered the living room. Dwayne glanced between him and Kita, a knowing look in his gaze.
Shit. Alex hadn’t even considered that Dwayne would figure out something had happened between them.
It wasn’t technically against the rules, but their behavior had skated a fine line.
Alex could feel the flush creep over his face.
Shep’s attention sharpened. “What?”
“Nothing,” Alex muttered. He should never have touched her.
“Bobby here told his assistant where we were.”
“Are you kidding me?” Alex rounded on the judge. “She’s on the list.”
“But if we don’t answer, she’ll be persistent.” Kita argued. “We need to let her in before the whole freaking neighborhood knows he’s here.”
Within a few seconds, they had the judge secured again, and Kita headed for the door.
She opened the front door cautiously.
“You,” the assistant accused. She burst inside the house, and the front door banged shut. “Are you holding the judge against his will?”
In a lightning-fast move, Kita slammed her up against the wall, one arm twisted high along her back, her fingers pressed between her shoulder blades. Her oversized striped tote bag fell to the floor with a thud.
The assistant yelped. “What are you doing? You stupid whore.”
The insult rolled off Kita’s back. “My job.”
“I’m going to press charges against you, freaking lunatic,” the woman hissed. Meanwhile the judge had come out of the kitchen and Alex wanted to punch the lascivious smirk off his face.
“Dear Lord, it’s a catfight,” the judge murmured.
Alex saw red.
The slow boil that had been simmering all morning erupted. Frustration at his reluctant, rule-breaking partner, irritation with the judge, who Alex was convinced still wasn’t telling them the whole truth, and the situation in general, which pushed all his protocol-following buttons.
His anger erupted into a threat. “Judge. I’m going to give you one minute to explain yourself, and if I’m not satisfied with the answer, I’m going to change your protective custody to a mandatory confinement to a federal facility in order to keep you safe.”
The judge started to bluster again. “Why, I never.”
The assistant was attempting to struggle against Kita’s hold but his rebel was having none of that. She’d put her foot between the secretary’s feet and grabbed the woman’s hair, putting her in a headlock. The woman squealed.
Kita barked, “Shut up.”
“Now, Judge.” Alex loomed over the older man.
“Fine. I had some work to do so I gave Vanessa the address so she could drop off my papers. I’m a very busy man,” he replied pompously.
Alex reined in his temper, but it was extremely difficult. “You realize we’re trying to keep you safe.” And he hadn’t succeeded too well, since he was at a near shout when he finished the sentence.
Shep was eyeing Alex like he’d never seen him before. At least this side of him. Alex had to get under control.
“Hey, Judge,” Kita said pleasantly.
“Yes, darlin’.”
“You could well be a very un-busy dead man if you keep announcing your secret locations to people.”
At that the assistant shut up. “What’s she talking about, Bobby?”
“The judge’s threatening letters have escalated to personal attacks.” Kita turned Vanessa to face the agents. “You know anything about that?”
“Attacks?” Her voice rose convincingly, but she wouldn’t be the first woman scorned to lie. “Oh my God, are you okay?”
The judge smiled, baring his white teeth. “I’m fine, darlin’.”
Alex wanted to gag. Did women really fall for his bullshit?
“What are we going to do about her?” Kita’s hold hadn’t relaxed on the petite redhead; if anything she’d ratcheted Vanessa’s arms up higher behind her back.
The judge took a step toward the pair of women. “Quit manhandling my assistant.”
“All due respect, sir,” Kita said insolently. “I don’t work for you. I work for him.” She jerked her head toward Alex.
While he appreciated her support, they didn’t need to pi
ss off the judge any more than Alex already had.
Alex pulled out his cell. “We’ll have to get someone here to take her to the local office for questioning.”
Vanessa whimpered. “But I was just doing my job.”
Alex picked up the woman’s tote bag and riffled through the contents, which consisted of mostly makeup—dear God, how many lipsticks did one woman need?—a wallet with a thousand dollars in cash, pens, a notebook, a single manila envelope, and several condom packets.
Alex raised his brows. Had the judge really been hoping for a little afternoon delight?
Something was off about this whole thing. Judge Adams wasn’t stupid. He might be a sex addict but he had to have an extremely bright mind. “What did you have her bring?”
“Just trial papers.” Judge Adams flicked his hand dismissing the question.
But Alex’s instincts were clamoring.
“What did he have you bring?” Alex got right up in the woman’s personal space.
The woman tilted her head back, eyes closed, lips trembling. Was she trying to play him?
“He got another note.”
“Why didn’t you notify the US Marshals?” Kita asked before he could. “That’s protocol.”
“Because Bobby wanted to see it first.”
Alex fought the urge to curse, long and loud.
“We can’t protect you if we don’t know where the threat is coming from.” Kita spoke to the judge. “The protocol exists for a reason.”
Wait, in what bizarre world did Kita quote the rules? Alex peered at her, as if he could discern from staring into her black gaze what the hell she was thinking.
She smirked at him, her lips curved so that a small nearly unnoticeable dimple appeared next to her nose.
“Why don’t we all take it down a notch?” Shep was the voice of reason.
Within a few minutes, they were seated at the scarred table. Dwayne and Shep perched on the deep windowsills while Kita, Alex, the judge and Vanessa huddled at the table.
“Show us.” Kita turned the laptop so that the redhead could pull up the email. Instead, she reached in her oversized tote bag.
All the agents tensed.
Alex sat straighter in his chair. “A physical note?”
“Yes. It was on my desk when I got in this morning.” Her fingers trembled as she tried to smooth down her hair. Her long red nails caught his attention.
“Did you touch it?”
“Ah, yes.” She flushed. “But as soon as I figured out what it was, I slipped it in the manila envelope.”
They needed sterile gloves and an evidence bag. He had a feeling that the paper was going to match the generic 20-lb paper of the letter with the fake anthrax.
“What’s it say?”
“‘Your child will pay. Trouble never comes alone.’”
Your child. Did the judge have another kid they were unaware of?
“They threatened Marsh?”
It was the first time Alex had seen the judge rattled. His face whitened, and within seconds he looked every one of his sixty-odd years.
But what caught Alex’s attention was the look on Kita’s face. There wasn’t any. She was stoic, her eyes flat and vacant.
“What do you know about this?” Alex accused her. Was this why the judge wanted Adams-Larsen in on this protection detail from the beginning?
“I don’t know what you mean.” Kita blinked.
“This is not the time for evasiveness,” he growled.
“You think I know what ‘trouble never comes alone’ means?” Kita threw up her hands. “It could be anything. Maybe there’s more than one perpetrator. Maybe there’s more than one attack. Maybe it pertains to more than one situation. How the hell should I know?”
“Don’t hold out on me,” Alex warned.
Dwayne was watching the byplay between the two of them like a ping-pong match. But the blank look on his face and the little crinkles fanning out from his eyes convinced Alex that he had no idea what was going on either.
Alex shoved his chair away from the table, and the loud screech rent the air. “Can I speak to you alone?”
Kita raised a brow. “Protocol dictates that we share information with all the marshals in charge.”
“You really going to quote rules at me right now, Kita?”
“Fine.” She strode sullenly into the first bedroom.
Alex shut the door with a snap. “What is going on?”
“The judge is an idiot and Barbie isn’t far behind.” Beneath the flippant exterior something was wrong.
What he wanted to say was, “Talk to me.” But what came out of his mouth was far more stilted. “I can’t condone your spot on this team if you aren’t going to share intelligence with me.” And of course, that was going to piss her off. He knew that but it was as if he were watching them above their bodies, and he could see the train wreck coming.
“Are you seriously threatening to kick me off this team?” She propped her fists on her hips and stepped right into his space. She jabbed her finger into his breastbone. “You have no precedent.”
He stepped into her. His chest bumped her confined breasts. “You’re keeping information that might be tangential or even crucial to this case. Tell me what you know or I’ll file an official report about your conduct.” Why had he bought in to her vulnerability? She was purposely hamstringing their investigation and case. He should have never agreed to subvert the regular process.
Kita didn’t back down. But finally she blew out a breath. “I don’t know if it’s related, but….”
“What, Kita?”
“I’m breaking a damn confidence here, back the fuck off.”
Alex waited.
“Marsh isn’t on a special assignment.”
The judge’s son?
“Where is he then?”
“That would be the question, wouldn’t it?”
“So you’re saying he’s missing?”
“Not exactly missing,” she hedged.
“Exactly what then?”
“He told Jill he was going to take some time off.” Kita looked him in the eyes. This close they were nearly eye level, and their mouths were aligned perfectly.
Alex waited.
“But it’s been over a month and she hasn’t seen him.”
Kita rubbed the back of her neck. “And before you ask, he does do this sometimes, except he’s never been incommunicado for this length of time.”
Alex considered the information. “So it’s possible the letter writer is trying to draw him out.”
“It would appear that way.”
“We need to interview all the women on that list.” Alex rubbed his thumb over the bare skin of her biceps absently, thinking through their priorities.
“Why women?”
“This feels very personal.”
“True, but what if the women have significant others?”
Alex sighed. “Hopefully the team going through the court records will find something. But my gut says that this isn’t about a federal court case, it’s far more intimate than that.”
Kita’s eyes sparkled, her earlier annoyance had disappeared, and the band around his chest loosened, allowing him to breathe. He didn’t like to be at cross purposes with her.
“Your gut?”
He smiled wryly. “Everyone has instincts.”
Her cheeks curved in amusement, her face light, almost happy. “Yes, but I’m surprised Mr. Rule Follower is listening.”
Chapter 15
Alex drove through the crowded streets of DC with Kita by his side. He wasn’t even sure how it happened, but Dwayne and Shep had stayed with the judge, going over his recent court cases, combing through the transcripts looking for any threatening language, while he and Kita went on the suspect interviews.
They’d had the Marshals come get Vanessa. They were guarding her and going through her records to confirm that she hadn’t had outside contact with a third party. Alex was pretty sure she was harml
ess and innocent, but never underestimate the rage of a woman with a grudge.
They had already tackled the masseuse and the tennis pro at the same club.
Both women only had positive things to say about the judge. They knew he was sleeping with more than one woman and were fine with it. The only time they’d been upset was when they found out he was receiving threats. Even then, their main concern was the judge’s safety.
That had been eye-opening. Apparently Judge Adams had a certain amount of…stamina for an older man. Both women had been thrilled to expound on his attributes.
“I may need to bleach my eyes and ears,” Kita muttered.
He figured she was goofing around, trying to keep her mind off the next interviews. “I’ll take your mother—”
“Joyce Nguyen,” she said flatly. “She is not honorable enough for that title.”
“Okay.” Alex blew out his breath. “You take Marsh’s mom while I interview Nguyen. Try and see if you can get a line on where Marsh is. It’s possible that he’s in danger too.”
“Marsh can take care of himself.” The affection in her voice irritated him. Marsh, the wonderful. If he was so wonderful, where the hell was he?
“What’s Colleen Adams like?”
“I can’t believe….”
Alex knew what she was inferring. The judge’s relationship with Colleen Adams boggled the mind. “How long have they been divorced?”
“Since Marsh was ten or so.”
“Over twenty years.” And yet they still had sex once a month. Alex raised his eyebrows.
Kita shuddered. “I don’t want to think about it.”
Alex drove through a residential neighborhood in the heart of Georgetown. The gracious old mansions were set back from the street. Decorative iron gates sent a clear message, “Keep Out,” and if you were stupid enough to ignore that, the posted security company placards on the lawn near the front steps were a more modern version of “Don’t Come Knocking.”
Kita and Marsh had literally lived next door to each other.
On the sidewalk they split, Alex going left, Kita going right. He started to remind her, “Remember—”
