Deadly Holidays

by Lisa Phillips

  She backed up. Bradley caught her arm and dragged her behind him while the agents yelled, “Freeze!” and “Drop the weapon!”

  It was all over in less than fifteen minutes. One of the blackmailer’s men in custody. The FBI agents patted him down, emptied his pockets. Found a phone.

  “No ID,” one of them said.

  Another put handcuffs on him.

  “You okay?” Bradley asked.

  “Yes, I’m fine.” This was one of the better experiences, and yet she still seemed jittery like the other times. Adrenaline flowed through her, but she locked her knees to hold steady. The relief would come.

  He touched her hands. “Adrenaline. Doesn’t matter if nothing really happened. Your body reacted to the danger nonetheless.”

  They stood to the side while Adrian came over to the man. “Care to tell us your name? Or are you going to waste our time making us run your prints in the military’s personnel database?”

  The craggy man said nothing.

  “Have it your way, then.” Adrian grasped his elbow.

  As they walked, the man said, “You could always ask Steve Preston who I am.” He glanced over his shoulder and looked at Rachel. “After all, you guys are pretty friendly with him. Right?”

  Bradley tugged on her arm. “Hang back with me. Let Adrian handle this.”

  She glanced at him and frowned. He said, “Most of them think Adrian has Megan close to him because she works for Steve. They think he’s in the relationship to string her along until she can lead him to their fugitive.”

  Rachel started. “Seriously? I thought they were trying to help him figure all this out.”

  “That’s the case he’s building, no matter what they think. He intends to prove Steve is acting under duress just like Zimmerman did. The rest of the agents don’t know it’s what he’s going to hand over to the judge at the end, when he has the evidence.”

  “Oh.” Rachel thought for a second. “Isn’t that dangerous, playing the line between two sides?” She’d seen Megan in the FBI office, participating almost like a real agent. And maybe because of her history, they gave her that respect. But, come to think of it, Megan hadn’t been given any “official” duties. She’d just been there. Assisting where they could watch her.

  “They think Steve will be in contact with her?”

  Bradley nodded. “But he won’t. Considering he’s been meeting with you.”

  Rachel wasn’t going to respond to that. She would only incriminate herself with her brother regarding her personal feelings for his boss. Feelings she’d managed to keep from him. Though, he’d likely figured it out now.

  He got that look on his face. The one that meant he was about to tell her to be careful. “Rach—”

  A shot rang out.

  The craggy man fell to the ground. His body crumpled into a heap.

  Bradley launched himself at her, and they both hit the ground.

  **

  Smoke wafted up from the barrel. Steve lifted it, clipped the legs back against the barrel and then took it apart so he could stow it back in the case.

  He picked up the spent shell casing and looked around one more time to make sure he hadn’t left any evidence.

  And then he was gone.

  He drove a few miles, then pulled over and sent the text.

  It’s done.

  He’d killed Petey before his former teammate could tell the FBI anything about the blackmailer. The bureau wouldn’t get anything from Petey’s phone either. They should be able to guess that was a waste of time.

  The message Steve had received, the instructions for him to kill the president, had disappeared from his phone already. Deleted. Erased. However it had been done, there was no way to trace it. Or even prove it had existed in the first place outside of his word. If Steve was to actually do it, there was no way to prove it wasn’t him acting on his own.

  He touched his forehead to the steering wheel and shut his eyes. An image of Rachel immediately filled his mind. He let it stay for a minute, indulging himself, even though it was a form of torture. The thing he wanted most. The thing he couldn’t have.

  His phone buzzed.

  Confirm when final mission is complete.

  Like he needed to be reminded that the summit was closing in fast? Adding in this additional mission evidently hadn’t changed Steve’s primary objective.

  He’d never liked taking orders much, but put up with it for the sake of the Army. Mostly because he’d felt like he was serving God. With the CIA, he’d really been making a difference in the world. When it meant bad guys were dead or in jail at the end of the mission, that was easy to swallow. Occasionally the operation would be more of a gray area. Details got missed. Intelligence was faulty, or some analyst somewhere had made an assumption.

  Steve had pulled a trigger. Or set a charge. Someone who shouldn’t have died lost their life.

  He wouldn’t have been able to call himself a man if he didn’t feel regret when life was taken for the wrong reason, and he was the one doing the taking.

  Killing Petey might have been an order from the blackmailer. But seeing the man hauling Rachel along like that? No question. Steve hadn’t even hesitated.

  He drove around the city for a while. Well after dark he drove by Rachel’s house. All the lights were out, but he didn’t figure that was because she was sleeping. He tried Bradley and Alexis’s house next. A tiny one-story place she’d had Bradley paint yellow. Bradley had even hung Christmas lights along eaves all the way across the front of the house.

  The living room blinds were open slightly, so he could see the lit Christmas tree they’d decorated.

  Life was happening. While his was destroyed, they were going to celebrate the season. His chest hurt just thinking about not filling that seat he’d promised to at their dinner table. Not sharing the Christmas meal with friends he’d considered family.

  He left the phone in the car, parked three streets away. Checked for surveillance that would indicate the FBI was watching the house. He climbed the fence and landed on gravel behind it. Knocked on the guest room window.

  Rachel pulled back the curtain, alarm on her face. The shock dissipated, and she smiled as she shoved up the window. “Why do I feel sixteen again?”

  Steve said, “You had boys knock on your window at sixteen?”

  “Uh…no comment.”

  “I think your constituents would have something to say about that.”

  Rachel rolled her eyes, and he finally saw she was wearing a sweatshirt that said NAVY.

  “Seriously?” Surely she had one for the Army as well. Or should he get her one for Christmas?

  “What?” She tried to look innocent, but there was a gleam of mischief in her eyes. “I support all the branches of our military.”

  “You stole that from Bradley.”

  “Maybe.” She took half a step back. “Are you going to come in?”

  “Actually, no.” Steve leaned against the outside of the house. “It’s better if I don’t.”

  “Oh.”

  “Are you okay? Bradley landed pretty hard on you today.”

  She pressed her lips together. “So that was you. It’s everyone’s working theory.”

  Steve didn’t argue. It was true, after all. “I have to keep up the pretense that I’m doing what he wants.”

  “Why? You could just walk away.”

  “That doesn’t make Double Down safe.” Or their friends. His family.

  Her face shut down. “I see.”

  “Rach.” He leaned in to the window and held out one hand. After a second, she placed hers in it. “My running doesn’t make you safe.”

  “Oh.” The word was soft.

  “Are you okay?”

  She sighed. “I’d like to live the kind of life where someone isn’t asking me that every five minutes.”

  “You’ll get there.”

  She studied his face for a second, then said, “I’d like for us to get there.”

 
He loved that, but had to say, “I’m not sure that’s ever going to happen. This whole thing has already gone way too far. I don’t know that I’m ever going to be free. Especially knowing what he wants from me.”

  “What does he want?”

  Steve shook his head.

  “You need to tell me. Adrian can help you.” She looked so earnest, it made him want to tell her. But then what would she think of him? Rachel said, “Trust me.” As though it was the most important thing in the world to her.

  He couldn’t.

  She knew it. She pulled her hand from his and let it fall to her side. “If you can’t tell anyone, then no one can help you.”

  “Maybe that’s for the best.”

  “I don’t believe that.” She shook her head, like she disagreed with herself. “I’m trying to believe trust really is the best thing. Especially when you know the people you have faith in won’t ever let you down.”

  He wanted to be that man for her. The fact she believed in him enough to trust him, after what had happened to her, humbled him.

  Too bad it would never happen.

  “Can you do me a favor?”

  She said, “What?”

  “I’d like to know how Nicola is doing, but there’s no way I can find out.”

  “Oh.” Her face turned stony, but she said, “The last I heard was that she was in surgery, and that it wasn’t looking good.” She said it all with no inflection, as though she was giving a report on economic policy.

  “Thank you.”

  “I can find out more. If I see you, I’ll keep you posted.”

  He wanted to tell her that of course they would see each other. But how could he guarantee that? It wasn’t even safe to be here now.

  “Let you know that your girlfriend is all right.”

  “Rach—”

  “Did you shoot her too?”

  “No, I—”

  “Because that’s a reasonable question.”

  “Maybe it was a mistake to come here.” He took a step back. “Take care, okay?”

  She shrugged.

  “Am I supposed to say something else?”

  She shot him a look. The one women gave you when you were supposed to know what they were mad about. Steve fired back with the only ammunition he had. “If you hear a report that the president has been shot at. Assassination—or just an attempt—maybe you could do that trust thing you were talking about. At least give me the benefit of the doubt.”

  He ignored her gasp and turned away.

  Bradley’s voice drifted out to him as he moved away from the window. “Who are you talking to?”

  “No one. Geez.”

  Steve heard the window slam down, and he raced away before anyone found him.

  Chapter 11

  Rachel stepped out of the elevator into the FBI office just after eight the next morning. Traffic moving through Washington DC had been horrendous, but Bradley insisted it was better for blending in. Especially while riding in a government car that looked like every other government car, equipped with GPS tracking and two armed guards.

  She gripped the strap of her laptop bag, slung it over her shoulder, and moved down the aisle between cubicles. Bradley walked right behind her, Alexis beside him. Like they had nothing better to do than play bodyguard to her.

  Rachel stopped and turned to them. “I’m here now. Thanks for dropping me off.”

  They’d gone all the way through security, getting passes to be up here. Surely they could have dropped her at the front door.

  Bradley said, “Alexis is going to stay here today as well.” He eyed her like he was trying to figure out what she was hiding. Alexis’s study was a little less blatant, but it was still there. They’d probably worked out that she had been talking to someone out her window. Was she going to tell them who? No way.

  Alexis spun around to face her husband. “I’m staying—?”

  Rachel cut her off. “The FBI don’t want to babysit us.” They barely tolerated her being there, and only because she’d thrown around some “senator” weight. Mostly the agents treated her like she was about to have a total mental breakdown. She wasn’t sure if she’d prefer they knew she was scared to do much of anything, or go anywhere, until people quit trying to kill her.

  Adrian strode over before Bradley could say more. “Ready?” His focus was on her brother.

  “Ready for what?” Rachel asked.

  Alexis sighed.

  Rachel glanced between the three of them. “Someone explain. Right now.”

  “It’s nothing,” Bradley said. “Geez.” He shot her a look, payback for what she’d said to him last night. Then he wandered off with Adrian.

  Rachel swung around to Alexis. Before she could say anything, Alexis said, “He knows you lied to him last night.”

  “And he’s still mad.”

  Alexis nodded. “Was it Steve?”

  All Rachel could think about were his parting words. She’d been trying to push it out of her mind all morning. But now there was no way to do that. It eclipsed everything.

  That the president has been shot…

  “What is it?”

  Rachel shook her head. “I can’t talk about it.” Because if she did, that would make it more real. She wanted to believe it wasn’t true. That it couldn’t be true. But denial had never been her strong suit. She tended to get snippy instead, to cover the fact there was something she didn’t want to talk about.

  Like confronting Bradley. “What is he doing with the FBI?”

  Alexis said, “Adrian called this morning. They found another signal in with ours yesterday—someone else listening in.”

  Rachel took a step back. “Is it… I…” She didn’t even know what to say.

  Alexis’s face softened. “They’re going to take care of it.”

  Rachel slipped her arm through her friend’s and basically dragged her to the conference room. She shut the door, then dumped her laptop bag on the table.

  Alexis winced.

  Rachel said, “What do you mean, ‘take care of it’?”

  “Bradley is going with them, and they’re going to trace the source of the signal. They’re zeroing in on a location.”

  “Forgetting the issue of how that’s even possible, because I wouldn’t understand all the techno-babble anyway, isn’t anyone concerned with why they are able to do this?”

  “What do you mean?”

  Rachel leaned against the edge of the table. “The blackmailer has someone in his employ who is a computer genius, right?”

  Alexis nodded. “It’s the only way he’d be able to get into Double Down’s system. Not to mention all the other things he’s managed to do and find out.”

  “So why do they think he would make a mistake now, at this point?”

  “You think its trap?”

  “They don’t?”

  “I should—” Alexis took a step toward the door.

  It opened. Bradley stuck his head in. “We’re heading out.”

  “Rachel thinks it’s a trap.”

  She nodded. “Also why are they letting you go? You’re not FBI.”

  “I made a call. Adrian confirmed with my former commanding officer from the Navy. I’m vouched for.”

  “So you get to play operator while we sit here wondering if you’re walking into a trap?”

  “I’ll be fine.” He dragged her over, then dragged his wife over and pulled them both against him.

  Rachel’s and Alexis’s eyes met, squished in the hug. They shared a look. Alexis said, “You should just tell him.”

  Rachel pushed away from both of them and made a face. “Of course. Just put me on the spot, why don’t you?”

  “I swear,” Alexis said, “You might be a US senator, but you act like we’re still in junior high sometimes.”

  “It’s satisfying.” Rachel folded her arms. “And it keeps people guessing if they don’t know how you’re going to act.”

  Bradley adopted the same posture. “I have
one minute before I leave. Start talking.”

  And tell him that Steve was supposed to assassinate the president? No way. At least, she was pretty sure that was what Steve had been insinuating. He hadn’t spelled it out in so many words, but what else could that mean?

  “It was Steve last night?”

  She nodded in answer to his question.

  “We’ll talk more about this later.”

  “Okay, Dad.” Their father had literally said that exact phrase to her years ago.

  “Considering who he was, I take that as the highest compliment.” Bradley strode out, shutting the door behind them.

  Alexis had tears in her eyes. She shook her head. “Can you guys even go an hour without bickering?”

  “He started it.”

  Alexis gave her a pointed look.

  Rachel slumped into a chair. “I have work to do.”

  Alexis said, “Need some help?”

  Rachel eyed her former assistant. “Of course.”

  Alexis smiled, and sat beside her. “It’s only a favor, naturally. You can’t afford my going rate these days.”

  Rachel chuckled and entered the pin for her computer. “Married to my brother, I’m surprised he doesn’t have you stay in the kitchen all day making him those huge meals he eats. I’m surprised you’re not pregnant yet.”

  Alexis choked on the sip of water she’d been drinking from that water bottle she kept in her huge purse.

  Rachel’s eyebrows rose.

  Alexis pressed the cap back on the bottle. “Um…how long do you have to wait before you can take the test?”

  “Seriously?”

  Alexis bit her lip. “Let’s get the work done first, and then we can find out.”

  “Chicken.”

  Alexis shoved her shoulder.

  They got some work done, but they were also seriously distracted. Conversations Rachel might’ve had with Ellayna today were nonexistent, so evidently she didn’t have to worry about things being awkward. When she called in to her office she discovered the intern hadn’t even shown up to work today.

  Rachel found an agent she recognized and mentioned it. He told her he would make sure the young woman was safe. The last thing she wanted was for Ellayna to have been hurt because of everything swirling around Rachel.