by Margaret Kay
After a quick stop in the main office, the two exited the front of the building just as Cooper pulled up in the SUV. Garcia read the note to them once the doors were shut and Cooper pulled away, following Jackson’s directions to Sienna Andrews’ location.
“Why would she comply?” Madison asked. “Certainly, she realized she could have warned us.”
“All we know is what’s on that note. We don’t know what they said to her,” Cooper pointed out.
“She shouldn’t even have hit dial. She should have brought that note and phone out to me.” Garcia knew he shouldn’t have let her go into that room alone. He should have been in there with her. If anything happened to her, it would be his fault because he hadn’t gone in with her.
“Unless there was more,” Madison pointed out.
“We’ll know when we get to her,” Cooper said. His eyes met Garcia’s. “We are going to get to her before anything happens.”
Garcia nodded a confidence he didn’t feel.
They stayed a safe distance back from the car Sienna rode in, following her for over a half hour. The dark blue sedan drove into the parking garage structure beside Dearborne Energy Solutions.
“Son of a bitch!” Cooper exclaimed. He bypassed the parking garage entrance and went around the block. “Jax, dial Big Bear in.”
“I’m online,” Shepherd’s voice came through their comms. He’d dialed in when he had been alerted that Sienna’s tracker showed her on the move. “I’m placing the call as we speak.”
Garcia ran his fingers through his hair. This was not good. It wasn’t like they could go in there, guns drawn, and demand she be turned over to them. The CIA wouldn’t even acknowledge they had her, that’s if this was an on-the-books operation, which he doubted it was given the content of the post-it note. The questions were, who exactly had her? And how dirty was the guy who snatched her up?
“Sit tight,” Shepherd’s voice came after a few excruciatingly long minutes.
The car went deep below ground, down three subbasement levels. Sienna didn’t know this parking garage went down that far. The car pulled up in front of a bank of elevators where two men in dark suits stood. She didn’t recognize either man. One stepped up to the car and pulled the door open.
She didn’t move, was frozen in her seat. These men were most likely CIA, as was her husband. She should have been safe, but she felt anything but. It was most likely that it was one of these men, or someone like them who had killed Greg, had broken into her house repeatedly, who had impersonated the FBI and NSA agents, and who had taken shots at her. They were probably the same type of men who came after her and Razor in that warehouse. No, she definitely wasn’t safe.
“Come on Mrs. Andrews, let’s make this easier on both of us,” he said, holding a hand out to her. His lips dipped into a scowl when she didn’t move. “I will physically remove you from this car if you don’t get out on your own.” His voice was even and low, which made it sound menacing.
She unbuckled her seat belt and pulled herself from the car. The man took hold of her bicep in a firm grasp and led her towards the elevator as the car pulled away. “Did you work with my husband?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied.
“Did you kill him?” The elevator door opened. He led her within, the other man followed. The door closed, and the man still had not answered. “It’s a simple question. Did you kill my husband?”
“Neither of us killed Greg,” the other man answered.
Her eyes darted to his. She didn’t believe him. It was more than the tone of his voice and the look on his face when he said it. It was his overall presence. Since she had been on the run, met Razor, spent time with him and his associates, she recognized something in these two men. They had an air of danger, of skilled competence, a cold and detached look in their eyes. Both these men had killed before and would kill again when needed. Razor had the same look in his eyes after he had burned that man alive. Madison had the same look in hers after she had shot that man in the warehouse.
Her eyes flickered to the man holding her arm. “You’re hurting me.”
He loosened his grasp slightly. “Certainly, you understand there is nowhere to run to.”
She nodded. She was fighting tears that wanted to flood her eyes.
The elevator doors opened, and they led her into a dimly lit corridor. It was empty. No people, no signs, no furniture, just off-white walls. They passed several closed doors. She heard her own heart pounding in concert with their footsteps on the concrete floor. Her body felt numb, her head light. She knew she was going to die here. A sense of resignation washed over her.
They halted in front of a door on the right side and the second man opened it. Bright light from within the room spilled into the hallway. She felt a pull on her arm, the man prompting her to enter. Her panicked-filled gaze met his. His face was serious and cold.
He leaned his face in near her ear. “Mrs. Andrews, please cooperate,” he whispered.
He gave her a shove to get her moving. She took a step into the room and froze. The same man who had been within the panel van, who had shot at her, stood near a table in the center of the room. She felt the chill that swept over her, ice water returning to her veins.
She hadn’t realized her legs gave out on her until the man who held her, caught her and lifted her back to her feet. He dragged her over near the table and sat her on a chair. All the while, her eyes remained fixed on the man who had shot at her.
That man came in close and leaned on the edge of the table, towering over her. “You’ve made all of this a lot harder than it’s had to be. If you’d just gotten into the van this whole messy business would have been concluded quickly,” said the same deep voice that had spoken to her on the phone.
“Would I still be alive?” She asked, not sure she really wanted to know.
“If you cooperate you can walk out of here when we’re done.”
“You tried to kill me,” she forced out in a whisper.
The man’s lips tipped into an evil smile. “If I had wanted to kill you, you’d be dead. I assure you, Mrs. Andrews, my aim is much better than that.”
“We both know you’re not going to let me walk out of here.” Knowing she was going to die brought a sudden, strange sense of bravery. The man did not answer. He stared at her intensely. “You went through a lot of trouble to get pictures of people I care about.”
His thin lips ticked into a smirk. “Like Mrs. Angel Jackson and her baby.”
“Yes,” Sienna confirmed.
“The picture made you cooperate, didn’t it?”
“Are you saying you wouldn’t have hurt them?”
“You can take it to mean anything you’d like,” he replied in a rough tone. “And remember, we know where they are. Your continued cooperation assures their safety.”
“Fine, what do you want?”
“We need some information that only you can provide.” He lifted a small computer tablet from the table. After several taps on the screen, his eyes refocused on hers. “Where exactly did you first meet your husband? And be specific.”
She stared blankly at him, rolling that question around in her head. A small smile curved her lips. “You’re joking, right?”
He leaned into her personal space, hovering over her. “Do I look like I’m joking?”
No, he absolutely did not. He looked pissed. “At a bar, a place called Neally’s Pub in Newport News.”
The man’s lips twisted in a grimacing smile. “The kindergarten teacher met her husband in a bar. That’s unexpected. What’s the address of the establishment?”
“I have no idea,” she replied.
“I’ve got it, feeding the address over now,” the man who had held her arm as he escorted her to this room said.
Sienna’s eyes shifted to see him holding a computer tablet in his hands too. His eyes flickered to hers. “It’s on Jackson Avenue?”
She shrugged. “That sounds right. When I met Greg, he was sta
tioned at Fort Eustis, which later became Joint Base Langley-Eustis.”
Mr. Panel Van tapped on the screen a few more times. “What was the date you met him?”
“I have no idea,” she replied again.
“Think.” He stared at her with expectancy. “Come now, Mrs. Andrews, your husband remembered the date. Why can’t you?”
“It was a Friday night in October 2008.”
The man with the tablet spoke again. “There were five Friday’s in October 2008, the third, tenth, seventeenth, twenty-fourth, and the thirty-first.”
“It wasn’t Halloween, or the week before because I spent those weekends with Greg. It was either the third or the tenth. I don’t know which.”
“This is important, Mrs. Andrews. Narrow it down.”
November
Shepherd was fuming by the time the Deputy Director of the CIA picked up the phone. “What can I do for you, Colonel?”
“You can tell me who the hell from your organization scooped up my witness from an active Op and squirreled her away in the bowels of your Dearborne Energy Solutions building. You can tell me why, and you can return her to my people ASAP!”
Shepherd heard keys clicking. Beauregard Mason was looking the particulars up. “That’s a lot of demands, Shepherd.”
“Her husband, Greg Andrews, was one of yours, was active out of that location. He was found murdered at his residence just over a month ago. The lady is a civilian and was in my protection.”
“Doesn’t sound like you did a very good job,” the Deputy Director antagonized him. “Are you sure she’s a civilian, Sam? She went dark, not the actions of an innocent civilian.”
“I may be paralyzed, Beauregard, but I will jump out of this chair and choke the living shit out of you if you don’t return the lady to me.”
“Sounds personal, Sam.” Shepherd heard several more clicks of keys. “Hold on.” The phone muted. “I have no record of us picking up or detaining the Andrews woman,” he said when he came back on the line.
“My people followed them to that location. I have a tracker on her, and it shows her stationary within the building,” Shepherd said strongly. “I have a team outside. They’re coming in for her.”
“Hold up there, Sam, I’m telling you, I have no record of her being brought in.”
“Then someone is running an off-the-books Op.” He heard the Deputy Director moan. “Who was Andrews’ handler?”
“His section chief, Mike Vargas.” Again, the rapid key clicks. “Get me live detention room usage at the Dearborne Energy facility,” he said in a very muffled voice. His hand was over the phone. “Give me two seconds, Shepherd. If she’s there they have her in one of the detention rooms. If Vargas signed off on a room, I know I can’t trust him.” There was a pause. “Son-of-a-bitch! Yeah, Vargas has a room right now.”
“I have Cooper on site with his CIA credentials. Get him clearance and authority over the section chief.” Shepherd wasn’t asking.
The door swung open and Cooper came through, badge in hand. “I’m Cooper. I’m here on Deputy Director Mason’s orders.”
Anthony and Madison came through the door behind him. Sienna jumped up from the chair and threw herself at Anthony. He embraced her and felt her tremble. He held her tightly.
“This interview or whatever it was is over,” Cooper said with authority.
“Not so fast, you can’t just come in here and take my witness,” Vargas’ deep voice challenged.
“Is Angel okay?” Sienna asked. “They had a picture of her and Sammy and threatened them.”
Cooper grabbed Vargas by the collar and shoved him against the wall. Vargas bounced off it with a muffled thud. He was then instantly pinned in place by Cooper.
Madison drew her gun. “Hands up.” She pointed her weapon at the two other men who were in the room.
The man who escorted them down stood awkwardly, not sure what to do. After a few seconds, he drew on the two agents Madison covered. As far as he knew, these people had the full authority on-site from the Deputy Director.
Sienna pulled away from Garcia and grabbed the mailing envelope from the table. She pulled the two pictures from it. She handed them to Garcia who was beside her.
“You son-of-a-bitch!” Garcia yelled. “There’s pics of Angel and Sammy as well as Madison and me walking Sienna into the school this morning. There are headshots drawn on all of us.”
“Jax are you still online?” Cooper asked.
“Affirmative,” Jackson replied.
“Is your family secure?” Cooper asked.
“They’re both here,” Jackson assured him. “They’re safe.”
“You are under arrest,” Cooper told Vargas. “You picked the wrong team to fuck with.”
“And you crashed the wrong Op. This is bigger than you can possibly comprehend,” Vargas defended strongly.
“You threatened members of my team,” Cooper growled in his face.
“We both know in some situations; the end justifies the means. This is one of those situations.”
Vargas didn’t act like a man caught with his dick hanging out. Cooper would hear him out in hopes of getting any info he could.
“Sienna, why did you slip out of the building? Why didn’t you come out to me?” Garcia asked her.
“He was watching me through the camera in the workroom. He said he’d kill Angel if I didn’t do what he said.”
“I never said I’d kill her,” Vargas claimed.
“You went out of your way to imply it,” Sienna argued. “I couldn’t risk anything happening to her or the baby because of me,” Sienna whined, new tears gathering in her eyes as they pled with Anthony’s.
“Shh sweetheart, it’s okay,” Garcia said, wrapping his arms back around her, pulling her into his chest.
“Thank you for coming. I thought I was dead. How’d you find me?” She stammered.
Garcia’s eyes flickered to Cooper. Cooper gave the faintest of head shakes.
“We followed you,” he said.
Vargas barked out a laugh. “Unlikely. They have a tracker on you someplace.”
Cooper pulled him by the collar over to the table and pushed his ass into a chair. “Not a word from you unless you are asked a question.” He locked eyes with Garcia and gave a headshake towards the door. He wanted Sienna out of the room.
“Come on, we’ll leave Cooper to it,” Garcia said softly in her ear. He began to move her towards the door.
“Wait,” she protested. “There’s a few things I have to know first.” She turned back to face Vargas. “Did you kill my husband?”
“No, Mrs. Andrews. I did not. No one from the agency did.” His voice was even and confident.
“But you broke into my house repeatedly?”
Vargas nodded.
“What were you looking for?” She demanded, her voice rising.
“The data chip.” He nodded towards the computer tablet he’d been using to question her and enter the answers. “And then later, the key. Greg was detailed, careful. He wouldn’t have protected the data chip without a backup of the key hidden somewhere. He knew he was in danger and that you could have just as easily been taken out with him. He would not have left you as the only backup copy.”
Backup copy? What was she a backup copy of? She shook her head. No, Greg would never have done anything to put her in danger.
“He was in deep,” Vargas said.
Had she said her thoughts aloud? She wasn’t sure. “Why didn’t you just ask me? I would have given you access to anything you needed.”
Vargas’ lips twisted into a scowl. “Because we don’t exist. Just as Greg could not tell you who he really was, neither could I.”
“That is the most stupid thing I’ve ever heard! My husband is dead because of the work you do! I was put in danger because of the work you do! You broke into my house, shot at me, scared the shit out of me, all to cover up the work you do! Fuck you! Fuck both you and Greg!” Anger surged through her. Her whole
body vibrated.
“Easy, Sienna,” Garcia tried to soothe.
“It was more than you couldn’t disclose the agency, wasn’t it, Vargas?” Cooper asked. “You didn’t trust her, didn’t know for sure if she was innocent.”
Sienna was shocked at that statement. How could anyone think she was involved in whatever this was? She was a kindergarten teacher for God’s sake, who didn’t even know her husband was a CIA Agent. “Greg was one of you. Why didn’t you just ask me?”
