End Game

by Rachel Dylan

  She found that hard to believe. Not only was he good-looking, he had a great personality and smarts to go with it. Which was why she couldn’t help but wonder if this was too good to be true.

  He leaned in toward her. “I can tell you’re trying to overthink this. Overthink us. Don’t do it. I’m the same way, so I completely get it, but can’t we just agree that we have the start of something good here?”

  “Counselor, I think I can agree to that.”

  She would have to be careful, or she would really start falling for this guy.

  Her cell buzzed loudly, and she groaned. “You know I have to get that.”

  “Of course.”

  That was part of Derek’s appeal. He fully got that as an attorney, you were always on call.

  “This is Lieutenant Todd,” she answered.

  “It’s Agent Agostini, NCIS.”

  “What can I do for you this evening, Agent Agostini?”

  “We need to talk to your client again.”

  “Why?” Were they really going to keep pushing this fishing expedition? “I need more than just your request.”

  “We have some follow-up questions.”

  “Let me make some calls, and I’ll get back to you.” She ended the call.

  Derek smiled at her. “Hey, at least we made it through dessert. I’ll take that as a win. I can tell that you need to go.”

  “Yeah. They want to talk to my client again.”

  “Well, if there’s anything I can do, you know you just have to ask.”

  Her heart felt full as she looked into his eyes and wondered if this could be the real deal. They walked out of the restaurant, and he took her hand in his.

  “There is one thing,” she said.

  “Name it.”

  “Let’s look at our schedules and figure out when we can see each other again.”

  “Now that’s an easy request.” He pulled her close and leaned down to kiss her.

  Derek was definitely the bright spot in her life right now, and she was going to make sure not to mess this up.

  The next morning, Marco and Bailey arrived at the storage facility, armed with a warrant to see Battle’s unit.

  As it turned out, they probably wouldn’t have even needed the warrant. Once Bailey flashed her badge and a smile, the young guy named Chuck who worked there had practically melted. Marco couldn’t blame him. Bailey seemed to have that effect on people. He was enjoying her company, and he thought there might even be some chemistry forming between them. He wasn’t sure what to do with that, so for now he was just making sure his head was in the game on the investigation.

  Despite Chuck’s eagerness to help, Marco wanted to be bythe-book for evidentiary reasons, so they handed over the warrant and followed Chuck down a long line of units until they reached the end.

  “Here it is,” Chuck said. “Unit two-twenty.” He opened the lock. “Just let me know when you’re done so I can lock back up.”

  “Thank you for your help,” Bailey said. The young man walked away, and she turned to Marco. “Let’s check it out.”

  “Maybe we’ll find something useful.” Marco hoped the contents wouldn’t just be old college furniture and would actually provide some clues that they couldn’t get elsewhere. He lifted the sliding door to the storage area and let Bailey go in first.

  She flipped on the light and coughed as she moved farther inside. He followed, brushing a spider web off his shoulder. His eyes went to the center of the area, which included an old beat-up futon and dresser. But there were also a lot of boxes and paper files.

  “We’ll just have to dive in and see what we can find. There’s no easy way to do this,” Bailey said.

  “Wait.” He grabbed her arm, pulling her back. “Do you hear that?”

  They were silent for a moment, and he heard it again. A very faint beeping noise coming from the back corner.

  “Yeah, I do,” Bailey said.

  They both walked toward the noise. When he got to the back of the unit, Marco’s stomach dropped. There was a black box mounted on the wall along with a keypad and a chunk of C-4. It was an alarm system—a rigged one.

  The beeps started to come in rapid succession. If they didn’t input the security code, that thing would blow.

  “Bailey, get out of here now. Run!”

  She didn’t question him and started to run. He was right behind her.

  They’d barely crossed the threshold of the unit when the boom thundered behind them. He threw himself forward onto Bailey, trying to protect her body with his own from the flying debris.

  “Bailey, are you okay?” He lifted himself off her and tried to catch his breath.

  She nodded, her green eyes wide. “What was that?”

  “I think Battle set up a security system. If we didn’t put in the code within a certain amount of time, it was set to blow.”

  “Wow,” she said. “He really didn’t want anyone in there. We’ll have to see if anything is salvageable.”

  “I’ll call and get an explosives team out here to do a thorough cleanup and forensic analysis.” Marco let out a low whistle. “I hope key evidence didn’t just get incinerated.” He stood and offered his hand to help her up.

  “How did you know that’s what was going on?” she asked.

  “I had a case a few years ago where someone had rigged something very similar. Man, I’m glad I did.” He hated to think what would have happened if he hadn’t realized what was going on. He quickly made the phone call to NCIS and asked them to coordinate with FBI.

  Bailey grabbed his arm. “You saved my life, Marco. I owe you. We were so close to the bomb. We never would’ve made it if not for your quick thinking.”

  He smiled. “I’m sure you’ll return the favor at some point.”

  Chuck came running around the corner, out of breath. “Are you two okay?”

  “Yeah. I’ve called in a team to investigate. And just as a precaution, I need you to close this place down until we can confirm that there aren’t any more explosives.”

  The color drained out of Chuck’s face.

  “You understand?” Bailey asked him.

  Chuck nodded. “Yes.” His voice cracked. “I’ll get right on it.” He turned and jogged away.

  “We need to help secure this place until the team arrives. I think our young friend is in shock,” Marco said.

  Bailey agreed. “Yeah. Let’s make sure no one else is down in this area, and then clear the building from there.”

  Marco looked down at her. “We’ve learned one very important thing this morning.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Guys don’t just randomly put explosive fail-safes in their storage units. Battle had something to hide. Something so big, he was willing to kill to protect his secret.”

  CHAPTER

  FIVE

  That afternoon Bailey sat in the NCIS interrogation room with Marco. She was a bit shaken up after the close call at the storage unit, but beyond a couple of bruises, she’d be fine. She was thankful that Marco had had the presence of mind to know what was happening. If it wasn’t for him, she wouldn’t be sitting here right now.

  They were about to question Kappen again, with his JAG attorney present.

  “Petty Officer Kappen, did you and Battle have any physical altercations recently?” Marco asked.

  Kappen looked at his attorney, and she leaned in and whispered in his ear before he responded. “Yes.”

  “Do you care to elaborate?” Bailey asked. They had found out through their follow-up interview with Alvarez that the two men had gotten into a brawl. It bothered Bailey that Kappen had not admitted to that initially, but putting on her lawyer cap, she understood why he hadn’t. Lexi had probably advised him not to offer up information at this point. To make them work for everything. It was how she would have approached it, so she couldn’t blame them.

  Kappen glanced at Lexi before responding. “I was picking on Battle. I told him I was going to make a move on hi
s ex-wife. As you can imagine, that didn’t go over well. He was still completely in love with her.”

  “Had you ever approached his ex-wife before?” Bailey asked.

  “No, ma’am, and I had no intention of doing it. I was just trying to rile him up. I miscalculated, though. I didn’t anticipate he would fly off the handle. Next thing I knew, we were on the ground, throwing punches. Some of the guys separated us.”

  “And this was?” Marco asked.

  They knew the answer. They were just trying to establish if Kappen was going to tell the truth about all the details.

  “Last week,” Kappen answered. “But I hope you see that that’s just how he and I operated. I would’ve never really hurt him, and definitely would not have killed him.”

  “Is the fight the reason you were hesitant about the physical examination?” Bailey asked.

  Kappen nodded. “Yes, ma’am. We got after each other pretty good, so I still have some scrapes and bruises.”

  Lexi cleared her throat. “But those are from his fight with the victim, not—and I repeat, not—from any other altercation and certainly not from Battle’s murder. I hope you can see that this forthcoming statement from my client is just another indication of his innocence.”

  “We appreciate the explanation, but I do have some additional questions. Do you often have problems controlling your anger?” Bailey asked.

  “No,” Kappen answered quickly. “I’m usually cool, but as I told you before, there was just something between Battle and me. But I didn’t kill him.”

  “I’d like to shift gears. There’s something else we’d like to follow up on. Here’s a picture of Michael Rogers.” Bailey opened a folder and slid the picture in front of the SEAL. “Does this jog your memory where he is concerned?”

  Kappen took a moment and studied the photograph. “No, ma’am. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this man in my life.”

  Lexi leaned in. “And I think NCIS and the FBI can understand why we’re done here. Unless you have something more?”

  Marco shifted in his seat. “We understand your client’s concern about the physical exam, given the altercation, so instead we’d like your client to voluntarily submit a DNA and hair sample.”

  “No way,” Lexi responded quickly.

  “If he’s innocent, what better way to prove it?” Bailey challenged.

  “Let me talk it over privately with my client.” Lexi shot Kappen a look that clearly told him to keep his mouth shut.

  “We’ll be in touch,” Marco said.

  Once Bailey and Marco were alone, she turned to him. “What do you think?”

  “We’ll keep digging to see if Kappen is lying about not knowing Rogers, but I think it’s doubtful he did this.”

  “Unfortunately, a lot of criminal activity doesn’t make sense.”

  Marco leaned back in his chair. “Now you’re starting to sound like a profiler or something.”

  She lifted her hand. “Just trying to make a point. Can we go talk to your analysts and see if they have anything?”

  “Yeah. I know they were working really late last night. Let’s head down there.”

  A few minutes later, they entered the NCIS forensics lab, where Bailey met the chief analyst, Ryder Cooke. The tall and lanky man with light blond hair was probably in his forties.

  “What do you have for us, Ryder?” Marco asked.

  “We’re analyzing all the physical evidence from both scenes. We know the victim’s blood is present, but if there’s any other blood, we’ll have those results today. I’ve also pulled some hair follicles and other materials that we’re testing as well. The only prints we’ve been able to pull came from the victims.”

  “Which meant the perpetrator knew how to cover his tracks,” Bailey said.

  Ryder nodded. “Yes. Most likely he—or they—were wearing gloves.”

  Marco frowned. “We tried to get Kappen to hand over a DNA and hair sample voluntarily, but I’m highly doubtful that will happen.”

  Ryder laughed. “Would you do it, if you were in his shoes?”

  Marco leaned against the table. “I’d like to think I would, if I didn’t have anything to hide.”

  “We could get a sample another way, but then we’d have admissibility problems,” Bailey said.

  “Spoken like a lawyer,” Marco teased.

  “Agent Ryan, are you an attorney?” Ryder asked.

  “Please call me Bailey. I have a law degree, but I’ve never practiced.”

  “The FBI is more appealing?” Ryder quirked an eyebrow.

  “Actually, it is.” She paused. “Do you have anything that can help us take next steps?”

  “I can tell you that I have matching hair follicles at both crime scenes. The question is who they belong to. By comparing samples, we know it’s not the victim’s hair. I can also tell you the person is Caucasian, and if I had to guess based on physical examination of the hair specimen, I’d say it’s from a male.”

  “All of this still keeps Kappen in play as the chief suspect,” Marco said. “But I wish we had more to go on.”

  “I’ll keep you posted on my progress,” Ryder assured them. “Hopefully, I’ll know more soon.”

  “I want to do it,” Tobias looked at Lexi.

  “As your lawyer, I strongly advise against submitting a DNA swab. They’re asking for a hair sample as well. That means they have evidence they’re attempting to match you to.” Lexi was trying her best to talk some sense into her client, but she wasn’t having much success.

  Tobias shook his head. “You don’t understand. I can’t go on with my life under this cloud of suspicion. The guys are looking at me and wondering if I killed one of our own. I’ve even heard them making killer-sniper cracks about me.”

  Lexi sighed. “They’re just giving you a hard time. If they actually thought you were guilty or a serial killer, I highly doubt they’d be making flippant jokes about it—especially in your presence.”

  Tobias’s eyes met hers. “I still don’t think you believe me. That’s a problem.”

  “I do believe you, but I’ve been a lawyer long enough to know that things aren’t always black and white. And if you didn’t do it, someone else did, and what if they wanted to put a target on your back? Have you ever considered the possibility that you were framed? You said yourself that you have a lot more enemies than friends.”

  He frowned. “You’re right. I get that, but I’m telling you that I don’t have a choice. I have to clear my name. The teams are my life. My entire life. If I don’t have that, I have nothing.”

  She leaned in closer to him. “You’re telling me that you fully understand the risks involved here. If they have evidence tying you to the scene, they will come after you hard. You’ll have it coming from both angles—both military and civilian.” Everything was telling her this was a complete and utterly idiotic decision. But part of being a lawyer was listening to the wishes of her client. “I’m just urging you to sleep on it, okay?”

  Tobias nodded. “I can do that.”

  She had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach that this wasn’t going to end well for either of them.

  The next morning, Isabella Cole tapped her foot as she waited to escort Bailey into the building. She was still sizing up the blond FBI agent and wondering if she would be friend or enemy.

  “Good morning, Isabella.” Bailey smiled.

  She took a step forward to greet her. “Please call me Izzy.”

  “I’ve never heard Marco call you that.”

  “That’s because Rookie is his favorite name for me. He claims it’s all part of the process.” Izzy wasn’t so sure. Marco pushed her really hard. Much harder than she’d seen him when he dealt with others.

  Bailey tucked a strand of blond hair behind her ear. “So you’ve been here at NCIS eight months?”

  “Almost nine. I worked Arlington PD for one year and then made the jump. Although sometimes Marco acts like I have zero experience.” As the words came ou
t of her mouth, she wondered if she’d been too open with her feelings, but that was just how she was. Tact was not her strong point.

  “If Marco is hard on you, I bet it’s because he sees potential in you. Believe me, if he thought you weren’t talented, he wouldn’t put forth the effort. You should see it as a good thing.”

  “Sounds like you speak from experience?” Izzy asked.

  The two women started to walk down the long hallway. “Yeah. I’m not going to lie to you. Being a woman in law enforcement can be tough, and it doesn’t necessarily get easier as you progress.”

  “It is tough.” Izzy had learned that the hard way. She’d had an experience with a powerful man in uniform while at Arlington PD that still impacted her. She hadn’t told a single soul and instead tried to keep those painful memories locked in a box.

  Bailey kept talking. “It helps to have some women in your life who can support you through it.”

  That wasn’t Izzy’s life. “I’ve always had more guy friends than girls.”

  They turned a corner, and Bailey continued their conversation. “I’ve always been a bit of a tomboy. As you can probably tell by looking at me, I’m very low-maintenance. When girls in high school were putting on makeup, I was thinking about how much I would hate to have that junk on my face. I’ll never forget the time in eleventh grade where my mother gently insisted that I needed a bit of mascara and lipstick if I was going to the prom.” Her voice trailed off for a moment.

  Izzy thought there was more behind Bailey’s story, but she had noticed that Bailey seemed low-frill. But Bailey was pretty even without makeup. Izzy, on the other hand, felt like she had to put on two coats of mascara, eyeliner, and lipstick before she’d even consider leaving the house in the morning. “I wish I could pull off the natural look like you, but I don’t think I was made for it.”

  Bailey raised an eyebrow. “I think you might have an unbalanced view of yourself. It’s something we all face and struggle with, especially in today’s society. We’re told we’re never thin enough, pretty enough, or stylish enough. That’s another reason it’s important to have positive female influences in your life. In law school I was fortunate enough to meet two other women who have become my best friends. I know sometimes as women we can be our own worst enemies, but it doesn’t have to be that way. My door and phone are always open for you.”