The devil and Jessie Webster

by Lydia Burke

  "Here, I'll stir up those coals and get the fire going again," Ben said.

  Looking bemused, Allie watched him crouch on one knee in front of the fireplace with a poker in his hand. ' 'How could he possibly turn things around and make me the attacker?"

  "According to Leutzinger, he says he was across the street at a convenience storey" Ben explained as he worked. "He happened to glance over at the motel, and he saw an old woman about to be mugged as she entered her room. Without thinking, he ran to her aid. The mugger, he says, saw him coming and took off. Then, much to his surprise, the old lady turned on him without provocation, bloodying his nose and rendering him unconscious."

  Allie was outraged. "That's not what happened. I don't care what he said, there was nobody else there, just him. He forced his way into my room as I was closing the door and grabbed me."

  Jessie paled as she pictured the violent scene. "Good heavens, Allie, you must have been terrified. What did you do then?"

  "I screamed bloody murder, that's what. And I fought like hell. While we were struggling, he lost his balance and fell. It was his head hitting the dresser that knocked him out, not me." This last she said defiantly, as though daring Ben and Jessie to doubt her. "I started to tie up his hands and feet with nylon stockings while he was out of it, but my hands were shaking so hard I could hardly make a knot. Then a man and his wife came

  in—the door was still open—and he took over and finished the job."

  Ben turned to her, an arm braced on his knee. "Did either of them see Douglas attack you?"

  "No, they just heard me scream and came to see what was going on. The woman called the police, and by then I had calmed down enough to call Ben. The two of them waited with me until the police came.' ■

  Playful flames leapt around the log Ben had added to the fireplace. The fire was an incongruously cozy accompaniment to Allie's harrowing story, Jessie thought, and nowhere near as romantic as she had found it earlier in the evening with Ben's head nestled in her lap.

  Ben stood up and brushed his hands together. "Rory Douglas isn't a serial rapist, at least not that we know of."

  "You mean you don't believe me?" Allie said incredulously. "Maybe/ should get a lawyer."

  "Of course we believe you," Jessie said. "That's not what Ben meant. Tell her, Ben."

  Ben retrieved his coffee from the end table where he'd placed it earlier. "Any information we give you is off-the-record for now, agreed?"

  Allie's eyes lit with sudden interest as she looked from Jessie to Ben. "For now, yes."

  Taking his time, he lifted the mug and took a swallow of coffee before leveling a discerning gaze at Allie. "You weren't a random victim of some crazy off the streets, Allie. When he attacked you, Douglas was after Mai Duan's journal."

  It was plain by the expression on her face that Allie was shocked by that revelation, just as Ben intended.

  "Think about that until Leutzinger gets here," he said softly.

  Leutzinger arrived with Ed only minutes later. Both men, Jessie noticed, looked a little wan.

  "The bastard's going to walk away clean," Leutzinger told Ben disgustedly. "He wouldn't budge from that cock-and-bull story of the assault, and he refused to take a lie detector test. With that slick lawyer of his reminding us of his client's civil rights every two minutes, we didn't get a thing out of him. Too

  bad you or Ed couldn't tie him to Mai Duan. He swears he's never been near her place."

  "I don't remember his name from Mai's list in the journal," Allie said from the couch, "though I couldn't swear if s not there."

  Leutzinger turned his head sharply and looked at her. "You're the other Ms. Webster, I presume?"

  Allie lifted her chin at his unfriendly tone. "And you must be Leutzinger. Finally."

  "Would either of you gentlemen care for some coffee?" Jessie asked in order to diffuse the hostile currents flowing between her sister and the chief agent.

  "That would be great," Ed said as he took a seat on a leather hassock near Allie.

  When Jessie returned from the kitchen, Leutzinger had claimed the recliner. "... so I guess you're not as clever as you think," he was saying to Allie.

  Uh-oh, Jessie thought. Things are not going well.

  Allie snapped impatiently, "I was in disguise, I drove a rented car— nobody knew where I was staying. I don't know how this Douglas character knew where to find me."

  Leutzinger's eyes were sharp behind his wire-rimmed glasses, and Jessie felt the cutting gaze on her as she handed him his coffee. "You can thank your twin sister for leading him to you," he said.

  Startled to be the focus of his remark, Jessie exclaimed, "Me! How?"

  "Oh, I don't know. Maybe he just had a hunch that an innocent-looking, respectable woman would be capable of sending a whole contingent of FBI agents to the zoo in freezing weather just to look at the animals. Being a liar himself, perhaps he recognizes the tendency in others."

  Jessie uncomfortably cleared her throat.

  With a last searing look, Leutzinger dismissed her like a worm and turned to Ben, who had settled in the corner of the couch opposite Allie. ■ 'Douglas begged off going with me to the zoo, saying he didn't think he was needed. Which was true."

  "He probably doubled back after leaving here and staked us out from the street," Ben said.

  "And I led him straight to Allie. He must have seen us together at the museum and followed her back to her motel. If only I'd known." Jessie felt wretched. Douglas's attack on her twin was all her fault.

  Allie patted her hand.

  "Ms. Webster, I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt," Leutzinger said, addressing Allie again.

  Now that he's flattened me, Jessie thought. The man was not in a good mood.

  "I'm going to assume that you haven't cooperated with us so far because you don't understand the gravity of the situation. The only possible motivation for Douglas following you today is to get his hands on Mai Duan's journal. The question is why. Do you have any idea as to the answer?"

  "Well...he's a lawyer for the government," Allie said. "Maybe he's afraid his name is in the journal. That couldn't be good for his career."

  "I'm afraid if s more than that, Ms. Webster. We've suspected for months that Mai Duan was tangled up with organized crime here in Chicago, and now we believe Rory Douglas is their man, too. He wasn't assigned to our investigation until after the original prosecutor had an automobile accident. A little too coincidental, don't you think? In his new position Douglas has been privy to all the information the bureau has gathered on the Duan case, right up to this afternoon, including everything we know about you and Mai's journal. And so is whoever he's working for."

  Leutzinger paused, but Allie said nothing.

  "The fact is," he went on, "your life isn't worth the price of one of your newspapers as long as you've got the thing, disguises and clever machinations notwithstanding. You're no match for the mob. Those people kill to get what they want."

  Jessie felt the blood leave her face. Allie, too, looked shaken. Jessie was glad to see it, sure now that her sister would hand the thing over.

  "All right, I'll give it to you tonight, if you promise me an exclusive interview after the arrests are made," Allie said.

  "Allie. For God's sake!" Jessie blurted.

  "No conditions. This is your last chance to turn it over before I slap you with an injunction and an obstruction-of-justice

  charge. Jail, Ms. Webster. You're not in a bargaining position."

  "Why not, dammit? You wouldn't even know about the journal if it wasn't for me."

  "Go and get it, Ms. Webster. If you make me waste time obtaining a search warrant, I'm not going to be inclined to leniency."

  "Search warrant or no, you'll never find it without my help."

  "Allie, you don't have any choice," Jessie coaxed. "Tell him."

  Her plea was disregarded as Allie silently pitted her will against the obdurate FBI agent, her gaze stubbornly proud, his impla
cable. There was no give in either of them, as far as Jessie could see.

  "Allie's got a point, Cal."

  Ben's unexpected intrusion into the confrontation made him the immediate and universal focal point of attention. "I think we do owe her something. The bureau paid Donno Carr for the initial tip about the Port Mangus setup, and Donno's pond scum. Should we treat him better than a regular citizen with a clean record? Allie's not even asking for money."

  "Money or favors, it all boils down to the same thing. As a 'regular citizen,' it ought to be enough for her to see these criminals put away."

  Leutzinger glared at Allie and she glared right back. "Thaf s easy for you to say. You've got a job."

  "How about a compromise?" Ben suggested reasonably. "Allie, would you be satisfied with notice about the arrests in the case, say, twelve hours in advance of the official media announcement?"

  Allie appeared to think it over. A hopeful sign.

  "You already have an advantage over your competition because of your involvement in obtaining the journal," Ben added. "Your story would contain more in-depth information than anybody else's, even without the twelve-hour lead. With it, all the other reporters will be quoting you."

  Allie angled a belligerent chin toward Leutzinger. "Will he agree to that?"

  "I might," Leutzinger said, "if I had Ms. Webster's promise to hold the story—all of it—until I gave her such advance notice."

  Allie nodded shortly. "You've got it"

  "Contingent, of course, on whether the journal is a viable piece of evidence. That has yet to be verified."

  "I accept your contingency."

  "fery well, thai," Leutzinger said. "We have a deal. Bring me the journal."

  Allie got to her feet and the men politely rose with her.

  "Nice going," Jessie mouthed to Ben, and he tipped his head in modest acknowledgment.

  "I'll have to borrow someone's car," Allie said.

  "Don't tell me," Leutzinger said. "You don't have it with you."

  Neatly plucked eyebrows disappeared under the feminine fall of hair on Allie's forehead. "Of course not. I'm not a fool."

  "I think that debatable point is best left unexplored for now. Where is the damned thing, if you don't mind my asking?" Leutzinger was growing increasingly sarcastic.

  "In Oak Park."

  "Oak Park." For a tiny moment in time, the agent raised giv^me-strength eyes to heaven. "Please be more specific, Ms. Webster."

  "Certainly, Mr. Leutzinger," Allie responded haughtily. "I hid it in a tree."

  "Stop pacing, Jess. You're wearing a path in the carpet."

  "I can't help it. Something's gone wrong, I just know it They should have been back an hour ago."

  Jessie walked to the window for what seemed like the hundredth time, her hopeful eyes straining through the postmid-night darkness outside. Just as before, nothing penetrated the blackness shrouding Ben's long driveway beyond the gate. Certainly not the awaited headlights that would herald the return of her twin and the two agents who had taken her to Oak Park over two hours ago.

  Ben's arms encircled her from behind. "Don't borrow trouble, honey. They'll probably be here any minute."

  "But what if they're not?" Even Ben's soothing touch could not banish her escalating anxiety. "Can't we go and see ourselves what's taking so long? I know right where they are."

  "I know you do, but it's still too dangerous for you out there. It's bad enough that Allie had to go along. There's no point in risking your neck, as well."

  Allie had hidden Mai's journal in the split trunk of an old tree behind the house where she and Jessie had grown up. Their mother had sold their girlhood home five years ago before moving to Florida. It was located in the neighborhood where Jessie lived now, just a couple of blocks from her garage apartment.

  Though the men had not been thrilled with Allie's hiding place, Jessie thought it was brilliant. She agreed with her twin that the journal was perfecdy safe in their old hidey-hole. Allie had wrapped the book in plastic to protect it from the elements, and no one would ever think to look in a tree for anything valuable.

  When the others left for Oak Park, it hadn't crossed Jessie's mind that Allie might come to harm in the company of two government agents. Not until the trio was long overdue did all the frightening possibilities occur to her.

  They might have had car trouble or even an accident, and those were the best prospects she could envision. The more chilling scenario was that they had somehow been discovered by some of Rory Douglas's partners in crime, who would be bent on getting the journal, no matter what the cost.

  "Please, Ben. I don't care if it's dangerous. They might need us," she pleaded over her shoulder.

  "Tell you what," Ben said. "If we don't hear something soon, I'll call the FBI office and see if I can find out what's going on."

  "That's a good idea." Jessie turned in his arms, buoyed by the chance to take some action. "But why do we have to wait? Can't we call them now?"

  He sighed. "Okay, but I can't promise anything. If the agent on duty doesn't know me, he might not be willing to give me any information."

  "Just try. Please."

  He let her go and walked to the phone.

  Jessie turned around immediately and resumed her vigil at the window.

  Ben made the call as much for himself as for Jessie. Though so far he'd downplayed his concern, his instincts for danger were humming. The trip to Oak Park shouldn't take more than forty minutes each way, and pulling a book out of a knothole in a tree trunk was a three-minute job at most. There was no good reason why Ed and Leutzinger hadn't had Allie back here by midnight.

  The duty agent who answered the phone had never heard of Ben Sutton, but he was well versed in the polite runaround. Ben was getting nowhere fast with him when suddenly Jessie cried, "They're back."

  She left her post and ran to push the button that opened the gate and simultaneously turned off the sensors in the yard.

  Ben called, "Wait, Jess! You don't know thaf s Allie!" but she'd already unlocked the door—-without disabling the house alarm—and was on her way outside to greet the car that had just driven up. A part of his mind registered the security system's high, insistent warning that told him in a minute and a half, all hell would break loose.

  He ignored it. Without another word to the uncommunicative agent on the line, he dropped the phone into its cradle and tore out after her.

  Outside he saw Jessie's shadow in surrealistic outline against the rays of approaching headlights as she hailed the vehicle coming through the gate.

  A perfect target.

  "Jessie!" The agonized syllables of her name wane torn from his throat. He propelled himself forward and somehow reached her in an endless flying tackle that brought her down to the frozen ground. At once he shifted to cover her body with his own, half expecting any moment to feel an assassin's gunfire rip through his flesh.

  Instead he heard two car doors open and close. A woman said, "What in the world—?"

  Allfe's voice.

  "If s us, Ben," Leutzinger said right after.

  Jessie struggled undo* him until he realized she still bore bis full weight. He rose and helped her to her feet, adrenaline still beating at his temples.

  She took one look at his face and said, "I've done it again, haven't I? We both could have been kil—^

  Her last word was drowned out by the ear-shattering whoop of the external alarm, and suddenly they were blinded by the glare of several floodlights whose combined incandescence spilled into every corner of the yard and beyond.

  Ben swore and ran back to the house. He hurried inside to the nearest code box, which was out of sight inside the coat closet. Quickly he pushed the correct numbers on the keypad and blessed silence reigned. Next he called the security station to report there was no need to send the police.

  Thai he sat his limp body on the couch and closed his eyes, listening to his heartbeat as it pounded in his veins.

  "Ben."
r />   His eyes opened to find Jessie standing between his widespread thighs, looking down at him, regret written on every feature.

  "I'm sorry.... I-"

  He leaned forward, grabbed her wrist and pulled her down until she knelt on the floor in front of him.

  "Don't do that again," he told her through clenched teeth.

  "I won't—ever, I promise."

  He jerked her in and leaned forward to meet her in a hard, desperate kiss. Their lips separated with an abrupt smack.

  "You little nitwit...."

  "I know. I should have waited... "

  "If anything had happened..."

  "You protected me "

  "Did I hurt you?"

  "No, no, I'm all right. What about you?" Her fingers skimmed frantically over his face.

  "I'm okay, too, but I've never..."

  "I'm sorry, I'm sorry...."

  Ben ran his hands up and down her arms. "God, I was so scared...."

  "Ahem!"

  It was Allie's congested throat that interrupted them, but Leutzinger's exasperated voice that said, "Dammit, Ben—"

  Jessie scrambled to her feet, her cheeks a becoming shade of pink. Ben got up, too, and stood beside her. The rueful entreaty in the glance she arrowed up at him had his fingers twitching to grab her again and assure himself she was safe, but now he was mindful of their audience.

  The FBI chief's disapproval of the intimate scene he'd witnessed was evident. Every law enforcement agency in the country discouraged romantic involvement on the job and Ben knew Leutzinger had every right to call him on it. But he hoped he wouldn't. Ben would have a hard time justifying to his superior what he couldn't justify to himself.

  Allie broke the awkward silence. "That's some kind of alarm you have, Ben. I nearly jumped out of my skin." Her eyes swung from his face and shifted to Jessie. "Are you okay, sis? He tackled you like a linebacker. You must be full of bruises.''

  With the tension eased, Jessie visibly pulled herself together. "No, I'm fine, though if I weren't, it would be my own fault. I shouldn't have run out like that, but I was just so anxious to reassure myself that you were safe—"