Outside the Law

by Michelle Karl

  “I called ahead through the emergency line, and the person on the other end was able to verify my credentials. They said it could take up to twelve hours to approve my visitor application since I’ve never been there before, but I figure it’ll be okay if we show up a few hours early. I’ll have a person of interest in custody, after all. And since you’re wanted by the FBI, and I’m FBI, they can’t take you from me. Understand? You’re my case. The local police aren’t going to cart you off to prison. They can’t. They have no reason to unless you hijack a car or something.”

  Yasmine laughed, thinking of the vehicle they were driving in. “You sure Crais hasn’t called this one in? Because they very well could nab me for that.”

  “It’s still an FBI vehicle, Mina.” The Suburban slowed as Noel took the next exit. “It’s going to be all right. We’re going to get to the bottom of this. I promise.”

  His words scraped at her last bit of patience. “You promise?” She couldn’t keep the bitterness from her tone, feeling bad for snapping even as the words left her mouth.

  He responded without hesitation. “I do. This is a promise I intend to keep, no matter what.”

  * * *

  It was going to work. It had to work. He had to believe that Crais had looked at the bigger picture and had called in Yasmine as a wanted person for exactly this reason. Crais had said he would do what he could to help, but seeing Yasmine’s picture up on the TV screen sure hadn’t felt like help. Not with all those people around, eager to cash in on the posted reward.

  But if Crais really had changed his mind and turned against them, at least the alert for Yasmine would get both of them inside the Pentagon. The truth was, Noel had no idea what would happen once they passed through the front doors. Would they be detained in a visitor area until his pass got approved? He was banking on the fact that the United States government wouldn’t be keen on a cuffed person of interest spending time in the visitor area of what was supposed to be a ridiculously secure military command post. Journalists, reporters and foreign heads of state moved through the visitor area. The potential for Yasmine to make a scene and cause the Department of Defense to lose face was too great to let them linger in the waiting area.

  That was Noel’s grand plan, anyway.

  About a half mile from the parking area, Noel pulled over and withdrew a pair of handcuffs. The look on Yasmine’s face brought back the tension tenfold.

  “It’s just for show,” he said, trying to keep his voice low and calm. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  “You keep saying that.” She shook her head and rubbed her eyes. “If I didn’t believe God was in control even now, I’d be freaking out. I’d have already leaped out of this car and been halfway back to Newherst.”

  “Except for the injuries, too, right?”

  “Yeah. That.”

  He kept his mouth shut as she closed her eyes as if in prayer. With all the things that had happened to her—with everything she’d lost so far—she still trusted God to carry her through this? Why couldn’t she just trust him?

  It had been a long time since Noel cracked open his Bible, but something from those days of overhearing his mom at Bible study at Yasmine’s place must have stuck with him, because a verse popped into his head. “I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee.” He couldn’t remember what part of the Bible it came from, but he did remember that the verse was a promise.

  Was it a promise from God to the people who loved and trusted Him? That sounded right. Yasmine appeared still to love and trust God even after all she’d been through. She deserved to have a promise kept. God, keep your promise to her, he prayed, the first time he’d done so in a long time. Would God even listen after so many years without him speaking to Him? A quiet voice inside his heart told him that He would. She needs someone to prove to her that she’s loved. That she’s worth it. And I don’t think I can be that person.

  “Are we going to do this or what?” Yasmine held her wrists toward him. She looked straight at him, her gaze a challenge. He’d have to rise to meet it, because there was no way he’d let her go to jail for something she didn’t do, and neither would he sit back and wait for an assassin’s bullet to find its mark.

  Noel wanted answers about the soldier killed in action who’d been very much alive and taken a shot at them, and he needed to know what kind of monster would be desperate enough to make multiple assassination attempts on the sister of the man who’d found them out. These people wanted to cover their tracks and tie up any loose ends, to remove any possibility of exposure, no matter how vague.

  The time had come to put an end to the madness. He clicked the cuffs into place around Yasmine’s wrists and met her gaze. “Are you ready?”

  She nodded, and once again he saw the soldier inside her. The strong woman who’d joined the military to be with the man she’d loved. That kind of sacrifice took guts, strength and determination. If Yasmine had been willing to endure compulsory military service for the sake of love, no wonder she seemed furious with him for backing down over a little bit of distance. Over a potential broken date night or two, she’d said.

  But it could be more than that. She’d risk losing her bakery. And she didn’t deserve any broken date nights, none whatsoever, even if she claimed she understood the nature of his job.

  But are the truth of her feelings and what she deserves to endure really my call to make if she says she can handle them?

  He shook it off. Checked the cuffs to make sure they weren’t too tight.

  He watched as she clenched her jaw and rolled back her shoulders, a steel mask settling over her features as they approached the first parking barrier. “Let’s do this.”

  FOURTEEN

  Noel had known the parking area would be the easy part, but he couldn’t help but feel a little of his tension ease as he pulled into a parking space far from prying eyes. He’d flashed his badge, and the security guard had looked him up to make sure his ID checked out, then waved them through. As they exited the vehicle and moved toward the Pentagon’s visitor entrance, Noel scanned the area around them for potential threats, despite knowing that it would be nearly impossible for someone to make a surprise attack while on Pentagon grounds. Doing so would be literal suicide—though based on the recklessness of the attacks against Yasmine so far, he couldn’t rule it out completely.

  Noel gripped Yasmine’s elbow as they walked. They reached the doors to the visitor entrance and crossed the short space of tiled floor leading to the second set of doors. Finally they reached the metal detectors. Noel’s heart pounded, nerves setting in. If they didn’t make it through these detectors, they’d be back to square one, and Yasmine would find herself in even greater danger.

  “Noel Black, special agent with the FBI,” he said as he waved over one of the Pentagon Police, a member of one of the two special police forces trained to protect the personnel and civilians visiting and working at the Pentagon. He noted that several visiting journalists, recognizable by the way they clutched the cameras and mini recorders in their hands, had suddenly started listening in. “I called ahead about six or seven hours ago. Told them I’d gone after Yasmine Browder, wanted by the FBI, and was heading toward DC. I mentioned that if I was successful, I’d be heading to the closest government office, so—”

  “Got it.” The police officer waved a second man over and pulled out a walkie-talkie. The two conferred with their backs to Noel before the first officer got on the walkie-talkie to call, presumably, the visitor services desk. The Pentagon was considered one of the most secure government facilities in North America for a reason.

  Yasmine gave Noel a worried look. He tried to reassure her with a slight nod, but that only seemed to cause greater tension.

  “I’m told you weren’t expected here for at least another three hours,” the officer finally said, holding the walkie-talkie away from his mouth.

&n
bsp; “No, that’s not what I said.” Noel shook his head to emphasize the point. “I said I was about seven hours outside DC. What was I supposed to do once I had her in custody, sit in the parking lot for another three hours? Turn her over to local police? You know I can’t do that.”

  The officer nodded and got back on the walkie-talkie. The wait during the back-and-forth between the police and whoever was on the other end felt excruciating, but Noel knew it was for the best. Better to have everyone involved believing they’d done due diligence. Finally, the officer waved him and Yasmine over to the metal detectors.

  “You have to turn over your weapons,” the officer said, handing Noel a plastic bin before waving Yasmine through. Noel disarmed himself and watched carefully as Yasmine stepped through the detector—of course setting it off due to her handcuffs—and then received a pat-down from a female member of the Pentagon Police who’d arrived on the scene just for that purpose. Noel returned the plastic bin to the waiting officer and stepped through.

  “Are we free to head up?” Noel gestured to one of the numerous hallways branching off the area they’d entered. “I’m expected.”

  “Guest services,” the officer said, his voice gruff. “You need your passes.”

  “You want me to bring a cuffed suspect in an investigation through an atrium full of journalists?”

  The officer regarded Noel for a long moment, then relented. “Fine. I’ll send someone for the passes, but I’ll escort you wherever you need to go until you have them. Otherwise someone else will stop you, and you’ll be out of here before you can say boo.”

  “And my sidearm?”

  “Returned when you leave. Pick it up from the security office on your way out. And remember, once you have clearance, leave the visitor entrance for the visitors. You’re not one of them. Use your designated entrance.”

  “Got it. Lead the way.” Noel glanced at Yasmine to see how she was handling the situation, but her features displayed only a mask of smooth confidence...until she looked at him. Then he saw the tension behind her eyes. Trusting him was costing her a considerable amount of strength. He couldn’t let her down. He cleared his throat and thought through what to say next. Where was the officer taking them, anyway? “Are you bringing us to see the chairman? Vice chairman?”

  The officer paused and glanced over his shoulder. “You’re here to see Chairman Furlow?”

  “I put in a special request, and besides, I’ve detained a critical person of interest. I’m not here to speak to just anyone, Officer.”

  “My records show you asked to speak to someone with authority, but it didn’t say exactly whom.”

  “It’s an issue of national security. Who would you have me speak to? You think the Department of Defense wants to risk that kind of information being overheard by one of these roving journalists?”

  The officer’s jaw tensed. “I suppose not. This way, then.” They walked down several more halls as Noel attempted to memorize the path they took. The Pentagon was a massive facility and getting lost a real possibility. If anything went wrong, he wanted to know how to get out.

  Not that I expect anything to go wrong. They’d made it this far, and getting inside should’ve been the biggest challenge. From here on out, he figured the rest would be a comparative cakewalk.

  Finally the officer stopped in front of a solid gray door with a small window at eye level. He opened the door and stepped back, holding it wide for Noel and Yasmine to enter. The room was a stark, plain office, the kind used for brief meetings with the type of people who didn’t want to be seen or overheard. The setup lacked any semblance of warmth. A gray table sat in the center of the room, encircled by uncomfortable-looking metal folding chairs, and the walls had been painted cement gray. A short, plump gray-brown armchair in the furthest corner was the brightest piece. It looked like a castoff from a college dorm.

  Noel nodded at the officer to acknowledge that they’d wait here. The officer spun on his heel and left, leaving the door to swing shut with a soft click. Noel had no doubt that someone else was watching the door, either in person or on a security camera, to make sure they didn’t leave unaccompanied.

  Yasmine sat in one of the metal chairs and plunked her cuffed hands on the table with a loud clank. “Now what? And who’s the big, important guy you want us to speak to?”

  Noel turned to her, placed a finger on his lips and lowered his voice to speak his next words. “We need to keep up the act in here. Keep our voices down. I don’t think there are cameras or mics in a room like this, but just in case.”

  “Okay, fine. But shouldn’t I be in the loop?” she whispered in return.

  He pressed his lips together for a moment, his hands resting on his hips. “I’m hoping for one of two people. Either the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff or the vice chairman.”

  Yasmine’s eyes widened. “Oh, wow. You really think they’ll let you speak to one of them?”

  Noel laughed softly. “I doubt it. But the more fuss I make about getting up the chain, the more likely it is that I’ll get to talk to someone closer to the top. I have a feeling they’ll speak to us once I get this information in the right hands, though. It’s not like the Department of Defense is going to take too kindly to learning that one of their own has been acting independently and may be responsible for several murders.”

  “So long as this all happens before someone arrives to cart me off.” Yasmine sighed and slumped back in the metal seat. Her posture would have looked relaxed to someone who didn’t know better, but Noel recognized the tension in her shoulders and the way she planted her feet, ready to spring into action at any moment. She might have spent only a short time in compulsory training, but a soldier’s discipline and ability to react at a moment’s notice still lived inside her, coiled and ready to strike.

  They waited. Noel grew restless but remained standing, unwilling to relax until they’d seen this through. After having been on the go for hours, sitting around and waiting for someone to speak to them felt agonizing rather than restful. He wanted to be done with it so he could send Yasmine home for some much-deserved rest and peace of mind. She had to be screaming on the inside as they waited, knowing that justice for Daniel—or at least, the start of the process toward justice—was only a conversation away.

  Noel checked his watch. Just over an hour had passed since they’d arrived in this room. That wasn’t right. As an FBI special agent with a wanted person in custody, his request to speak with a person in authority should have been given high priority, especially considering that he’d called in his visit hours ago. Were they really going to make him wait those three extra hours? It was getting to the point that he might need to remind someone that he and Yasmine were here.

  “Yasmine, I’m going to—”

  A rap on the door cut his statement short. The door swung open, and a woman in a powder-blue pantsuit poked her head inside. “Special Agent Black?”

  Finally. “I thought you folks had forgotten about us.”

  “Of course not, Agent Black.” The woman offered a pleasant but tight smile. “If you wouldn’t mind coming with me, however? There’s someone who needs to speak with you privately.” She looked pointedly at Yasmine, and Noel caught the unspoken message.

  He shook his head at her request. “This woman is an FBI detainee whose life is also in danger. I’m not comfortable leaving her alone.”

  The woman’s smile faltered, then reappeared a little stronger and a little more forced. Noel understood she was only trying to do her job and their arrival had likely inconvenienced a number of people, but what was a little inconvenience compared to Yasmine’s life?

  “She’ll be perfectly safe here, Agent Black. She’ll be watched over until you’re brought back to this room. You are in the Pentagon, after all. I’m not sure there’s anywhere safer in the whole United States.”

  She made an excellent
point, one he couldn’t disagree on. “And who will I be speaking with?”

  The woman shrugged. “I know you asked to speak with Chairman Furlow or Vice Chairman Stark, but they’re both currently occupied. If you’ll come quickly, please? I’ve been told this is a matter of national security and time is of the essence.”

  Noel looked back at Yasmine, who stared straight ahead at the wall. She was playing her part perfectly, looking annoyed and bored and showing no trace of the anxiety that had to be roiling around inside. Slowly she turned to give him the briefest of glances. The slight dip of her chin as they locked eyes told him that she’d be okay on her own. She trusted him enough to let him go.

  If only his heart could do the same with his feelings for her.

  “Fine,” he said, turning back to the woman in the blue pantsuit. “Lead the way.”

  * * *

  The door closed behind Noel, leaving Yasmine alone in the plain gray room. Her heart pounded faster as the reality of being alone in a strange place settled in. She took three deep breaths, counting each one, trying to slow her heart rate. It would do no good to allow panic to creep in at a time like this.

  Even if her time in Amar’s military training program had been for naught thanks to Marc, she’d picked up valuable skills during her time there—many of which she’d found herself drawing on over the past few days. Had it really been less than forty-eight hours since she’d arrived home to gunshots flying through her apartment?

  She stood and paced the room, checking the corners for cameras or microphones. Just because she didn’t see any didn’t mean they weren’t there.

  Lord, be with Noel as he speaks to someone about this situation, she prayed, lowering herself into the worn armchair. The painkillers she’d taken earlier in the morning had begun to wear off, and she hadn’t bothered to bring any in from the car. She hadn’t figured they’d be inside the Pentagon for this long. She’d need another one very soon, but she didn’t want to do anything that might compromise her safety or her and Noel’s position as visitors inside the building. They were so close to justice for Daniel. Putting that at risk would be foolish.