by Ciana Stone
“With what?” She didn’t turn to look at him.
“I think you might have inadvertently gotten yourself into some serious trouble.”
“For what?” She turned to him. “Getting grabbed and beaten up? Since when is that a crime?”
“It’s not, but murder is.” His voice was harsh.
“Murder?” she croaked. “Murder? Who could I have possibly wanted to murder?”
“Nolan Weston.”
Senna felt like her legs had suddenly turned to jelly. She sat down hard on the floor. “Nolan’s…dead?” she asked shakily.
“Yes.” Konnor sat down beside her. “He was found in his hotel room this evening, shortly after you were admitted to the hospital.”
Senna felt as if she had stepped into the middle of a bad dream. “But…that’s not possible. I was supposed to have dinner with him but when I got there he wasn’t in his room. When I went back to my car is when those men grabbed me.”
“Exactly.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Consider this. In the past week, two prominent scientists had been murdered here in Charlotte. According to my sources, the method was the same in both murders and there are similarities in the evidence found at both scenes. But what we’re concerned with is the fact that both men had one common connection. You.”
Senna’s mouth dropped open. “And you think…you mean the police think that I had something to do… Konnor, that’s crazy! Those men were my friends!”
“The connection still exists,” he pointed out. “And sooner or later the police are going to get around to investigating that connection.”
“Then I’ll just call them and tell them I don’t know anything!” She started to get up but he took her hand to stop her.
“I don’t think that would be a good idea,” he advised.
“Why not?”
“There are… Senna, everything is not as it appears.”
“What do you mean?” She gripped his hand tightly. His tone of voice was scaring her. “Konnor, how do you know all this? Who told you? Are you—”
“I work for the government,” he interrupted and pulled identification from his back pocket.
She stared in amazement at the identification card with his photo on it, then looked at him with wide eyes.
“Senna, we believe that you may have unwittingly been a party to something that threatens the security of not only this country but possibly the entire globe.”
“What? I don’t believe this!” She wrenched her hand away from his. “You bastard!” She jumped to her feet. “You’ve been using me, haven’t you?”
Konnor bounded up and grabbed her by the arms as she screamed at him, “How could you do that? You were just—”
“Listen to me!” His voice froze her in place.” I’m not going to lie to you. I was assigned to find out what, if anything, you know, and to what extent you’re involved in the situation. That’s why I went to that party, to make contact. But I didn’t plan what happened with Ryan Dalton and Paige Landers. It was just a convenient coincidence and I capitalized on it.”
“Then you have been using me.” She could have cried with shame. How could she have let herself be so fooled?
“No,” he argued, looking directly into her eyes. “That’s why I’m telling you this. If I didn’t care, I’d just do my job and disappear, just as I always have. But this time it’s different. And I don’t think you’re willingly involved. In fact, I don’t think you even know you are involved. And I do think you’re being used. But not by me.”
“You’re not making any sense! Involved in what?”
Konnor sighed and let go of her, running his hand back through his hair as he paced across the room. “Before I can tell you anything, I need to know everything you remember about the time you spent in Iraq with your parents prior to your disappearance.”
“Why? What does that have to do with Walter and Nolan being killed? And what do them dying have to do with this…this situation or whatever you keep referring to? Why won’t you just tell me—”
“Senna, please!” He turned to her with a pleading expression on his face. “I have to know all you remember.”
“Okay,” she relented. “Where do you want to start?”
Konnor took her hand and led her to the couch. “Let’s start with the weeks prior to your family leaving for Iraq.”
She nodded and leaned back, closing her eyes, and trying to direct her mind back in time to those memories. The phone rang and both of them jumped. Senna looked at Konnor and he nodded.
She picked up the phone. “Hello?”
“Senna?” Ryan’s voice came over the line.
“Yes.”
“I have to speak with you.”
“Can’t it wait until tomorrow, Ryan? I’m kind of tired.”
“It’s official business. I’ll be there in half an hour.”
“Okay.” She hung up the phone and turned to Konnor. “Ryan’s on his way over.
Konnor got up and paced, his gaze on the floor. After a few minutes she got up and stepped in his way. He raised his head and their eyes locked. He put his arms around her and held her close. “It’ll be okay,” he whispered against her hair. “Just tell the truth.”
She nodded and clung to him. He guided her over to the couch and they sat, still wrapped in one another’s arms. They were still that way when the doorbell rang.
Senna answered it. Ryan entered with Paige one step behind him. “We need to ask you a few questions,” he said as he took off his coat.
“Have a seat,” she offered and went over to stand by Konnor at the fireplace.
Ryan cut Konnor a funny look but made no comment. As soon as Ryan and Paige were seated, Senna started talking. “Like I told the policewoman at the hospital, I went to Nolan’s room and the door was open but he wasn’t there. I thought I’d gone to the wrong room so I went back to the car to get my cell phone to call him and that’s when those men—”
”We’re not here about your alleged abduction,” Paige interrupted. “We’d like to talk to you about your association with Dr. Nolan Weston.”
“Oh.” Senna sat down on the hearth and after a moment Konnor sat beside her. He took her hand, a fact that didn’t go unnoticed. Both Ryan and Paige cut a look at their clasped hands.
“You stated that you were in Nolan Weston’s hotel room earlier this evening,” Paige said. “Is that correct?”
“Yes—no, yes.” Senna paused. “What I mean is, at the time I wasn’t sure if it was his room or not. The room was vacant and I assumed I had misunderstood the number the desk clerk had given me and had gone to the wrong room.”
“Were you in room 302?”
“Yes.”
“And Nolan Weston was not there?”
“No.”
“Did anyone see you?”
“Of course. I had to ask the desk clerk for Nolan’s room number.”
“Do you remember the name of the clerk?”
“No.”
“Can you give us a description?”
“Around forty-five or so, brown hair that was receding and about five-eight or nine.”
“And no one else saw you?”
Senna started to say no then remembered the man in the parking lot. “Yes, as a matter of fact. On my way in I spoke with a man named Pete Lester. He said he was a pharmaceutical salesman here on business and was very homesick for his wife and children, ages five and three.”
“Pete Lester?”
“Yes.”
“And can Mr. Lester confirm that when you arrived Dr. Weston’s room was empty?”
“No, I went to the desk to ask for the room number and didn’t see Mr. Lester after that. No, wait. I think he was the man in the parking lot when I was attacked, but I’m not positive.”
Paige looked over at Ryan for a moment then returned her attention to Senna. “Perhaps you could tell us a little more about your relationship with Dr. Weston.”
“We worked together for a couple of years at Fermilab. I haven’t spoken with him in…I don’t know, quite a while. I’d have to check my date books. He called and said he was going to be in town and wanted to see me. I agreed to meet him at his hotel.”
“Why did Dr. Weston want to see you?” Paige asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Was it social? Were you and he intimate?”
“No, we weren’t intimate. We were friends and colleagues.”
“Did he discuss anything he was working on with you?” Ryan asked.
“No. I assumed it was still the same as the last time we spoke.”
Ryan checked his notes. “You’re referring to his position at Fermilab?”
“Yes.”
“And he didn’t mention anything else he was working on? Any scientific papers he was writing, anything of that nature.”
“No.”
“Do you know of anyone who would want to harm Dr. Weston?”
“No.”
“Do you know of any enemies he had?”
“No.”
“Any rivalries that might have existed professionally?”
“No.”
“If I may,” Paige spoke up. “You stated that you were in room 302 this evening between the hours of seven and eight. Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“And that the room was empty?”
“Yes.”
“Then how do you explain Dr. Weston’s body being discovered in that same room, room 302, at approximately 8:40?”
Senna bristled at the question. Her first inclination was to tell Paige to explain it herself. After all she was a cop. But then she considered the ramifications of getting Paige mad. The woman was a first-class bitch on a good day. No need to give her cause to be worse.
“Doctor?” Paige prompted her. “Would you like me to repeat the question?”
“No,” Senna replied. “The room was empty when I got there.”
“Or perhaps—”
Ryan’s cell phone interrupted. “Dalton.” He answered. “Yes…yes, I gave him the address… No, I said 3895, not 4895… Okay.”
He got up as he ended the call and motioned for Paige. They moved to the other side of the room. “Looks like we’ll have to table this for the time being,” he said softly.
“Look, just because you’ve got a thing for—”
“That’s not it,” he cut her off. “That was the captain. He just got a call from the FBI. We’re to hold off until Agent Southgate questions Senna.”
Paige gave him a “well, what do you think about that” look but said nothing.
Ryan turned to speak to Senna. “Thanks for your help.”
“Sure.” She stood. “I wish I could have told you something useful, I just don’t know anything.”
Ryan nodded and shrugged on his coat. “One more thing,” Paige said to Senna. “It appears as if Dr. Weston had resigned his position at Fermilab. At the time of his death he was working for the government. In that light, the FBI has taken over the investigation. Special Agent Southgate is on his way to talk to you. I wouldn’t plan on taking a vacation anytime in the near future.”
Senna frowned at the remark. “I hadn’t planned on it.”
“Konnor.” Ryan gave him a stiff nod.
Konnor inclined his head and Ryan looked at Senna. “Could I have a word with you…in private?”
She didn’t want to get into a personal discussion with him at the moment, but she also didn’t want to make a scene, so she agreed. She walked into the kitchen and he followed.
“What’s going on?” he whispered.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean with you and Konnor?”
Senna almost lied to him. It would have been the easiest thing to do at the moment. But she chose to be honest. “I’m involved with him.”
“Involved?”
“Yes.”
“How involved?”
“Very.”
“You mean you’re sleeping with him,” his tone turned accusatory.
“Yes.”
He stared at her for a moment. “This is to get even with me, isn’t it? For Paige.”
“No, Ryan, it isn’t.”
“Then why?”
“It just happened.”
“Yeah, right!” he scoffed. “You think you’re teaching me some kind of lesson, Senna? Is that what this is? To give me a taste of my own medicine? To make me sweat so I’ll beg for forgiveness and crawl like some whipped—”
“No. That’s not it at all.”
“I think that’s exactly what it is! But it’s not going to work. You’re the one who said you didn’t like games. Well, neither do I, and I’m not playing this one, so give it up. It’s not going to work.”
She said nothing. What was the point? He had already made up his mind how things were. Better to just leave him to think what he wanted. Ryan put his hands on top of her shoulders. “Listen, I know I hurt you and I know you’re upset, but this is no way to deal with it.”
“Thanks for the advice,” she said frostily. “And for all your compassion, Ryan. It’s such a comfort to know that after you’ve had two friends murdered, been abducted, beaten and thrown out of a van, that your friends are so concerned for your welfare.”
“Dammit, Senna! You know I’m concerned! I rushed to the hospital as soon as I heard what had happened.”
“That was very kind. Thank you.”
Ryan’s hands dropped away from her shoulders. “There’s no point trying to talk to you while you’re in this mood. I’ll call you tomorrow and we’ll sit down and iron this thing out.”
She gave no reply and after a moment he left. It wasn’t long before Konnor walked into the kitchen. “Get your coat and some clothes,” he said as he looked around. “Where’s my jacket?”
“In the bedroom.”
“Fine. Get whatever you need for a couple of days and let’s go.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere safe.”
As she ran into the bedroom and started stuffing clothing and personal items into an overnight bag, it occurred to her that she was acting like a fugitive. Running away. She closed the bag and returned to the den with it and Konnor’s jacket.
“Why do we have to leave?” she asked as Konnor opened the door.
“Senna, the FBI hasn’t taken over the Weston case.”
“How do you know that?”
“I know.”
“But maybe your sources are wrong. Ryan said that an agent was on his way here now, so the FBI must be involved. Ryan is with the police, you know. He knows the FBI when he sees them.”
“Whoever is on his way here now is not with the Bureau.”
“How can you know that? Because you’re CIA? Well, I thought the FBI had jurisdiction in the United States and the CIA didn’t have any authority on home soil, so to speak, and—”
“We don’t need authority,” he interrupted in a quiet, deadly voice. “Now let’s go.”
“Why?” she demanded stubbornly.
“It’s necessary.”
“Why?” she asked again, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Because I want to keep you alive!” he barked. “Now let’s go!”
His answer startled her enough to get her moving. Together they went out and got into his car. She didn’t think to ask him where they were going. She was much too preoccupied with wondering why someone would want to kill her and who that someone could possibly be.
Chapter Six
Auston Woods Apartment Homes, Charlotte
“If you’d just stop and think about it a minute without—” Paige didn’t get to finish her sentence. Ryan pounded his fist down on the table, making coffee slosh out of his cup, all over the papers that were spread around.
“Goddamn!” he cursed and grabbed a hand towel to mop up the mess.
“I’ll take care of it.” Paige took the towel from him. “But like I was saying, if you’d just allow yours
elf to step back from it for a moment and look at it objectively, you’d see it all makes perfect sense.”
Ryan rolled his eyes at her. “Right. About as much sense as me getting beamed up to take a little trek around the galaxy.”
“You’re letting your emotions get in the way,” she argued as she wiped up the coffee and started patting the wet papers with a napkin.
“She isn’t involved!”
“Oh, really?” Paige’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “Then how do you explain her story? Like the mysterious Pete Lester and the claim that she went to Weston’s room and it was empty. I personally spoke with the man on duty at the front desk and he doesn’t remember anyone fitting her description asking for Weston. Add to that the fact that there was no Pete Lester registered at the hotel and what do you have?”
“Nothing. Just more questions.”
“For god’s sake, Ryan! Not only did she invent the story about talking with the desk clerk and some salesman, but she admitted she was at the scene.”
“She said the room was empty so she left.”
“You mean right after she wiped the room clean of prints,” Paige scoffed.
“I don’t believe that.”
“Well, the lab has the proof whether you want to believe it or not. There’re no prints, no fibers, nothing that would indicate anyone was in that room but Weston.”
Ryan frowned and looked away but Paige would not let up. “She’s the only common element in both murders, Ryan.”
“Senna isn’t involved! Paige, I know her. She couldn’t be involved. She’s…well, she’s just not gutsy enough. For god’s sake, she’s a damn schoolteacher, not some secret agent!”
“A schoolteacher who happens to have known not one but two of the leading scientists in this country who have been murdered in the last week,” Paige said as she tossed the napkin toward the trash.
“And a schoolteacher who was damn near killed,” Ryan pointed out. “Has it occurred to you that if that guy in the hotel parking lot hadn’t forgotten his briefcase and not gone to his car to get it, whoever grabbed her might have killed her?”
“Yes, it has,” she answered as she poured two fresh cups of coffee. “Just like it’s made me ask why this mysterious caller wouldn’t give his name and why he went to the trouble to use a pay phone when the phone in the hotel lobby was closer.”
