Chapter Nineteen
Derek struck out at the gun shop. After talking to the third of three people on Cole’s list, he’d gotten nowhere. None of them had had any dealings with Matt Palicek or had even heard of him.
Or so they said. Gun guys tended to be tight-lipped, but it wasn’t like Derek was walking around with the letters ATF tattooed on his forehead. Derek had made sure to mention that he was teammates with Cole, but still he’d netted nothing useful.
He jumped onto the freeway and pointed his truck toward the FBI office. He needed an update from Elizabeth or someone on her team. Hell, even Potter might be able to help him. He wanted a physical description of this female jihadist, preferably a picture. He was beginning to think she was playing a much bigger role in this than they’d given her credit for.
All Derek knew was that she was likely related to one of the terrorists, either by blood or by marriage. If she was a wife or a sibling, that put her in her twenties or early thirties. She’d likely have dark brown hair, which Elizabeth believed she’d dyed auburn. And if she spoke English—which seemed logical if she was laying the groundwork for a plot in America—she probably spoke with an accent. No doubt she’d be wearing Western-style clothes to fit in.
It sounded like a lot to go on, but it wasn’t, and Derek needed a photo or at least a composite sketch to flash around, along with the photo of Palicek that Torres had given him.
He trained his gaze on the bloodred horizon. The sun was setting on his last day in Texas, and his tension was mounting. He couldn’t stay, but he damn sure couldn’t leave with so much unfinished. He had less than twenty-four hours to get a break in this thing, or he would face the choice of leaving the task force high and dry or going UA. An unauthorized absence was no small offense, especially in the teams, and especially when they were going wheels-up on an honest-to-God mission, not some training bullshit out in the desert. If Derek failed to report Thursday morning, Hallenback would have his ass in a sling, and possibly even his job.
He tried Elizabeth again, and again it went straight to voice mail. He scrolled through his phone and called Lauren. Three rings, and then Elizabeth answered.
“Hey, I’ve been calling you all night.”
“My phone’s dead.” she said, and her voice sounded strange.
“What’s wrong? Where are you?”
Silence on the other end, and a wave of fear hit him.
“Elizabeth?”
“I’m at the hospital.”
Elizabeth paced the room, compulsively darting glances at the double doors. Nothing. She passed by the wall of windows that looked out over the medical center. She swung by the coffeepot, then back to the chairs. It was a well-worn path in the carpet where hundreds or maybe thousands of anxious people had walked before.
The doors opened, and she whirled around, hoping to see the doctor. Instead, it was Gordon. His face was a hard mask, and she struggled to read the look in his eyes as he walked toward her.
“No change,” he said. “She’s still in recovery.”
Her throat tightened. “It’s been over an hour.”
“When she stabilizes, they’ll move her. Until then . . .”
He didn’t need to finish. Until then, they’d wait. Lauren had pulled through the surgery, but the doctor had described the procedure as “complicated.” The bullet had ripped through her right kidney. They’d had to remove the kidney and repair several organs.
Elizabeth glanced at the door as Lauren’s sister walked through and went straight to the coffeepot. She looked like an older version of Lauren—straight dark hair, willowy build. She’d been glued to her phone since she showed up at the hospital.
“I understand her parents are driving down from Dallas?”
Elizabeth looked at Gordon. “That’s right.”
“We need someone here when they show up,” he said, “but I have to go by the crime scene. They’re wrapping up there.”
“I’ll stay.”
“Torres is on his way in, so you can leave when he gets here.”
“What’s happening with Jamie?” she asked, changing the subject so she wouldn’t have to argue.
“No updates.”
The motel clerk had been hit by a bullet that grazed her neck. The wound had bled profusely but done little damage. The more serious injury had occurred when she dropped to the pavement and hit her head. She had cerebral swelling and was currently in a drug-induced coma.
“We’ve got an agent stationed at her door,” Gordon said. “When she comes out of this, we’ll need to interview her.”
If she came out of it.
The working theory was that the clerk had seen something important—otherwise, why bother to eliminate her?
Gordon’s phone buzzed, and he pulled it out to check the screen.
“I have to go.” He gave her a sharp look. “When Torres shows, I want you to go home, get some sleep.”
“Sir—”
“No arguments. You’ve been here for hours, and you worked late last night, too. I need you rested for tomorrow. We’re short-handed now.”
His words shut her up. They were short-handed because Lauren was in a hospital bed, fighting for her life. Elizabeth’s stomach churned, and she glanced at the doors again.
“Go home and rest, LeBlanc. You can’t help us if you’re dead on your feet.”
He walked away, leaving her alone once again in the maddeningly quiet waiting room.
She paced over to the chairs, where the television was tuned to CNN. The volume was muted, but she could read the headline crawling across the screen: TERROR SUSPECT DEAD IN APPARENT SUICIDE.
A reporter with a local TV station had finally broken the news that the roof jumper from Saturday had been on the terrorist watch list. The story had taken off, and although the media had gotten many of the details wrong, the upshot was accurate: the man had committed suicide as federal agents apprehended him. Now conjecture was running wild about what he’d been doing inside the United States at the time of his death.
Elizabeth watched the taped footage of an FBI spokeswoman standing at a podium. Her canned statement that she couldn’t share details “due to national security” had only fueled speculation.
An elevator opened, and Elizabeth turned to see Derek stepping off. Her heart lodged in her throat. He quickly spotted her and strode across the room.
“Any news?”
The look in his eyes made her chest hurt. She wanted to throw her arms around him, but she kept them firmly at her sides. “She’s out of surgery. That’s all I know.”
He nodded. “Hang tight. This is one of the best hospitals in the world. They’ll pull her through.”
She turned away.
“I’ve been working the gun angle.”
She looked at him, trying to process the words.
“Did you get a look at the weapon?” he asked.
The weapon. Used in the shooting. “I barely even saw the car,” she told him, as she had told investigators back at the crime scene. “Something white, maybe an SUV,” she added. “The motel manager got a better look at it. The gun was an automatic.”
“Probably a submachine gun, based on the range.”
“How do you know the range?”
“I went by the motel on my way here,” he said. “Saw the skid marks. Looks like they approached from the northwest corner, unloaded from the passenger side, then took off south—probably jumping right on the freeway.”
She tried to envision it. Everything he’d said fit with what she’d experienced. She’d been facing Jamie, not the street, when the shots erupted. She’d never seen it coming.
“Typical setup for a drive-by,” he said. “Which is probably intentional.”
“The motel was hit recently in some sort of drug thing,” Elizabeth said. She pictured the bullet hole in the office window. Their tangos had probably noticed the same thing when they were considering ways to eliminate yet another eyewitness without attracting undue attention.
Derek was gazing down at her, his brow furrowed. “How long you been here?”
“I’m fine.”
“You need a break.”
The elevator opened again, and Torres stepped off. He glanced at Derek, then Elizabeth, as he walked over.
“Passed the boss in the lobby,” he told her. “You have orders to go home, get some rest.”
“I can stay.”
Torres squeezed her shoulder. “I’m on. You go. I’ll call you if anything happens.”
“My phone’s dead.”
“We’ve got mine,” Derek said.
“Go,” Torres repeated. “I’ll let you know if anything changes.”
She cast a glance at Lauren’s sister, who was still on her cell phone. Then she followed Derek to the elevator. The doors swept shut, and she stared down at her feet, at the black leather flats that she’d rinsed off in the hospital bathroom because they’d been smeared with blood. She still wore her bloodied slacks, too, but the jacket she’d used as a bandage was back at the crime scene. Or maybe in a trash can. Or maybe it had been bagged up by the evidence team.
She looked up to find Derek watching her in the mirrored doors.
“Thanks for coming,” she said.
He didn’t respond.
The doors slid open, and they stepped out into the same lobby she’d rushed through only a few hours ago. Another set of doors, and then they were standing together in the muggy night air. The streets were dark and deserted. All was quiet except for the distant wail of an approaching ambulance.
“What’s the theory?” Derek asked, leading her across the street.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re bound to have one. What is it?”
He led her away from the parking garage, and she spotted his truck on the street beside a fire hydrant. They climbed in.
“We believe they’re eliminating eyewitnesses,” she said. “What I don’t get is why. Why not just stage the attack and get it over with?”
He gave her a grim look.
“You think they’re biding their time,” she stated.
“I think they’re waiting for something. Something specific.” He pulled into the street and stopped at an intersection. It was nearly midnight, and traffic was light. “Where to?” he asked.
“I don’t know.”
He hung a left. “You hungry?”
“No.”
“Thirsty?”
“No.” The last place she wanted to be right now was a noisy bar. “I guess just take me back to the hotel.”
“You got it.” He took a right and headed for the freeway.
She looked at him. “I’m sorry if this sounds bitchy, but please don’t get the wrong idea about this.”
“And what would that be?”
“I don’t think we should sleep together again.” Somehow everything that had happened made it easier to say it, to just get it out in the open. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“I happen to think it’s a great idea, but it’s your call.”
She turned to look out the window, bracing herself for the guilt. But it didn’t come. She actually felt relieved that she’d taken it off the table.
They drove without talking as the lights of Houston rushed by. Her stomach clenched as she thought of Lauren being loaded onto the gurney and whisked away in the ambulance. She’d felt so helpless, so utterly useless, staying behind to answer questions. She’d felt even more useless pacing the hospital waiting room.
She rested her forehead against the window and let the truck’s vibrations numb her as she closed her eyes. Her eyelids burned. She combed through the events in her mind. She went through them systematically, looking for any detail she’d missed, anything she’d omitted when she gave her report.
The truck slowed, and she opened her eyes as Derek pulled into the familiar parking lot.
Elizabeth zeroed in on her room. She pictured Lauren sitting cross-legged on her floor, surrounded by case files and cartons of Thai food. Derek whipped into a space, and she felt a wave of nausea.
“I can’t go in there.”
He looked at her.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I just can’t. I—”
“No problem.” He thrust the truck back into gear.
“I’m sorry.”
“I get it. Stop apologizing.”
He pulled out of the parking lot, then headed back toward the freeway.
She eyed his phone in the cup holder and felt sick again. Who was she kidding? She couldn’t rest tonight. She should go straight back to the hospital and wait for news.
“There’s nothing you can do there,” Derek said, clearly reading her mind. “Your boss is right. You need a break.”
She turned to look out the window as he got back onto the freeway. “So where are we going?”
“You trust me?”
She hesitated. “Yes.”
“Then relax.” He glanced at her. “Close your eyes, clear your head. I’ll let you know when we get there.”
Luke stepped away from the throng of people surrounding the bar and pressed his phone to his ear.
“What’s that?”
“I said, it’s Hailey.”
Holy shit. He looked at his phone again. He hadn’t recognized the Boston area code.
“Hang on.” He squeezed through the crowd to the hallway outside the men’s head. It smelled like beer and puke, but at least it was quieter.
“Sorry to call so late.”
“No, it’s fine.” He checked his watch. He hadn’t expected her to call at all, and definitely not at 2200 on a Monday night.
“Are you in Boston?” he asked.
“I’m still in town. I leave tomorrow.” She paused. “Where are you? It sounds really loud.”
“O’Malley’s.” He pushed open the back door and stepped into the alley off the parking lot, where it reeked even worse.
“Guess that means you’re with friends, huh? I was going to see if you wanted to come over.”
He blinked out at the parking lot. “To your hotel room?”
“I was thinking the bar downstairs. I can’t sleep again, and I thought we could get a drink and talk or whatever.”
His mind whirled. He’d had a few too many beers for this conversation. She wanted to get a drink and talk or whatever—which in his experience was girl-speak for sex. He shook his head, trying to shake off the beer buzz and the crazy-ass idea that Hailey Gardner wanted to sleep with him.
“What, you mean now?” he asked.
Silence.
“Sorry,” he said. “My bad. I’m—”
“Sounds like you’re busy.”
“I’m not, I just—” Shit, now what was he doing? He couldn’t actually go over there. He definitely wanted to see her, but he was half loaded. If he got anywhere near her right now, his dick would take over, and he’d waste no time talking her upstairs.
“Luke?”
“I’m here.”
“I can tell I’m freaking you out, and I don’t mean to. It’s not what you’re thinking.” She was talking fast, like she was nervous. “It’s just that I can’t sleep, and it really sucks. And I thought maybe we could, you know, just hang out and talk.”
He tipped his head back and squeezed his eyes shut. “That’s probably not a good idea.”
Was he really turning her down? Hailey Gardner, who couldn’t sleep and wanted to just hang out and talk? And then it was back—the image of her cowering in the corner of that rathole back in A-bad, her face dirty and her hair tangled and her eyes . . . God damn it, of course she had trouble sleeping. But he couldn’t be around her.
“Listen, Hailey—”
“You don’t have to explain.”
“I wish I could come, but—”
“Forget it.”
“Hailey, wait. Hailey?”
She’d already hung up.
He stared down at his phone, feeling like crap. He’d made the right call, though. He knew it. He had no business going anywhere near her or her hotel room in his current state of semi-inebriation.
“Fuck.”
He turned and looked at the door behind him. The thought of going back inside suddenly had zero appeal. What he should do was go find one of his buddies who’d had less to drink than he had and catch a ride home. But he didn’t want to do that, either.
I can’t sleep, and it really sucks.
God damn it. Luke shoved his phone into his pocket and headed for the beach.