Assassin (21 page)

"Doc."

"Hi, it's Rain. I just completed delivery of the telescope. Everything went fine," Rain rattled off into the little phone.

"Good work." Rain listened to what sounded like plastic being tapped on plastic and realized Doc was typing at his computer. "Payment for delivery has been rendered." There was a pause and then Doc continued, much to Rain's surprise. "Are you alone?"

Rain glanced down at the phone.

"Yeeah," she drawled cautiously.

"Good, 'cause Case doesn't need to know this and if you're smart, you won't tell her."

"Hey, I know where my loyalties lie," Rain replied smoothly, suddenly very awake.

"Yeah, I thought you did. So, here's the question. Do you think you could take over for Case in a month or two?"

What?

"Why?"

"Just yes or no."

"Yeah, no problem, but why?"

"The boss isn't too happy with Case right now. It looks like she's been working with our competitors and he was hoping you'd make a good replacement. Guess he was right."

"Yeah," Rain said noncommittally.

"So, from now on, you start checking your messages every day. You'll get your assignments directly from me. And when you get that one assignment in particular, you'll be ready."

"Right."

"I'll be in touch."

The phone clicked again and then Rain heard the dial tone signaling that the line had been disconnected. She turned off the phone and put it away, and then sat in silent contemplation for several long minutes before looking towards the door Case had exited through a short time earlier.

"What the hell is going on?" Rain finally asked the empty room.

CHAPTER 20

CASE SLID ALONG the concrete underneath the SUV, using her shoulders, back, and feet to push her body along, as she checked every crevice she could find with her flashlight. She'd already checked the tire wells and had found a small tracking device magnetically attached to the underside of the metal. She'd realized it had been too easily found, so that was why she was now doing a thorough examination of the underside of her truck.

After twenty minutes of searching, she found the second beacon. It was disguised as part of the truck itself, but Case had inspected her truck the day she'd gotten it and her memory told her this piece of metal didn't belong. She didn't move it, or even touch it, but continued with her search.

Nothing else looked out of place, so Case climbed out from under the vehicle and did a check of the interior. There were no bugs, but Case wasn't surprised at that. No one in the organization had ever been known to use wires, since the recordings could just as easily be used to incriminate the user as they could the one being spied on.

Case sat in the driver's seat of her truck and tried to figure out what Carlotti was up to. It was obvious that he intended to set her up. But for what and how, she had no idea. Or why. That was the really frustrating part.

During all her time in Carlotti's employ, there had only been two instances in which Case had disobeyed Antonio. The first time had been when she'd refused to become one of his assassins, but he'd changed her mind about that by having her cat killed. The second had been after the Massucci hit and the threat of personal physical torture had been enough to put her back to work.

There was only one other major event that came to Case's mind and that was the start of Rain's training. Things had been out of whack ever since.

For a moment, Case considered the possibility that Antonio was working with Rain. Case's knowledge of what went on and who was who would make her the perfect fall guy, if Antonio had decided to turn state's evidence in order to earn himself immunity. But the more Case thought about it, the more she was inclined to dismiss the idea.

Antonio thrived on his position of power. He would rather go down with a gun in his hand than work with the FBI. It would be an insult to his pride to admit that kind of defeat, one that he would never accept.

Case shook her head. She was sure that Antonio had no idea that Rain was a federal agent.

And Rain working with Antonio made no sense at all. If she'd had that kind of inside help, she never would have had to go undercover in the first place, let alone for the last three years. The fact that Antonio was in charge of the organization that had caused the death of Rain's brother was another big hole in that theory. Which left Case at a loss as to why her boss seemed to think she was a threat to him now.

Antonio never did anything without a good reason. He was intelligent, which had made him one of the best leaders ever to head the organization. And he never made idle threats, something that had set him apart from the rest of the pack. If Antonio said you either do something or he'd have your balls on a plate, you knew he meant it literally. In fact, he'd probably send the doctor to you himself, and pay for the hospital room too, just to make sure you survived the procedure.

Case locked up her truck and headed back to the hotel room. If Antonio really was intending to take her out in some fashion, she needed to know more, and fast. She had some investigating to do.

"So, did the truck check out?" Rain asked before Case could even close the door all the way.

Case went to her bag and put away her flashlight.

"Well, I found two trackers. The first one was really obvious, but the other one wasn't, so I think it was there in case I found the first one. I left them both intact. I don't want Antonio knowing that I know he's watching me. I just wish I knew why. It doesn't make any sense."

"Did you do something to piss him off?"

"Not that I know of. I've never taken an outside job and I've never asked for more money. And I've only told him no twice, but we worked that out a long time ago."

"So, there's nothing you could have possibly done to maybe make him nervous?" Rain asked.

Case's face took on a puzzled expression.

"What do you mean? Do you know something I don't?" Case asked, suddenly suspicious of the phone call she knew Rain had made to Doc.

Rain only took a second to think and decided to tell Case what Doc had told her.

"Well, Doc seems to be under the impression that you've been working for Carlotti's rivals. Do you have any idea why he would think that?"

Case sat down on the bed and Rain made room for her. The assassin went over her movements of the past eight years again, but she didn't come up with any more answers than she had the last time.

"I can't think of anything. I don't associate with anyone, so I couldn't have been seen with someone. The only calls I make are to my voicemail and Doc and whatever places that have to do with my assignments." Case suddenly had a thought. "What else did Doc say?"

Rain looked into Case's eyes and found herself unable to lie. It was an unsettling feeling, since she realized if Case had asked her point blank who she was, she would have told Case the truth.

"He expects me to take your place in a month or two. I'm supposed to take you out when he gives the word, but..." Rain trailed off, unable to explain why she was willing to throw away the last three years of her life, as well as her career and possibly her entire future, in order to keep Case safe.

Case looked away. There was something in Rain's eyes that put Case on edge. Maybe if she didn't look, she could ignore it.

"Don't worry about it. If you'd planned to go through with it, you wouldn't have said anything, so I know you don't," Case reassured her.

Rain nodded and Case continued.

"All right. For now, we do nothing. I'm still training you and we're still going on hits for Antonio. As far as they're concerned, nothing's changed," Case said decisively. "I'll figure out what's going on and try to talk some sense into Antonio. I've got connections. Maybe someone can tell me what the idiot is so freaked out about."

Case stood up and began to undress.

"It's been a long day. Get some rest. I'm going to go take a shower," Case informed her student, and continued to pull off her clothes as she entered the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

Rain sat on the bed and listened as the shower came on.

"I'm in way too deep," she said to herself.

She turned her body to let her legs fall over the side of the bed and leaned over to take off her shoes and socks. Then she stood up and continued with the rest of her clothing.

CHAPTER 21

CASE STOOD UNDER the hot water and tried to think. She knew there was no talking to Antonio, regardless of what she'd told Rain. Whatever had made him decide to get rid of her, she knew he wouldn't change his mind about it. It would make him look weak and he couldn't afford that.

She still had no idea why Antonio had turned on her, but she supposed it didn't really matter. The fact was that he had and now she had to find a way to survive.

Her first thought was to run. Now that she was sure Antonio intended to have her killed, there was no reason to stick around. She had planned for this eventuality shortly after accepting her position as assassin.

Case had been slowly migrating her money overseas, making small cash withdrawals and then transferring them from one bank account to another until the bulk of the money could be wired to accounts outside the United States. It also made the funds untraceable to Antonio and therefore free of suspicion or possible seizure. At last count, she'd estimated that she could live comfortably off the interest alone for the rest of her life. But she'd always known that doing so would mean leaving the country and that didn't exactly appeal to her. Not to mention the fact that Antonio didn't just let people leave his organization. But she could technically leave tonight, if she wanted.

Of course, if she did that, there would be no doubt in Antonio's mind that Rain had tipped her off and he'd probably order a hit on the woman.

Case imagined Rain being hauled in front of Antonio. The torture Rain would have to endure as Antonio tried to find out if she knew where Case had gone. Then Rain's half-dead body being dragged to some out of the way place, before someone like Case put a gun to the back of her head and blew her face off.

Case felt nauseous with the fear and helplessness that suddenly tried to overwhelm her. She could feel her chest tightening and the need to scream was intense. The feelings were familiar, but she'd learned to suppress them long ago, along with all her other emotions. She concentrated on her breathing and forced everything away from her. Nothing mattered and she didn't care about anything.

Case shook her head and continued to soap her body as the feelings faded into numbness, though her heart continued to thud slightly in memory.

Rain would just have to take care of herself. She had the entire government backing her, whereas Case was on her own. Case's mind flashed on several scenes of Rain's death and Case gave up the act almost as quickly as she'd begun it. She couldn't leave Rain to face Antonio alone.

Case leaned against the wall in resignation for a few moments and then suddenly slammed her wet fist into the tile.

"Fuck!" she hissed out.

It was stupid to even consider protecting the FBI Agent, now that her own life was on the line, but she found herself doing just that. If she stayed, she was asking for a bullet in the head.

Case ran through several scenarios, trying to find one that worked.

She thought of faking her death, making it look like Rain had followed through on Antonio's orders early. But Antonio would want to see Case's body and if there weren't one, Rain would probably be executed on the spot for attempting to deceive him.

Another thought flitted through Case's mind, but it didn't take long for her to reject it. Rain would never agree to come with her because of her obligation to the FBI. The fact that Case even considered asking the woman to run with her made Case extremely uneasy.

But running wasn't the answer anyway. As soon as she disappeared, Antonio would alert his subordinates and then they'd set their own people on her in order to please the boss. Though his rivals might protect her for a little while to gain information, they'd eventually sell her out to the highest bidder, which would almost certainly be Antonio.

At least she knew no one was gunning for her, yet. According to Rain, Antonio was waiting for the apprentice's training to be a little more complete before he issued Case's termination orders, which meant she didn't have to decide anything tonight.

Case rinsed her hair and body one last time and then turned off the water. After drying herself off, she picked up her clothes from the floor and carried them out into the room.

Rain was watching TV in the nude, one leg raised and the other straight out on the bed.

"Hey, I thought I told you to get some rest," Case said.

"I'm not tired," Rain replied.

"Bullshit. You're exhausted."

Rain went back to staring at the television screen. She'd been dead tired before her conversation with Doc, but now her mind was racing and she knew sleep was a long ways off.

Case threw her clothes on top of her bag and walked over to the bed. She sat down facing the brunette and crossed her legs into the pretzel position.

"What's going on?" Case asked bluntly. "Was there something else that Doc said that you didn't tell me about?"

Rain continued to stare at the TV as though she hadn't heard the question, but just as Case was about to ask again, Rain spoke.

"What are we going to do?"

It was Case's turn to look away. So far, she'd come up with a lot of no-win scenarios, but at least she was narrowing down the possibilities.

"I'll think of something," Case said confidently. "Now go to sleep."

Case started to get off the bed, but Rain reached out and caught her wrist. Without thought, Case twisted her wrist to break the hold. A split second later, she'd caught Rain's hand with her own, pressed her thumb into the woman's palm, and twisted her arm up behind her. The move turned Rain partially over, while Case used her other arm to push on Rain's shoulder to turn her over completely and pin her to the bed. As Case was about to bring her knee up to press into Rain's spine, she realized what she was doing and let go, and then backed away.