Running (10 page)

“
Was it possible she is a
part of whatever he’s involved in?”

“
Of
course not.” The husband was the one who spoke. “Alessandra is one
of
my
people. And
she was in that parking garage because we had just finished a case.
Coincidence. I suggest you find another line of thought and
quickly.”

He’d get nowhere with this
girl, and that was made more than clear five minutes later when the
rest of the CCU agents barged in to the conference room, regardless
of the agents he’d had posted at the door.

He’d noticed before that
the PAVAD agents were close, closer than many other units. And
there were far more familial relationships than he’d ever seen
before. Was that a problem for the division?

Was this one such
problem?

How could he use these people
to complete
his
task? Safely?

Chapter
Twenty-Two

***

The two agents knocked on
her door just as Nina was cramming the last of Antonio’s junk into
a bag to dump off on his mother or some of those
worthless cousins he’d thought so highly of. She didn’t want
even a single sock around
 
her
 
house that reminded her of
Antonio Riaz. Reminded her of what he was and what he’d done to
her. Reminded of how he’d changed her life.

She vaguely recognized the
dark haired man on her doorstep, though he looked far scruffier
than she remembered. Seth something or rather. Antonio had quite a
bit to say about this man. Nina had always wondered if he was
jealous of the other man.

But Antonio had always
played things close to his chest.  She should have realized
sooner.

Damn him. He’d charmed her
with his dark eyes and dimples and she’d fallen hook, line, and
sinker. She’d been so stupid.

And look at her now. Trying
to eradicate every time bit of Antonio Riaz from her life. Because
if she stopped to let herself remember how she’d let herself feel
about that man, she’d just end up mad at herself again.

And she did stupid stuff
when she got mad at herself.

She pushed those thoughts
away just as the doorbell rang. She yanked open the door to see a
man she vaguely recognized as Antonio’s friend from the FBI and a
blonde woman she’d never seen before. “What are you doing here? I’m
getting ready to leave.”

“
Nina, I
wanted to say again how sorry I am for what happened to Tony. And
to let you know that I’m looking for the people responsible now.”
The man didn’t waste time trying to offer phony condolences and she
had to respect
that
at least.

“
So why are you here?
Antonio’s funeral was days ago.”

“
I was supposed to meet him
this morning to go out on his boat. I know he tended to bring
copies of whatever he was working on home. Do you happen to have
his files?”

“
It’s all right there.” She
pointed to the box that was still open on the kitchen table. It had
a pair of his trousers hanging out one side. Those ridiculous
khakis that she hated and he wore on nearly every day off they’d
spend together.

The liar.

He hadn’t wanted to spend
that time with her. Not really. She knew that now. She was just
convenient. A way to get to her father. Damn him. “He had some
files in that box. You can take it. I was going to dump it on his
mother.”

The blonde woman hadn’t
said much of anything. “We’d be happy to take it to her once we
find what we need.”

“
Yeah. Whatever. As long as
I don’t have to see it again, I’m just peachy. Now, if you’ll
excuse me, I’m moving to Houston in two hours. Going to start fresh
and all that.” And escape the results of her damned stupidity.
Somehow. “Thanks for stopping by.”

She wanted that man gone.
Because she didn’t trust him, and what if he
was
there to figure out her part in
what had happened? She just wanted enough time to get Antonio Riaz
wiped out of her life and out of her mind forever—was that too much
to ask?

Chapter
Twenty-Three

***

“
She’s grieving.” Al tried
to figure out what about Nina Brusco’s behavior struck her as off.
Because something had. There was far more anger than was normal in
a grieving situation. “Were they having problems before he
died?”

Seth flicked the heater up
to a higher setting. “Not that I had heard. But they were supposed
to be a more volatile couple from what rumor said. He complained
when they argued and boasted when the made up. Said the best sex
was make-up.”

“
I see.” Al had the box in
her lap and was pulling items out one by one as he drove. She was
tired of driving and had insisted he take over that duty for a
while. She’d placed the clothing in a pile in the backseat, though
there wasn’t much. “Here are the files, on the bottom. Quite a few.
You said he was on vacation?”

“
He was taking three weeks.
Bertram and I were joining him for the second week, then I was
heading on my own personal relax and unwind trip in Lake
Meredith.”

“
There’s quite a bit of
stuff here for someone on vacation. Even a die-hard agent would
take a break sometime.”

“
I have my theories. I
think he may have been working something on the side. I think he
may have stumbled onto what I was searching for to begin
with.”

“
Where are we going,
anyway? We have what you wanted from the fiancé. Shouldn’t we be
heading back to civilization?”

“
We
are.
My
idea of
civilization.”

“
Care to
elaborate?”

“
We’re heading to my neck
of this woods now. We need to find out who killed him. And
fast.”

“
But wasn’t a team in your
field office working his case?”

“
Yes. But I’m not sure one
of our people isn’t the one responsible for his death.”

“
And you’ve obviously held
those suspicions for a while.”

“
Yes.
Some numbers don’t add up for any of the teams in my unit. That’s
my specialty—I’m an accountant by trade, toots. And…I was put in
the unit to dig as deeply into the numbers as I could. Put there to
find it
before
the
OIG could. But I was to trust no one on any of the teams. Except my
partner.”

Now that surprised her,
though she knew the Bureau employed many accountants in its ranks.
But that
this
guy
would be a numbers man that was surprising. “You think someone in
your own unit. It does happen. I’ve seen it in my own assignments
before.”

“
Power corrupts. Even in
the Bureau. And someone in the unit is as corrupt as they
come.”

“
So we’re going to Texas to
get copies of everything you found—“

“
Plus what I’ve been
working on for a while. I think the corruption and Tonio’s death
are connected. In fact, I’m fairly certain of it. The patterns were
there. Now I just need to follow the money.”

“
What
unit are you investigating?” She’d heard of OIG investigative teams
before—it was the jurisdiction of the Inspector General. The entire
reason that organization existed was to ensure that other
government entities operated in an honest and
legal
manner.

“
It’s a joint unit with the FBI, ATF, and
DEA. Headed and funded by the DOJ specifically. I’m apparently the
scent dog for the FBI, trying to sniff out anything
before
OIG.” He turned
down the ramp, putting them back on the interstate. “Each team has
seven or eight members. Some from FBI, some from ATF, DEA, you name
it, it’s probably represented somewhere in the unit. But for some
reason, the unit’s solve rate only hovers around seventy
percent.”

“
Not good at all.” PAVAD’s
solve rate was at least ninety percent, and the individual teams of
the CCU--like hers, Hellbrook’s, and her brother Mal’s--solve rates
were much higher. For a special unit supervised directly by the DOJ
to be so low meant something was definitely wrong. “You suspect
internal corruption.”

“
Damned near certain of it.
And it’s my job to find it. Then the boss will send me somewhere
else to find others who are abusing their positions. Bertram and I
do this all the time.”

“
Then you
really do need to talk to Ed Dennis. That man can move mountains
when needed. And he’d help if asked. Especially if I am the one
asking. Or your brother. Or Carrie. Or
my
brothers. Ed Dennis takes care of
his people.”

“
But I’m not one of his
people.”

“
You
became one when someone drove you into his parking garage. When you
involved me and Carrie. And you’re one of his
people-by-association.
Please,
consider it. After we get your p.o. box, just let
me call Sebastian. Please.”

“
I’ll consider it. But we
need to get there first.”

He pulled the key to the
post office box
out of his
pocket and held it out to her. “Take this. I have two. If something
happens, or if we get separated, promise me you’ll get what’s in
that box and take it to Bertram Hughland. His cell number
is…”

Al memorized the number he
gave her and programmed it into the disposable phone he’d given her
earlier. She slipped the key onto the necklace she wore. “I’ll do
that. But we won’t get separated because we’re going to be smart
about this.”

“
We are?”

“
Quit being a smartass,
Seth. I want this to be over and soon. I have a life to get back
to, you know? Give me the names of the people you think are
involved. Start with your team. Who are the possibles?” It was
about time they went on the offensive, did what they were trained
to do. Investigate.

“
Jerome Wiley. ATF. Phil
Deitrich and Ronnie Carran. Edward Carragan. Elizabeth Sparrow and
Blaire McKenney. Although I don’t think Liz could kill a man like
Riaz. She’s only five foot and we’re talking soda bottle glasses.
Ninety pound weakling. And I don’t think she’d have it in her.
She’s an accountant, too. Blaire possibly, if she got the drop on
him—she’s extremely good with a weapon. Especially a
knife.”

“
Was a knife
used?”

“
I don’t know. I need the
autopsy report.”

“
Are you going to try your
partner again?” He’d tried him before they left for Nina Brusco’s,
but the other man’s cell had gone straight to voice mail. Seth
hadn’t left a message in case his partner had been compromised. “I
wish you’d let me call someone.”

“
I don’t
think that’s a good idea. I don’t
know
who’s involved. And I don’t want
to set someone off in a panic and get someone else hurt. Who knows
why they went after Riaz, but I think Riaz suspected something was
going on and someone killed him for it. I don’t want to make anyone
else a target until I can figure out what to do
next.”

“
I
really
don’t like the
idea of going it alone. I think that’s foolish.”

“
You always such a team
player, toots?”

“
Things tend to work out
better that way. At least in my experience.”

“
In mine
it’s just the
opposite
. You get used to depending on someone and then
poof!
They’re gone before
you can blink. Thanks, but no thanks.”

“
Is that why you don’t know
much about what is going on in your own brother’s life? Isn’t there
another brother out there somewhere? I think I remember Sarah
mentioning it.”

“
Sinclair. He’s the oldest
by three minutes.”

“
Is he just like you?
Identical, I mean?”

“
Down to the last mole
hair.”

“
Great visual. So is he
more like you or more like Sebastian? Because the two of you are
day and night.”

“
Sebastian is the normal
one. Sin is Sin. Cold, ruthless bastard.”

“
He’s your brother.” She
couldn’t imagine a third one running around out there. But there
was. “Do you not like him?”

“
I love my brother. I’d die
for either one of them in a heartbeat, but Sin hates everyone.
Except his kid.”

“
Why?”

“
Shitty childhood, maybe.”
He shrugged, but she hadn’t missed the smallest bit of bitterness
in his words.

“
What
happened to make your brother that way? If you don’t mind me
asking.” Al had
always
known she was lucky. Blessed, in the family she’d been given.
Her parents loved one another and had been able to give her and her
brothers every advantage possible. She’d always worked hard to be
deserving of that luck.