Trust Me (25 page)

 “Donovan didn't go to the house by himself did
he?  I mean, it could be dangerous,” she asked Casivetti, the distress
evident in her tone.

“Don't worry he's not alone, he's currently at the
scene with a forensics team trying to uncover any information on who was
responsible and what exactly it was they were trying to find.  For now
we'll just have to wait until Agent Prentice returns.”

There was that word again,
Wait
, Alaina
thought, she couldn't seem to escape it.  You were always expected to wait
patiently while your nerves were raw and on the edge.  Thankfully Elise’s
shameless flirting was proving an excellent distraction.  Alaina watched
as her friend attempted to attract the FBI agent, who didn't seem to mind in
the least the attention he was receiving. 

Elise leaned back casually in her chair.  Her skirt
had hiked up rather high on her shapely leg but she made no move to fix
it. 

Tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear she said,
“So tell me Domenic, what is a typical day like for a Special Agent?”

Casivetti cleared his throat before saying, “I wouldn’t
say we have a typical day, Miss.”

“Interesting,” Elise paused before continuing, “So
what
did
you do today?” She shifted ever so slightly in her chair and
her skirt rose up another notch. 

Casivetti’s eyes darted quickly to her thigh and then
back to her face.

“Today?
I testified in court concerning a case we closed last
year and then I had some paperwork from an arrest we did yesterday.”

“Do you work a lot of overtime?” Elise asked with a
curious tilt of her head.

“Sometimes the job requires it, but I don’t
mind.”  Agent Casivetti stated in a matter of fact voice.

Elise leaned forward slightly over his desk before
asking, “Does your wife mind?”

He shook his head. “I’m not married.”

“Girlfriend?”

Casivetti shook his head again. “No girlfriend either.”

Elise grinned enthusiastically. “Well I can fix that
for you!”

Casivetti raised his brows and grinned back. “Oh you
can, can you?”

 Elise waved her hand in dismissal. “No problem.”

“It’s good to know that you’re available.”

Elise’s voice was a low husky murmur when she
responded, “For you I’m definitely available.”

Casivetti resembling a deer caught in the head lights
glanced at Alaina and then back at Elise. “Would you ladies like something to
drink?
Coffee, water, Coke?”

Alaina shot him a grateful smile. “I would love some
water.”

“That would be great,” Elise said.

Casivetti rose from his chair and went to fetch them
water.  After he left the room Alaina glanced at Elise before saying,
“Unbelievable.”

Elise laughed. “I don’t know why you keep saying that.”

“I guess I will always been in awe when I watch you
work.”

“Hey that was hardly
work
and
I think I really like this one.”

Alaina nodded her head in approval. “Good choice. I
think he’s legit.”

The whole scene would have been extremely amusing if
Alaina hadn't been so concerned about Donovan.  Regardless of how many
times she reminded herself that he was untrustworthy or how he had betrayed
her, she just couldn't turn her feelings off. 

Alaina’s head jerked up when she heard footsteps in
the hall.  She felt only relief when Donovan entered with Agent Casivetti.
At the sight of him returned unharmed no thought of their previous problems
even penetrated her thoughts.  When Donovan turned toward her, giving her
one of his piercing stares, she felt the familiar quivering reaction in her
stomach.  In her head she knew she should stay away from him, but
convincing the rest of her body was certainly going to be a challenge.

Donovan's entrance caused everyone to stop talking at
once. He nodded at Alaina and Elise. “Hi Alaina,” he said and then he turned
toward Elise and added. “Hello, you must be Alaina's friend Elise, I'm Donovan
Prentice.  I'm glad to see you both made it here safely.  I take it there
weren't any problems on the way down?”

Casivetti was the first to answer as he handed them
each a bottle of water.  “No they didn't have any problems, they arrived
here shortly after you called.  Did you find anything at the house?”

 Donovan shook his head. “No, forensics wasn't
able to uncover anything.”

Alaina noticed how disheveled he looked, he had
obviously dashed out of bed and gone to her house, his hair was mussed, his
jeans and t-shirt were rumpled as if he had grabbed them from a heap on the
floor.   She gave Donovan a weak smile, feeling awkward about their
first meeting after their break-up.  “Well, I guess you were right, this
investigation wasn't over with the access to my father's papers. Donovan's
expression held sympathy for her. “Hey, I'm sorry you had to go through this.
You've had enough terrifying experiences in the last few weeks to last you a
lifetime.  Your house was completely ransacked, but nothing as far as we
could tell was missing.  The problem is we have no idea what they were
looking for.  Are you sure you don't know what they wanted?”

Alaina's irritation was obvious in her face and by the
tone of her voice.  “Believe me if I knew I’d tell you.  Do you think
I want someone tearing my house apart? Do you think I'm hiding things from
you?”

Elise and Agent Casivetti turned their attention to
Donovan and Alaina's heated discussion. The tension in the air was obvious and
neither of them was about to miss the show.

Donovan wasn't one to squirm, but he felt like he was now
under the watchful eyes of Agent Casivetti and Elise Vincent.  In a voice
meant to pacify Alaina, Donovan tried to explain his intentions.  “I
didn't mean to imply you had anything to do with Tom Simmons’ terrorist
activities.  I'm just trying to find out if he could have given you
something of his at one time.  Your father might have hidden something in
your house without your knowledge.”

Alaina shot him a suspicious look, not ready to trust
his intentions. “He might have done that, but as to the other he never gave me
anything, no gifts, nothing at all.”

Well, Donovan thought at least she's answering my
questions. “Well, if he did hide something in your house the problem is we
don't have a clue as to what it could be, which is going to make it hard to find.”

Casivetti interrupted.  “It seems to me we don't
even know if there is something to find.  What if whoever ransacked Ms.
Simmons's house is wrong, and she doesn't have anything at all?”

Donovan knew Casivetti could be right. “A valid point,
there could be something, there could be nothing, and it may or may not be
hidden at Alaina's house.”

Elise's face held a wry expression. “Now try and say
that three times fast.”  Her comment caused everyone to burst out laughing
which immediately lessoned the tension.  Alaina was relieved by her
friend's ability to diffuse such a strained situation.

Donovan could certainly appreciate why Elise and
Alaina were friends. They obviously shared the same bizarre sense of humor.
“I'll pass on that challenge, Elise.” Once again he became serious. “I guess
it's obvious we're still at square one.  The only thing we do know is
something has been overlooked in the investigation.”

Alaina was beginning to feel like she was on a roller
coaster and no one would let her get off the ride.  In fact she was
getting the terrible feeling the investigation would never be over. Giving
Donovan and Casivetti a derisive look, her tone was dry as she said, “If you
guys are the experts and you don't have a clue as to what's going on, then I'm
scared.”

Donovan knew Alaina was frightened despite the tone of
her voice.  He wanted to reassure her that she was safe, but he couldn't
do it without lying.  So instead he stuck to the truth.  “I wish I
could say we had more to go on, but for now we don't.  I'm continuing with
the investigation, it's my intention to go through your father's papers in more
detail to see if there is something in them which might tell us what we should
be looking for.”

Alaina felt the all too familiar feeling of being
trapped with no end in sight.  “Is this never going to be over?  I'm
afraid to even go home tonight.”

Donovan could certainly understand her fear. “I
wouldn't advise you to go home tonight.  You're right. It's not a safe
place for you to be.”

Elise leaned over, placing a comforting hand over
Alaina's. “You can stay with me until things blow over. I've got plenty of
room.”

Donovan interrupted.  “I wouldn't advise that
either.  If Alaina were to stay with you, it would place you in danger as
well.  As of now you don't have any involvement and it's best to keep it
that way.”

Alaina had a feeling she knew what was coming
next.  “Does this mean I have to return to the safe house?”

“I'm not sure, for tonight we can get you a hotel
room.  In the meantime forensics might make a discovery or maybe I can
find something in Tom Simmons' papers.”

Alaina sighed. “Let's hope so.”

Casivetti stood up.  “If you are going to get Ms.
Simmons a room, I'll escort Ms. Vincent home.”

Elise appeared extremely pleased by the offer.  “That's
very nice of you, but I have my car in the parking lot.”

“No problem, I'll follow behind you to make sure you
haven't been followed and you arrive home safely.” Casivetti assured Elise.

“Okay then, sounds great to me,” she said, turning
toward Alaina. She walked over gave her a hug and said, “Take care. Call me and
let me know how you are.  Don’t pull a disappearing act again either.”

“I’ll call you as soon as I can.  I'm so sorry I
got you involved in this mess.  Thanks for all your help,” Alaina said,
hoping she had not put her friend at any risk.

Elise smiled. “No problem, it was all very exciting.
Besides,” she glanced at Casivetti, “it gave me an opportunity to meet some
interesting people.”  

“Thanks, I'll talk to you soon.  Have a safe trip
back.”

Casivetti and Elise left, with Elise looking happy
with this arrangement.  Alaina turned back toward Donovan after they had
left.  “Only Elise could hook a man in this situation.”

Donovan watched the two leave with a look of amazement
on his face. “Elise is quite a unique woman. I've never seen Casivetti react to
anyone the way he did to your friend.  The guy’s an emotionless rock.”

“I'm not surprised Elise has quite an effect on men,
I've seen it a hundred times.  Although I must admit, I've never seen her
so instantly attracted to anyone before.” 

“It will be interesting to see what happens next with
those two. But enough of that for now, I guess we have some more important
things to do tonight like getting you a place to stay.”

Alaina was exhausted, but the last place she wanted to
go to was a hotel.  A thought struck her.  “Donovan, are you going to
start going through my father's papers tonight?”

He nodded, “I plan to as soon as I drop you off at a
hotel. Why do you ask?”

“Maybe I could help you go through them.  
You know two heads are better than one, not to mention faster.  Remember,
I used to do research for a living.” 

It was important for her to do something to help solve
this mess she found herself in.  She couldn't just hide in some hotel waiting
for things to resolve on their own, it just wasn't her way.

Donovan hesitated a moment before answering. His
initial reaction was to refuse her, but the more he thought about it the more
merit her suggestion had.  “I'm not sure, it would definitely be against
normal Bureau policy since those papers are evidence, but we might be able to
uncover something faster and because of your connection with Tom Simmons you
might be able to see something I don't.”  He hesitated a bit longer before
conceding.  “All right we'll go through them together. Maybe we'll get
lucky and find something the other agents missed.”

Donovan had just received the documents for his
perusal, but he hadn't had the opportunity to go through them yet.  He had
certainly never considered allowing Alaina to see the documents. Although now
the more he thought about it the more he became convinced she might be able to
find something he couldn't.  He was fairly sure his superiors wouldn't be
thrilled with the idea, but he decided he'd just have to tell them about it
later.  Just like the old saying goes he thought, better to beg for
forgiveness than ask for permission.

Alaina smiled gratefully at him, instantly convincing
Donovan he had done the right thing.  After all, anything was worth seeing
her smile at him again.  “Thanks I promise you won't regret this
decision.”

“Well, I might if my boss finds out, but let's not
worry about it now, okay?”

“Okay, so where do we go to start working?”

“Just follow me.” Donovan led Alaina to his office, which
was located just down the hall from Casivetti's. It was identical in appearance
to Casivetti's office, both in its decor and its neatness.