The Rescue(40)

“That’s what insurance is for.”

“You’re going to need more than property insurance with the Russians involved,” said Reeves. “This might be a good time to bid Mr. Decker adieu and book a one-way flight to Thailand. Hang out in a beach bungalow for a month until this settles. I’d hate to see you burn up in this man’s orbit. A lot of people count on the work you do here. I mean that.”

Decker sensed an opportunity to start Reeves down a path that might help them in the long run. “It’s not the Russians,” he said.

“Really?” said Reeves. “Kind of hard not to connect those dots.”

“What do you know about Aegis Global?”

Harlow gave him a puzzled look, which he ignored.

“Is that a rhetorical question, or do you want a detailed answer?” said Reeves.

“I saw someone connected to Aegis this morning, out in Riverside.”

“You were in Riverside?” said Reeves. “That’s awfully close to the dead Russian in Hemet. The coincidences keep piling up. What brought you to Riverside?”

“Ares Aviation.”

“Ares Aviation? You looking to take flying lessons?” Reeves pretended to check his watch. “I don’t think you’re going to have time to check that off your bucket list.”

“It’s an Aegis-owned corporation.”

“Let me get this straight before I run it up to the director of the FBI. You saw someone connected to Aegis at an Aegis-owned company.”

“I saw an old colleague of mine. Gunther Ross. I heard he’s running some serious stuff for Aegis these days. Off-the-books stuff. My bet is that you’re going to find a lot of interesting connections to Aegis around town. They keep popping up around me.”

“Along with a lot of corpses.”

“There’s more to the Steele kidnapping than the Russians.”

Reeves shook his head. “Decker. Again, I’m truly sorry about what happened to your family. To everyone. But you pissed off the wrong people and they rained hellfire down on you. It’s as brutally simple as that. And now it’s over. Revenge has been served. Time to stand down.”

“I’m the only one left that can make this right.”

Something crossed the agent’s face, vanishing just as quickly. Decker recognized it immediately. A momentary flash of smugness. A secret self-satisfaction triggered by Decker’s comment.

“See you tomorrow, or maybe later tonight.”

“Can’t wait,” he said.

“I’ll show myself out,” said the agent, shutting the door behind him.

“I might need something a little stronger than beer,” said Harlow, her hands trembling slightly.

“Meet you on the balcony,” said Decker. “I’m not letting him spoil my first beer in nineteen months.”

“Maybe we should pound them all,” she said. “Might be our last for a while.”

While Harlow headed for the balcony, he locked and secured the door, checking the image still displayed on the security panel. Reeves stood in front of the door for a minute, appearing to argue with himself. They’d need to leave the apartment quickly before Reeves changed his mind. When the FBI agent walked away, Decker joined Harlow on the balcony, taking in the cool saltwater breeze. She handed him one of the beers and clinked his bottle.

“Do you think they’re listening to us?” she said.

“Probably not. But we should head inside after finishing these beers. Just in case. Sorry about your apartments.”

“It’s not the first time this job has lashed back at me.”

“This isn’t your typical backlash,” Decker said before sucking down half of his beer.

“I knew this would be a rough ride,” she said. “I’m a big girl.”

Harlow produced her phone and started tapping the screen.

“Instagram?” he said.

“Like you know what Instagram is,” she said. “No. I’m making arrangements for dinner.”

“Immediate arrangements, I hope,” he said. “Reeves looked like he was having second thoughts about my incarceration status.”

“Actually, this is going to work out nicely,” said Harlow, furiously texting.





CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Reeves walked out of the apartment building and approached the group of agents standing on the sidewalk next to the street, under a canopy of palm trees. Special Agent Kincaid broke away and approached him on the walkway.

“Anything?” said Kincaid.

“He said they were out in Riverside this morning, at Ares Aviation.”

“You gotta be kidding me. That wasn’t enough to grab him?”

“I don’t want to jump the gun on this,” said Reeves. “Technically, we don’t have any evidence linking him to a crime. For all we know, the Bureau of Prisons will never figure out what happened. If I grab him now, without something solid, a good lawyer could tie this up for months.”

“The warden said he never endorsed a compassionate-release waiver, and the US attorney’s office canceled the request to transfer Decker to the Metropolitan Detention Center. That’s enough to sit him in an interrogation room for forty-eight hours. Long enough for BOP to unscrew themselves.”