Seeing Red(100)

She shifted her legs to rub against his.

“Not that I’m complaining,” he growled. Then he turned serious again. “The Major asked about you. I told him you were safely back in Dallas, which at the time I thought you were. He accused me of driving you away. As usual, we got into it.”

“I hate that you got into it over me.”

“Wasn’t over you.” He smiled without humor. “He started out by telling me he thought my conspiracy theory had legs and that he admired my integrity.”

She leaned up, at attention. “That’s good.”

“For a few minutes there, I thought so. I’d been waiting a long time to hear him say he thought I was right about something. Anything. Any fucking thing. The weather forecast. So you can imagine my astonishment when he commended me for having integrity. But then he told me I should let go of my obsession, drop it, and get a life.”

“That’s contradictory.”

“Damn sure is.”

She waited for him to add whatever it was that had caused his brows to pull together in a frown, but he didn’t. She rolled onto her stomach and came up on her elbows so they could talk face-to-face.

“Was there anyone in your division of the ATF, or an FBI agent, anyone who believed in you and your suspicions about Wilcox?”

“There were a handful who didn’t laugh out loud.”

“You could take what you have on that flash drive, plus the cell phone recording I made of Wilcox, go to someone you trust, and lay it all out.”

He was shaking his head before she finished. “The number one rule of bureaucracy is CYA. If they even saw me coming, any of my former associates would use both hands to cover their asses. They remember what happened to Marianne.”

“I’ll go with you. They wouldn’t laugh at you with me there. They’d fear a media smear campaign.”

He took her hand and kissed the palm. “I appreciate the gesture. But—”

“You have to do this alone.”

“Not out of vanity, Kerra. It’s not that, I swear. It’s that I’ve got to be right. There’s no guarantee that I’ll get even one more shot. But if I do, it has to count. I must have Wilcox’s balls in one hand and his goddamn insurance policy, whatever that is, in the other.”

“Wilcox said he wouldn’t give up anything until you can guarantee him immunity.”

“I know.” He sighed. “It’s called an impasse.”

“How are you going to break it?”

“Hell if I know.”

They were quiet for a time, but she could practically hear the gears grinding in his mind. She reached up to smooth out his brow. “You could let the dust settle for a while, Trapper.”

“That’s what I’ve been doing for three years, and I’m choking on it.” He gave a small shake of his head. “I gotta get this off me, Kerra. Not that my life counts for much, but yours does. Now it’s not just The Major I’m worried about. If I turned my back on you, on this, and one day you were found—”

He didn’t go on, but she filled in the blank, and it was troubling to acknowledge that she was vulnerable.

Speaking softly, but with ferocity, he said, “It’s gotta be now.”

She leaned over and bit him gently on the shoulder. “I knew you’d say that. And if The Major expects you to drop it, he doesn’t know you at all.” She wished to say more. Emotions were welling up in her throat, her heart, but she kept them to herself for now. “Why did you go out to his house?”

“I have an itch I can’t scratch.”

“Pardon?”

“Hear me out.”

“I’m listening.”

“They’ve got Leslie Duncan behind bars, which is a frame. They say they’re looking for his accomplice, who doesn’t exist.”

“You could be wrong, Trapper.”

“Okay, say I am. Let’s say Duncan is guilty as hell. He and his unsub did the deed.”

“Maybe the unsub was his girlfriend.”

He arched an eyebrow with skepticism, but said, “All right, let’s go with that. Who was the third person?”

“The one who tried to open the bathroom door? Maybe that was the girlfriend, and the unsub was the man who asked the question.”

“We won’t know until he’s apprehended. And that’s my itch. His apprehension. To my knowledge, nobody is even looking for a third person. When’s the last time you even heard it mentioned?”

“Not since I was last questioned.”

“See what I mean? Glenn hadn’t even told The Major there was a third suspect.”

“The house didn’t turn up any clues? Were you looking for something specific?”

“Point of entry. I didn’t find it, but it wasn’t a wasted trip.” He told her about his encounter with the deputy.

“Jenks?” she repeated when he told her his name.

“Met him?”

“I don’t think so. I’m not matching a face to that name.”

“He was guarding your hospital room the night I brought you the flowers. Today he pops up at The Major’s house, while I just happen to be there, except I don’t think it was happenstance at all. I’m almost positive he’s been tracking you.”