Chapter 10

10

L eo could see that Sasha was fading fast. He handed her two painkillers and a cup of chamomile tea and sent her upstairs with instructions to have a hot bath, drink the tea, and read a few chapters of her book before turning in. In part, he wanted her to rest, and in part, he wanted talk to Hank in private.

Once he heard the tub filling, he opened the link Hank had sent him earlier. His friend and longtime boss’s face appeared on his computer screen.

“You two okay?” he said without preamble.

“Yeah, like I said in my text, we got banged up but the other guys are in worse shape.”

Hank laughed but there was no humor in it. “You gonna file a police report?”

“Do you think there’s any point?”

“Eh, maybe. I made some inquiries. Nobody’s heard of Boone or this lawyer, Simmons. CEO’s had some issues in other states out west, but this local outfit isn’t well organized—almost certainly not capable of giving you and Sasha a real fight, which it sounds like you got.”

“We did. If it’s not CEO, do you have any theories?”

“I wish I did.” Hank’s expression was rueful.

“For the past few days, Sasha’s thought she was being followed.”

“What?” He leaned in, his taut, worried face filling the screen.

“Long story. But, whoever they are, they must have a team because nobody followed us from the restaurant. I’d have noticed a tail because I was looking for one.”

Hank rubbed his forehead. “They were waiting for you in the alley.”

“Right, which means they had a surveillance team and comms.”

“You thinking it’s a foreign power?”

“Maybe. Or one of the agencies. Maybe they thought we were getting close to unmasking them. Maybe that’s why they shut us down.”

Hank considered the theory and then shook his head. “We barely scratched the surface.”

“We know that. But maybe they don’t.”

“Keep your head down. I’ll be back on Sunday. Next week, we’ll visit Homeland Security and get some answers.”

“How? We’re not supposed to disclose what we were doing for the FISA Court.”

“They should have thought of that before they gave us the axe.”

“This is a dangerous game. You’re going to burn bridges.”

“Yeah, well, let the light of the bridges I burn guide our way if your family’s in danger. Speaking of your family, what are you going to tell the twins? Because your face looks even uglier than usual with that cut on it.” He grinned widely.

“Ouch,” he joked back “Sasha’s going to have a bruised cheekbone, too. Luckily Fiona and Finn were having dinner with Sasha’s brother’s family. Riley and Ryan are going to keep them for the night.”

“Consider having them stay with their aunt and uncle through the weekend if you can.”

Leo twisted his mouth to the side. “That might be excessive.”

“Until we know what we’re dealing with, Leo, nothing’s excessive. At least think about it.”

“I will. And you keep your head on a swivel, too. Because if we did stir a hornet’s nest, whoever this is won’t have any trouble finding you and your kids.”

Hank’s face was grim, but he nodded briskly. “I know. I’ll talk to you when we get back.”

“Try to enjoy the rest of your vacation.”

As they said their goodbyes, Leo heard the tub draining. His adrenaline had long since ebbed, too, so he decided to turn in early. He walked through the first floor turning off lights and checked every window and door to make sure that they were all locked up. Then he called for the dog, and they started up the stairs. Java raced past them in a flash of gray to take the lead.

Sasha was already asleep when the trio padded into the bedroom.