Chapter 23

Em followed behind Jep as they stepped off the elevator.

"Where is everyone?" she said, looking around the empty office.

"It must be all hands on deck at the apartment." He headed to Lawson's office but found it empty. "Lawson's gone too," he said when he returned to Em.

"What do we do?"

Jep pulled out his phone. "Just a second." Lawson's phone went to voicemail. "Lawson, I need you to call me as soon as possible. Emery and I have found something. It's urgent."

"Emery!" Gardener called across the office. "Thank goodness you're okay." She hurried over, not looking at Jep. "When I heard about what happened, I thought the worst. I had to tell Lawson about what you did."

"That's okay." She knew Jep would have no trouble acting like they knew nothing, but her skin was crawling.

"He was…upset, but I thought you were in trouble or worse. I'm so sorry. I know I said I'd cover for you."

"Don't worry about it. You did the right thing. Luckily, neither one of us was hurt."

"I'm so glad I insisted Agent Booth came with you."

"I would be dead if he hadn't." She hoped Gardener couldn't hear the coldness in her voice.

"Were you able to find anything?"

"No," Jep said. "We didn't get anything. It was another dead end. The bomb destroyed anything of value."

"That's too bad."

"Where is everyone?" Em said.

"I don't have much in the way of details, but while you guys didn't find anything, apparently, someone else on the team did."

"Do you know what it was?" Jep said.

"I'm not sure, but listen, since you're here, could you have a look at something for me?"

Em looked at Jep.

"What is it?" he said.

"I've been going over some of the other information we've gathered, and I think I've found a link. I'll show you." She turned and headed back to her office.

"Should we go?" Em whispered.

"It would look weird if we don't. And I'm curious to know what she supposedly found. If she's trying to lead us astray, it's more proof of her involvement. And I'm perfectly capable of putting her in handcuffs until Lawson gets back if we need to."

"But what if we get it wrong?"

"I'd rather get it wrong than let her go if we're right. I've got no problem apologizing. Everyone already hates me anyway, so it wouldn't change anything."

He headed across the bullpen, and Em wasn't far behind.

When they entered the office, Em glanced at the statue. She wanted to see Jep's reaction to it but was afraid of drawing any attention.

"Here," Gardener said, handing Jep a few papers, and then she turned her computer screen around. "Our techs recovered some writing off a burnt file we found. There's a similar date there to other documents."

"Yeah, I see that. Any idea what it's referring to?"

"Maybe it's the date of another attack?"

"Could be. That was a good catch. Well done. Do we have any information about where it could be?"

"Still looking into it. You guys sure there was nothing at the apartment you can remember that would give us any clue?"

Was Gardener digging? Did she suspect them?

"No," Em said. "There was a journal, but we dropped it when we were making our escape." She looked at the statue again, and Gardener caught it.

"You like it?"

"Uh. Sure. I mean, not really. It's not really my taste." She laughed nervously, then cleared her throat.

"Where'd you get it?" Jep said

"An overseas trip I took recently."

"Cambodia, right?" Em said.

"You've always been good at paying attention to the details," Gardener said.

"They must have those statues in every market in the country."

"This one and about a hundred other designs."

"What made you pick that one specifically?"

Gardener lifted it and looked it over. "I don't know. I liked the look of it, I guess. Why are you so interested?"

"Just curious."

"You want to know what I'm curious about? Worried, actually."

Em bit her lip, then released it. "What?"

Gardener looked at Jep. "At first, I thought the idea of Em going out into the field was a good one." She rested the statue against her hip. "But then, for some reason, everything always went wrong."

"What are you talking about?" Em said. "Everything was going wrong before he turned up. Agents were killed. Files had gone missing." She felt like the air had been punched out of her lungs when she realized her slip. She should have let Jep do this on his own.

"What files?" Gardener said.

"Documents go missing all the time," Jep said, giving Em a warning look.

"You mentioned that to me before, Miss Chapman," Gardener said. "You asserted that you remembered the details wrong. Has something changed?"

"No," Em said. "All I mean is that Jep being a part of this team hasn't made things worse."

"They're certainly not better. We almost lost you today."

"Only because they found out that Jep and I were there."

"How do you think that happened?"

"I don't know." She looked at Jep, unsure how to move forward. She'd revealed too much, and now she was making things worse by trying to fix it.

"They could have been watching," Gardener said.

"Yes. That's probably what happened."

"If not that, then who could have told them? Who knew you were going?" Gardener's voice was steady. Curious.

"It's not something we can answer right now," Jep said. "We've got work to do, but thanks for showing us what you found."

"No problem."

When Jep turned, his hand moved to his gun, but Gardener responded first and swung her arm around. Jep caught it at the last second and ducked, but it connected with his head, and he fell to the floor, unconscious.

Em thought she had screamed but couldn't remember hearing the sound of it. Gardener shoved her back against the wall.

"Be smart and don't move."

"What have you done?" Em couldn't recognize her own voice.

Gardener shook her head. "If you had been satisfied to stay at your desk instead of traipsing around the city with Agent Booth, none of this would have happened."

"He needs a doctor."

"No. I don't have a problem if he dies."

Em thought she might throw up. "Please."

"You're a real pill, you know that? I thought you had potential. I mean, you've always irritated me with that goody-two-shoes thing you've got going on, but I thought you would prove useful."

"How? I'm no one."

"Until Jep arrived and flipped everything on its head. Having you by his side I thought would prove useful. And all I had to do to get your full cooperation was give you a little positive reinforcement. It was cute that you thought I'd suddenly become your best friend. Unfortunately, you turned out to be a bigger problem than asset."

Em's stomach churned. "And this whole time it was you." Her mind spun with scenarios as she tried to put the pieces together so she could see the web clearly, but it was all mixed up. She had fallen for it. If Jep died, it would be her own fault.

"I really am that good."

"But you sent people to kill us. Me. You know me. You might not like me, but you know me."

"What was I supposed to do? I knew I wasn't going to talk you out of going, and I couldn't risk you finding anything. You're too clever for your own good, really. Stupid. But clever. That made you a liability, and the best way to fix that was to continue with the narrative we'd set into motion already. Agent dies at the hand of terrorists. It's been working for us so far."

"Us?"

Gardener smiled. It was the same smile she always had, but somehow now it was cold. Almost evil.

"So you did mess with the files?" Em said.

"Congratulations, you solved the puzzle, and the only prize at the end of the rainbow is death. I hope you're satisfied."

Gardener took out her phone and made a call while she kept her eyes on Em. "Hey," she said to whoever was on the other end. "We have a situation." She listened for a second, then hung up.

"Why are you doing this?"

"While I was in Cambodia, I had a religious experience akin to—no, I'm kidding, but you should see your face. No dramatic religious zealotry here, I'm afraid. I am one hundred percent an atheist. But they do pay well, those fanatics."

"This all started in Cambodia?"

"Oh, no. This has been a long game plan. I've been working quietly behind the scenes for a couple of years now. Not from the beginning. There was a time when I had the ridiculous notion of doing good in this world."

"Did you meet my sister in Cambodia?"

"I did. Not too bright, that one. Desperate, though. Both of you. You looked to Jesus, and Jade looked to Mohammad. Both of you filling a hole."

"Jesus and Mohammad are not the same."

"Whatever. I don't really care. It all stems from the same place. What is it? Mommy issues or daddy issues? Because she was almost begging for someone to give her the love she never had at home."

"We all have baggage."

"Sure, but some of us deal with them in better ways."

"You mean like you?"

"As one example, yes." Gardener said

"You deal with your problems by assisting in the murder of innocent people?"

"I never killed anyone."

"You helped to do it."

"That's semantics. They don't tell me why I do stuff. They just give me orders and pay for all the nice things in life. It's a pretty good deal."

"You know exactly what you were mixed up in. You just don't care."

"Could be. By the way, out of curiosity, how'd you figure it out?"

"The statue. Jade had one just like it at the apartment."

"Did she? Huh. I had no idea. So you did get something good there after all. Too bad no one else will know about it."

"You won't get away with this."

"I guess that's what you have to say, right? It's written in the rule book. I'm afraid that real life isn't like fairy tales, Miss Chapman."

"Hey." Pearce entered the room. "I've been looking—" He saw Jep on the floor and pulled his weapon.

"Pearce!" Em said. "She?—"

"He attacked me," Gardener said. "He went crazy when I showed him that we found information connected to when the next attack might be coming."

"She's lying," Em said. "She's in on this whole thing, Pearce. You have to believe me."

"After I knocked him out, Emery threatened me," Gardener continued. "She said they were going to rescue Jade, and she wouldn't let me stop them."

"That's ridiculous," Em said. "She's the one?—"

"Everyone calm down," Pearce said, but he kept his weapon drawn.

"She knew about Jep and I going to the apartment," Em said.

"You were at the apartment?" Pearce said. "Jep told me he was alone."

"He didn't want me getting in trouble. I asked Gardener to cover for me, and then we were attacked at the apartment because she told them we would be there."

Pearce looked at Gardener, who scoffed. "You don't actually believe her."

"Yes, actually. But that doesn't mean I won't do my due diligence. Gardener, if you're telling the truth, you will be exonerated, but for right now, Emery's not the one holding the weapon." He nodded toward the statue, and she set it on the desk.

"I was defending myself," she said.

He pulled a pair of cuffs and tossed them to her. "Cuff yourself to the desk."

"Pearce," she said. "I'm not going to handcuff?—"

"Now," he said, aiming a hard stare at her along with his gun until she complied.

"Fine. But you're making a mistake."

"I'll take my chances."

After she was secure, he went to Jep and checked his pulse.

"We have to call an ambulance," Em said.

"He's alive." He pulled a pair of cuffs from Jep's belt and cuffed him to a leg of the desk as well.

"What are you doing? He needs medical attention."

"I know. And I'll get it." He took Jep's gun and secured it in his hip holster. "But as much as I trust you, I have to do this right. It's still your word against hers right now. I need to make sure everyone's secure until I confirm what's happening."

"You going to cuff me to the desk as well?"

"No, you're coming with me."

"Where?"

"To check on your sister."

"She's fine. Jep needs a doctor."

"He's been hit harder than that before. He'll be okay."

"That doesn't even make sense."

He pulled out his phone. "Hi, I've got a medical emergency in Sylvia Gardener's office. Please send up a medic, but keep him cuffed. He's a suspect, and so is Ms. Gardener." He hung up. "Let's go."

"I'm not going to leave him like this."

"Em, I'm sorry. Someone will be up soon. This is too important. If you've been involved in Jade's escape?—"

"I'm not."

"Good. The faster we confirm it, the faster we can clear all this up."

She looked at Jep. Blood was matting the back of his head. It was too much. His body could only take so much.

"Em," Pearce said. "Please don't make me force you."

She turned on him. "Pearce, you know me."

"I know Gardener too. Longer than you. Please. I've got a job to do, and I'm going to do it properly."

"Where's Lawson?"

"He's on his way back now. When he arrives, we'll fill him in."

Em looked back at Jep. "Once you know Jade is still locked up, we'll come back?"

"Immediately."

"Fine, then let's make this quick."