“Hang on.”
She stepped out of the study, found Eileen, Kim and Alex in the kitchen. Avoiding her daughter’s scrutinizing gaze, Tess put on her best carefree smile.
“See you later, guys. Soak up that knowledge.”
“Mom-” Kim said, but Tess cut her off.
“I’ll see you later, baby,” she said as she leaned in and kissed her on the temple.
“Where’s daddy?” Alex asked.
Tess glanced down at him. Curiously, he seemed worried as well. It was almost like he could also sense the tension, which, given his age, surprised Tess.
She bent down to his level and straightened the collar of his coat. “He went straight to his office, but he said to tell you he misses you a lot. Both of you. Now go on, or you’ll be late.”
She gave Alex a kiss and watched them all head out into the garage, then she hurried back to the study.
“OK,” she told Nick, “talk to me. What the hell is going on?”
“The guy Sean’s been after all this time? The guy that had Alex brainwashed?”
“Reed Corrigan.”
“Yeah. Sean won’t accept that Corrigan is a ghost. He’s still trying to find the bastard. That’s why he went to see that guy in Arlington-the guy who got shot. His name was Stan Kirby. He worked for the CIA.”
Tess’s eyes went wide. “Sean’s accused of killing a CIA agent?”
“As things stand, yes. Well, not exactly-Kirby wasn’t a field agent. He was an analyst.”
“But he didn’t do it, right?”
“Of course he didn’t. And we’re going to help him prove that. We’re going to do everything we can to find Kirby’s real killer. And I’m going to do everything I can to find Corrigan, because finding him may be the only way to prove Sean’s innocence. Everything else is on hold as of last night.”
A sense of utter dread chilled her to the core. “Sean couldn’t find him, Nick. What makes you think you can?”
“Sean was doing this alone, on the side. I’m going to use something Sean didn’t-the entire resource of the Bureau. I’ll even go see the president if I have to.”
That last sentence leapt from Sandman’s earpiece and anchored itself firmly inside Sandman’s mind.
Aparo could turn into another problem, he thought.
He was parked around a corner a hundred yards down from Reilly and Tess’s place. As he listened to the conversation taking place in the house, Sandman could just picture Tess Chaykin’s mind racing. He didn’t have video-cameras, even the tiniest pinhole ones being used for covert surveillance nowadays, had been deemed too much of a risk, in terms of detection. Someone with a keen eye like Reilly might spot them. Audio, on the other hand, was much easier to conceal and yielded the same results.
“So Sean’s been digging into this the whole time?” she said. “Since he brought Alex to live with us?”
“Yep,” he heard Aparo reply.
“And he didn’t tell you?”
“No. And believe me, I asked. I asked a lot.”
“Why wouldn’t he tell you?”
“To help me keep my job. And maybe out of prison. Same goes for you, I guess.”
“Why?”
“He was leaning on Kirby. The guy was sleeping with his wife’s sister.”
“Charming.”
A sentiment with which Sandman concurred.
Aparo didn’t comment. Instead, he added, “He’s had someone helping him out, but he won’t say who. Any ideas?”
Sandman listened as Tess thought about it, his senses alert to a key piece of the puzzle possibly dropping into his lap-then Tess said, “No.”
Sandman frowned. Still, a couple of major gaps in Reilly’s backstory with Kirby had been filled. And he thought he knew where he might find the rest of the answers he was looking for.
Tess let out a tired breath. “I knew something was eating him. All these months… I thought it was this stuff about his dad.”
“That’s part of it too. Or at least Sean believes it is. He’s got it into his head that there’s a connection between Corrigan and his dad. He thinks maybe Corrigan had something to do with his dad’s suicide.”
Tess couldn’t process what she was hearing. It was all so far-fetched. As a plot for one of her novels, she would have dismissed it out of hand. But she also knew that reality often trumped fiction-that there are things that happen in real life that are so bizarre and unexpected they’d never allow for the suspension of disbelief necessary to retell them as a story.
“I need to hear it from him.”
“Of course. That’s where we’re going.”
“OK. Let me grab my things.”
She retrieved her iPad from the kitchen and picked up a more formal jacket from the closet in the front hall. And as she headed for the front door, Tess felt a combination of dull fury and desperate sadness. Anger that the man she loved had needed to conceal all this from her-even if it was to protect her-and sorrow that she hadn’t been able to help him deal with his frustration and uncertainty.
She would do all she could to help now.
They left the house together, Aparo waving his thanks to a tall guy in shades and an FBI windcheater.
She climbed into Aparo’s car and left her house to the mercy of the Evidence Response Team.
Sandman heard his encrypted phone ring as he watched Aparo’s unmarked drive past him.
“Are you still at the target’s house?” the voice asked.
“Yes. His woman and his partner just drove off.”
“There’s another player. We need to find him.”
“I’m on it.”
“We need that laptop.”
“I figured as much. Engagement protocol?” Sandman asked.
“The partner is expendable,” the voice informed him in an even tone.
“The woman?”
“Optional.”
“Copy that.”
Sandman cut the call, fired up the engine, and pulled away from the curb.
19
The pit of Aparo’s stomach was yelling at him.
He hadn’t eaten since he’d shared a Chinese take-out delivery with his latest playmate, food they had burned off shortly afterwards by a couple of hours of mutual cardio workout. And much as he’d enjoyed that, much as he was looking forward to seeing her again, he was glad he’d turned down her offer to spend the night, as it meant he’d been there in his partner’s hour of need.
He turned to Tess. “I haven’t eaten since yesterday. Anywhere we can stop for me to grab a bite?”
“There’s a nice café just after the CVS up ahead. They do decent take-out sandwiches.”
A quarter of a mile later, Aparo pulled into a parking space.
“Can I get you anything?”
“I’m good,” Tess replied.
“Did you eat this morning? It’s probably going to be a long day.”
Tess shook her head. “I’m OK, thanks.”
“A coffee at least?”
She smiled. “No, mom.”
“O-kay.”
Aparo climbed out and walked toward the café.
He reached the door just ahead of a guy in a fedora and a heavy winter coat who was heading in too. Aparo nudged the door open behind him so it didn’t swing back into the man’s path.
The place was clearly popular. Many of the small tables were taken by singles or duos, several of them working at their laptops. Aparo went straight to the counter, where three people were ahead of him. He glanced at the list of offerings as he waited his turn, then ordered the speciaclass="underline" sausage and tomato omelet in a baguette, with a large coffee, black.
“Double quick, please,” he said as he handed a ten dollar bill to the ponytail/goatee in the black T-shirt behind the counter. “And keep the change.”
He stepped aside to let the guy in the fedora order.
As he waited, he scrolled through his messages and emails. His inbox was heaving, but there was nothing there that couldn’t wait till he was at the office.
His attention was diverted by a waitress behind the counter who was holding out two brown-paper bags. “Bacon on rye… and an omelet baguette.”
Aparo reached for his order, but as he took it, the guy in the fedora reached across him, knocking Aparo’s bag to the floor.