I felt a small twinge of relief as I pictured her saying that while looking at Deutsch, who’d be nodding sympathetically.
Relief-and hope.
She definitely got my message.
22
Tess kept her nerves in check as Annie Deutsch swept the Chevy into the employee entrance by the small playground at Federal Plaza.
She’d never done anything like this before-anything that could land her with some serious jail time. She tried not to allow the possibility any room to breathe, and kept pounding it back every time it did a Whack-A-Mole on her. She needed to do this.
Reilly needed her to do this.
She followed in Deutsch’s shadow as the agent escorted her through the busy lobby and across to the line of bulletproof doors that protected the FBI's separate set of elevators. There, Deutsch fast-tracked her through the metal detector and a quick handbag search at security. The pills did trigger a curious pause, but given everything that had happened, it was perfectly normal for her to have some headache capsules with her.
They rode the elevator up in silence, then Tess followed as Deutsch led her through. The floor was quiet, though there were still several agents at their desks. With each step, she felt her strength draining away. It was all becoming more real and more irreversible. She couldn’t help but worry if any of it was going to work, and had to suppress a strong urge to turn around and hightail it out of the building. It was a bad enough risk for Reilly, but she knew she was potentially compromising her own freedom and any chance that Kim and Alex would have of her being around for the next few years. But then she flashed again on all the times that Reilly had saved her life-from the trunk of the car at the Vatican; from the explosives-laden vest in Turkey; from drowning when De Angelis sank the dive boat in the hell of that Biblical storm. She owed him this, no matter the cost-and she owed herself the chance of being with the man she’d chosen, both of them free from the terrible weight that was transforming Reilly into someone she barely recognized.
Within minutes, they were at the door of the interview room.
Through the glass, Tess glimpsed Reilly, sitting there in the bare room. He sensed her and looked up, and their eyes met. A gale of mixed emotions rushed through her: a short-lived elation at finally seeing him, being within reach of his arms, his lips, his solid embrace, that was quickly eclipsed by the paralyzing visceral dread of seeing her Reilly, her Special Agent, her uncompromising champion of law and order, locked away like some petty criminal.
Deutsch was about to punch the keypad and usher Tess in to Reilly’s interview room when a heavily built man Tess had never met decided to butt in.
“Hold on there, Annie,” he said, obviously addressing Deutsch. “I assume this is Reilly’s other half?” He looked at Tess. “Miss Chaykin, right?”
Deutsch’s fingers hovered at the keypad while Tess studied him, her instincts telling her the guy was bad news.
He put out his hand. “Nat Lendowski,” he said. “But everyone calls me Len.”
Lendowski. So this was the cretin Reilly had talked about, the guy who’d harassed Deutsch at the bar.
Tess shook his hand warily.
“I’m sorry we’re meeting under such grim circumstances,” he told her, “but I’m glad you’re OK.”
Tess nodded politely. “Thanks.”
Lendowski indicated the interview room with a flick of his head. “Bet he’ll be happy to see you. It’s been a long night.”
“Been long for us all,” Tess replied. She glanced at Deutsch, sending her an unspoken prompt to move along and get her to Reilly.
“OK then,” Deutsch said as she turned and started pressing the keypad-
Lendowski interjected, “Hang on, you’re not letting her take that in with her, are you?”
Deutsch stopped, and she and Tess turned to face him, momentarily confused.
He was pointing at Tess’s handbag.
“Excuse me?” Tess said.
“Your handbag,” he told her. “You can’t take that in with you.”
Deutsch held both palms up, irritated, and said, “Len, for God’s sake, are you serious? She was cleared by security-”
“Annie,” he interrupted her, firmly. “He’s being held for questioning. About a murder.”
“His partner just died,” Deutsch countered, her tone sharp. “She was in the car with him.”
“Irrelevant,” he replied. “Security protocols still apply. You remember them, don’t you?” He wasn’t bothering to mask the condescension in his tone.
He kept his gaze on her, and waited.
Tess turned to Deutsch. “It’s not a problem.”
“No, this is ridiculous-”
“Annie. It’s fine,” Tess insisted. She peeled the strap off her shoulder and handed her bag over to Lendowski. “I assume it’ll be safe with you?”
“I wouldn’t be too sure,” Annie put in, scowling at her partner.
“I’ll guard it with my life,” Lendowski grinned.
Tess nodded, then spread her arms out wide, so they were horizontal. “I suppose you’re going to want to frisk me too?”
Lendowski went rigid, visibly taken aback by the unexpected offer. Tess just stood there, teasingly, one eyebrow slightly raised, her arms spread wide, her stare locked on him, challenging him, totally serious about it.
She watched as Lendowski’s eyes jumped over to Deutsch and back, a flicker of nervousness. He opened his mouth slightly, a lag between that and the words coming out. “No,” he said. “That won’t be necessary.”
“You sure? Protocol and what not?” she goaded him.
“That’s fine,” he said, somewhat sheepishly.
“OK then.” Tess turned to Deutsch, a minuscule glint of victory brightening her face. “Can I see him now?”
“Of course.”
Deutsch punched the code in and the door clicked open. The two women stepped inside.
Reilly was already on his feet, and Tess didn’t wait for an invitation. She brushed past Deutsch and flung her arms around Reilly’s neck, pulling him into a tight embrace and kissing him on the mouth.
“Tess, please,” Deutsch told her. “No touching.”
“Oh, baby. It’s so good to see you,” she said as she pulled back, ignoring Deutsch’s comment and keeping her arms still around him. She cupped his face with her hands, held them there for a moment, then slid them together behind his neck.
“Thank God you’re all right,” Reilly told her.
“It was horrible, Sean. Just horrible.”
She kept her arms around his neck. Which earned her another rebuke from Deutsch. “Tess. You need to step back from him.”
Tess glanced back at her. “Yes, yes, I’m sorry.”
She needed to move fast.
What Deutsch couldn’t see, what Tess made sure she couldn’t see, was what her hands were doing.
Rummaging into the fold of the cuff of her shirt.
Pulling out the two gelatin capsules she’d hidden there during her quick visit to the house, the ones she’d hastily emptied of whatever supplement they contained-turmeric, was it?-before refilling them with the brownish powder she’d taken out of the stainless steel vial Reilly kept tucked away behind a loose panel in his cupboard, the vial he’d brought back from Mexico.
The vial she and Reilly referred to as the “cigar tube”.
“No cigar.”
The two capsules were now tucked inside her right hand. It was time to pass them to Reilly.
She slid her arms down and took both his hands in hers. “We’re going to beat this, right? We’re going to get you home soon?”
“Tess,” Deutsch repeated. “Come on.”
“OK,” Tess said, and complied-but not before she’d slipped the two capsules to Reilly.