“Which is why you wanted me to check out your apartment.” Teren nodded. “Very good, Alex.”
“Thanks.” She grinned. “So, what now, partner?”
Teren leaned back, staring up at the ceiling. “Now, we find White, Treville, and all the other fuckers involved in this thing.” She turned her head to look at Alex. “It’s not going to be easy, though.”
“Well, if he did kill Radcliffe, he’s probably somewhere in the city. Ken said they had an APB out on him, and the airports were looking for him even more than they were looking for me. As a matter of fact, Tom and Rudy are tracking him. Maybe we should let them find him, and start with something else.”
“Like what?”
“Like the post office box for CJ. We could check that out, and see where the records lead us.”
“Good point. We could check it out tonight — less chance of people being around.”
Alex frowned. “Why not now?” She stifled a short yawn.
Teren pointed at her. “That’s why. You said yourself, you’re exhausted. I’m tired too.” Alex folded her arms and looked at Teren. “Okay, Alex, yes, I also have a headache.” They grinned at each other. “It might be better if we just slept for a while. Get over the jetlag as much as possible. When we wake up, we’ll start looking for CJ. Okay?”
The blonde head nodded, even while Alex’s hand covered her mouth in another yawn. Then she stood, and stretched.
Teren stayed on the couch, her hands on her knees and her head down. Alex noticed a strange look on her friend’s face, and stopped.
“Ter? What’s wrong?”
Teren shook her head. “Nothing. I’m fine.”
“Bullshit. What’s the matter?” Alex was startled to see Teren’s face begin to turn red. “Teren?”
Her tall partner fidgeted for a moment, then frowned, her gaze on her feet. “Alex, could I — um — stay? With you?” She hesitated. “In your room, I mean?”
“Well, you didn’t think I was going to make you sleep on the couch, did you?”
Teren glanced up to find Alex smiling at her.
The blonde woman extended a hand towards her friend. “Come on. I’ll chase your bad dreams away if you do the same for me.”
Teren smiled at that. “Deal.” She took the offered hand, letting Alex pull her from the couch and into the bedroom.
The box registered to CJ was located in a branch post office just barely inside the District of Columbia, near the Maryland border. Box owners could still retrieve their mail after working hours, as long as they had a key. However, since it was nearly eleven o’clock, there weren’t many people around.
Teren was in the passenger seat of her car, having once again lost the keys to Alex’s determination. The blue gaze went back and forth between Alex and the door of the building. Alex just stared at the post office.
“Well?”
“Well, what, Teren?”
She sighed in exasperation. “Did you bring us all the way out here, just to sit and watch the door?”
“No, of course not.”
“Then what are we waiting for?”
Alex finally turned her gaze to her partner. “Do you have a key to the lobby?”
“No, but —”
“Well, I don’t either. Kind of tough to get in there without one, huh?”
“Never stopped me before.”
One blonde eyebrow rose. “You want to break into a United States Post Office?”
“No, just the box area.” Teren glared as Alex shook her head. “Hey, you didn’t have a problem the last time I picked a lock.”
“Number one, you were picking the lock on a tomb. Number two, there weren’t a dozen cameras around. You want someone to get you on tape, picking a lock?”
“Ah, I’m good enough that they’d think I had a key.” Teren slumped down in her seat, though, and mumbled to herself.
Alex shook her head.
“So, then why are we here if we’re not going in?”
“We are going in — we’re just waiting for someone else to go in, and then as they’re leaving, we’ll slip in. Got it?”
“Uh-huh. And then what? Bust into the box? There are cameras inside too, you know.”
“Yeah, but in there they won’t be able to tell that you don’t have a key. They’d be able to see the pick at the door.”
Teren was silent, but Alex could tell she was still frustrated.
“Alex, we could be here all night. For all we know the next person in might be an employee at six in the morning or something. Why don’t we just —”
She stopped at Alex’s raised hand. “There’s someone pulling up. Looks like a single person. Get ready to move, okay?”
“Finally,” Teren grumbled.
They waited until the car was parked, and watched as a young man in a heavy black jacket got out and walked towards the door.
“Okay, as soon as he gets inside the building, we’ll — oh, hang on. Shit! I don’t believe it.”
“What?” Teren leaned forward and looked where Alex was gazing. The young man was being accosted in the middle of the parking lot by another, much taller individual. “Who the hell is that?”
Her partner looked grim. “That’s Derek White.”
Slowly, Alex opened her door. Teren did the same, and slipped around to stand behind Alex’s car.
“They don’t know who we are, Alex,” she whispered. “Let’s walk over as if we’re just going to the post office, okay?”
The blonde head nodded, and they started to cross the street.
Derek and the young man were beginning to shout at each other, and Teren could clearly hear them.
“—no, you’ve got to take me to see him! Those two sons of bitches tried to kill me, and now everyone thinks I killed Stephen. You —”
“I’m not taking you anywhere. The word’s out on you, and you can either leave or —”
“You fucking pile of —”
Teren reached for her weapon, noticing that Alex was doing the same. Her steps quickened, taking her ahead of her shorter companion.
Suddenly the shorter man reached inside his jacket, and White grabbed for his arm. The two were scuffling, and metal glinted in the light of the parking lot.
On instinct, Teren veered to the left, behind a parked car. She took aim on the men, and watched as Alex also pulled up and focused her weapon.
“Freeze! Police! Drop the weapon, and put your hands over your head!”
There was a hesitation for a split second after Alex yelled, then the struggle renewed. With a sudden punch, the short man was on the ground, and White held the gun. He turned it towards the place Alex was hiding. Teren sighted, and squeezed her trigger. The gun in White’s hand went flying as he clutched his bleeding fingers.
“Give it up, White.”
There was a look of panic on his face, and then he turned and ran. Alex took off after him, close on his heels.
The man on the ground groaned. He looked up to see Teren standing over him, her gun pointed at him, and a pair of cuffs dangling from her hand.
Alex followed White as he headed down the block, and turned a corner. She made the turn carefully, and saw her quarry halfway down the block. She thought about taking a shot at him, but even at this hour, DC wasn’t fully asleep, and she didn’t want to chance a civilian getting in the way. Besides, she wanted to take him in alive. So, instead, she picked up her pace, making sure to keep White in her vision.
Her chance finally came when he made a quick left into an alley behind a restaurant.
Perfect. Alex could see that the restaurant was still open, which would mean there would be a light behind it. With that, she could take White down if she had to.
As she approached the alleyway, she heard a loud voice cursing. She paused, peering carefully around the corner.
Derek White had trapped himself. The alley was a dead end, with a cement wall blocking his path. As Alex watched, White turned, looking for an escape or a hiding place.
Alex stepped into the alley and aimed, cocking her weapon. “Give it up, White. I’d really rather take you in alive.”
He turned, and rushed her.
For a split second, Alex hesitated. It was enough to let White get close enough to grab for her gun. She pulled away, but couldn’t avoid his fist as it lashed out. He connected with her arm, and the gun landed on the sidewalk behind her, a good ten feet away.