Her instincts took over. As he threw a punch, she ducked, landing a jab on his jaw. He swung again, but Alex danced back, then sent a kick towards his face. It connected, and he staggered backward.
Shaking himself, White came forward again. Alex saw him glance toward her gun, and she stepped over slightly to keep herself between him and the weapon. He glared at her, and threw a punch. Once again, Alex ducked under it, this time landing a solid blow to his solar plexus. He collapsed.
Teren was putting her cuffed prisoner in the backseat when another car pulled into the parking lot. It had government plates, and she tensed.
Two men got out of the car, and began walking towards her. “Aren’t you Teren Mylos?”
She moved forward a little and nodded. “Yeah. Why?”
“Well, you’re helping out a friend of ours.” One of the men reached into his jacket pocket, and Teren reflexively went for her weapon. “Easy. Just wanted to show you my badge.” He flipped open a small wallet to show her an FBI Identification. “Tom Jorgen. We’re on the task force with Alex.”
Teren nodded again, but didn’t relax. “Nice to meet you. What are you doing here?”
“Well, my partner Rudy and I,” he pointed to the other man, who was hanging back several feet, “we were assigned to bring in Derek White. But he kept giving us the slip.” He shrugged. “We got a tip that he might show up here. Have you seen him?”
“Never met him.” There was a prickling sensation on the back of her neck. She could swear she heard chuckling from the prisoner in the car. “What made you think he’d stop here?”
“Well, it was just a tip.” Tom looked past her into the car. “Who do we have there?”
“A suspect.”
“In what?”
Teren shrugged. “Caught him fighting with someone. He didn’t want to listen, so now he’s under arrest.”
“But, you’re CIA. You can’t arrest anyone.”
Another shrug. “Citizen’s arrest. I hate people who don’t listen to reason.” She noticed the other agent moving sideways, as if to flank her, and she tensed again.
“Well, since we’re here, and we have the authority, why don’t you let us take the prisoner off your hands. I’m sure you don’t want to spend the night filling out paperwork at the police station. We’ll just take him downtown and save you the trouble.”
Teren was finding the man’s smile irritating. “It’s no trouble. Should be a new experience.”
Tom laughed, but it sounded hollow. “Now, Agent Mylos. You don’t really want to do that. Besides, there’s no witnesses, so it’ll be your word against his. Plus,” he looked around, “I don’t see anyone he could have been fighting with. Do you, Rudy?”
“Nope. No one, Tom.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. He’s already on his way to the station. In fact,” she made a show of checking her watch, “I should really get moving myself. Nice of you guys to offer, but I can manage.” She backed up and waved. “Thanks again. Good luck finding this White guy.”
Tom stepped forward, his hand inside his jacket. “I’m afraid I can’t allow you to do that, Agent Mylos.” He drew his gun. “Now, we’ll take the prisoner. Open the door, please.”
She sighed. “Okay. If that’s what you really want me to do.” Teren leaned against the front door, and reached to open the back. As she did so, she watched Tom’s eyes carefully. As she suspected, his gaze was drawn to the movement of the door, and he never saw her draw her gun.
“Oh, Tom.” He looked back at her to find her .45 staring at him. “I think you and your friend had better put down your guns, don’t you?”
His answer was to raise his weapon.
Alex had Derek White cuffed, and standing. He wasn’t being cooperative, though, and had tried to kick her several times. She was seriously considering knocking him unconscious and going to get the car.
Besides, she was worried about her partner.
“Would you stop it? I really don’t want to beat the shit out of you, but I will if you don’t stop squirming.”
“Why don’t you just shoot me? Or are you going to torture me first? Maybe burn me alive, like you did my wife, huh?”
“What are you talking about? Who burned your wife?”
“You’re FBI, aren’t you? You work for CJ!”
He squirmed again, getting himself turned around, and tried once again to kick her. Alex felt a blast of cold anger, and blocked his kick. Then, with all the power she could muster, she drove her knee into his groin, letting him fall back to the ground.
White curled up on his side, mewling in pain. For a moment, Alex was tempted to hit him again, but she shook her head and knelt beside him, forcing his eyes to hers.
“My badge has been pulled, Mr. White. So you’re facing one very pissed off ex-FBI agent. Now, I suggest a little cooperation is in order. Unless you like pain?” She pulled her arm back, aiming a punch at his crotch.
He moaned and shook his head. After several breaths, he coughed, and then looked up at her, grimacing.
“You’re not with those other two?”
“What other two?”
“The two that came to Alabama. They said they were FBI, and they were there to arrest me. But they shot my father-in-law, and set a bomb to blow up the factory. They told me CJ wanted me dead.”
“You got out?”
“They left me tied up in my office. I managed to get out, as did most everyone else. But I ran into my secretary, and she said my wife had gone in looking for me, and no one had seen her since the blast.”
“So, it was her body.”
He nodded, and Alex let out a breath.
“Do you know who CJ is?”
“No. I’ve met him, and I know he works for the FBI, but I don’t know anything else. I don’t even know how to contact him.”
“What were doing here tonight?”
“I knew he had to have someone pick up his mail from his P.O. box. Thought I could talk the guy into taking me to see him.” His face twisted. “Looks like CJ put the word out, though, and everyone wants my blood.”
“Why did you kill Radcliffe?”
White struggled to sit up. “I didn’t. I swear! I was in my car, driving up here, when I heard the news. Then when they said I was wanted for questioning, I knew I’d been framed. So, now if I turn myself in, no one will believe me, because I’m wanted for murder. And if I stay out here, I’m dead. CJ or one of the others will find me eventually.” His shoulder sagged. “Might as well have let them kill me in ‘bama.”
Alex nodded, and made her decision. She grabbed him by his short hair, and yanked his head back. “I’m not gonna kill you. And I’m gonna give you the chance to prove you didn’t kill the guy. But I swear, if you give me any more trouble, or you lie to me, I’ll leave you on a street corner and take out an ad telling CJ where he can find you. Got it?”
They locked gazes for a moment. White opened his mouth as if to speak, but the fire in Alex’s eyes made him close it with a sigh. He nodded, defeat crossing his face.
As she was hauling him to his feet, there was a series of gun shots, and Alex paused, staring back towards the corner.
Teren.
There were sirens in the distance and closing fast when Teren finally saw Alex round the corner. She breathed a sigh of relief and punched the gas pedal, pulling the car to a stop beside her partner and Derek White.
Alex pulled the back door open, and pushed White inside. He slid onto the back seat without a protest. As Alex got into the front, Teren watched White’s face, which was turning very pale.
Once the door was closed, Teren threw the car into drive, and took off.
“What happened, Teren?”
“Seems someone didn’t want us to talk to these guys. Couple of men stopped in and tried to take my prisoner off my hands.”
Alex glanced at the back. “Did they succeed?”
“In taking him? No. He’s back there. But unfortunately, they managed to put a bullet thru his brains. He won’t be telling us much.”