“Alright. You might wanna start, though, by telling her that Richmond isn’t in New York.”
Teren stared at him. “Where the hell is he?”
“He’s here. For Stephen Radcliffe’s funeral — same reason Dawkins was flying in.”
Her eyes widened. “Think Alex knows that?”
Ken shrugged. “Don’t know.”
“Thanks, Ken. Talk to you soon.” Teren gave him a slight wave and started jogging towards her partner who was halfway across the parking lot.
Ken shook his head and moved back towards Dawkins.
Chapter Forty-one
Teren let Alex take the wheel, hoping the driving would help to calm her friend.
“Alex? Talk to me. What’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
Well, that worked. She sighed. “Alex. You can’t just barge in and threaten to kill him. You know that.”
“Do I?”
“Yes.” Teren kept her voice quiet and soft. “And I don’t think that’s what you want.”
“What I WANT,” Alex yelled, “is for this to be over! To not have to worry about my friends, my career — my partner! I’ve had it, Teren.”
“I know. I feel the same way.”
“No you don’t! You didn’t have to see someone you love bleeding on the ground from a bullet to the head! You didn’t have to watch your partner get shot, or —”
“No, I just had to shoot mine.”
Teren’s quiet voice stopped Alex cold, and she felt some of the anger drain away. She was breathing hard, gripping the steering wheel tightly, but suddenly the fog had been penetrated, and she could feel something other than the fury that had enveloped her.
She stayed quiet for a moment, concentrating on driving. When she had to stop for a red light, she finally leaned back against the seat and glanced at Teren. “I’m sorry, Ter.”
“No problem, Alex.”
“Thanks for letting me rant a little.”
“Anytime.”
They were quiet as Alex pressed the accelerator.
“By the way, do you really want to get on a plane for New York?”
Alex glanced towards her. “How else are we going to talk to Richmond?”
“Well, it might be easier if we stay here. After all, Ken just told me that he flew in for Radcliffe’s funeral.”
Slowing for another red light, Alex took a deep breath and forced her hands from the steering wheel. “He’s here?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Not sure. Probably wouldn’t be too hard to find out, though, don’t you think?”
Alex nodded. “Hand me your cell phone.”
Teren did, and watched at Alex dialed a number.
“Ben? Hey, good to hear your voice.”
“Jesus Chr– Alex? Where the hell are you?”
“I’m back. Didn’t you hear that?”
“We heard you were back, and Cliff said the bastards had taken your badge. Everybody’s pissed about that.”
“That’s nice to hear, Ben.” The light changed, and she guided the car forward.
“Hey, ‘d’ya hear about Rudy and Tom?”
“No,” she said. “What about Rudy and Tom?” She glanced over at Teren who had raised an eyebrow.
“They found both of them dead. Not sure what happened, just that they were both killed. Cliff said it was being looked into, and he wasn’t sure if it was cause of the case or not.”
“I see.”
Ben paused. “You don’t sound too surprised, Alex.”
“I don’t think anything can surprise me anymore, Ben.”
“Bet you’re wrong.”
She could tell he was smiling. “Well, you can try to surprise me later, Ben, but right now I need a favor. I’m betting you know where Martin Richmond is. Can you tell me?”
“Shoot, course I can, ” he chuckled. “That’s part of the surprise.”
“What?”
“Mark and I did what you told us to. We figured there was somebody in the Bureau who was railroadin’ you for their own purpose. So, we just kind of did what we did without talking to anybody.”
“Which was?”
“Follow the money. And you’ll never guess where it lead us.”
Her mind made the connection, but it took Alex a moment to say it. “To Richmond?”
“Yup.” The older man sounded smug, and she could practically see the wide, satisfied grin on his face. “Didn’t trust nobody with the stuff when we found it — not even Cliff. This morning we high-tailed it over to the Justice Department, to Melissa Kimball, you remember her?”
“Yeah, I remember. I thought she’d been on vacation.”
“She was. Got back just yesterday. Mark and I met with her first thing, and laid out everything we had.”
“What did she say?”
“She issued an arrest warrant. We were just about to leave to go get the son-of-a-bitch. Wanna come?”
Alex put the phone down and yelled in the car. Teren reached for the cellular, but Alex grabbed it first, hearing Ben’s laughter.
“Okay, I’m surprised, and you bet your ass I wanna be there. Where the fuck is he?”
“Now, you watch your language, young lady.”
“Right, excuse me. Where in the hell is he?”
Ben laughed again. “Marriott, near National airport. If you get there ‘fore us, you wait, you hear?”
“You do the same, alright?”
“Sure thing. See you soon, kid.”
She hung up and tossed the phone at Teren, a grin on her face.
“Want to tell me what’s up?”
Alex nodded. “Richmond is at the Marriott, by National.”
“Okay. Is that what made you scream?”
“No. You remember how we talked, on the plane, about who we had evidence against, and who we didn’t?”
“Yes.”
“And we agreed that Richmond would be the last one we’d go after, because we didn’t have much on him. The papers from Eisenbein only mentioned him once or twice.”
“Right. So?”
“So, Ben and Mark followed the money trail, and got the evidence. They also got a warrant for his ass. They’re on their way to arrest him.”
Teren whooped.
They did get to the Marriott first, and Teren thought she might have to restrain her partner to stop her from going right after Richmond. When she saw Ben and Mark pull into the parking lot, with several cop cars behind them, she sighed with relief.
Mark slammed his door and jogged over to Alex lifting her in his arms. “Reis! Goddamn, you had everybody worried.”
“I’m sorry, Mark.” She patted his shoulder and gave him a hug. “I was a little worried myself, for awhile.”
She moved over to Ben and kissed him on the cheek. “Good to see you, Ben.”
“You, too, kid, you too.” He pinched her chin between his thumb and fingers and looked in her eyes. He frowned at what he saw. “You need a vacation, Alex.”
“Yeah, well, I think I might just take one, after we finish this thing.”
“You better — or I’ll hog tie you and take you down south.” He grinned, and hugged her. “Glad you’re still in one piece.”
Her eyes stung, and she blinked them several times. With another smile for Ben, she turned to Teren, to see her in deep discussion with Mark Garnett.
“Oh, boy,” she whispered.
Teren had watched her friend be greeted by her fellow agents, smiling at the obvious concern they showed. When Garnett turned and walked toward her, she steeled herself for his anger and disdain.
She was pleasantly surprised when he held out his hand. “It’s good to see you, Teren. How are you?”
Teren shook his hand with a smile. “I’m okay, Mark. You?”
“Not bad.” He pointed at his face. “The eye healed.”
She chuckled. “I’m glad.”
Mark leaned a little closer, and whispered, “How is Alex, really?”
Her smile faded a little. “Struggling. It’s been rough on her. On both of us. I’ll be very glad when this is over.”
He nodded, and put a friendly hand on her arm. “You look like hell, Teren. Let’s go get this bastard, so you and she can rest, eh?”