Teren raised an eyebrow and regarded him thoughtfully. He winked at her, and she smiled.
“You know, you look like someone mistook you for a weed, Agent Mylos,” Ben called.
“Yeah, I know. I ducked when I should have dived.”
They shared a chuckle, then Ben’s expression turned serious. “Alright. You and Alex can come on in with us, but you can’t be part of the arrest, okay? You need to just kind of stay in the background.”
“Fine,” Alex said. “We just want an answer to one question. Give us a minute to get that, and you can have him.”
“What’s the question?”
“Who’s CJ?”
Mark frowned. “CJ? Who is that?”
“He’s the ring leader of this whole organization, Mark,” Teren answered. “The problem is we don’t know his real name — just CJ. We don’t know if it’s his initials, or a nickname.”
“Hm.” Ben nodded. “We’ll be sure to ask.”
They entered the lobby of the hotel, and Ben got the room number from the front desk. Together, they took the elevator to the sixth floor.
The man who answered their knock tried to tell them that Richmond couldn’t be disturbed. Mark and Ben pushed past him, announcing they had a warrant. Alex was nervous and worried, and kept her hand on her gun until she saw Richmond stand, and Agent Cleves placed the cuffs around his wrist. Then she relaxed.
Richmond, in a soft voice, told his secretary to call his lawyer. Then they led him away.
As they stood waiting for the elevator, Alex leaned over and asked Teren, “Why is it that we always get the ones that shoot back?”
Teren smiled and whispered her answer, “I don’t know, Alex. Maybe I’m a jinx?”
“Nah. You didn’t even show up ‘til after the shooting started.” Alex sighed. “I think it’s cause we’re women, and no one takes us seriously.”
The smile on Teren’s face turned to a grin. “You may be right, Alex.”
The four agents got on the elevator with Richmond. They hadn’t gone down very far, when Ben reached over and pulled the emergency stop button.
“Mr. Richmond, this here is Alex Reis. She’s gonna ask you some questions. Now, she’s no longer with the Bureau, so you don’t have to answer her — course, if you don’t, Agent Mylos here, who’s with the CIA — well, she’s gonna be a little pissed, and we might not be able to stop her from ripping you a new asshole.” He grinned at his prisoner. “Go ahead, Reis.”
“Just one question, Mr. Richmond. Who is CJ? What’s his real name?”
Richmond shook his head. “Can’t tell you.”
“Can’t? Or won’t?”
He gave her a half smile. “I wouldn’t — even if I could.”
Teren slipped behind him and put an arm around his throat, pulling him back against her. He gasped for air as she slowly put more pressure on his windpipe.
“I don’t think he heard the question the first time, Alex. Try asking him again.”
“Who’s CJ?”
Richmond gasped, and squirmed in Teren’s grip. Finally, he sucked in all the air he could, and answered.
“I don’t know.”
“Dawkins said you did.”
“He’s wrong,” Richmond wheezed. His voice was an octave higher than normal, and very raspy. “The only one who knows CJ’s real name is Treville. He never told anyone else.”
“What can you tell me about him?”
“Nothing. I won’t tell you anything.”
Teren increased the pressure, and Alex frowned. “You could help yourself by telling us who he is.”
He managed to shake his head, struggling to breath.
Alex reached for her gun, but Ben stopped her. He looked back at Teren.
“Let him go.”
She hesitated a moment, but did so. He straightened, shaking his head, and taking huge lungfulls of air.
Then he grinned at them all, smugly. “Doesn’t matter what you say. See, all I have to do is call him, and I’m out of here.” He chuckled. “And there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.”
Mark moved forward to strike him, but Alex grabbed his arm. “Don’t.”
She glanced at Ben, who punched the button. They resumed their journey to the ground floor.
Alex kept her gaze on Richmond all the way down. Her mind kept going over his last statement, time and time again.
When the elevator doors opened, she stood aside as he was taken through the lobby. She and Teren trailed behind everyone.
She couldn’t get his words out of her mind.
Ben turned back to her and Teren as Richmond was being pushed into the car.
“I’m sorry, Alex. I couldn’t let you pull your gun on him.”
“I know. It’s alright, Ben.” She let her gaze drift to the ground, and ignored everyone around her.
Teren eyed her partner in concern. She looked up at Ben with worry in her eyes.
Ben saw it and grinned. “I’ve seen her like this. Means she’s got an idea, and it’s eatin’ at her. When she figures it out, she’ll let you know.”
She nodded and smiled at him, extending her hand. “Thanks, Ben. I appreciate you letting us tag along.”
“Ah, no problem.” He turned serious for a moment, and tightened his grip. “You take care of her, Mylos. You ain’t the only one who knows how to make body disappear.”
He shook her hand again, and let it go. Teren watched him climb into a car, and leave.
Alex was still staring at the ground.
“Alex?”
“Hm?”
“You okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, fine. Just thinking.”
Teren waited, then finally sighed and took her partner’s arm. “Come on. You can go think in my car.”
“Right.”
Alex was still glassy eyed as they reached the small car, and she didn’t even notice when Teren pushed her into the passenger seat. She just sat there, hearing Richmond’s words over and over again.
See, all I have to do is call him, and I’m out of here.
all I have to do
call him, and I’m out of here
call him
“Holy shit, that’s it!”
Teren, who had just crawled into the driver’s side, jumped. “What?”
“Give me your cell phone.”
“What for?”
“Just give it to me!”
Teren handed it over and Alex turned it on and dialed.
“Ron? Alex Reis. You know what happened earlier, right? You know Treville is dead? Okay, listen to me. I want you to find out where all of Treville’s personal effects would be, okay? I mean, everything. From the limo, off his body, all of it, got it?”
She listened for a moment. “Fine. We’ll meet you there. Ten or fifteen minutes. Bye.”
Alex turned off the phone and looked at her partner.
“CIA building. Graves is going to meet us there. Let’s go.”
Teren started the car. “You going to tell me what’s going on?”
“Not yet. But if I’m right, Richmond just told me how to find CJ.”
Teren nodded. “Secret code that I’m not privy to?”
“No. Just a stupid boast that made me think.” She grinned at Teren. “See, it’s easier to think when you haven’t tried to use your head to play ping pong with a bullet.”
Teren frowned. “Shut up, Alex.”
It didn’t take them long to get to the offices, and Teren led Alex up through a back door to a security check point where Graves was waiting for them.
“I wasn’t sure what exactly you were looking for, Alex. I’ve been having my men go over the stuff, but they haven’t found anything. No phone numbers, no address book, no notes, nothing. What are we looking for?”
“A cell phone.”
“A cell —” he stopped and stared at her. “Yes, he had one. We found it in the back seat of the limo. Why?”
“Can I see it?”
“Sure.”
Graves led them through the checkpoint, and down into a holding area. Several agents were going over Treville’s belongings, logging them in. Graves spoke to one of them, and was handed a small black folding cellular phone.
“Here you are. Care to tell me what’s so important?”
“In a minute.” She flipped it open, and turned it on. “You see, most people have numbers that they dial over and over again.” She pressed memory and then 1. After listening for a moment, she hit disconnect. “Like your office.” She hit memory and 2, then listened again. “Oops, sorry, wrong number.” She disconnected again.