Teren folded her arms, beginning to see where Alex was going. Graves didn’t appear to be following though, and he was tapping his hand against his jaw in puzzlement.
Alex looked at him. “I think that was his home.” She hit memory and dialed a three. After another moment she disconnected, a disgusted look on her face. “Trixie’s Massage Parlour. A family establishment, I’m sure.” She dialed the fourth memory number and waited.
Teren was watching her face, and saw her eyes go wide. By the time she’d grabbed the phone from Alex, there was a beep, and she quickly disconnected. “Alex?”
“Dial it again, Ter. Memory 4.”
She did so, holding it up so both she and Graves could hear it.
They listened to the message, and then turned off the phone.
Graves nodded. “Well done, Alex.”
“Thanks.” She looked at Teren who was still gripping the phone. “We’ll need to show his picture to Dawkins and White.”
Teren nodded.
“We know who he is.”
Another nod.
“Nothing to say, Teren?”
She lifted her head. “Let’s go get the son-of-a-bitch.”
They smiled at each other.
It was barely six o’clock in the morning when the doorbell rang at Cliff Jackson’s house. He glared at his watch, then hesitated. When the bell rang again, he put his razor down with a sigh. Grabbing a towel he wiped the rest of the shaving foam from his face as he left the bathroom.
He opened the door to find Alex Reis on his door step.
“Morning, Cliff.”
“Alex. Kind of early for a social call, isn’t it?”
“Yes. This isn’t a social call.”
“What’s going on?”
“I know who the traitor is.”
His eyes widened. Then he held the screen open. “Come on in.”
She followed him into the kitchen where he poured himself a cup of coffee.
“Got a coke if you want one.”
“That’s sounds great.”
He passed her the ice cold can and then sat opposite her at the table.
“Where’s Teren?”
“She’s in the car, on the phone. She’ll be in when she’s through.”
“Ah.” He sipped his coffee. “Wanna tell me who it is?”
Alex nodded. “Yeah, I will. But first, I want to apologize.”
“For what?”
She sighed. “For not believing in you a little more. I let my fears and my exhaustion get the better of me. I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry.”
Cliff frowned. “What the hell are you talking about, Alex?”
The younger agent let her head drop, and she solemnly regarded the sweating can in front of her.
“I thought it might be you, Cliff. I thought you might be the traitor.”
He opened his mouth and then shut it without saying anything. He too stared at the table.
“Why?”
“Lots of reasons. The phone call from your office. You were the only one in Washington that knew where we were meeting Brogan. You told us to get out of Philly, then declared me rogue.” She sipped her coke. “Plus, we discovered that the traitor was known as CJ.”
“And you thought it might mean Cliff Jackson.”
“Right.”
They were silent for a minute, then Cliff nodded.
“I can’t say I like that, Alex. That you thought I could do that. But, then again,” he shrugged, “you were in the middle of a bad situation. From what little I’ve heard, you and Mylos were running for your lives.” Cliff shook his head. “I can’t blame you for being suspicious of everyone.”
“Still. I should have had a little more faith.”
“With those clues? And being on the run? And Teren getting shot?” He snorted. “Not bloody likely.”
They both chuckled quietly.
“Now, you wanna tell me who the bastard is?”
“Yeah, but first, can you do me a favor?”
“Anything.”
“Get me another meeting with Collins, this morning. When I get this fucker I wanna do it as an FBI agent, not CIA.”
“CIA?” He frowned. “What are you talking about?”
She explained the cautions the FBI Director had taken to keep her investigation a secret from whoever was the traitor.
“So, you’re not really on long term suspension. Or under any kind of a disciplinary action.”
“Nope. But, I’m not officially FBI, either. Only Collins can change that, and I’d like him to do so before I arrest this guy.”
“You? Why do you get to arrest him?”
“Cause it was my partner that got shot — twice. David’s still on medical leave, and Teren’s not FBI. So, I get to do it. Got it?”
He nodded, grinning. “Got it. Wanna give me his name, please?”
She smiled at him.
Teren was waiting by the car when Alex came out of the house, followed by Cliff. She noticed Alex grinning, and let a smile cross her own face.
“Everything okay?”
“Yep. We’re to follow Cliff in, and then go directly to the Director’s office.”
“Good.” Teren glanced up at the older man as he approached. “Morning, Cliff.”
“Morning, Teren. How are you?”
“Ready to eat crow,” she said with a sheepish grin.
“Huh?”
“Well, I was the one who really suspected you might be our culprit. Alex tried to tell me otherwise, but I ….” she let her voice trail off. “Anyway, I’m sorry. I guess I should have trusted Alex’s instincts.”
“No problem. I hear they remove your ability to trust as part of the entrance requirement for CIA jobs.” He grinned and winked at her.
Alex seated herself behind the desk to wait. It was a nice office, she reflected, lined with wood panelling and furnished with a wide oak desk. The dark rust carpet was padded enough so that footsteps were hardly noticeable, and the large black executive’s chair was very comfortable. The desk was obviously a work desk, with stacks of files on both front corners. Well used writing utensils were held in a cup within easy reach, and a half empty coffee mug was sitting on a stained coaster that advertised a micro beer from a local brewhouse.
As she sat in the comfortable rolling chair, she wondered who would be using this desk next.
Moments later, the door opened, and the normal occupant of the office walked in, his briefcase in his hand.
Alex frowned. He was early.
He saw her and stopped.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Waiting for you,” Alex said easily.
“Well, who the hell let you in? You’re not even supposed to be in the building.”
“Really? Why’s that?”
The man approached the desk with a scowl. “Cause you’ve been suspended, and you know it.”
“Oh, but that suspension was lifted, just this morning. I thought you would have heard.”
His scowl deepened, his eyes throwing off angry sparks. “That’s not possible. The Director said he would not reinstate you until a full investigation was made, and that wouldn’t take place until after the case was finished.”
“Well, I met with him this morning, and presented my evidence. He found the charges against me to have no foundation. He threw them out, and even told me I’d receive pay for this whole period.” She smiled. “Pretty nice of him, wasn’t it?”
The man in front of her growled.
“Fine. So you’ve been reinstated. Now get the fuck out of my chair, and out of my office.”
“No.”
He stared at her. “What?”
“I said no.”
“I’ll have you up on charges of insubordination, Reis.”
“No, you won’t.” Alex kept her voice calm, and spoke with a smile on her face.
“And why not?”
“Because you’ll be dealing with too many other charges. Far too many to think about my insubordination.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Of course,” Alex continued, “after all that settles, and you’re in prison, then you might think about it. A lot. For a very long time.” Her voice was very mild as she leaned forward, folding her arms on the desktop.