Teren looked puzzled, and she glanced across the car. “No. Why?”
Alex shifted her position, trying to find a comfortable spot for her arm. “I mean, who’s going to pay for the clothes? Theresa Wilcox doesn’t exist.”
“Oh. Well, each operative has a certain amount for expenses every month. Anything over that amount is pulled from the salary. I’m not listed as a current field operative, but I still get a certain amount for expenses.”
“Okay, but wouldn’t that have been taken up by the tickets to Colorado, and then here to Philadelphia?”
“No. I paid for those myself.”
“And the identification?”
“Mine.”
Alex bit her lip. “Um, that’s quite a bit of money. Especially when you add in the tickets to Switzerland.”
Teren was silent. Alex waited a moment, then looked at the dark agent.
“Teren?”
Teren sighed. “Alex, are you sure you want to know?”
“Well, yeah, I think so.”
“You remember when you asked me about Mather and how he got the rifle? I told you that looting was not discouraged?”
“I remember.”
“Let’s just say there aren’t many agents who can consistently resist temptation.”
Alex turned back towards her own window. “So, it was, what, loot from —”
“Alex, just drop it. You really don’t want to know the whole truth.”
“Yes, I do.”
“No, you don’t. Believe me, you really don’t.”
There was silence again, and this time, Alex didn’t break it.
Instead, she just stared out the window, wondering again about the woman she’d entrusted herself to.
Teren’s clenched jaw began to ache from tension. She wished that Alex hadn’t asked her about the money. It wasn’t a pleasant part of her memories, nor was she proud of where the funds had come from. But she also was glad she had it, since that was what the two of them would be relying on while working on this case.
“Is this part of that trust you were talking about, Teren?”
The question felt like a blow, and Teren winced.
“All right. You really want to know?”
“Yes.”
“Fine. Two and a half years ago, Perry and I were in South America. We were supposed to observe one of the leaders of an opposition force, and report whether or not we felt he could be dealt with through diplomatic means. What that actually meant was, we had to decide whether or not we could control him if he got in office. Both of us agreed that the guy was going to cause major trouble for the government he was opposing, and that if he won the next election, he would be willing to negotiate with the US, but probably would not be open to manipulation.”
She was silent again, and Alex waited. Finally, without turning from her window, Alex asked her to continue.
“Right after we sent our report, we were contacted by a representative of the government in power. He offered us a contract to kill the guy we were observing. We contacted the agency, who said we should take the contract. Two days later the man collapsed from food poisoning and was taken to a hospital. He never recovered. Perry and I each received a large bonus for our work.”
Alex swallowed. “So, you killed him.”
Teren stared straight ahead, and quietly said, “Yes.”
Neither of them spoke until they reached the hotel parking lot. Teren reached to the shut off the car, and Alex placed her hand over Teren’s.
“You were right, I really didn’t want to know.” She waited until Teren met her eyes. “But I needed to.”
Teren nodded. “Come on. We’ve got suitcases to pack, and we need to check that email. Maybe Ken’s already cleared our names.”
“You think?”
“Not really.”
*******************************************************
Teren ordered an early dinner for the two of them, while Alex checked their new email account. Ken had been busy, and there were several messages, including a list of the men that had been their attackers.
“Hey, Teren, they identified the guy who shot David, and who I killed.” She stopped for a moment, the shock of that statement making her clench her teeth. Then she shook her head, and started again. “Supposedly he’s a salesman for the Kittredge Clothes Company.”
“Really. What a surprise.”
“Yeah. One of the other guys was a local, and a known skinhead.”
Teren leaned over to read the screen from behind Alex. “I can believe that. One of them definitely had the look”
“The other two were identified as a couple of guys from Montana, who were both wanted for questioning in a couple of murders in that state. They disappeared from their hometown six months ago.”
“So, three known racists, and someone connected to our favorite clothes maker. Anything else?”
“Yep. Derek White has gone missing.”
Teren dropped her forehead to Alex’s shoulder. “Great. How much do you want to bet he’s on the run just like Brogan was?”
“Question is, will he end up as dead as Brogan, or will we get to him first?”
There was a knock at the door. “I’ll get it. Find out if Ken knows what’s up with Davies, would you?”
“Right.”
Alex read the rest of Ken’s email, becoming more and more frustrated as she did so. It appeared that, other than the identities of the men who attacked the agents, nothing more had been done to determine exactly what happened. The materials that Alex had ordered collected from the scene and taken to Bureau headquarters had been turned over to the Philadelphia police without even being inventoried. The only good news was that Jeff Harnisch had insisted all ballistics be handled by the FBI. Because of this, Ken was certain that, in this area at least, there had been no tampering with the evidence. It was, however, the only thing he was certain of.
Teren came back with dinner. Rather than order from room service, the two of them had ordered a pizza from a nearby restaurant. Alex moved her computer to one side, giving Teren the room to put the pizza box on the table.
“Anything else interesting?”
“Well, Davies put out an APB for you as of this afternoon. He’s demanding that Harnisch do the same for me.”
“Great.”
“Tomorrow morning he’s releasing your description to the press.”
“Even better. Good thing we’ll be gone by then.”
“What time is our flight tonight?”
“Eight-thirty. We’ll fly first to Heathrow, and then switch planes and continue on to Zurich.”
“Great. Do we have a long layover?”
“No, just under two hours.”
“So, what time will we reach Switzerland?”
“We land a little before one in the afternoon.”
“Hm.”
They were both quiet for a while, concentrating on the pizza in front of them.
“Teren, what are you doing?”
“What?”
“You’re pulling off the green peppers.”
“Yeah, so?” Teren pulled another off and added it to the growing pile on her napkin.
“You don’t like them?”
“No.”
“Then why did we order them?”
“You wanted them. I don’t mind pulling them off.”
“We could have gotten peppers only on half.”
Teren nodded while still chewing. She swallowed, then looked at Alex. “I didn’t think of it. So shoot me.”
Alex laughed. “To quote David, don’t say shoot right now, Teren.”
Teren grinned, and waited a moment. “Hey, Alex, how are you doing with that? I mean, with David being hurt and all.”
Alex leaned back in her chair and sipped her soda. After a moment, she put the can down. “I don’t know. I’m trying not to think about it too much. If I do, I get this ache inside.” She looked up at Teren. “I miss him. He’s my partner. But he’s more than that, he’s my friend. You know?”
Teren nodded. “I know.” She pulled another pepper off her pizza. “Listen, um. I know I’m not the most open person, but — well, if you need to vent, or just talk about it,” Teren ran her hand across her nose, “I’ll listen.”
The dark woman made the offer in a soft voice, and her face was so sad that it reminded Alex of a spanked puppy. She couldn’t help but smile.