This group hired George Mather and Darryl Wilford to carry out the executions, but decided to kill Mather— why?
Wait a minute, Brogan said Mather had been trying to sell something. I wonder if that’s the reason? But if so, what was he trying to sell?
Okay, let’s ignore that. We know that the money that financed this operation came from an account in Switzerland, which is owned by Richmond and Treville. The money in that account came from another Swiss bank account, which we know nothing about — which is why we’re going to Zurich.
We know that Derek White is missing, Kyle Brogan is dead, and possibly someone from the FBI office is involved.
Now, what can we prove?
Her mind went blank. There really wasn’t any hard proof of anything. They had White and Brogan’s fingerprints on a goblet, and the record of Treville sending another one to Halloran out in Colorado. They had an idea that these goblets, and other items, had been sent to Treville from Switzerland — which was another good reason for their trip. But other than these few things, there was not physical proof of anything, much less a murder conspiracy.
Well, at least we have Janet Brogan. Her testimony proves that the men knew each other, and they hired Mather and Wilford for something — though she didn’t know what. I wish Teren could testify about Treville’s part in her partner’s death, but I doubt the agency would let her. We’ll just have to find a way to get him.
But who the hell is C.J.?
With that question in her mind, Alex finally succumbed, and drifted off into sleep.
*******************************************************
Teren awoke to a darkened cabin. She was leaning back in her seat on the plane, her long legs kicked out as far as possible. She knew exactly where she was, and a glance at her watch told her they were barely two hours into their trip. As she looked around, she wondered just what had awakened her.
After a moment she realized there were soft whimpers coming from the row in front of her. The seat that Alex was in seemed to be moving, and Teren could see, in the space between the seats, that Alex’s shoulder was twitching under her blanket.
Quietly, she moved up to Alex’s row, slipping into the seat next to the blonde agent. From this angle she could see the lines that creased Alex’s brow, and the way her closed eyes darted back and forth behind their lids.
Teren was no stranger to nightmares, and for a moment images from her own bad dreams flashed through her mind. Shaking her head, she pushed the visions away and reached for Alex’s hand.
“Alex?”
The younger woman continued to twitch and tried to pull away from Teren’s touch.
“Alex, wake up.” Teren gently touched her friend’s shoulder, then jerked it away as Alex surged forward, her green eyes wide and staring. Alex gasped as she fought her way to consciousness. Without thinking, Teren put an arm around Alex’s shoulders and pulled the blonde towards her. Alex curled her hands in Teren’s shirt and clung to her.
“It’s alright, Alex.” Teren turned to face her companion, and fully embraced her. “It’s okay. It’s just a nightmare. Let it go, Alex.”
Alex cried quietly, the only sound her hiccups as she fought to get her breathing under control. Slowly the horror from her dream passed over her. Teren held the crying woman, stroking a hand up and down her back, and whispering in her ear.
A stewardess approached, looking concerned. Teren quietly asked for a cup of hot chocolate for her friend. After another moment Alex pushed herself away from Teren, and sat up. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve, and tried to smile.
“Hot chocolate, huh? You learn fast, Teren.”
Teren gave her a half grin. “I try.” She put a hand on Alex’s shoulder. “You okay?”
Alex nodded, still wiping her eyes. “Yeah. No problem.”
Teren frowned. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, sorry. Didn’t mean to wake you.”
“You didn’t,” Teren lied. “I wasn’t really sleeping, just resting my eyes.”
Alex looked up at her friend. Teren’s blue gaze was caught in Alex’s green one.
“You’re such a bad liar, Mylos.”
Teren’s response was a sheepish grin. “Yeah, well, you’re not any better, Reis.”
Alex’s halfhearted grin faded away. Teren slipped an arm back around her.
“No kidding, Alex. If you need to talk about it, I’ll listen.”
Her first instinct was to shrug off Teren’s arm, but Alex couldn’t do it. She found her body unconsciously leaning toward the dark woman, craving the feel of those arms about her.
“It’s just a dream,” Alex said. “A stupid dream. I’ll get over it.”
“Yeah, but it may help if you tell someone about it.”
Alex couldn’t resist tweaking her friend. “You’re right. I’ll ask the stewardess if she’s got a minute.”
Teren didn’t laugh, but she didn’t pull away either.
“If she doesn’t, you know I’m available, right?” The smile she got from Alex made her throat close up.
“I know.”
Unconsciously, Teren reached up with her free hand and touched Alex’s cheek. They leaned toward each other, and Alex’s eyes closed in anticipation.
Teren pulled back at the approach of the stewardess.
“Here we go, some hot chocolate.” The woman crouched down, letting Alex take the cup with a smile. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little bad dream. Long flights don’t agree with me.”
The stewardess nodded, but her eyes were on Teren. “I understand. Took me a few months before I could get used to the overseas flights. And I’ve been flying for years.” She placed her hand on Teren’s knee and smiled at her. “Can I get anything, or do anything for you?”
“No, thanks, I’m fine. Can you tell us how long until we land?”
“I think we’re still about three hours out. Shall I check for you?”
“No, that’s alright. Can you just make sure you wake us at least a half hour before we land? I think we’re gonna try and get some more sleep.”
“No problem, I’ll make sure you’re up on time.” The stewardess smiled once more at Teren and winked before she left.
Teren turned toward Alex and found a frown on her face.
“Is there something wrong?”
“Nothing.” Alex sipped her cocoa, but the frown didn’t change.
“Come on, Alex. You look like you just bit into a lemon. What’s the problem?”
Alex couldn’t look at her. “She was flirting with you.”
Teren stared at the younger woman. “She was not.”
“She was too. When she smiled it was always at you, and she touched your leg.”
“So she smiled and she put her hand on my knee. So what?”
“So she was flirting with you.”
Teren leaned back and sighed. “Who cares?” She cocked her head. “What’s wrong, Alex? Are you jealous?”
Alex stared out the window into the darkness. She sipped her chocolate, but didn’t answer Teren’s question.
Teren smiled in amazement. “You are, aren’t you?”
Alex shrugged.
The smile stretched into a grin, and Teren reached over to her smaller companion. She gave a gentle tug on Alex’s shoulders, pulling her back until she was leaning against Teren’s body. Alex snuggled up to Teren, and handed her the empty cup.
“What am I supposed to do with this?”
“Well, you could call the stewardess back to take it. After all, it would give her another chance to wink at you.”
Teren chuckled. “I’ve got a better idea.” She pulled the air sickness bag out of the seat flap in front of them, and used it to dispose of the paper cup.
“Okay?”
“What, you didn’t want to get fawned over?”
Teren put two fingers under Alex’s chin and raised her head so that their gazes met.
“I’ve never liked being fawned over. It’s too fake.” She gently kissed Alex’s lips. “I prefer the direct approach. Got it?”
Alex nodded.
Then she snuggled closer to Teren and sighed. Teren pulled the blanket up over both of them, and made sure Alex was comfortably settled on her shoulder. She kissed the blonde woman’s head, and closed her eyes.