Chapter Twenty-Nine

  “What happened?” Zara asks. “I thought we were all set to go show them how wrong they all are.”

  “We were,” I reply. “But maybe we should give them a chance to interview Federico. I thought about it. Janice is right. We don’t want to go antagonizing Krauss just because of my hunch. If I’m wrong, it could be disastrous for the Bureau.”

  Zara shakes her head. “Nope. Something’s wrong with you. You never let something go once you’ve got your teeth in it. What’s going on?”

  We’ve been going back and forth like this ever since I came down to the garage. The problem with Zara is she knows me too well. And while I am great at pretending I’m someone I’m not, ironically I’m not that good of a liar. I really have to inhabit a role in order for it to become convincing. The “method acting” of FBI work, I suppose. But if I’m going to pull this off the way I plan, Zara can’t be there, not even to watch my back. Because it’s illegal. She has to have complete plausible deniability, otherwise it’s like Nick said, everyone will know she helped me. Everyone will assume that already anyway, but if she’s got a rock-solid alibi, they won’t be able to deny it. The story will be that I went rogue all on my own.

  And potentially made an enemy of a very powerful man in this town.

  “I just think Janice is right, is all,” I say, opening my side door and tossing my bag inside. “We can still do it tomorrow night. Just sign the stuff out for one more day. But let’s give them a chance with Toscani before we go blowing it all up.”

  “What about all that talk, about Toscani being nothing more than a patsy for Santino’s operation?” she asks. “If that’s true, then Krauss is free to roam for another twenty-four hours. He could be kidnapping someone right now.”

  I sigh. This is more difficult than I thought. “We can’t second-guess ourselves to death. That’s why we have a set of procedures we follow. And right now, I agree with Janice. We should hold and see what pans out on Toscani’s man. Then, if it looks like he’s still lying, we start going after Krauss.”

  I can tell she doesn’t believe a word of it from the skeptical look on her face. She’s right. I never would let something this big get away from me. If there is even a small chance Krauss took Hannah, I’d much rather eliminate him as a suspect than wait another day for him to do god-knows-what to someone else. Without a ransom, we have to assume Hannah is dead. But that doesn’t mean I’m about to give up on the person who took her. And thanks to Nick’s ultimatum, I’m going to need to take a few risks I normally wouldn’t to make sure we get the right guy.

  Zara folds her arms on top of my car, looking over the roof. It’s comical because she’s probably on her tiptoes to do it. “So then, what? Go home? Take a bath? Open a bottle of wine?”

  “Sounds nice, actually. After I pick up Timber, of course.”

  “Can’t forget Timber,” she says, staring directly into my eyes. I know what she’s doing. She’s looking for the unconscious tells we broadcast when we’re lying. It’s the same thing I look for in a suspect, or a witness to determine how much we can trust what’s coming out of their mouths. It’s hard to train yourself to overcome what most people would ascribe to involuntary tics, but if you know what you’re doing, it can be mastered.

  “Remember what I asked you?” she says, her voice serious. “About trusting me?”

  “That street goes both ways,” I say, watching her reaction closely. “You have to be willing to trust me too.”

  She bites her lower lip, pushing off from the roof of the car. “If you say so,” she says. “Guess I’ll go home and try to get some sleep. You want me to take all that back to tech services?” She indicates the bag she left on the ground; no doubt full of surveillance equipment.

  “I’ll take care of it,” I say. “Enjoy your night off.”

  “You too,” she says without an ounce of enthusiasm. She’s going to be pissed at me tomorrow. Hell, she’s already pissed at me right now. But I can’t help that. Not when I know there’s so much at stake for her. For everyone involved.

  Finally Zara gets in her car and drives off, without a final wave or even a glance. I toss the bag of equipment in my backseat. Damn Nick for putting me in this position. It seems like no matter what I do, people don’t seem to be able to let go of their grudges around me. I have half a mind to report him myself, for extortion. But I know he’ll just bring up the illegal search and then I’m done, no matter what. An agent can’t have that many strikes on their record in such a short amount of time, they just can’t. No department head would look at their record and want them on their teams. Even if I were to be transferred to another field office, they’d still be able to see what I had done, and what it cost me. No one would trust me with their secrets again.

  I press the ignition on my car and pull out of the spot, heading up the ramp and out into the evening. Unfortunately, because she’s not an idiot, I expect Zara to be waiting out here for me, somewhere. Sure enough, after the second stoplight I spot her, five cars back. She’s tailing me, determined to find out if I’m going to Krauss’s place or not.

  Instead, I take the exit that will take me out to Chris’s house.

  Fifteen minutes later, I pull into the driveway of their craftsman home. Chris and Dani renovated it themselves a few years ago when they first bought the place. Matt and I were over here almost every weekend I had free helping them with the place. It was a complete gut, start to finish, but the house is beautiful now. I check my rearview to see if Zara is still back there, but there’s no sign of her. She’s really getting the hang of this tailing thing. She must have pulled in somewhere back further in the neighborhood, waiting for me to come back out.

  I tread up the steps to the house and knock on the door. All the lights on inside remind me of a warm embrace, almost like the house itself is alive, waiting to welcome me in.

  But when the door opens I see anything but a friendly face.

  “You’re late,” my brother-in-law says, his face drawn down. Chris is a well-built man, someone who obviously works with his hands. His hair is darker than Matt’s and he has a full beard and mustache, but he keeps them short and clean.

  “Can I come in a second?” I ask.

  For a second I think he’s going to say no, but he steps aside, allowing me inside. Timber is laying in the hallway. When he sees me, his eyes light up and he jumps up, bounding down the hallway. I crouch down and take him into my arms as his little tail about wags itself off.

  “Hi buddy,” I say. “I’m sorry I’m so late. It’s been a hard day.”

  I look up to see Dani approaching with his leash in her hand. Her long, dark, curly hair frames her face well, falling down to her chest. She’s not that much older than I am, but I hope to God I still look that good when I reach her age.

  “Emily,” she says, handing me the leash.

  “Hi. Thanks.” I clip it on his collar. “Did he do okay?”

  “Perfect, as always.” Her tone is cold, though she’s not as shut off as her husband. Since Matt was his brother, I expect him to be angrier with me. But ever since it’s happened, Dani has maintained a level of neutrality regarding me.

  “I don’t know what you have going on lately, but we’re not your babysitting service,” Chris says.

  “I’m sorry,” I say. “It’s a big case. But I wanted to talk to you about something.”

  Chris huffs and walks past me into the kitchen, grabbing a beer from their fridge. Dani takes up one of the stools along the perfectly clean countertops. I take that as an invitation to speak.

  “I know I’m not exactly welcome here,” I begin, trying to maintain my composure. “But I hope that doesn’t extend to Timber.”

  “He didn’t have anything to do with it, did he?” Chris asks sarcastically, then takes a long drag from the bottle.

  I shake my head. “I was just wondering…with everything going on at work lately…if you guys would agree to take Timber…in the event something happened to me.”

  Dani leans forward, though I can’t read her expression. I want to think it’s supportive, but I can’t tell. She’s one of those people who I believe could pass a lie-detector test without any preparation.

  Chris scoffs. “What have you gotten yourself involved in now?”

  “It’s not about any one case in particular. But this case I’ve been working on, it’s taking more and more of my time. And I realize I might not always be there for Timber, that it hasn’t been fair to him these past few months.”

  “Because Matt was always there with him when you weren’t,” Dani says.

  I nod. Chris looks like he’s about to say something to his wife, but he keeps his mouth shut. Instead, he turns to me. “So…what? You want us to take him?”

  “Not permanently,” I say. I pull my keys out of my pocket and unlatch the spare key to my apartment. “Just…if you don’t hear from me, will you come check on him? Make sure he’s okay?”

  “Emily, what’s going on?” Dani asks. “Are you in some kind of trouble?”

  I shake my head. “It’s just me being cautious.”

  Chris eyes the key, then takes another sip. “Sure. Whatever.” He pulls it across the counter and hooks it to the ring of keys hanging off the side of the refrigerator.

  By my side, Timber whines. I give his head a little scratch. “I know, bud. We’re going home.” I turn back to my in-laws. “Thank you. Really. It means a lot knowing he’ll be taken care of.”

  “Well, he was my brother’s dog too,” Chris says.

  I nod, knowing they’re not doing it for me. But as long as Timber is covered, that’s all that matters. If something happens to me at Krauss’s place tonight, or I’m hauled in and arrested by my own Bureau tomorrow, it’s a small relief to know my dog will be okay.

  I take him by the leash and lead him to the door. But before I reach it, I hear footsteps behind me. I turn to find Dani, holding herself across the chest.

  “We could take him, you know,” she says. “On a permanent basis.”

  I pull my features into a frown. “Thank you, but I don’t think that’s necessary.”

  “Think about it,” Dani says before I can grab the door handle. “You said yourself you work strange hours. He needs consistency, a routine. He needs to know you’re coming home every night. He’s already lost Matt.”

  I shake my head. I wanted to make sure he was taken care of, not have him taken away from me. “Thanks, but we’ll be okay, at least for a little while.”

  “I know why you don’t want to let him go,” Dani says, stepping forward and speaking a little louder. Her features soften again. “He’s your last connection to your husband. I get it. But you have to think about what’s best for him. Not for you.”

  I thought I was already doing that by asking them to take care of him when I couldn’t. Maybe she’s right. My job isn’t the kind that has a lot of routine. Sometimes I have to go to work in the middle of the night. Often I’m gone all day. It’s not like that for every agent, but it is for me. Probably because if I had to sit around my house any more than I already do I think I’d go crazy.

  “Thanks, Dani,” I say. “I’ll see you later.”

  I leave her standing there in her doorway as I make my way down to my car with Timber by my side. I think I see the flash of movement somewhere down the street, but I can’t be sure.

  Once he’s in the passenger seat, I head for home, keeping an eye out for Zara’s tail but seeing nothing. I try not to think too much about Dani’s offer. I can’t give this dog up, not now. If I had to come home to an empty apartment every day…I would lose my mind. Truly.

  Another fifteen minutes later and I pull into my complex, parking beside my building. I can’t tell if Zara is still out there or not, but I’m going to assume she is. Between her and my encounter with my in-laws just now, my stress is at about its max.

  We get inside and I quickly change into something darker and more utilitarian. If I’m going to find the evidence I need, which means I need to find Hannah, I’ll need to move swiftly and quietly. And thanks to Zara’s studiousness, I have an entire bag full of goodies at my disposal.

  I make sure Timber is settled in his bed with a bully stick to chew on. He should be good for the night with that thing. I give him a kiss on the top of his flat little head before flipping off the main lights, leaving just my lamps illuminated.

  I head back down to my car, checking the time. It’s close to ten-thirty. If Zara is still out here, she’s been waiting almost two hours. I could wait longer, but I’ve already got a forty-minute drive ahead of me and there’s no telling how long it’s going to take to get into Krauss’s place.

  Keeping to the shadows, I make it to my car and turn it on without turning on the lights. I pull the car around the side of the building, next to the service entrance, which is off the cross street, not the main entrance on Davidson. There’s never any traffic on this street, not even parked cars. Which is good news, because it doesn’t give Zara anywhere to hide. More than likely she’s staked out the main entrance, waiting for me to leave.

  “Going somewhere?”

  I nearly yell out, spinning and going for my weapon at the same time. She’s standing off in the shadow, right in the spot where I can’t see her, arms crossed and leaning up against part of the fence that surrounds my place.

  I take a few deep breaths, willing my heart rate to come back down. “You are too smart for your own good,” I say.

  “I have to admit, it was a pretty good ruse. Picking up Timber, driving home, turning off the lights like you were really done for the night. Had I not known you better, I would have been convinced.”

  “Zara—” I begin.

  “Don’t even start,” she says, stepping out of the shadows. “We had a deal. You weren’t going to lie to me anymore.”

  “You’re right, we did have a deal,” I reply. “But that was before Nick threatened my job if I didn’t get the evidence on Krauss for him so he can look like the hero.”

  “Wait,” she says. “He did what?”

  I give her the brief overview of our discussion from earlier that evening, all the while watching her grow angrier and angrier.

  “That little prick,” she says, once I’m done. “I’m going straight to Janice in the morning. He’s extorting you.”

  “For good reason,” I say. “Misappropriation of federal resources is a big deal. Especially when it’s coming internally.”

  “Not with this it’s not. He can’t get away with that,” she says.

  “I don’t see I have much choice. And at the moment, it aligns with my goals. We find out if Krauss is really our man or not. I just have to deal with a little backstabbing in the process.”

  Zara shakes her head. “Okay. Well, I get why you didn’t tell me now. But still. I’m not letting you go out there by yourself. What are you planning to do to obtain this evidence?”

  I sigh. I guess I don’t have much of a choice but to tell her. “Break into Krauss’s house. See if I can find any evidence of Hannah.”

  Zara breaks out laughing, almost doubling over.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Break into someone’s house? You? You’re not a cat burglar, you know. You’re more like…a raging bull. Not to mention Krauss probably has a pretty intense security system. You’re going to need some equipment if you want to pull that off. How were you planning on getting in?”

  I shrug. “I was just going to wing it.”

  “In true Emily Slate style,” she says, grinning. “First, I can’t let you commit an illegal entry because Nick Young says so.” She pulls out her phone, showing me what look like blueprints. “See this? I had to do some serious digging to find it. It’s the construction documents from when Krauss built his home. I don’t know about you, but this looks like some kind of holding facility.” She zooms in and shows me some additional details, though I have to admit I have a pretty hard time reading blueprints. “Could be nothing more than an elaborate sex room, but—“

  “—but it could also give us probable cause,” I finish.

  She nods. “Yep. Second, you’re gonna need something a little more off-book to get into a place like that. Fortunately for you, I know a guy who can help us out with some additional equipment. An old contact back from my analyst days.”

  “Contact?” I ask.

  “One of the people I’d often call when agents in the field needed some less-than-legal equipment. We get requests for it more often than you think.” She walks over to the car’s passenger door. “Unless I’m still not welcome.”

  I shake my head. “What would I do without you?”

  “Dead or in jail,” she says, not missing a beat. “Probably jail.”

  Chapter Thirty

  “Okay,” I say, looking through the night vision goggles at Krauss’s house. “You weren’t kidding about this guy. He’s got a concrete fence about eight feet high that surrounds the grounds. Bordered by trees on both sides.”

  “That’s not a problem,” Zara replies. “I’m more worried about what we’ll find on the other side of that fence.” She turns to me.

  We’re perched on a small hill about twenty meters away from Krauss’s house, which sits close to the edge of the water. He’s got a massive amount of land out here, almost an entire peninsula to himself. There’s a lot of open ground between us and where we need to be. Thankfully there’s only a crescent moon tonight, and a bit of cloud cover so we won’t be totally exposed.

  “Did you ever think you’d be sneaking around like this in the FBI?” Zara whispers as she gathers up her backpack. “I mean, normally, we just go up and knock.”

  “Not an option in this case,” I say. “If there’s even a possibility that he’s got Hannah and those other women in there and they aren’t dead yet, I don’t want him to take them out in some last-ditch effort. We need to find evidence that they are there, then we take him into custody.”