really doesn’t change for me, it actually gets worse. And you running
around trying to ditch me isn’t damn well helping.”
“But they already knew you were involved. Remember back at your
apartment.”
Lee shook his head. “Those weren’t the Feds.”
She looked stunned. “Who, then?”
“I don’t know. But the Feds don’t show up disguised as UPS men. FBI
Rule Number One: Overwhelming force trumps all. They would’ve come
with about a hundred guys and the Hostage Rescue Team and the dogs and
body armor and shit like that. And they just come in and take your
ass, case closed.” Lee’s voice grew calmer as he thought things
through. “Now, the guys waiting for you at the gate were FBI.” He
nodded thoughtfully. “They weren’t trying to hide who they were.” The
other two men at the departure gate? All bets were off. But he knew
Faith was very lucky to be alive.
“Oh, and by the way, you’re welcome for me saving your butt again.
Another few seconds and you’re back in FBI land with more questions
than you have answers for. Maybe I should’ve just let them take you,”
he added wearily.
“Why didn’t you?” she asked quietly.
Lee almost felt like laughing. The whole experience was like a dream.
But where do I go to wake up?
“Right now, lunacy seems to be at the top of the list.” Faith
attempted a smile. “Thank God for lunatics.”
Lee didn’t smile back. “From now on, we are Siamese twins. You better
get used to seeing a man take a piss because, lady, we are inseparable
from here on.”
“Lee-”
“I don’t want to hear it! Just don’t say a damn thing.” His voice was
trembling. “I’m so close to punching the shit out of you, I swear to
God.” He made a big show of reaching over and clamping one big hand
over her wrist, as though a living handcuff. Then he sat back, staring
at nothing.
Faith didn’t try to pull her hand away, not that she could have. And
she was really terrified he might take a swing at her. This was
probably about as angry as Lee Adams had ever gotten in his entire
life, she thought. She finally sat back and tried to calm down. Her
heart was beating so fast it seemed impossible for her blood vessels to
survive the pressure. Maybe she’d save everyone a lot of trouble and
just drop from a coronary.
In Washington you could lie about sex, money, power, loyalties. You
could spin falsehoods into truths and simple facts into lies. She had
seen it all. It was one of the most frustrating and cruelest places on
earth, where one relied on old alliances and quick feet for survival
and where every new day, every fresh relationship, could be the one
that made you or destroyed you. And Faith had thrived in that world,
loved it, in fact. Until now.
Faith could not look at Lee Adams, for fear of what she would see in
his eyes. He was all she had. Although she barely knew the man, for
some reason she craved his respect, his understanding. She knew she
would get neither. She didn’t deserve them.
Out of the car window she stared at a plane quickly gaining altitude.
In another few seconds it would disappear into the clouds. Soon the
passengers would only be able to see that layer of puffy cumulus
beneath them, as though the world below had suddenly disappeared. Why
couldn’t she be on that plane and just keep climbing, to a place where
she could start over? Why couldn’t a place like that exist? Why?
CHAPTER 23
BROOKE REYNOLDS SAT GLUMLY AT THE SMALL TABLE, chin resting on her
palm, and wondered if anything ever was going to go right on this case.
They had found Ken Newman’s car. It had been professionally cleansed
such that her team of “experts” were unable to provide her with any
real clues. She had just checked with the lab. They were still
messing around with the tape. Worst of all, Faith Lockhart had slipped
right through her fingers. At this rate she’d be FBI director in no