Okay, But Try Not to Murder Anyone 8, page 2
I could tell Agent Morris was uncomfortable with how quickly I’d made a name for myself in the Bureau, but with a couple seconds of listening in on his thoughts, I gleaned that it was a matter of jealousy. Dude was a low-level analyst for years before he was noticed, and even then he had to fight for it. I’d need to be sure not to rub anything in his face when I addressed him.
Before I could get a read on the others, Melissa spoke up again.
“Would you say you and Mr. Samburne have a personal relationship, outside of the Bureau?”
“We’re friendly,” I replied.
“Is that a yes?” Melissa asked with an arched eyebrow.
“It’s a vague question,” I responded. “We are friendly outside of the Bureau, but we’ve never been to each other’s houses.”
The Ethics board all took notes, and I maintained my calm composure.
“Can you tell us about the mission you and your team were a part of in New York City earlier this year?” Melissa asked as she steepled her own hands and leaned back in her chair to listen.
I felt my eyebrows shoot up my head. I wasn’t sure what our mission in NYC had to do with Paul Whelan, whom I’d killed in Chicago, but I took a deep breath and quickly recounted the mission in NYC, where we took out a couple nefarious Israeli criminals. The agents nodded and took notes as I spoke. Once I was finished, the room was silent except for their pens scratching on papers, and I tuned into my penjig earring and focused on Melissa’s thoughts.
… clearly well trained and efficient. Seems loyal, maybe to a fault. Damn good-looking, too.
I grinned at the thought and sat up straighter in my chair. I also discreetly puffed out my chest and flipped my hair out of my eyes. It was just for a split second, but I noticed Melissa glance at me, and her eyes rested on my lips for a moment before she returned to her notes.
I waited patiently for them to finish, and Melissa finally addressed me again.
“Has Mr. Samburne ever mentioned a Paul Whelan to you?” Melissa asked in that matter-of-fact voice of hers.
“The name sounds vaguely familiar,” I answered. “I do not recall any conversation between the Director and myself about the name, though.”
Another pen scratching session.
“Are you certain?” Agent Morris asked.
“Quite,” I replied.
“So, the Director never instructed you to follow, research, or eliminate Paul Whelan?” Melissa asked.
“Heavens, no,” I said, and my eyebrows shot up my forehead in feigned shock. “The Director would never do such a thing.”
“What makes you say that?” Melissa asked curiously.
“The Director has never been anything except professional and diligent in all the time I’ve known him,” I explained. “The last thing he would ever do is request an unauthorized kill. He’s too much of a square, if I’m honest.”
The men in the room looked shocked at my statement, but I noticed Melissa grin and quickly try to hide it. But I smirked at her in return, and I watched as her face flushed.
“Ahem, be that as it may,” Melissa continued. “Do you not find it suspicious that his long-time rival ended up dead in a locked hotel room?”
“That’s not my place to say,” I countered. “I’m sure the Bureau will conduct a thorough investigation. But if the question here today is ‘did the Director instruct me to kill his rival?’ then the answer is a resounding no.”
The Ethics Board bent over their notebooks and scratched out more notes while I sat tall in my bald-faced lie. I felt no guilt over it, though. I knew the Director would do the same for me if my fate was on the line.
“And we’ll get the same answer from your team members?” Agent Morris asked with a note of skepticism in his voice.
“Absolutely,” I said with a firm nod.
Another murmur and shuffling of papers, but then Melissa rose to her feet and spread her hands wide.
“I think we have everything we need from you,” Melissa said as she made her way around the table.
“Already?” I asked in surprise as I stood up.
“Yes,” Melissa said, and she gestured for me to precede her to the door. “We thank you for your time.”
“Sure,” I said.
I opened the door, and my three girlfriends looked at me with expectant eyes.
“Laura Mayhew,” Melissa said from behind me as I headed to the chairs.
Laura’s blue eyes went wide, but she stood and smoothed her skirt.
“It was super easy, you’ll be fine,” I whispered to Laura as she passed me.
“Thanks,” she whispered back. Then she took a big gulp as she followed Melissa into the room, and the door shut behind them.
“How was it?” Mary asked as she scurried to the chair next to her so I could sit between the two women.
“It was fine,” I said in a neutral tone as I caught the intern side-eyeing us. “Just stick to the truth, and we’ll be out of here in no time.”
Once the intern looked away again, I discreetly pulled the earring out and replaced it in my pocket. Then we waited in nervous silence as Laura was interviewed. When she was done, they called in Elaine, and finally, Mary was the last to testify. Once Mary emerged from the interview room, with a smile on her face, we all stood, and Melissa addressed us as a group.
“We appreciate you all taking the time out of your busy schedules to speak on behalf of Mr. Samburne,” Melissa began. “The Ethics Board will take all of your testimonies into account while we reach our conclusion. Jeremy, you can show them out now.”
The intern jumped to his feet and rounded his desk.
“Just this way,” the intern said as he led us to the same door he opened for us when we came in.
“Thanks, Jeremy,” I said as I passed him.
Once we all filed out of the room, and the intern shut the door behind us, we took a collective sigh of relief.
“That wasn’t as bad as I was expecting,” Laura admitted.
“See?” I said with a grin. “I told you it’d be fine. Come on, let’s go get lunch.”
“Oh, let’s call Sloan, see if she can meet us,” Elaine suggested as she pulled out her phone.
“Good idea,” I said. “I’m craving burgers. Anyone else?”
“Burgers sound great,” Laura said with a relaxed smile, and it was nice to see her less anxious about the whole situation.
We made our way down to the car and headed to our favorite burger spot, about halfway between the condo and HQ. Sloan was waiting for us at the door when we arrived, and she looked sexy as ever in a pair of black shorts, a mesh black crop top, and black platform boots that had her towering over the other women.
Sloan’s eyes grazed up and down my body, and she let out a loud wolf whistle as we approached.
“Damn, you look good in a suit,” my beautiful Native American girlfriend said with a cheeky grin.
“Well, you always look good,” I said as I returned the gratuitous body gaze.
“How did the hearing go?” Sloan asked as she leaned in for a kiss.
“It was good, I think they’ll clear him,” I said as I returned the kiss and opened the door for the ladies.
The hostess led us to our tables, and we each ordered obnoxiously large burgers and an insane amount of fries, along with every flavor of milkshake, of course. Now that the nervous energy had melted away, it seemed we were all left ravenous, and we polished off our burgers, fries, and milkshakes in record time.
When we were done, I paid the bill, and we headed out into the sunny Chicago afternoon. I shielded my eyes from the sun as I reached for the car keys, but before I could get to them, my phone rang.
I checked the screen and immediately hit the accept call button.
“Hey, Sammy, what’s up? Did you testify for the Director today?”
“Jonah, you and the others need to get back here ASAP,” Sammy said, and I could hear a lot of motion and shouting behind him.
“What happened?” I asked as I fished out my car keys and picked up the pace.
“There’s been a bomb threat,” Sammy said in a serious tone.
Chapter 2
“A bomb threat?” I repeated as the women shot me startled looks.
I heard Sammy’s muffled voice address someone else before he returned to the line.
“Yeah, we just need you here now,” he said in a harassed tone.
“En route,” I said before I hung up the phone and picked up the pace even more.
“Um, details?” Mary asked as she jogged to keep up with my long strides.
“Don’t have any,” I replied with a shrug. “Sammy said there was a bomb threat and to get back to HQ now.”
“Shit,” Laura muttered, and the blonde agent matched my stride as she fell into full FBI mode.
Luckily, I was parked right outside the burger joint, so we stuffed ourselves into the car and raced back to HQ. As we approached the building, we could see swarms of people on the pavement outside. I didn’t bother parking in the garage, I just pulled up in front of HQ, and Laura had the door open before I had the Blackwing in park.
The rest of us rushed to follow the determined blonde agent as we hurried to the front of the crowd, where we could see Sammy’s tall, broad frame towering over everyone else. Someone had set up a temporary tape barrier to keep everyone a good distance away from the building, and Sammy was pressed right against the tape.
“Sammy!” I called out as we approached the hulk of a man.
He turned and gestured at us to join him, and the five of us elbowed our way through the crowd like we were parting the Red Sea. We finally reached Sammy, whose ginger eyebrows were knitted together.
“Finally,” Sammy said as we gathered around him in a huddle.
“Oh, please,” Mary said as she tied her curly hair back in a ponytail. “It’s been like eight minutes since you called. What’s going on? And don’t say bomb threat, we know that much already.”
“Way to take the wind out of my sails,” Sammy said with a lopsided smile, but then his face fell into a serious expression again. “But, real talk. A bomb threat was called in about twenty minutes ago, an anonymous call right to the front desk. I had an IT guy send the recording to my phone, here, check it out.”
Sammy pulled his phone out of his pocket, clicked a few things, and then held it out in front of him. We all leaned in so we could hear the recorded voice, which had been disguised with a voice changer.
“At two PM today, a bomb will detonate and destroy the FBI Headquarters building, and everyone in it. May God have mercy on your souls.”
There was a moment of silence after the recording finished, and the team exchanged startled looks. Elaine finally broke the silence.
“A Christian terrorist?” She tilted her head. “Is that common?”
“Could be a red herring,” Laura pointed out. “They want us to think it’s a Christian-based terrorist group or something, so we waste time and resources hunting down our top offenders in that category.”
Elaine opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, Mary gasped loudly and pointed to the building. We whipped around to watch as a crew of hardened men filed to the front of the building, but they stopped outside of the main entrance and started to suit up in thick, heavy suits.
“Bomb squad,” Sammy said gravely.
“They’re only just getting suited up?” Laura asked in a panic as she checked her watch. “It’s fifteen minutes until two!”
“Why do you think I wanted you to get here so fast?” Sammy asked, and his eyes flitted to me.
“You want Jonah to go in?” Mary demanded with wide eyes. “No way! Not a chance. Not happening.”
“But...” Sammy began.
“No,” Mary said with a firm shake of her head.
“He’s right, babe,” I said gently. “I should go in.”
“What?” Mary turned on me with a fire in her eyes. “You don’t have to be the one to enter every burning building, you know.”
“It’s not burning yet,” I pointed out with a grin.
“That’s not funny,” Mary said as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at me. “I know you have the power of the cuffs, but how certain are you that they’ll protect you from being blasted into smithereens?”
“Certain enough that I know I need to try,” I said as I laid a hand on the upset woman’s elbow. “I wouldn’t have been given the power of these cuffs if I wasn’t going to use them to save lives whenever I could.”
“But you don’t know that,” Mary whined as tears filled her eyes. “What if they don’t protect you? What if you…? We have the baby now to worry about, and…”
Mary’s voice faltered as she held back a sob, and I drew her in for a tight hug.
“I know you’re scared, but I’ll be fine,” I murmured against her thick curly hair. “I have the power of my cuffs. And, if needed, I have the earring too, remember? I can use that if we run into anyone.”
“Or use it like you did with that box at the condo,” Elaine added. “Remember when you touched it and could tell it was safe?”
“Exactly,” I said with a nod. “See? Between the power of the cuffs and the earrings, we’ll be safe.”
Laura caught my eye over Mary’s head and gestured to her watch, so I nodded and pulled away from Mary’s embrace.
“Twelve minutes,” Sammy said in a grave voice.
“Alright.” I took in a deep breath as I eyed the building. Then I fished for the earring in my pocket and slipped it into my ear, just to make sure it was safe in my possession, before I turned to the group again. “I need to get in there now.”
“I’m coming, too,” Laura said with her chin in the air. “I know the building best.”
“Laura, no,” Mary said in a strangled voice, but the blonde agent waved her off, and I knew there was no point in protesting.
When Laura had her mind set on something, it was happening, come hell or high water.
“I’ll be fine,” Laura said to the very worried Mary. “Jonah can protect me with a shield if worse comes to worst.”
“Which it won’t,” Elaine said confidently.
I grinned at my foreign lover’s compliment, but there was no time to waste.
“Okay, Laura, you’re with me.” I turned to Sloan with an inquisitive look, which she read instantly.
“I’m in,” Sloan said with a smirk.
“Thought so,” I said and returned her smirk before I turned to my curly-haired girlfriend. “Mary, I want you to take Elaine back to the Blackwing.”
“But...” Elaine began to protest, but it was my turn to lift a hand to cut her off.
“I’m sorry, but it’s for the safety of you and the baby,” I said.
“Fine,” Mary grumbled, and she grabbed Elaine’s wrist and started to drag her back toward the car. “Try not to die.”
Elaine shot me a sympathetic look as Mary dragged her back through the crowd to the car.
“She’ll get over it,” Laura said with a sigh as we watched their retreating backs. “Once she sees you’re safe.”
“Hopefully,” I said, but then I turned to the others and got my game face on.
Sammy’s phone pinged, and we all turned to him as he read the message on the screen.
“IT sent a drone in, they think they’ve detected a mysterious object on the seventeenth floor,” Sammy read from his phone. “In the southwest corner office.”
“Alright, seventeenth floor it is,” I said. I shot a look at Laura and Sloan. “You two ready?”
“Always,” Sloan said, and she tilted her head around her neck as if she was warming up for a workout.
“Let’s do this,” Laura said with a big breath, and then the two women fell in step behind me.
“Good luck!” Sammy called out as we approached the tape barrier.
I lifted the tape, ducked underneath it, and held it up for Sloan and Laura. Then we stood up straight and strode toward the main entrance. Before we could get too far, a member of the bomb squad approached us with his hands raised, and I spotted a lieutenant bar on a patch in the center of his chest.
“Sorry, folks, I’m going to need you to step behind the barrier,” the man said in a loud, authoritative voice.
“It’s okay, we’re...” Laura began as she reached for her badge, but the bomb squad lieutenant cut her off again.
“Behind the barrier,” the man said firmly.
“They’re cleared!” a voice called out from behind the man.
I leaned to the side to see the Director jogging toward us from the direction of the building. I waved at him to show the bomb squad dude that I knew the Director personally, which caused the bomb squad guy to step down as the Director joined us. My first instinct was to ask him about the ongoing hearing, but obviously this wasn’t the best time to bring that up.
“Sir?” Bomb Squad Lieutenant clasped his hands behind his back in parade rest.
“They’re cleared to enter the building,” the Director said as he nodded at me and the others. “In fact, they go in first.”
“Sir, I’m afraid there isn’t time to get them suited up,” the LT said with a shake of his head. “My men are ready to enter now.”
“So are we,” I said quickly, and I gestured to my wrist. “And time’s a ticking.”
The LT scoffed as he looked me up and down in my suit.
“That’s not the kind of suit I’m talking about,” the LT said, and he turned back to the Director. “Sir, we cannot allow civilians inside when...”
“They’re not civilians, they’re agents,” the Director cut off the LT. “And they’ve got approval from me, that’s all they need. Patterson, Mayhew, Hawk, get in there.”
“You got it, sir,” I said as I shucked off my jacket and tie and started rolling up my sleeves.
I didn’t wait another second, I just pushed past the LT with the women hot on my heels. I could hear the LT bickering with the Director, but that was no longer my problem.
“Patterson, hold up!” the Director called out from behind me.
I stopped and turned to see the Director jogging the short distance to me. He grabbed my elbow and leaned in close to my ear.
