“Lot of strange guys here.”

“No, I mean really strange.” She paused and finished writing, closed the file, and put it away in a rack on the desk.

“Can I tell you something in confidence?” she asked.

“Sure.”

“I mean, really?”

“I mean really, sure.”

She smiled at this, but then her smile faded to a frown. “He was creepy. And he seemed like a holier-than-thou type. Like he had this big secret he was just bursting to tell me.”

“Probably lots of people here like that.”

“Maybe. But he stuck out.”

“Well, in the end it didn’t help him.”

“Killed in a militia war, I heard on the news.”

“So they say.”

“You know different?” she asked sharply.

“No and I’ve got my hands full with my own stuff.” He laced up his shoes and slipped off the table. “I appreciate you patching me up.”

“It’s what they pay me for.”

“So this West guy was kind of a psycho. Heard he got canned from here.”

“I’m not surprised. I can’t believe he passed the psychological vetting. He just seemed too unstable.”

“What else do you remember about him? He ever mention anyone to you?”

“Anyone like who?”

“Just anyone.”

She smiled slyly. “I thought you said you had your hands full.”

“I’m naturally curious.”

“Well, he did mention that he had friends in high places. Very high places, he said. I thought he was just blustering. He was pretty low-level at the agency.” She blushed.

“What?” asked Robie.

“Well, I thought he was saying all that to impress me.”

“You mean he was hitting on you?”

“Yeah, I think he was.” She slapped him playfully on the arm. “And don’t sound so surprised.”

“You think he was serious?”

“I’ve thought about that. If I had to guess, I think he did have someone higher up who had his back.”

“Not that high up. He got canned.”

“You’re right. Anyway, I’ll just leave it that he was trying to hit on me.” She slipped a business card from her pocket. “Just in case you lost my other card, here’s another one with all my contact info, including my personal cell. If you have any problems with the injuries please don’t hesitate to call.”

As Robie took the card, her fingers grazed across his. She didn’t meet his eye but her cheeks were slightly red.

Robie had a strong feeling that she was hitting on him.

CHAPTER

48

NICOLE VANCE WAS WAITING FOR him this time. And she wasn’t wearing any makeup. The woman was all business tonight.

Robie sat down.

“I already ordered you a drink,” she said.

He eyed her glass. “Gin?”

“Ginger ale. I’m still technically on duty.”

“Long day.”

“Long life. At least I hope.” She eyed his right arm. “You’re carrying that a little stiffly. What gives?”

The burns were healing, but slowly. And the arm wasstiff, the new sutures Meenan had put in making it even stiffer. He wondered how fast he could draw his weapon. Maybe not fast enough. Yet he had done okay out in the hinterlands of Arkansas. Adrenaline made pain manageable. It was only later that everything hurt.

“Old age.”

She smirked. “Nice try.”

“Why are you still on duty?” asked Robie.

She sipped her ginger ale; her gaze held a faraway look. “When an investigation is going nowhere I tend to work overtime. Whole world’s going to hell, Robie.”

“What’s new?”

“You heard about this stuff in Arkansas. With Roy West?”

“Saw the news,” he replied.

“He was with your agency.”

“Never knew him.”

“He didn’t last long, apparently. Then he went off half-cocked and turned into some antigovernment freak. Don’t you vet your people better?”

“Not my job,” said Robie.

His drink came and he tasted it.

“Just how you like it?” asked Vance.

He nodded. “Yeah, thanks.”

“Good, we can drink to the world going to hell.”

“So what part of the world exactly is going to hell?”

“Pick any spot you want. No leads on Jacobs. Nothing on Gelder. The shit in Arkansas. And the ATF is going nuts too.”

“About what?”

“An explosion at a remote place on the Eastern Shore. Very sophisticated device used. And someone had even put accelerant in a pond on the property. There wasn’t much left in the way of evidence. I’m not on that case. We dohave other FBI agents. The Bureau got called out on the Arkansas case too. This militia crap is getting really scary. There used to be just dozens of these groups. Now there are thousands of them. Maybe more.”

“So how did this Roy West guy die?”

“Don’t really know. Like I said, I’m not working it. And to top it off there was a shooting over near the federal court in Alexandria.”

“I didn’t hear about that,” replied Robie.

“Several cars involved. No one got a license plate, of course. Some gal in a sedan driving like Jeff Gordon. Shots fired from the vehicles. And the kicker is a federal judge just happened to be strolling down the street at the same time.”

“You think he was the target?”

“Don’t know. I sort of doubt it. It was in the report because he’s a judge. We have to cover that angle.”

“Which judge?”

“Samuel Kent.”

“Maybe it was just a street gang thing.”

“That part of Alexandria is very upscale. No gang activity there.”

“So no sign of the ‘gal’?”

“Nope. Nifty piece of driving by all accounts, and then she was gone.”

“And the shooters?”

“Gone too. Amazing how that can happen on a crowded street, but it did.” She finished her ginger ale. “You asked to meet and I’ve done all the talking. Now I’m shutting up and putting on my listening ears.”

Robie nodded, trying to assimilate all that she had told him and wondering if the “gal” was who he thought she was. It seemed both ridiculously impossible and extremely likely that it was Jessica Reel, particularly after Arkansas.

“It was good to see Julie,” said Robie.

“Really? I didn’t think it went all that well from my point of view.”

“She was upset,” replied Robie.

“And shouldn’t she be?”

“Yes, she should. But we talked on the drive to her house.”

“And?”

“And she was still upset.”

“Your personal skills must’ve been exceptional on that drive.”

“My goal is to keep her safe. You warned me too.”

“I know, Robie. But you don’t have to completely shut her out of your life. You two went through a lot together. Hell, she and I went through a lot together.”

“You and I went through a lot together,” noted Robie.

This comment caught Vance off guard. She sat back, her posture relaxed. “Yeah, we did. You saved my life and risked your life to do it.”

“I was the reason you were in danger in the first place. Which brings me back to my point about Julie. And you. Every time I meet with you I could be putting you back in danger. I don’t take that lightly, Nikki. It would probably have been better if I hadn’t called and asked you to meet tonight.”

“But you can’t protect everybody all the time, Robie. And I’m an FBI agent. I can take care of myself.’

“In normal circumstances, absolutely. I’m not normal.”

She snorted but caught his deeply serious expression and said, “I know what you mean, Will. I get that. I really do.”

“And what chance would Julie have? I’m involved in things right now.” He stopped talking and looked away.

She reached out tentatively and touched his hand, wrapping her long fingers around it and squeezing. “What things?”