“Yeah. Guy named Tom is in the trunk. Rudy got away.”

“Shit.” She exhaled loudly. “Tom Jorgen and Rudy Wilkins. The first two members of the team.” Alex stared out the window.

“Um, excuse me,” White spoke up from the back seat, “are you telling me you took out at least one, if not both of the guys that wanted to kill me? And this little maggot got killed in the crossfire?”

Teren nodded once.

“Cool. Guess that means I’m in the clear, for a while at least. Until CJ finds out.”

“What? Until who finds out?”

Alex looked back over at her partner. “Derek claims that CJ sent two agents after him, and they blew up the Kittredge factory. He only survived cause he slipped out of the ropes.”

“But, I thought Cliff Jackson sent them to arrest him.”

“So did I.” She turned her attention back to the darkness outside her window.

So, you’re, um, really not FBI anymore?”

“That’s right, Mr. White.” Alex’s voice was soft, but very cold.

“Which means, you’re not FBI either, huh?”

Teren glanced up at him in the rearview mirror. “No.”

“So, are you a cop?”

“No.”

“Well, if you’re not a cop, what are you?”

She raised an eyebrow and glared at him in the mirror. “I’m an assassin for the CIA.”

No one said anything for several miles.

They stopped at a pay phone, where Teren spent a couple of minutes talking to Graves. She told them she was bringing in a suspect, and that they’d need a secure place to keep him. After he woke up, Graves okayed their plan, and told Teren he’d meet them at the safe house.

Alex stayed in the car and watched.

“So, what’s the CIA doing in on this? I thought they weren’t allowed to work in the US, or something like that.”

“The CIA joined the case when we discovered the international connections. Or did you think we wouldn’t find those?”

White shrugged. “Don’t matter to me. The only ones who dealt with that part were CJ and Treville.”

“And Radcliffe?”

He shook his head. “Don’t know much about him. He was never at our meetings.”

“But CJ was.”

“Yeah. And Treville. Jacob Dawson. Martin Richmond. Kyle — well, you know.”

“Yeah. I know.” She could still see Brogan falling, half of his head missing. Alex shook her head to clear the memory.

“So, where are you two taking me?”

“To a safehouse. You’ll be protected until we can figure out who CJ is. After that, we’ll turn you over to the FBI and the Justice Department. You’ll face charges of conspiracy and murder.”

He gaped at her, shock on his face. “Wait a minute. You’re gonna hold me, without a warrant or anything, with no charges, and then turn me over to the Justice Department? That’s not fair.”

“Fine. I know this great street corner, right by the FBI building. We could let you out there.”

He paused for a moment, then said, “You gotta get me a deal. Or I won’t tell you what I know.”

“And what do you know that we don’t? That Kittredge was a money-laundering operation? That the plan to kill radical left activists was financed by Radcliffe and a German? That you hired Mather and Wilford to do the killing, and then killed them when they didn’t seem as interested in your goals as they were in money? What? What do you have to bargain with, Mr. White?”

They fell silent for several minutes, watching as Teren finished her conversation and walked back to the car. Just as she was reaching for the door handle, White leaned forward and whispered.

“I’ll give you Treville.”

Alex turned to look at him.

“I’m listening.”

Chapter Thirty-eight

White shook his head. “Nope. Not saying a thing ‘til I get a deal.”

“Mr. White, I’m not with the Justice Department, or even the FBI anymore. I cannot, and will not offer you any kind of deal, except this: you talk to us, or I’ll let Teren do what the CIA trained her to do.”

Teren froze in the act of putting on her seat belt. She glanced at Alex, and then into the mirror at their passenger. “Cool. Can I, really?”

Alex shrugged. “If he’s not going to talk, there’s no reason not to. Then we can turn him over to your buddies, and they’ll make the body disappear, right?”

“Right. Cool. I know a great spot to do it, too.” She grinned wickedly, winking in the mirror. “Can’t do it here. Wouldn’t want to get the car dirty.”

She pulled back onto the street, and a minute later they turned onto the highway, heading south, out of DC. As they crossed into Virginia, White started to fidget.

“Hey, you’re not serious.”

Neither woman answered him.

“You can’t do this. You need me.”

Alex shook her head. “You have an inflated opinion of yourself, Mr. White. We’ve survived setups, and ambushes, and effectively shut your operation down. All of it without you.” She shrugged. “I’ll take my chances that I can also get Treville without you.”

“But what about CJ?”

“You said you didn’t know anything about him.”

“Yeah, but I can identify him,” he said smugly. “I’ve seen him.”

“Will you describe him?”

“Not without a lawyer and a deal.” The smug look stayed on his face.

“Fine. Teren, let’s go to that spot, shall we?”

“No problem.”

No one said anything for several more minutes. Then Teren turned the car off the highway, and onto the two lane road that headed out towards the house.

“See, Alex, there’s this really neat place, just west of here. Farming country. I know this little spot of forest, right before the fields begin. You drive up to this old hiking trail that’s become really overgrown, then follow that ‘til you end up in this clearing, where the trees are so thick that you can barely see through them. Oh, it’s a great place. The sound gets absorbed by the trees, and even if he screams, no one will hear him.”

Alex nodded. “Sounds good. Is that where we’re headed?”

“Absolutely.”

White laughed. “Yeah, right, I believe that.” But Teren could see a sheen of persperation on his upper lip.

They turned off onto a gravel road, heading toward what was obviously farming country. Alex glanced at Teren, who winked at her. She raised an eyebrow back, wondering just how far they’d have to play this charade.

As they approached a stand of forest, White began to babble.

“Hey, you guys can’t do this. You work for the government. You can’t just torture a guy, it’s against the constitution.”

“So’s murder and conspiracy, Mr. White. You didn’t seem to care about that a few months, or even a few weeks ago.” Alex turned and looked at him. “No point complaining about it now.”

“But — you can’t — you were FBI — you can’t just — they’ll find out. They’ll find me, and they’ll find you, and you’ll go to jail.”

Alex peered seriously at Teren. “Umm. What are the consequences?”

Teren looked thoughtful. “Well, if you were still FBI, they’d be pretty serious.”

“And now that I’m CIA instead?”

Her partner grinned. “They’ll suspend you for a day. With pay, of course.”

“Of course.” She nodded. “I think I can handle that.”

Teren pulled the car to the side of the road, and pointed. “There’s the foot path. We’ll need to get the flashlight from the trunk.”

“Anything else we’ll need?”

“Nope. Just our entertainment.” She turned to White, who was looking decidedly pale. “That would be you, Derek.”

Alex got the flashlight, while Teren hauled their prisoner out of the car.

A while later they were once again pulling up in front of the large white mansion. Graves came out the door and down the steps.

“You’re late,” he called, as Teren closed the driver’s door behind her.

“Yeah, well, we had to make a detour.” She nodded at the two men who had followed the older agent. “Got a present for you in the back seat. He’s unconscious right now. Had to make sure he didn’t know where we were going.” She grinned at Graves. “Besides, he really doesn’t take torture too well.”