“Great job. I was the only one to walk out of there without a gunshot wound.”

Teren purposely thumped a finger off Alex’s bandaged arm, and the smaller woman grimaced in pain.

“No, you didn’t walk out unscathed. That wound is on your shooting arm, Alex. Yes, two of your men died, and a few were injured, one seriously. But you had three men in front of you, and one coming in from the rear. You took out one guy, and put a bullet in another. You kept your attackers at bay until help could get there.” Teren shrugged. “Sometimes, that’s all you can do.”

Alex didn’t say anything. She gazed at Teren for several long moments.

“So, you’d trust me to protect your back?”

“Anytime.”

The blond woman nodded. “Then let’s get to work. We’ve got a lot to do before we leave.”

The two of them shared a smile.

Teren moved the table in from the other room while Alex got her briefcase and her laptop. The blond agent stopped for a moment, and watched the darker woman maneuver the awkward burden through the doorway.

“Teren?”

“Yeah?”

“At some point we’re going to have to talk about what happened last night.”

Teren stopped in her tracks, then started forward again, setting the table down gently.

“Yeah, I suppose we will.” She stood up and turned around. “But I gotta tell you, I don’t think I’m ready for it, Alex.”

Alex watched Teren’s blue eyes as they danced around the room, settling on anything but Alex. “Are you sorry it happened?”

The question finally brought Teren’s gaze to hers. “Are you?”

“No.”

“Me neither.” Teren sat on the bed once again. “But I don’t think I’m ready to think about why it happened or what it means. There’s too much going on right now.”

“True.” Alex took a seat next to her. “But I guess I kind of needed to know that — well, that for one thing, it wasn’t a dream.”

“Nope.”

“And that — that — it wasn’t just —”

“Me taking advantage of you?”

“No. Me taking advantage of you.” Alex turned to her. “Teren, I needed so much to be held, to know that I wasn’t alone. And you were there for me. I’m grateful.” She dropped her eyes. “But I’d hate to think that — it was— ” she stopped, her hands covering her eyes. “Maybe I’m not ready for this talk either.”

Teren chuckled, and gently reached up and ruffled Alex’s short hair. Then she got serious.

“Alex, I can admit that I find you attractive. That was the other reason I accepted the invitation from Sarah and Maggie.”

“Really?”

“Really. But we’re in the middle of this — this investigation. And who the hell knows what’s going to happen? As much as I’m going to try not to let it happen, we could both end up dead.” She saw Alex’s eyes widen. “You did know that, right?”

Alex swallowed and grimaced. “Well, yeah, I did. I just never said it out loud, or heard it put quite that way.”

“Sorry, but tact has never been my strong point.” They smiled at each other. “I just think that any attraction should maybe wait until we’re out of this mess.”

“I agree.” Alex nodded. “Besides, we’ve known each other less than two weeks.”

“That’s right. And I don’t think either of us is ready to think about the future right now.”

Alex grinned. “Speak for yourself.”

“What?”

“Tell you what. When this is all over with, I’ll take you to my favorite Italian restaurant, and we can have the conversation neither of us is ready for.”

Teren smiled and nodded. “I think I can handle that.”

“Good.” Alex stood up. “Now, before we get into any hard-core discussion, can I have an Ibuprofen? My arm’s killing me.”

Teren laughed, and reached for the bags she’d brought back.

Chapter Twenty-two

Teren and Alex faced each other across the table. Alex had opened her laptop and accessed all her files, while Teren had pulled the Washington printouts from her briefcase.

“Okay. Let’s start with a question: did Brogan say anything before the shooting began?”

Alex nodded. “He told us Mallory Gerlach was not involved. He said the whole operation was organized by a small group of men, Derek White among them.”

“Any other names?”

“He confirmed Martin Richmond and John Treville. He also said there was somebody named Jacob.”

“As in Jacob Dawkins.” Teren drummed her fingers on the table. “Anyone else?”

“Someone named C.J., from Washington. That’s all.”

“Have we run across anyone with that name?”

“I haven’t. You?”

Teren shook her head. “No, doesn’t sound familiar. But it’s something to keep in mind.” She took a sip from her coffee cup. “At least we know we were on the right track. And we have the names, at least the first names, of all the top conspirators. From the US at least.”

“Yeah, now we just have to prove it.” Alex nibbled absently on her pen cap. “You think there are more people from outside the country?”

“Yeah, I do. I mean, where did the money come from to pay for these hits? Mather wasn’t working for free.”

“And I’m guessing you know the answer to this particular question.” Alex grinned.

“Yes and no. I can tell you what bank the money was kept in, what account it was, and all the other transactions that took place. I can even tell you when the account was opened, and where that money came from.”

“So, what part can’t you tell me?”

“Who the cash originally belonged to, and why they gave five and a half million dollars to John Treville.”

Alex dropped her pen. “Okay, I give. Where did you get this?”

“Well, I took the number of the Swiss account you gave me, and I checked with a friend of mine. He was able to access more of the bank records than you or I ever could.” Teren slid a couple of printouts over to Alex. “Look. This is the opening transaction for the account you found. You see the date, and the record number?” Alex nodded. “Well, this is where the money originally came from. It’s an account that’s so old there is no computer information, other than the account number itself, and the amount in the account.”

“Jeez, am I reading this right? This account that we don’t have anything else on has over a hundred and fifty million dollars in it?”

“That’s right.”

“So this five million to Treville and Richmond really wasn’t that much, was it? And we don’t have any idea why this person gave them the money.”

“No. I’ve got a feeling that if we find out who this parent account belongs to, we’ll know the reason for the gift.”

Alex nodded, but frowned. “Okay, I agree with you there. But we’ve still got the same problem we’ve had from the beginning. There’s no direct physical proof.” She reached for her coke. “I mean we’ve got White’s fingerprints on the dagger in Mather’s box, but that doesn’t really connect him to the killings. We’ve got Brogan’s wife, but all she can really testify to is that she saw this group of men together. She was never present for any of the meetings.”

“How solid is her testimony?”

Alex squinted, thinking about it. “Pretty good, I’d say. She comes across, to me at least, as believable. She can also confirm the connections between her husband, John Treville, and Mather and Wilford. She gave us the same names her husband did. Plus, Kyle told her that the group had hired Mather and Wilford to do some work for them.”

“So, the stories back each other up.” Teren nodded. “Good. I don’t know that this will ever come into a court room, but if so, the eyewitness connecting them will help.”

“You think it won’t go to court?”

“I don’t know. So far, everything points to someone wanting to keep this from being solved.” Teren smiled at Alex. ” But I’m hoping to change that.”

“How so?”

“Alex, do you realize that in today’s age, there isn’t anything you do that isn’t somehow recorded in a computer?”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Well, you know when you send a package somewhere, especially if you send it through UPS or Fed Ex, your name is recorded, as well as the person the package is going to. Plus, the option is offered for you to insure a package that you send. That way if you send a valuable piece such as a statue, or a painting, or a —”