Teresa Watson (7 page)

“Would you be after reading that?”

He shook his head. “Probably not. What are you going to do with the information?”

“I think I should go talk to Owen first before I do anything.”

“And say what?”

“Oh, I don’t know. ‘Did you know you have a traitorous snake in the grass working for you who isn’t what he appears to be?’ How about ‘You have a fox in the henhouse, Owen, and I happen to be dating him?’ Would that be too blunt?”

I heard Gladys gasp, but it was too late to take back what I said. “Would you like me to drive you to the station?” Jake said as I stood up.

“Whatever,” I said as I stormed out of the café. The only thing I was thinking about was how to tell Owen that his prize deputy was really a federal agent.

Chapter Fourteen

Jake dropped me off in front of the sheriff’s department. File in hand, I walked in to find Owen standing in the lobby with a cup of coffee. “Lizzie, what are you doing here?”

“We need to talk.”

He looked at me for a moment before nodding. “Alright, come on back.” I followed him down the hallway to his office. He closed the door as I sat down. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been tossed around in a dryer,” I replied. “I don’t think there is a spot on my body that doesn’t hurt.”

“Is the pain medication helping?”

“For the most part.”

“You didn’t drive down here, did you? I’d hate to have to arrest you for driving under the influence.”

“No, someone dropped me off.”

“Would that someone be T.J.?”

“No.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Get your mind out of the gutter, Owen. Jake is just a friend. It’s also none of your business.”

“I’m just thinking about T.J.”

“Let’s talk about T.J.,” I said, dropping the file on his desk. “Or should I say Thomas Jefferson Roosevelt?”

“Oh.”

“That’s all you have to say? ‘Oh?’ I was expecting you to be totally shocked.”

“You weren’t supposed to find out.”

“Find out what? That the man I have been dating the past few months is really an undercover federal agent?”

“Yeah.”

“Let me get this straight: you’ve known since last October that T.J. was really a federal agent?”

“Do you really think he could come to work here without telling me?”

I stared at him. “We’ve been friends all our lives, and you kept this from me. Unbelievable. Why is he here?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“I bet I can guess. He’s here to try and catch Debra Cosgrove.” He didn’t say anything. “What is his assignment exactly? To keep tabs on me in the hopes I would lead them to her?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“How did he even know about my connection to her? I didn’t even know it myself until Amos was murdered.”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“You’re starting to sound like a broken record, Owen. What
can
you tell me?”

“That he really cares about you.”

I stood up and grabbed the file off the desk. “Well, isn’t that special? I feel all warm and fuzzy now.”

“How did you find out?”

“It seems I asked the right question to the right person, and voila! Secrets revealed.”

“What are you going to do with that information?” Owen asked me as I opened the door.

“I don’t know.”

“You can’t jeopardize his investigation. There is more at stake now that she tried to kill Hopkins.”

“Just because he said it was a female voice he heard doesn’t mean it was her.”

“What did you do, interrogate Hopkins? Even after I specifically told you to keep your nose out of my investigation?”

“Hopkins isn’t the only one who was almost killed yesterday, Owen. Everyone seems to be forgetting that.”

“You cannot write a story about this, Lizzie. You’ll blow T.J.’s cover and ruin everything.”

“I’m part of that precious investigation you all are so bent on protecting. How do you think this makes me feel? He’s been using me!”

“He didn’t have a choice, Lizzie. He was just doing his job.”

“Yeah, well, his job really sucks,” I said, slamming the door behind me as I left.

Chapter Fifteen

Jake was waiting for me when I walked out. “How did it go?” he asked as I got in the car.

“He knew.”

“I had a feeling he probably did. After I read the file, I realized I had seen T.J. two years ago in D.C. It was at a press conference to discuss the capture of someone on the FBI’s most wanted list. He was the agent in charge of the case.” He put his hand over my left hand and squeezed. “I’m so sorry, Lizzie.”

“Owen wants to know what I’m going to do with the information.”

“What are you going to do?”

I shrugged. “I don’t think it is going to matter what I do. Gladys overheard us talking, and I’m sure she’s spread it far and wide by now.”

“Did you tell Owen that she knew?”

“Damage control is not in my job description.”

He shook his head as he backed the car up, put it in gear and drove off. “What now?”

“We cut off the information highway, at least part of it.”

We didn’t get far before red, white and blue lights came up behind us. “I think we have a small problem here. Seems your boyfriend is pulling us over,” Jake said as he pulled over and parked near the curb.

T.J. opened my door and bent over. “I’ve been looking for you.”

“Why, Deputy Reynolds, I didn’t know you cared,” Jake said.

“Not you,” T.J. replied, “her.”

“What do you want, T.J.?”

“I went by the house to check on you, but obviously you weren’t there.”

“Obviously.”

“Can we go somewhere and talk?”

“I’m not sure I have anything to say to you right now, T.J.”

“Come with me anyway. It’s important.”

“I’ll just bet,” I muttered.

“Why don’t you go ahead and go, Lizzie?” Jake said. “I have some things to take care of right now.”

“Are you serious?”

He nodded. “Definitely.”

“Whatever,” I said, totally disgusted with both of them at the moment. I knew why I was mad at T.J., and I was getting upset with Jake for bossing me around like he did when we were together in college. Maybe I was being overly sensitive right now. Maybe I should just hit both of them upside the head with my cast and walk home.

“I know what you’re thinking,” T.J. said. “You’ll hurt your arm more than you’ll hurt me.”

I got out of the car and stood in front of him. “Shut up, T.J.”

Jake laughed and shook his head as I walked off. “Dude, you are so screwed.”

“Don’t I know it?” T.J. said as he closed the car door.

I sat silently in the passenger seat as he started driving toward my house. “I have it on good authority that my house is bugged. Oh wait, you probably already know that.”

“I didn’t put any bugs in your house, Lizzie.”

“No, it was probably one of your agent friends. Was it Hopkins? I should have left him tied to that tree.”

“That’s not in your nature, and you know it. You’re just mad at me right now.”

“How would you like it if the tables were turned and I was the one using you?”

“I’d probably feel the same way.”

“Don’t expect me to be understanding to your plight, T.J. No matter what you say, it all comes down to one simple truth: you used me.” He pulled into my driveway and parked. “Is it safe to park here? Are you sure they don’t have the driveway bugged, too?”

“You’re right, I did use you.”

Shocked, I looked at him. “Well, I didn’t expect you to bloody admit it so quickly!”

“Owen called me after you left the office and told me you knew the truth. Denying it would make me look like an idiot.”

“You already look like an idiot. Oh wait,
I’m
the idiot.”

“You’re not an idiot, Lizzie,” he said, reaching over to stroke my hair. I jerked my head out of the way. “Debra Cosgrove is a cold-blooded killer. She killed her husband, her father, almost killed you and a federal agent yesterday. It isn’t just a hobby to her; she does this for a living. She’s a paid assassin.”

“What proof do you have?”

“For crying out loud, Lizzie, you know I can’t discuss ongoing investigations. They’re classified.”

“You’re developing ethics and morals now? You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Do you think I liked the fact that I had to use you?” T.J. said angrily. “It’s part of my job.”

“Is it part of your job to make the subject feel like you love them?”

“No, it isn’t. That is just an unexpected perk.”

“Don’t you dare sit there and tell me you love me, T.J. I am feeling a lot of things for you right now, but love is not one of them.”

“When this is all over, we will sit down and talk about this. But right now, I need your help to catch her.”

“You expect me to help you?” I said incredulously. “Are you out of your mind?”

“Do I need to remind you that she just tried to kill you…again?” he snapped.

“I wasn’t her intended target. You and Owen were!” Whoops, I didn’t mean for that part to slip out.

“How do you know that? Has she contacted you?”

“Why don’t you ask the guys who are listening in on my conversations, T.J.? I’m sure they’ve already typed up a transcript.”

“What did she say when she called?”

“She didn’t call. Well, she did, but that isn’t when she told me.”

“What are you talking about?”

I hesitated. I didn’t really want to tell him anything, mostly out of spite. On the other hand, I didn’t want to go to Leavenworth for impeding a federal investigation, either. “She came by my hospital room yesterday afternoon.”

“You saw her? How did she get in without anyone seeing her?”

“I don’t know! You’ll have to ask her. For all I know, I was hallucinating, considering all the medication they gave me.”

“What did she say?”

“Like I said, I wasn’t the one she was aiming for. She said she didn’t mean for me to get hurt.”

“That’s when she told you she was targeting me and Owen.” I nodded. “Did she say why?”

I shook my head. “She told me not to trust either one of you. She was right about that, obviously.”

T.J. sat back. “That means she probably knows who I am.”

“I think she’s known for a while.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Remember that phone call a couple of months ago? She told me that I couldn’t trust those nearest and dearest to me. Obviously, she meant you and Owen.”

“Owen isn’t the one to blame here, Lizzie.”

“Yes, he is. He’s just as much to blame as you are. Both of you have been lying to me for months.”

“Because we were trying to protect you.”

I held up my cast covered arm. “Bull. That didn’t work out too well, did it? I don’t know how I ended up on the federal radar in the first place, and I don’t care. No more games, no more lies. I’ve had enough.” I awkwardly opened the door with my left hand and got out. “I hope you finally catch her. But you’re going to do it without me.”

“Lizzie, wait…”

“Go away, T.J. I’m done talking. Just go away and leave me alone. I don’t ever want to see you again. Is that clear?” I slammed the door and walked off.

I went through the side gate into the backyard, where Babe was curled up in her usual spot under the tree. When I sat down next to her, she put her head in my lap and sighed. I stroked her head while the tears slid down my cheeks.

Chapter Sixteen

I must have dozed off, because the next thing I knew, it was almost five. Giving Babe a hug, I got up, walked around to the front of the house, and found an envelope stuck to the front door. “You’ll need this to get into the house. I’m sorry. We’ll talk again soon. Love, T.J.” Inside the envelope was the spare house key I had given him.

I took out the key, ripped up the note, and unlocked the door just as Jake’s Porsche pulled into the driveway. Why couldn’t men just leave me alone for a while?

“Where have you been?” he said as he walked up. “I’ve been calling your phone for the past two hours.”

“I fell asleep in the backyard under the tree,” I said.

“Really.”

“Yes, really. What do you want?”

“I have the equipment I told you about. Do you want me to do it now?”

No, I thought to myself. What I wanted was for everyone to go away and leave me alone so I could soak in a bubble bath, eat chocolate, and wallow in my misery. “Sure, go ahead. I’ll fix us something to eat while you do it.” I dropped my purse on the table and opened the fridge. “Do you like egg salad?”

“Never had it.”

“Have you been living under a rock or something?”

“Or something,” he laughed from the living room. “I’m used to bologna and cheese sandwiches. When you’re in the field reporting on a story, you eat whatever is handy. Bologna is usually pretty cheap, so I’ve had a lot of it. I’ll eat anything, except that.”

“You’re in luck. I don’t have any,” I said, pulling out the egg carton and closing the fridge. I put seven eggs in the pot, filled it with water, and started cooking them on the stove. “Any luck yet?”

He came around the corner, holding a small button in his hand. “Could I get a glass of water?”

I did as he asked and handed it to him. He dropped the little button into the water. “This should short it out.”

“Where did you find it?”

“Phone,” he said, “the most obvious place, of course. I’m going to sweep the rest of the house now. I’m sure we’ll find one or two more.”

Jake actually found three more, in various places around the house. We dropped them into the water with the other one. “Are you sure that’s all of them?” I said while we ate.

“Pretty sure,” he nodded. “No guarantee, though.” We quietly ate for a few minutes. “What are you thinking about?”

“I’m thinking how you’ve only been around for thirty-six hours, give or take a few hours, and my entire world has gone to heck in a hand basket.”

“That’s not my doing.”

“Not entirely, but I do find the timing somewhat suspect.”

“Right guy in the right place at the right time, that’s all it is, Lizzie.”

“How did you get the information on T.J. so quickly?”