Trust Me (10 page)

To say that Alaina was annoyed was an understatement.
Donovan's phone conversation had brought some unwelcome revelations. “Correct me
if I'm wrong, but it's not usually the practice of FBI lawyers to arrange for
safe houses and forensic squads, is it?”

Donovan knew this question had been coming but he had
hoped that he might be able to delay it for a while.  Obviously Alaina was
not going to let him. “No, it's not,” he responded grimly.

There he goes again, she thought, with those overly
concise answers of his. “Then should I be calling you Agent Prentice?” she
asked, her voice tight with restrained fury.  It was not necessary for him
to respond, the answer was clear on his face. “What the hell were you doing in
the courtroom yesterday?  Were any of those proceedings legal?” 
Alaina demanded, becoming angrier as the implications of his deception began to
unfold.

Donovan didn't hesitate to answer, wanting to reassure
her as quickly as possible. “Yes Alaina, all of the proceedings were
legal.  I practiced law for five years before joining the Bureau and I’m
still a member of the bar.  Of course I had some of the lawyers on staff
at the Bureau help me prepare for the case since it’s been a while since I've
practiced.
” Donovan gave her a sardonic look, knowing that
his response would have done nothing to appease her wrath. Perversely, he was
enjoying her anger, he always felt excited when she lost control.  Her
breath would become rapid and her face would flush just as it was now. 
Right now all he wanted to do was kiss her, an urge that was probably a result
of his body's awareness of how close they had come to making love before they
were interrupted by the shooting.  Of course under the circumstances, he
didn't think she would be receptive any longer to his advances, at least not
for a while.

Alaina couldn't believe what was becoming readily
apparent to her: the entire legal battle had been some type of undercover
investigation conducted by Donovan.  Another thought occurred to her.
“Donovan, you were following me that day when we met in the drugstore, weren't
you? 
My God, how long have you been following me and
why?”

“Yes, I was following you that day, but for your own
protection.  We were afraid that the OAS might strike out at you.”  A
twinge of guilt nagged at Donovan, for he knew his words weren't entirely
true.  The main reason he had been following her was because she was a
suspect, but he couldn't reveal that to her until she no longer was one.

He made it all seem so matter of fact, but Alaina was
horrified at how long she might have been under surveillance completely without
her knowledge, “How long have you been watching me and how thorough has this
surveillance been?  Is my house bugged?  Have you been following me
every day?”

Well he thought, he might as well tell her, she was
going to find out sooner or later anyway. “The Bureau has had you under
surveillance for several months. Your house isn't bugged, but your home and
office phones are both tapped.”  After making this revelation he waited
for her reaction, which he suspected would be nothing less than fury.

Donovan's answers shouldn't have shocked her, she had suspected
as much but nevertheless they did.  The idea that all of her conversations
had been monitored for the past several months seemed unreal to her and her
privacy had been invaded so much she felt violated. 

She looked at him with disbelief in her eyes. “This is
like some bad movie.   I can't believe you've been watching me for
months, manipulating me this whole time.  Was taking me to bed part of
your investigation, Agent Prentice?”

Donovan winced at her accusation, but he had to be
honest with himself, he couldn't blame her for it.  If it were him, he
would ask the same question she had.

“I don't expect you to believe me, but my wanting to
have sex with you had nothing to do with anything but us.  There's
something very powerful between us and despite my professional judgment to the
contrary, I haven't been able to ignore it and neither have you.”  That
was certainly the truth, Donovan thought even though he was guilty of deceiving
her in many other areas.

“You're right, I don't believe it. I think the whole
thing has been all part of your little spy game.  So you can stop the
sexual manipulation right now or I'm going to slap the Bureau with a huge
harassment case.”  Alaina couldn't remember ever being so angry in her
life, however threatening the FBI with a lawsuit did succeed in making her feel
a bit better.  When in doubt litigate she always said.  The only
problem was that Donovan didn't look the least bit threatened.  She
suddenly became aware of their surroundings. They were still both sitting on
the floor in her front hall. 

Taking a deep breath to calm herself she asked, “Is it
safe to get up now?”

Donovan gave her a rueful smile; he too had forgotten
that they were still sitting on the floor. “Yeah, we can move somewhere more
comfortable until the car arrives.  Adams just told me the back-up has
arrived and is sweeping the area. As far as they can tell our would-be
assassins fled the scene soon after we made it inside.  The agents will
probably arrive here shortly after they have completed their search of the
neighborhood.  It's best if we have the added protection until we can get
you out of here.”

“Excuse me, could you slow down for a second? 
What car?  What are you talking about now?”  She wasn't going to
budge until she had some answers.  Donovan had a very annoying habit of
taking too much control of any situation, but she wasn't going to let him get
away with it this time.

“You're going to have to be placed in protective
custody until the investigation is settled and the judge makes his ruling about
the subpoena.  Before you say anything, think about it, you were shot at
tonight.  Someone was trying to kill you and they will most likely try it
again.  It's understandable that you're upset about having been under
surveillance, but it was done to protect you from the OAS.  Had the Bureau
come to you and asked permission, it would have jeopardized the
investigation.  We couldn't let them know we were watching you. 
Unfortunately when your father left you custody of those papers, he also made you
a target.”

“So this is my father's fault?  I don't think you
can blame this one on him since he's dead.  You guys are a bit much. You
follow me around for months and then, when I get shot at, you blame it on my
dead father.  I'm sorry but I think that’s a stretch.  If you ask me,
they were shooting at
you
.”  Alaina was seething, but fueling her
anger was the terrifying inner knowledge that she had been the target of those
bullets this evening.

“Alaina be as angry as you want, at me and the entire
Bureau, but please you've got to go into protective custody, your life is in
danger.  Do you honestly think you'd be safe anywhere else?”

`Safe', Alaina thought, right now that seemed to be an
alien concept.  She faced Donovan and saw concern in his eyes and wondered
if it was real or another performance for her benefit.  She knew now she
couldn't tell the difference.  It was incredible to believe that she still
felt so drawn to him even after everything she had learned tonight. 
Whatever the case, Alaina knew he was right about her life being in
danger.  Donovan was waiting for her answer, staring at her with those
penetrating blue eyes in a way in which made her feel he was staring into the
depths of her soul.  What was he looking for she wondered?

There was no alternative so she responded with the
answer he was waiting for, “All right put me into protective custody.  I
would appreciate it if you would explain to me exactly what that’s going to
mean.” 

Donovan noticed the dry tone of her voice, recognizing
it as a valiant attempt not to appear upset by the events of the evening. 
He silently applauded her efforts, although he wasn't fooled, he knew her well
enough by now. 

Donovan stood, rising from his uncomfortable seat on
the hard floor as he said, “Why don't we go into the living room and sit on a
chair while I explain everything.”

Alaina rose to her feet and without responding moved
to the living room and sank gratefully onto her beloved couch.  She
noticed that her clothes were still in disarray.  In an attempt to regain
her composure she stood straightening them and, with not a little bit of
embarrassment, re-hooked her bra.  Donovan had followed her to the couch
and sat beside her, watching her ministrations patiently until she
finished. 

When she sat down again, he asked, “What do you need
to know about protective custody?”

Alaina ran a hand through her hair, an obvious sign
she was agitated. “Essentially, I expect you to tell me everything there is to
know.  Like how long will I be in custody, where are you taking me, and
who is going to be protecting me?”

Donovan knew she wasn't too pleased with him at the
moment and he suspected that after he answered these questions the situation
was only going to worsen. “I’ll answer your questions as best I can, but I'm
not sure you'll be happy with what I'm going to say.  At the moment I'm
not sure of the exact location of the safe house, but it will probably be some
hotel in the middle of nowhere.  We won't know that until Adams gets here
with the car.  How long will depend on how long it will take the judge to
make his decision about whether to disallow the subpoena or not, and even then,
depending on what the documents reveal, you still might not be safe.  As
to who will be protecting you, I think you already know the answer to
that.  This is my case, they're not going to give the job to anyone else,
but don't worry there will be another agent present.  For obvious reasons
they will be sending a female agent who will be staying with you as well. 
Does that tell you everything you wanted to know?”

“Not exactly, I want to know everything you've been
hiding.  I think you owe it to me to show me the evidence you have against
the OAS and my father. You can't expect me to just take your word for it?” The
sarcasm was evident in her voice as she asked the question.

Donovan gave her a crooked smile. “Well it would be
nice if you did, but I don't expect you to trust my word.  Don't worry, as
soon as you're safe, I'll show you copies of the files.  I know it's the
only way I can convince you of both the guilt of the OAS and your father.”

Alaina looked at him wryly. “Don't be too sure of
that.”  

At that moment, there was a knock on the door, the
unexpected sound made Alaina jump, another sign that the events of the evening
were taking their toll. 

Donovan placed a calming hand on her shoulder. “Don't
worry, I'm sure it's just the back-up agents, they've probably finished
checking the neighborhood for our friends.  Just
relax,
I'll go let them in.”   Donovan rose and as he reached the door asked
loudly, “Is that you Phillips, Casivetti?”

“Yeah
Prentice
, it's us.”

 Donovan recognized the familiar clipped tones of
Casivetti and opened the door.  The two men who filled the space were stereotypical
FBI agents, clean cut and wearing conservative suits.  Casivetti was
Italian and possessed the dark looks of southern Italy, he was tall, muscular
and his very presence combined with a stern demeanor was enough to intimidate
most men.  Phillips was also tall, but there the similarity to his partner
ended.  Phillips possessed sandy brown hair and a lean, lanky frame and by
nature was extremely easy-going.  Both were excellent agents who often
worked successfully undercover; apparently their opposite personalities
complemented each other in their field work.

Donovan noticed Casivetti was holding Alaina's
suitcase before he said, “Come on in guys. Thanks for the back-up, did you find
anything?” 

Both agents entered the house while Casivetti responded
to Donovan's inquiry, “Not a trace Prentice, except for some tire marks down
the street, but those could have been made by anyone.  Forensics will be
by to comb the area later and search for the bullets.  It's unfortunate
but it looks like we got here too late.”  Casivetti held up Alaina's
suitcase, “I take it this belongs to Ms. Simmons.”

Alaina, seeing her suitcase got up off the couch and
approached the three men.  Donovan took the opportunity to introduce the
two agents. “Alaina, this is Agent Casivetti and Agent Phillips.”

Alaina looked at both men as they stood before her and
noted how unruffled they appeared after chasing the attackers.  Well, she
thought, it is their job so it must be commonplace to them. 

Smiling ruefully she said, “I guess I left my bag on
the front lawn, I wasn't too concerned about it when we were dodging bullets.”

Casivetti handed her the bag. “I don't blame you
ma'am.” 

He stared at her intently, and Alaina had the distinct
feeling he was searching for something in her face what exactly that was, she
couldn't be sure.  She was a bit taken aback by his stare, but she just
attributed it to her own nerves, deciding she had imagined it.  Maybe the
events of the evening were making her paranoid, certainly that would be understandable,
yet try as she might she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being regarded
by Casivetti as a suspect.