Skin Deep

CHAPTER 31

TERRYN GLARED AT Laura from behind his desk. The voice on the other end of his phone was audible.

“I thought Mariel Tate was supposed to be a diplomat,” Sinclair whispered loud enough for Terryn to hear.

Laura gazed at him from under her brow. “Not helping, Jono.”

“I understand,” Terryn said for the fourth or fifth time. “I’ll talk to her… yes, thank you.”

He hung up. “What got into you?”

Laura tried to look contrite. “I’m sorry, Terryn. I walked in with my black suit and two Dananns and… got a little carried away.”

“Carried away? They mobilized practically an entire battalion,” said Terryn.

“I had to know that the Archives ceremony wasn’t compromised.”

“Foyle says you threatened him,” he said.

She shrugged dismissively. “Oh, please. It was a veiled threat at best.”

Sinclair twisted his lips to keep from smiling. A series of emotions crossed Terryn’s face-uncertainty and frustration. Laura couldn’t blame him. She liked to exert authority as Mariel once in a while to get results. It worked. It was nice to have an ID that let her stomp her feet anywhere she wanted sometimes. Admittedly, though, she didn’t usually cause a police response. Waking up angry hadn’t helped.

By the expression on his face, Terryn knew he wasn’t going to get anywhere berating her. “We’ll deal with this later. Gianni was not at home or at the Vault,” he said.

While she went to Anacostia, an auxiliary team had hit Gianni’s apartment and another had gone with Terryn to the Vault. “Did you talk to Blume?” she asked.

Terryn nodded. “We had no problems. Once he learned that Alfrey had been in the building, he let us search the premises.”

“The entire place?” Sinclair said. “I practically couldn’t go to the bathroom without an escort.”

“Just a few offices and public areas,” said Terryn. “His cooperation did not extend to risking his offices being searched unattended.”

“What did Alfrey want with him the other day?” Laura asked.

“He wasn’t specific. They were partners in various business ventures but had a falling-out,” Terryn said.

“Can we confirm that?” asked Laura.

Terryn nodded. “Already in motion. Preliminary results confirm they went their separate ways two years ago. Alfrey had decided to take his politics in a more radical direction.”

“Are you comfortable taking Blume off the table?” asked Laura.

Terryn spread his hands. “No, but he’s cooperated. We’re not finding any connections that are unusual for someone of his level of influence. And he broke off connections with a partner when the guy went radical. I don’t see anything to pin on him.”

Laura paced around the side of the office. “I don’t like Blume. He was afraid of something last night. There’s a connection.”

“When we find it, we will deal with it,” Terryn said.

Laura sat again and leaned forward. “We have another problem. InterSec has a leak. Gianni knew Janice Crawford was a plant, and so did Hornbeck.”

Terryn nodded. “Nothing is one hundred percent secure, not even the Guild.”

She looked away from Terryn. “Do you think it was Liam?”

“Who’s Liam?” asked Sinclair.

Laura ignored him. Terryn paused, his eyes shifting to Sinclair. “It’s possible. Other possibilities exist.”

Sinclair jutted his jaw out in annoyance. “It wasn’t me. I’ve had more than one opportunity to put her down, flut terboy.”

“Jono!” Laura said.

He glared at her. “He can imply that I’m trying to kill you, and you get mad I called him a name?”

“It’s not that, it’s…” She fumbled for words. “It’s not very nice.”

Sinclair laughed. “Good. I got my point across.”

“Anyway,” Terryn interrupted, “the good news, if we can call it that, is that only a low-level agent was exposed. I’ll have Cress start pulling files to check on everyone you interacted with as Janice Crawford inside and out. We may find someone who knows too much about her.”

“I’m retiring her,” said Laura.

“You know I wanted that, and now she’s too compromised to keep in play any longer,” Terryn agreed.

“Retire? For good?” asked Sinclair.

Laura leaned back with a mixture of disappointment and resignation. “I’ve done it before. When a persona has outlived its usefulness, there’s no point in keeping it.”

“Does this mean we can’t live together anymore?” Sinclair asked in mock sadness.

Laura glowered but didn’t answer him. “Do we have anything new on the drug-raid data?” Laura asked Terryn.

He slid a folder across the desk. “The raid did, in fact, disrupt a drug operation. There’s been chatter about its being a front. It looks like you were right. The evidence and underground chatter strongly point to an assassination plot, with Senator Hornbeck or the president as the likely targets.”

Laura shook her head. “Who will both be at the Archives tomorrow. That puts the ceremony back in play as a target. We have to get it canceled, Terryn.”

Terryn frowned and nodded. “We’ve informed both offices of the information and received the standard reply.”

Laura knew what that meant. “Dammit! Someone needs to tell those idiots they won’t need to bow down to terrorists if they get their legs shot out from under them,” she snapped.

“They have full confidence in our ability to protect them,” said Terryn.

Laura scoffed. “And if something goes wrong, we’ll get hung out to dry because they didn’t listen to us.”

Terryn sighed. “This is Washington.”

“I have an idea,” said Sinclair. They both stared at him as if they had forgotten he was in the room. “What? I can’t have an idea? I thought you wanted me on the team?”

Laura glanced at Terryn. “Go on,” he said.

“We flush them out. You said you weren’t going to use Crawford anymore. They’re trying to kill her because they think she knows something. Use her to flush them out,” Sinclair said.

Terryn shook his head. “Too risky.”

“I like it,” said Laura. Sinclair nodded a flattered smile at her.

“Laura, you’ve done enough. I’m putting other agents on this. You and I will focus on Archives security,” Terryn said.

“Agreed. Tomorrow. Today, I want Alfrey or Gianni or both.”

“No.”

She tapped a finger on his desktop. “I’m demanding the right to do this, Terryn. They’ve tried to kill Janice three times. I deserve the chance to get them before this goes any further.”

“What do you have in mind?” he asked.

With a sly look, Laura leaned back in her chair. “I’m going to be terrorist bait.”