Deadly Contact (16 page)

Fear trailed a cold finger down her spine as James’s words sank in, and Kelly tasted bile at the back of her throat. Swallowing hard, she asked, “Can’t you stop him?”

“Yes.” She glanced at Thomas, who had resumed eating. “Once we find out where he wants to meet, we’ll scope the place out and put a team into play. Simple as that.” He shrugged, then stuffed a forkful of noodles into his mouth.

She turned back to James, needing his reassurance. “Thomas is right,” he said, shifting to dig his phone out of his pocket. “We’ll get there before he does and scoop him up. But first—” he flipped open the phone and began punching numbers “—we need to set up a trace on your line. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find George’s location so we don’t even have to worry about setting up a meeting.”

Kelly remained quiet while James made his phone call. She used her fork to trace designs in the remnants of sauce on her plate. She was still hungry, but her throat felt so tight that she didn’t want to risk choking on a bite of food. Thomas sat beside her, chewing happily, completely oblivious to her anxiety.

James hung up and placed the phone on the coffee table, then picked up his plate and twirled another forkful of noodles. She watched in amazement as he popped the bite into his mouth and went back for more, as if he hadn’t a care in the world.
I could get killed, and they’re acting like it’s no big deal!

“How can you eat at a time like this?” Kelly pushed her plate away so she could stand, then began pacing the room. “I’m about to crawl out of my skin with worry, and you guys are just sitting there like nothing is going on!”

Both men stared at her again. Only this time, they wore identical looks of bewilderment. “I’m hungry,” Thomas pointed out, as if that simple statement should explain everything.

“I’m hungry, too,” she shot back, hugging herself as she moved around the room. “But I can’t eat or I’ll puke.”

James set his plate aside and walked over to stand in front of her. He placed his hands above her elbows to keep her still. “You need to calm down. It’s not worth getting so worked up when we don’t know what’s going to happen next. Collins will call you and we’ll make our plans, but in the meantime, we’ve had a long couple of days and we need all the energy we can get. There’s no sense in letting this ruin our dinner.”

For the first time, Kelly noticed the dark circles under his eyes, the lines of strain around his mouth. He’d been working nonstop for the past few days, and how long had he been working before he’d come to her? Weeks? Months? Who knew how long this case had consumed his every waking moment. And now, to top it all off, he was injured. She knew he hadn’t taken any pain medication at the hospital, and she doubted he’d slept at all last night. He had to be exhausted.

“You’re right,” she said, feeling a prickle of guilt as she realized his food was getting cold. “After all you’ve been through, you deserve a hot meal at least. I’m sorry I kept you from it.”

He tugged gently until she was pressed against him, her nose buried in the hollow of his throat. “Don’t apologize.” His voice was low and warm in her ear, and she closed her eyes, savoring the feel of him and the faint citrus-spice smell of his cologne that a night in the hospital hadn’t erased.

James rubbed circles on her back with his strong hands; the gesture felt comforting and familiar. She wanted nothing more than to stay like this, wrapped in his arms and pressed against his solid chest. But she knew that no matter how long she shut out the world, Caleb and Collins and the rest of this mess would still be waiting for her. Better to deal with it now.

So she pulled away with a shaky smile. James gave her uninjured arm a squeeze before releasing her completely. She sat back down on the couch and reached for her plate, feeling as if she might be able to stomach a few more bites.

She chewed mechanically, not really tasting the food as she replayed her conversation with George. He had seemed so normal, so completely oblivious to the magnitude of what he was asking her to do. He sounded as if he needed her to pick up a cake for a lab member’s birthday, rather than retrieve and bring him a vial of a deadly bacteria.

Was he really that clueless? Did he really not appreciate the severity of what he’d done? Maybe he didn’t think he’d done anything wrong. Maybe he figured saving Ruth had been worth it. After all, if she’d been in the same situation, Kelly couldn’t say with 100 percent certainty she wouldn’t have been tempted.

He may have seen it as delivering a product, nothing more. If he didn’t ask what it was being used for, he could convince himself that he hadn’t done anything wrong. She wanted to believe that was the case—that George had been willfully blind to what was going on, simply because he was desperate to pay for Ruth’s treatments. The alternative was too painful to consider.

She jumped as something touched her sleeve. “Sorry,” Thomas said with a sheepish smile. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I just wanted to grab your plate.”

She looked down to find it was empty. When had that happened? Shaking her head, she released her death grip on the fork and passed it over. “Thanks.”

“Least I could do, seeing as how I’m the only uninjured person in this place.” He gathered up the detritus of their meal with efficient movements, then carted it all into the kitchen. After a moment, she heard the water running and the faint sound of singing.

She glanced over at James, who shook his head with a smile.

“Is he always like this?”

“Pretty much.” James stretched his legs out with a sigh, then patted the cushion next to him. After a second of hesitation, Kelly slid over until they were sitting side by side.

“You doing okay?” he said softly, his dark brown eyes searching her face.

She felt his gaze like a touch, featherlight on her features. The sensation made her heart stutter-step, so she nodded, not trusting her voice at the moment.

“Is there anything you want to tell me?”

Kelly closed her eyes, knowing that this was her opportunity. She could tell him all about Gary and her past, expose all her secrets so they could move on. She wanted to do it. She needed to do it. It was time.

She opened her mouth, but Thomas chose that instant to really turn up the volume on his kitchen concert. Who was she kidding? They couldn’t talk with someone ten feet away, even though he was clearly trying to generate a noise complaint from the neighbors.

“Just wondering when George will call back,” she said, trying to keep her tone light.

Was that disappointment in his eyes? Before she could examine his expression too closely, her phone rang.

She froze and her heart leaped into her throat.

It was time.

* * *

James sat up and leaned forward, placing his hand over the phone. Thomas stopped his god-awful singing and appeared in the doorway, his expression focused and determined.

Kelly looked scared to death. She glanced at him with wide eyes, biting her bottom lip so hard it was a wonder it didn’t bleed.

“Get him to commit to a location and time for the meet,” James said, willing her to stay calm. “Don’t ask too many questions, though. We don’t want to spook him.” At her nod, he lifted his hand. “You’ll be great.”

She sent him a wavering smile, took a deep breath and answered the phone.

“Hello?” She frowned slightly. “Nothing’s wrong, other than the fact I don’t feel good. I have a cold, remember?”

James held his breath, hoping George would accept Kelly’s excuse. Her voice was strained, but hopefully she could convince him she was just grumpy from being sick.

“No, it’s okay—I can get the vials for you.”

James scooted forward to the edge of his seat, as if getting closer would help Kelly pin George down. Thomas moved to sit on her other side, and the pair of them strained to hear the other man’s words. Kelly angled the phone away from her ear so he and Thomas could hear George’s side of the conversation, too.

“...appreciate it,” he heard the other man say. “I would ask one of the graduate students, but you’re really the only one I can trust.”

“I understand,” Kelly soothed, doing a great job of sounding normal. “Where are the vials stored?”

George relayed the location, which she scratched onto a napkin.

“Okay,” she said, looking at James while she spoke. “When and where do you want to meet me to pick these up?”

George was silent for a beat, and James felt his palms grow damp with sweat. He knew. Somehow, he had figured out Kelly was with the FBI.

“George?” Kelly asked when the silence stretched out. “Did you hear me?”

“Yes, dear. Sorry, I just had a thought there for a moment.” He cleared his throat. “Let’s meet at the science museum tomorrow at four, shall we? I know how much you like to visit that one.”

“Sounds good to me,” Kelly replied. “That’ll give me time to duck in and see the new exhibit before they close for the day.”

“Splendid,” George replied absently. “See you by the elephant, then?”

They said their goodbyes and she hung up, looking at James with doubt in her eyes. “Did that seem too easy?”

“Maybe,” he said, glancing over at Thomas. “Or maybe he’s telling the truth.”

Thomas snorted. “Doubt it. Let’s see if we got a trace.” He flipped open his phone and made a call, stepping out of the room to talk.

James absently rubbed his side while he considered the motives behind George’s choice of meeting place. The museum was a busy, public place. Did Collins think he would be able to slip into the crowd and evade detection? That he could get past all the FBI agents and police that would be in place? Unless he didn’t know he was a wanted man.

Maybe he wasn’t afraid of the law at all, but rather Caleb and his lot. Meeting in such a crowded location did ensure a certain degree of safety. Caleb probably wouldn’t risk causing a huge scene in the rotunda of one of the busiest locations on the Mall, and he bet George was counting on that.

The crowd was going to be a problem. While the mass of people might help keep things from getting violent, James and the rest of the team couldn’t risk their safety if things went south. They could flood the museum with plainclothes police and FBI agents, but the chances of a civilian getting hurt were still too great. They couldn’t just close the museum, though, or George would know something was wrong. How could they secure the premises without giving away their plan?

Ultimately, it wasn’t up to him. Carmichael had the final say on any operational plan, and, given Thomas’s earlier revelation, James didn’t trust the man to do the right thing.

He glanced up as Thomas stepped back into the room. “No dice on the trace. He used a burn phone.”

James wasn’t surprised by the news. Of course it couldn’t have been that easy. “Which means it probably wasn’t his.”

“You thinking Caleb?”

“Yeah. Collins doesn’t strike me as sophisticated enough to know that he should use a burn phone, much less where to get one.”

“Agreed.”

James stood and ran a hand through his hair. “We need to get our people in place to secure the museum ASAP. I’d bet my pension that Caleb will be there tomorrow, and we need to be ready to take them both out.”

“You know that’s not our call.”

Frustration welled up, making him flush hot and then cold. He shot a glare at Thomas, who held his hands up in surrender.

“I’ll head to the office, see if I can’t talk some sense into him face-to-face.”

James nodded, his temper cooling a bit. Kincannon was a good agent and probably the only one who could convince Carmichael to do the right thing. “Probably better if you talk to him,” he said drily. “He’d only yell at me for getting shot, and then I’d have to strangle him.”

“I’ll check in with you later,” Thomas said, heading for the door. “See you at the office.”

“Watch your back,” James cautioned as he followed a step behind. “I don’t like any of this.”

“One way or another,” Thomas said in a low voice, “this is going to wrap up tomorrow.”

“Yes, but at what cost? We can’t sacrifice civilians, and you know as well as I do that the museum is going to be crawling with kids. We’ve got to figure out a way to protect them.”

Thomas cut him off with a slash of his hand. “I’m on it. I’ll get the rest of the team together, and we’ll figure it out. Meantime, you get some rest. You’re beat to hell, and we’re going to need you tomorrow. If you want to worry about something, worry about taking care of her.” He jerked his head in the direction of the den. “She’s not looking so hot.”

“She’s tougher than she looks.”

“Maybe, but people can only take so much.” Thomas opened the door and stepped into the hall. “Stay by your phone.”

James locked the door and headed for the kitchen. After dumping cat food into bowls, he returned to the den to find Kelly curled up at the end of the couch, staring off into space.

He recognized that stare. He’d even done it himself a few times. It was the gaze of a person who was shocked to their core, teetering on the edge of despair and desperation. And was it any wonder? Her whole world had been turned upside down: she’d been shot, and her boss had just asked her to aid and abet the commission of an act of bioterrorism. She was due for a breakdown, and it was a testament to her strength of character that she hadn’t folded yet.

God, he wanted to hold her. Wrap her in his arms and tell her everything was going to be all right. She looked so lost and lonely, and it tugged at his heart, making him want to tell her things he had no business saying. Things he had no business feeling, especially not when she still wasn’t being completely honest with him.

He knew she wasn’t involved with Caleb and his organization, but she was hiding something. Something that scared her, if her reaction to his probing was any indication. Now that they were alone, maybe he could get her to talk....

She didn’t look at him when he sat next to her, but he knew she was aware of him by the way she tensed slightly.

After a moment, she spoke, her voice rough and low. “Are you really going to take him out tomorrow?”

He mentally winced, cursing his earlier choice of words. If he had to, yes, he absolutely would kill Collins, especially if it meant keeping Kelly or any other innocents safe. That didn’t mean he had to rub it in her face. She had worked with the man for a while, and it was understandable that she’d be upset at the thought of his death.