Troublemaker Read online

  “Ma’am,” he said, “I regret to inform you of your husband’s death.”

  She flinched, an instinctive move that was swiftly conquered. She straightened her shoulders. “I see. May I ask . . . the circumstances?”

  “Head shot,” he replied laconically. “While he was attempting to commit murder.”

  Joan Kingsley wasn’t made of steel, she was made of titanium. She sat quietly, watching them, waiting for one of them to betray exactly how much they knew. She wasn’t going to give them anything, not a single detail.

  Axel spoke up. “We believe Foma Yartsev left the country this morning. A full-press search is going on for Devan Hubbert, but we have his personal computer, and a team is doing a thorough forensic investigation of it now.”

  She had gone even whiter as she listened, but she didn’t break. She folded her hands, said calmly, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “I’m sure you don’t. Let’s be frank, Congresswoman. We know. We can’t prove it—yet—but we know.”

  “Does this have anything to do with my husband’s death?” she asked, still not giving an inch, determined to play her hand as long as she could. If they couldn’t prove anything, she was for damn certain not going to confess.

  Axel ignored the question. “You won’t be allowed to leave the country. The FBI will be watching every move you make. I suggest you resign from the Armed Service Committee immediately. In the short term, that might be beneficial to your health.”

  She glanced swiftly at Morgan. He met her gaze with all the icy menace he felt.

  “And in the long term?” she asked.

  He didn’t blink. “You have to take your chances,” he said finally.

  “I see.” She stood, lifted her chin. “Thank you, gentlemen, for stopping by to give me the . . . bad news. If you don’t mind, I’d like to be alone now. May I ask when my husband’s body will be released to me?”

  “We’ll let you know,” Axel said, and they left.

  CHAPTER 27

  LETTING CONGRESSWOMAN KINGSLEY WALK—AT LEAST for now—went against the grain, but Morgan accepted that he’d have to let Axel do what he did best, which was handle crises. In an earlier time he’d have stayed, resumed his training, reintegrated into his team. But this was a different day, and he had to get back to Bo.

  “You know how to get in touch with me,” he said as he let Axel out at the GO-Team headquarters. Darkness had fallen; even driving hard, he couldn’t make it back to Hamrickville before midnight. He could have gone to his condo and spent the night there, started out fresh in the morning, but he didn’t want to go to the condo. He wanted to look into Bo’s solemn dark eyes for himself, reassure himself she was all right even though he knew Jesse would have contacted him if anything went wrong. That was what he knew. What he felt was entirely different.

  Startled, Axel said, “Where are you going?”

  “Back to West Virginia.”

  “Yeah, I guess you need to get your stuff.”

  “No, I need to check on Bo, make sure she’s all right. We’re getting married.”

  Axel’s eyes literally bugged out. “What? What? Are you crazy?”

  “Team members can be married.”

  “It isn’t that. It’s—are you crazy? This is my stepsister you’re talking about. She’s a vindictive viper. She’ll drive you nuts. She—”

  “Yeah, she feels the same way about you.” One thing about it, those two were never going to reconcile their differences and become friends. Morgan didn’t much care; it wasn’t as if they were going to be spending their Christmases together.

  “But—”

  “But, nothing. We’re getting married. I asked, she said yes. You can be there if you want, but I warn you, you’ll have to be on your best behavior or the people in that town will take you apart on her behalf.”

  Seeing that tactic was going nowhere, Axel shifted. “You need to get medically cleared, get back into training.” He paused. “I’m assuming you can pass the physical. You can, can’t you?”

  “I wasn’t sure at first that I’d ever be able to get back into action, but yeah, I could pass the physical. I’ve been doing a lot of work on my own. That isn’t the point. The point is, I’m going back to Hamrickville. You take care of the congresswoman.”

  That jerked Axel back to where his attention naturally focused. “She might walk,” he snarled. “We might not find a thing on Hubbert’s computer.”

  “Taking care of problems is in your wheelhouse,” Morgan said. “Handle it.”

  Axel closed the door, and Morgan put his foot to the gas pedal.

  The first number he tried was Bo’s cell phone, but it went straight to voice mail, which told him it wasn’t turned on. The next number was Jesse’s.

  “I’m on my way back,” he said. “How’s Bo?”

  “She’s good. She’d lost enough blood she had to have a transfusion, but unless there’s a fever or something, she can go home in the morning.” Jesse sounded tired. “It’s been a shit-storm around here today. How are things on your end?”

  “We didn’t get all the loose ends tied up, but we’re working on it. You don’t have to keep the lid on any longer. I’ll read you in on the details when I get there.” Better not say too much on a cell phone, which was about as private as an open door in a motel room.

  “Got it. Are you coming by for Tricks?”

  “You have her?”

  “She’s here at the police station with me. I’m still working on the paperwork. I hate paperwork,” Jesse growled. “And there’s a shitload of it.”

  “Sorry about that.”

  “Uh huh. How far out are you?”

  “Just got started. About three hours.”

  “I’ll probably still be here.”

  Relieved about Bo’s condition but needing to hear her voice anyway, Morgan ended that call and tried Bo again. Got voice mail again. He figured she was asleep, aided by some happy juice. He remembered too well how that went. But he’d rather she sleep than be in pain, so he settled in for a fast, hard drive, pushing to get back to her.

  He made it in under three hours; he wheeled by the police station and saw the lights were still on, so he whipped into the rear parking lot and went in. Jesse looked up when he entered, leaned back in his chair, and yawned. “I finished just a few minutes ago.”

  Tricks had been snoozing on her bed, but she woke and lifted her head. When she saw Morgan, she shot over to him, her tail wagging madly as she greeted him with a wiggling body and licking tongue. He went down on one knee and rubbed her ears, stroked her thick fur. “It’s been a long day for you too, hasn’t it, girl? Want to go home?” He shot a glance at Jesse. “Via the hospital. What room is she in?”

  “308.”

  “Is it one of those hospitals with strict visiting hours?”

  “No, people pretty much come and go as they want. Relatives sit up with their sick folks, things like that.”

  He stayed long enough to give Jesse a quick rundown of events and fill him in on what was going on. “Shit, that isn’t good,” Jesse said, after finding out that Congresswoman Kingsley might be untouchable. “If she sold out the country once, she’ll do it again.”

  “If she were in any position to do it, but she won’t be. She’ll have a hard time now going to the bathroom without someone watching her. She might not be in prison, but she won’t be free.”

  He had to be content with that too. It was a tough pill to swallow, but he’d let Axel do what Axel did.

  He thought about taking Tricks home first, but the need to see Bo, see her for himself, was riding him hard. The night temps were cool enough that he could leave Tricks in the Tahoe with the windows down a bit and let her snooze while he paid a fast visit. He walked her around first, then she happily bounded into the Tahoe and settled down. He didn’t have her seat harness with him so he drove carefully, even though traffic was almost nonexistent.

  He hadn’t been to the hospital before,