Side by Side

70

Alexa Keen concentrated on the road ahead, the traffic. Antonia had been giving her driving instructions since they left the Westin thirty minutes earlier. There had been only silence between the sisters since they had gotten on the I-77 going south, only Antonia knew where.

“That ga-damned Massey,” Antonia said, sighing. “You swore to me that you could keep him in check. You’ve made me look like shit, Lex. You know what’s at stake here.”

“Precious, why do you talk like that?” Alexa blurted. “It’s. . it’s unbecoming an officer.”

Antonia burst into laughter. “Christ on a cross, Lex. How in God’s name you can give me crap about what comes out of my mouth given the present circumstances is something only you could do.”

“I don’t like foul language. You know that.”

“We’re about to murder two people, no, make it five people in the next little while-six, if we’re lucky and find your old pal. And you’re offended by my language?”

“I am not murdering anybody,” Alexa insisted. “I’m just cleaning up a mess. And doing my best not to let it get any bigger. I can fix it unless your people get sloppier.”

“For which you’re being paid more money for cleaning up than any maid in history. That’s for sure.”

Alexa frowned. “This isn’t just about the money, Precious.”

“It isn’t?”

“The money’s nice. But I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t being pushed aside at the Bureau.”

“Put out to pasture before your time. Now you’ll retire rich and you’ll stay that way, working for people who write very large checks for a consultant who knows how things really work.”

“I was leaving a real mark, a legacy. But those boy-club bastards are giving me the bum’s rush because they’re jealous of me. My abilities. I was the best. I am the best. JERKS!”

“Men,” Antonia said bitterly. “If they didn’t have erections, they’d be useless.”

Alexa laughed despite herself. “Like Max Randall.”

“Max,” the Major said, laughing. “That man fu. . screws you and you have been very well nailed, believe me.”

“You cuss like a man,” Alexa said. “Worse than a man.”

“Massey never cared about you beyond getting in your pants.”

“He never got in my pants,” Alexa said.

“He got in your head. He stole your girlfriend and married her.”

“Eleanor was not my girlfriend. She was just my roommate.”

“Yeah, right. This is me, Alexa. I know how you felt about her. I know how bad her dying screwed you up.”

“You don’t know squat.”

Antonia reached over and wiped the tear from Alexa’s cheek.

“You don’t cry for plain roommates,” she said.

“You don’t cry for anybody,” Alexa shot back.

“We’re going to kill Massey for you, big sister. We’re going to even things out once and for all.”

“I don’t like talking about it,” Alexa said. “He’s not going to be in the way now.”

“He’s too unpredictable. He has friends and he can make big problems.”

Alexa nodded thoughtfully. “Maybe. But he isn’t easy to kill.”

“But you agree he has to go?”

“What is necessary is inevitable. I agree he has to go.”

“Can you get him to come to you, so Max can make sure he goes down for good?”

“Yes, I can.”

“How?”

“He will come anywhere to save his wife.”

“Okay. Admit one thing. He isn’t as washed up as you said he was.”

“Second wind.”

“Second wind. You hear that, Clayton? Massey’s just caught a second wind.”

Alexa turned to her sister, her face reflecting both disbelief and indignation. “You have my car bugged?”

“No. Clayton does. Your cell phone and Massey’s had GPS and transmitters in them. This car, Massey’s truck.”

“You don’t trust me?”

“Nothing personal, Lex. Trust is in very short supply when so much is on the line for so many people. We had to make sure you stayed on task.”

“You think I could betray you?”

“Of course not. If I did, you wouldn’t have been brought in.”

Alexa understood that Antonia had been talking about Alexa’s involvement not only in the kidnapping but in the killings coming up. She had Clayton recording their conversation for leverage, for an edge. Antonia was always playing an angle, grabbing power any way she could, power over everybody; even taking out insurance against her own sister. Alexa had to smile. Antonia Keen was some nasty piece of work. And they shared blood.

“How long have you, Randall, and Clayton known where the Smoots are holding the Dockerys?”

“I know everything, Lex. Having the intelligence is how I stay in control. And we both know how important control is. Don’t we? Didn’t you teach me control is the most important thing there is?”

“Yes,” Alexa said sadly. “That’s true. I guess that’s all I taught you.” She sighed. “I’m not interested in opening any more of my life up to Mr. Able. So let’s just drive without talking. Able gives me the creeps.”

“Close your wax-encrusted, hairy-assed ears, Clayton!” Antonia yelled. “That’s an order, you sheep-diddling schmuck!”

Antonia’s rich baritone laughter filled the car. Alexa couldn’t help but join in.