Hell's Corner

CHAPTER 54

Mary Chapman let the water wash over her, the steam in the shower rising like morning mist over a lake. She slapped the wall of the shower in frustration, ducked her head under the cascading water and took a deep, controlling breath. She turned off the water, stepped out of the shower, toweled off and sat on the bed.

The meeting with Director Weaver and Sir James had been efficient and hit on all relevant points. This was part of the job. She should have no problem with any of it. It was the reason she’d been brought over here. But she did have a problem with it. And she didn’t know what to do about it.

She dried her hair, took her time choosing what to wear, slipped on her heels and jewelry, grabbed her bag and gun and walked down to the front of the hotel after calling for her car. She drove into D.C. fighting the rush-hour traffic. He was already there waiting for her.

She smiled at Stone, who’d changed clothes and was dressed in a pair of slacks and a white long-sleeved shirt that matched the color of his close-cropped hair and offset nicely the deep tan on his square-jawed face. He’d rolled the shirtsleeves up to reveal ropy forearms. At six-two, he looked even taller because of his leanness. Yet when he’d grabbed her arm outside John Kravitz’s trailer she had felt the immense strength in his grip. Even at his age the man was still made of iron. She presumed he would be until the day he died. Which might be sooner than anyone expected.

When she thought this Chapman stopped smiling.

“I never thanked you for saving my life back at your cottage,” she said. “The flash-bang got me, but not you.”

“Well, we’d both be dead except for you. I’ve never seen anyone move that fast.”

“High praise coming from you.”

He momentarily put a hand on the small of her back as they were escorted to a table overlooking Fourteenth Street. He was more than twenty years older than her, but still, there was something about him that was unlike any man she’d ever met. How he had survived so long doing what he did. And he had the most intense pair of eyes she’d ever seen.

His light touch made Chapman feel protected and comforted, but when he removed his hand her depression set in once more. She ordered a mojito and he a beer. They scanned their menus.

“Productive afternoon?” he asked, eyeing her over the menu.

She felt her face growing warm as she looked over at him. “A little boring, actually. Reports and briefings are not my strong suits. How about you?”

Stone’s cell phone buzzed. He looked at the number and answered it.

He mouthed the name Agent Ashburn.

He listened. His eyes twitched. He shot a glance at Chapman. “Right, thanks for the heads-up.”

“What’s up?” Chapman asked after he put his phone away.

“They just found the Latinos from the tree farm in Pennsylvania.”

“What do you mean they found them?”

“Dead. Execution style. Bodies dumped in a ravine.”

Chapman sat back, her face pale. “But why kill them?”

“The guy saw someone taking down a basketball hoop. He didn’t tell the cops. He told Annabelle. And now they’re all dead.”

Chapman nodded. “They’re cleaning up loose ends.”

“Looks to be. Probably the only reason they didn’t kill everyone at the tree farm along with Gross and the supervisor is because they knew we were coming.”

“How?”

“Sniper who killed Kravitz called and told them we’d gone off in a hurry. Where else would we have been going?”

“Right.” Chapman looked chagrined at missing such an obvious point. “But again, he saw someone take down a basketball hoop. So what? It’s not like he could identify him in a lineup, right?”

“Maybe he could.”

“What do you mean? He didn’t tell Annabelle that.”

“He didn’t know Annabelle from Adam. And we know someone was at that bar listening in.”

Chapman sipped her drink. “That’s right, they came after them later.”

“So maybe he was holding that back from someone. Blackmail?”

“He got a bunch of bullet wounds instead of cash. So who do you think he might have seen?”

“Maybe Lloyd Wilder.”

Chapman’s jaw fell open. “Lloyd Wilder?”

“Possible. Kill him and the others, two birds with one stone.”

“So he was part of the bombing too?”

“I’m not sure what part if any he played, actually. But the fact that they took him out as soon as we showed up tells me he was expendable from day one.”

“So we need to check into Wilder’s background?” She shook her head, looking frustrated. “This thing just keeps on growing.”

“We’ll let Ashburn and the Bureau dig into Wilder’s history. They’ll probably find some money in an offshore account somewhere.”

“And I thought conspiracies were confined to Hollywood films.”

“Actually you’ll come to see that D.C. is just one big conspiracy.”

“That’s comforting.”

“I also spoke with Harry about Turkekul.”

Stone paused as the waiter came over and took their orders. After he was gone Stone resumed. “Nothing out of the ordinary.”

“I guess that’s good.”

“Maybe or maybe not.”

“I’m not following.”

“The man has been tasked to take out the number one terrorist in the world and he’s teaching a course at Georgetown?”

“It’s background cover for him.”

Stone didn’t look convinced.

“But Sir James is aware of this. You trust him, right?” she said, even as she felt her stomach tighten and her skin grow cold.

“I trust you,” he said.

“Why?”

“I just do. Let’s leave it at that.”