Chapter 19
Special Agent Lee sat across from Clover while her partner, a man who’d introduced himself as Special Agent Miln—no first names for them apparently—hovered behind Lee.
Lee slid a to-go coffee toward Clover. “I added cream and sugar to it like you said.”
So this was the good cop. Or good Fed, as it were.
Clover kept her expression concerned—which wasn’t hard to fake.
She just hoped someone had called her brother and that he would send Sinead.
She thought about asking for a lawyer, but so far they hadn’t arrested her.
They’d just showed up at her jobsite and asked if they could talk.
The guys at the site were pissed, which should work in her favor if one of them thought to call Nick.
She’d thought about pushing back, telling them she wouldn’t go with them, but hadn’t been sure if that would end up working against her if they put her in cuffs. As of right now, she was technically free to go if she wanted.
She really wished she could call Micah, but didn’t want to drag him into any of…whatever this was. If they didn’t have his name, she was going to keep it that way.
“Thank you.” She wrapped her hands around the cup for warmth, but no way was she going to drink it. She was too nervous. Instead of talking, which she was in the habit of doing when she was nervous, she did that thing Sinead had told her to do in awkward situations: nothing.
Yep, that was right. Say nothing. That was what her brother’s best friend and kick-ass lawyer had once advised her and she’d never forgotten it.
She’d told Clover that so many people screwed themselves over in situations like this because they talked when they were nervous.
And they said stupid, incriminating stuff that gave cops or Feds the ammunition they needed to make an arrest. That wasn’t going to be her.
She glanced at the clock on the wall, could actually hear the tick, tick, tick, wondered how many times it would tick before they—
“Ms. Storm,” Agent Lee finally said into the quiet. “First, we’d like to thank you for coming with us.”
“I didn’t think I had a choice.”
“Of course you have a choice. We just wanted to talk to you about a couple things we think you can help us with.”
She frowned, feigning confusion. “Oookay.”
“We’d like to know where you were Monday evening,” Special Agent Miln said, finally sitting next to his partner.
“Monday?” Clover knew it was a crime to lie to a federal agent, or maybe FBI agents in particular, she wasn’t a hundred percent on which one.
So she decided to ask questions instead of answering, to try stalling as long as humanly possible before she asked for a lawyer point blank.
“Ah, why? This is really weird.” She laughed lightly.
Lee leaned back in her seat, her body language casual. “We’re trying to locate a person of interest in another case and think you might have had contact with them.”
“Oh wow, who? And what’s the case?”
“We can’t tell you that, but it would really help us out if you could give us your whereabouts on Monday evening.” Again with the soothing voice.
“Whereabouts? That sounds sort of official… Do I need a lawyer?”
“Of course not,” Miln finally said, his tone making it sound as if her question was ridiculous.
“If you’d like one, you’re obviously welcome to contact one,” Lee said, watching Clover closely. “But this should only take a few minutes and then you can go.”
She was debating how to respond when the door flew open and Sinead Goode strode in looking as scary as ever.
The statuesque platinum blonde wore a custom-fit white suit, looking like she owned the place. Her neck scarf was a pale blue that matched her eyes. And right now, those eyes were flecks of ice as she stared at the two FBI agents.
“My client is done talking without her representative present.” Sinead didn’t bother sitting and motioned for Clover to stand.
Miln was on his feet first, but Clover stood as well. She was following Sinead’s lead on this.
“Your client? How did you—”
“How did I know that you brought Ms. Storm in? When you arrested her in front of—”
“No one is under arrest.” Lee still had that soothing voice and Clover wondered if she was really the one in charge.
Because Miln’s jaw tightened but he sat once again, immediately a little calmer.
Lee continued, not standing but somehow managing to make eye contact with the very tall Sinead without making it seem like she was looking up. It was fascinating to watch the psychological intimidation going on.
“If she’s not under arrest, she’s leaving.” Sinead motioned with her hand again, this time for Clover to follow.
“Ms. Goode.” Now Lee stood, and she knew Sinead’s name, which was interesting. Or maybe not, considering the clients Sinead often represented. “We just want to talk to your client for a few moments.”
“I’ll be talking to her in private first.”
It was clear that Lee wanted to argue, but her body language eased and she shrugged, sat back down as if it didn’t matter either way.
Meanwhile, Clover felt as if she was going to split apart at the seams as she strode out of the room with Sinead.
“Did you answer any of their questions?” Sinead asked through what sounded like gritted teeth, barely moving her mouth as she talked.
“No.” Her sneakers were quiet along the hallway while Sinead’s heels clicked softly until they reached what turned out to be a conference room.
Inside, Clover started to speak again but Sinead shook her head once and held up a manicured finger to her mouth.
Then she pointed to her ear and shook her head.
“Hold on for a sec, I need to take this call.” Sinead then proceeded to hold her cell up to her ear and pretend to have a conversation as she handed a note to Clover.
Sinead’s bold handwriting read: Walk to end of the hallway toward the back of the station. Leave through the exit. Your ride is waiting. I’ll be in touch soon. Get out of this station now while you’re not under arrest. And dump your phone.
Blood rushed in her ears, her entire body going ice cold. She looked up at Sinead, who pointed at the door, her expression intent.
Clover had questions, must have looked like she was going to ask one because Sinead gave a sharp shake of her head and mouthed, Go.
Damn it, she did have questions.
So. Many.
But she was taking this lifeline.
Blood pulsing in her ears, she stepped out into the hallway, passed a man in uniform she vaguely recognized. The guy barely glanced at her as he read the file he was holding.
Okay, then. This was actually happening.
She kept walking, then nearly stumbled as she reached the exit door. Krystal was standing there, her entire body vibrating with a wild energy.
“There’s a thirty-second short in the security system while it updates. No talking. Just go.” She held open the door and when Clover looked through it, she saw Micah sitting in a nondescript beige SUV she’d never seen before, the passenger window rolled down.
Even though she still had a billion questions, she knew time wasn’t on her side. She nodded at Krystal and hurried out into the sunlight before diving into the dim interior of the SUV.