Chapter Ten
You think you're right, but you were wrong. You tried to take me, but I knew all along. You can take me for a ride cause I'm not a fool out. So you better run and hide. I'm trouble. Yeah, trouble now. I'm trouble, ya'll. I disturb my town. I'm trouble. Yeah, trouble now. I'm trouble, ya'll. I got trouble in my town. If you see me coming down the street then you know it's time to… Go (and you know it's time to go cause here comes trouble). Trouble ~ Pink
"Gia Campbell?"
"Just a minute," a petite woman stood. She bent down and rolled up the mat she had been sitting on. She walked over to the two agents, "I'm Gia."
"I'm Agent Warren from the FBI," Mike identified himself.
"Agent Clarke," Wes held up his badge.
"We have a few questions for you," Mike added.
"Toby said the FBI might show up," Gia motioned for them to follow her through the studio back to the office. Once they were inside, she closed the door behind them.
"Toby called you?" Mike tilted his head.
"Taxi brought him to my place- he's sleeping there until he can get back into his townhouse," she set her mat down in the corner.
"Sorry for the interruption," Wes said.
"I'm in between classes actually," Gia tipped her head.
"We won't take up too much of your time," Mike assured her.
"Whatever you are looking into, I'm sure this is all a big misunderstanding- Toby is a very sweet guy," she said.
"Wednesday morning last week, Toby told us he was at your place?" Mike offered.
"That's right, we met at the bar, I kept him company while he finished the restock then drove us home because he was too tired to get behind the wheel," she replied.
"Is that usual?" Wes inquired.
Gia chuckled, "Yep, Toby needs more beauty sleep than I do." After a beat she continued. "To be fair, the bar gets crazy busy even on weeknights so he is working his tail off," Gia added.
"Were you with him all morning?" Mike questioned.
"No, I had a class to get to," she shook her head.
"What time did you leave for work that day?" Wes asked.
"Around 7:30," Gia replied, "Toby was asleep and I didn't want to wake him."
"Did you hear from him at any time after that?" Mike inquired.
"I don't believe so, let me check my phone," she answered. Gia went for the hooks the instructors hung their bags on and took down her purse. She dug out her phone. Gia scrolled through her messages, "Well, he didn't text me at all that day." She showed them so they could verify it.
"Ok," Wes said.
"No calls either," Gia showed them the call log as well, "That is kind of normal when he's, you know, sleeping."
"When did you return home?" Mike questioned.
"6:00, give or take ten minutes- Toby was still in bed when I got back," she said.
"How did he seem when you got back?" Wes questioned.
"Sleepy, he wanted to cuddle," Gia replied.
There was a knock at the door. One of Gia's coworkers poked her head in through a crack she opened, "Is everything all right, Gia?"
"I'm fine thank you, Sara," Gia assured her.
"You have a class in five minutes," the coworker reminded the instructor before ducking back out.
"Thank you for your time, Ms. Campbell," Wes tipped his head.
"Let me walk you out," she offered.
Gia led them back out to the door.
"I hope this all gets cleared up soon and you find the person you are really looking for," she shook their hands.
Charlie narrowed her eyes at Sergei. She finally had him out of the hospital. Now he sat across the interrogation room table from her. "What did Yuri give you to get you to carry out the hit?" Charlie questioned.
Sergei whispered his response to his attorney. The lawyer whispered something back before turning to Charlie. "Mr. Rodski has not received payment financial or otherwise from Mr. Karpov for anything relating to the death of your colleague," he said.
"Is he holding something over your head?" Charlie questioned.
Sergei rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Yuri is leaving you out here to fry on your own! Are you really going to try to protect him?" she charged.
Sergei looked to his attorney and made a 'cut it' gesture over his own neck to signal he was done.
"My client is exercising his right to not incriminate himself any further," the lawyer asserted.
"Closing down doesn't help you, Sergei, it only helps the person that got you into this position in the first place," Charlie insisted.
"We're done here," the attorney pronounced.
"Who's the one footing his bill?" Charlie motioned her head to the lawyer.
"I have been retained by relatives of my client if you must know," the attorney replied, "I will abide by his wishes."
"Even if they get him killed?" she retorted.
"It's his right not to engage with authorities," the lawyer rejoined.
"Your silence is writing your execution sentence," Charlie turned her attention back to Sergei.
"That is unnecessary," the attorney protested.
"Every step you take away from me is a step towards that needle," she warned.
The door opened calling everyone's attention to the front of the room where Rossabi had entered. "Can I have a word, Agent DeMarco," he motioned for her to follow him out.
The lawyer looked to Vincent, "Can we get my client back in his cell to rest?"
"I'll get someone to take him back," Rossabi agreed.
The two agents left the room. Vincent took Charlie back into the monitoring area. "Are you ok?" he asked.
"Fine," she huffed.
"You know we have to let him go back to his cell," Vincent said.
"And then what?" Charlie said, "We just have to wait? Give Karpov more time to run?"
"Time in the general population can do wonders. Let's see how long it takes before Sergei asks to talk to us," Rossabi replied.
"A guy like him is not going to get scared by inmates and crack," she pointed to the monitor that showed Sergei and his attorney talking.
"Don't you think you are pushing just a little too hard?" he asked.
"Like you don't do the exact same thing," Charlie shot back.
"I'm a bit of a bulldog," Rossabi admitted, "But I wasn't the one in there- when lawyers get involved it's time to take it down a notch."
"You are not my boss!" Charlie challenged. What was the use of having Sergei stable and in custody if they didn't get to speak to him?
"Do you wanna give them a reason to let this guy walk?" Rossabi contented.
"You aren't working undercover anymore, Charlie," Vincent reminded her, "This is not how we do things here."
Rossabi pointed to the door, "Take a walk, DeMarco! Try to cool down."
Charlie glared at him. She spun and exited in to the direction he pointed without a word. Charlie slammed the door behind her. Vincent pinched the bridge of his nose and let out an exasperated laugh. That couldn't have gone worse if they tried. He collected himself for a few moments. Lifting his head, Rossabi headed out the door himself. There was work to be done.
Charlie swiftly made a path through the Hoover building. She needed air, yes and chocolate. She needed chocolate. There was a food truck around some place that was selling milkshakes. Charlie had seen it before. It took her a few turned corners, but she found it with relative ease. Charlie read the menu poster as she waited in line.
"What can I get you?" a server leaned out the truck window.
"Death by Chocolate, please," she requested.
"All right," he nodded.
Charlie gave him the money and he went to work. He wrapped the cup with her shake in a napkin and handed it out to her, "Here you go."
"Thank you," Charlie nodded.
She found an unoccupied bench close by and sat on one side. Charlie sipped on the milkshake and tried to clear her head.
Charlie was halfway through her milkshake when a blonde woman approached. She stopped in front of Charlie, "Special Agent DeMarco?"
Charlie gave the intruder a once over, "Who's asking for her?"
"You can call me Annie," the blonde sat down on the bench beside Charlie, "You're working with Vincent on the warehouse district triple murder case."
"You a friend of Rossabi's?" Charlie asked, careful not to use too personal a name.
Annie bowed her head slightly, "He wouldn't consider me one."
"And why is that?" Charlie frowned.
"Water under a proverbial burned bridge, but that's not the point," Annie replied, "I stumbled over some information that could help make your case."
"We are working on intersecting cases," Charlie explained.
"Then it might help the two of you out," Annie smiled.
"And what's in it for you?" Charlie raised a questioning eyebrow.
"That's a very Rossabi like question," Annie smirked.
"I'm waiting for an answer," Charlie challenged.
"I'm not here to talk about me," Annie pressed her lips together.
Annie set a thumb drive in the seat of the bench between herself and Charlie, "You can verify the information and then decide whether or not I can be trusted."
"Why not give this to Rossabi yourself?" Charlie frowned. Something was off with this woman.
"He won't accept this from me," Annie replied before turning and walking away.
Charlie watched Annie fade into the crowd then turned her eyes to the thumb drive. This whole meeting screamed step up to her. It was all too convenient. Still if this helped the case it was worth the risk. She slipped the drive into her pocket. Maybe Vincent could tell her more about this Annie person.
Abby slipped her key into the lock on her filing cabinet. As she turned the key her phone rang out in an upbeat Andy Grammer song. She turned back to her desk and picked it up. "Hey, Wes," Abby greeted.
"How did you know?" Wes teased with a snicker. He knew she had him in the contacts.
"You have your own ringtone now," she smirked- so did Mike and each of the rest of her family, but she wouldn't mention that just now.
"I just wanted to check in and see how court went," Wes said.
"It went just about as I thought it would- I got the suit thrown out," she relayed.
"That's my girl," he praised.
"It really was something simple," Abby deflected.
"I don't know many people who could say that kind of thing was simple," Wes chuckled.
"All in a day's work," she replied. Abby lifted her glass to her lips and took a sip. "Jax was being a jerk, but that's not unusual," she added.
"Jax?" Wes questioned.
"The opposing attorney was a guy I know from Georgetown- Jax Flemming, we were in the same class," she explained, "Anyway I beat him out for an internship and he still apparently hasn't gotten over it."
"Do I need to have a talk with him?" Wes offered.
Abby waved it off. "Nah, live and let live," she declined, "He'll hold on to the grudge if he wants- it's not my problem."
"Are you working through lunch again?" Wes teased.
"I promise I will eat eventually," Abby gave it right back, "You're probably doing the same thing."
"Actually, I am on a break," he explained.
"Are you eating?" she questioned.
"Nope, waiting for the techs to get back to us," Was replied.
"Miss Sinclair?"
Abby turned around to see a client she had a meeting with waiting in the doorway. She addressed him, "I'll be with you in just a moment."
Abby went back to her phone conversation. "Can I call you back after work?" she requested, "I hate to cut this short- a client just arrived."
"It's ok I know you are busy- How about I call you later?" Wes said, "I'm not sure when I'll be getting off."
"Ok, talk to you later," Abby agreed, "And, Wes?"
"Yeah," he replied.
"Stay safe," she entreated.