Chapter 11
The police department at Brandonvale, Florida was somewhat smaller than that of Springville. They did not have a detective or evidence technician. Anything they received had to be sent straight to Tampa, to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Department. They were located several miles away in a swampy area of Florida that no one knew existed until the county fair. The chief of police was a gent in his fifties. He had been a part of this department since he graduated the police academy. Dale Shempert had seen a lot of things during his tenure. He saw men beating their women, kids robbing cars in the Walmart parking lot, and a few really horrid bar fights. Serial killers? He had never heard of one in this town. If anyone was killed, it was more likely due to some poor idiot falling into the swamp and getting chomped on by a gator. A serial killer? No way.
Several hours ago, he heard from a man who called himself Nathan Fitzgerald. He said he was from the FBI down in Miami. Apparently, his boys thought the letter in their small town rag was actually from a killer. He could have told them not to waste their time. It was written by some dumb ass kid who thought it was funny. Everyone in Florida had heard of this guy, everyone was telling their children boogeyman stories about the killer. If you don't go to bed, the Souvenir Killer is gonna get'cha! Hell, his own daughter in-law often said that to her kids when they refused to go to sleep. He didn't resent the FBI or a visit from them. He simply resented a break in peace. If one old biddy here in town found out the FBI were coming, the whole town would be put on alert. Everyone would be freaking out. He didn't want the fair ruined by some stupid asshole who happened to pick their paper to write a bunch of bullshit to. It was his jurisdiction, damn it, and he wanted no part of it.
Shempert had spent a good twenty minutes telling his dispatcher that the FBI would be riding in town before long. They all had good covers. There were six of them coming. Two would be staying with his deputy, portraying his niece and nephew. Two would stay up at the motel, posing as writers working on a story about their fair. Two would be staying at home with him and his wife. Again, they would be introduced as family members from out of town. This Nathan Fitzgerald guy had sent pictures to his office via fax so he could get an idea what they looked like. One guy had long black hair, he looked like a hippie. He was one who would be staying with him and Maude, along with a young lady with black hair. He couldn't remember her name off the top of his head. The others staying at his deputy's place seemed like two clean cut young kids. One of whom had dark hair and a days growth of beard on his face. They looked a bit more upstanding. The young woman was well put together, blonde, and very innocent looking. The two guys were rough around the edges, especially the one with the shaggy hair and funky black eyes. The third party in that faction was tall, with a buzz cut. He reminded Shempert a little of that Terminator guy. There was no way he could pass as a writer.
He hoped the letter was a hoax. He hoped that nothing happened at their county fair. He only attended as extra security. Otherwise, he avoided it. The thing was, the fair was entertainment for tons of swamp towns around this area. The kids came and had a ball. They always held some type of pageant, too, with little girls all the way up to grown ones. No one ever walked away from it feeling cheated or disappointed. The FBI hinted that an abduction would take place, worse still, a murder might take place. No it wouldn't. Not in his town. Not if he had anything to do with it.
Lily left Jack Ashcroft sitting. His words completely haunted her. She didn't know what their meaning was, if anything. Since his split with Rachel Sloane, he had gone from a semi-nice guy to a jerk in the space of a few minutes. Before she even considered Donovan a possible crush, she had focused her attention on Jack first. He was handsome, witty, and seemed to be fun. The instant she decided to sleep with him the first time, she realized that it was a game, a false face. He became uglier and uglier by the moment. She wanted to tell somebody, tell Frank, and especially tell Rachel. She was angry with Rachel for going back to Donovan, but could she blame her? What kind of hell had Jack put her through? Rachel had a history with Donovan, and it excused a lot. She was hurt, she wouldn't shake their hands, but she didn't think it was safe for either Rachel or Donovan to spend any time with Jack Ashcroft. He was dangerous. She didn't know how she knew that, but it was a feeling that couldn't leave her mind.
As soon as she left Ashcroft, Lily made her way home. Her ninth floor walk up wasn't that far from where she had met Ashcroft, but it still made her wish she had asked for an escort home. Paranoid, she kept checking over her shoulder, to see if anyone was following her. No one was. Good. She didn't bring her side arm, as she left it locked in her safe at home. She tromped along, focused on getting home while she had the chance. What am I saying? She had to be nuts, believing that someone was out to get her. So what? So what that Jack Ashcroft sounded as if he was about to crack. He had good reasons. He had just left his girlfriend of many years because he suspected her of cheating with Frank Donovan. Perhaps she was wrong about him. Whatever the case, she had no plans to rekindle her sleaze affair with him no matter how many times Frank Donovan rejected her.
Lily stepped up to the outer door, noticing it was wide open. There were kids in the building, so it might have been why no one managed to close it. When she thought about the time, it made her skin crawl. She was imagining things, that's all. She allowed an asshole to scare her with his warning for her to watch the shadows. What the hell did Jack know anyway? He had a swank house to go home to. Oh, but he doesn't. Remember? He moved out on Rachel. She shook it aside, entered the foyer, and closed the door behind her. Her ancient building didn't have much of a working elevator, so it would be necessary for her to climb the stairs. Apparently, her building wasn't deterred by ADA laws.
Lily, wearing high heeled boots, took to the staircase with as much gusto as she could muster. Which wasn't a lot. She clomped up flight after flight of stairs. To her horror, to her great disgust, Jack Ashcroft was waiting for her. He stood with his arms draped over the railing, waiting for her patiently enough. She had no time to deal with the bastard, and surely wouldn't want to invite him in for a night cap. She had no intention of inviting him in for anything, coffee, tea, or sleazy nookie.
"You walk fast," Lily said blankly.
He smiled. "I know. Look, I was a bastard. I brought something for you."
She was so incensed that she hadn't seen the box resting on the floor beside him. She wasn't interested in looking at it. She didn't want more gifts from him. "I'm sorry, Jack. I'm not interested anymore."
Sighing with aggravation and mumbling something about women under his breath, he bent down to retrieve the box. He handed it to her. "It's a peace offering, Lily. Humble me, why don't you? It doesn't bite. That I assure you."
Reluctantly, she picked up the box. It was from a flower shop downtown. He didn't seem to be the flower kind of guy. She opened the box and saw a bunch of flowers she couldn't immediately name. They were lavender in color and reminded her of hundreds of tiny tubas. "What are these?"
Ashcroft smiled at her. "Holly hocks. I love their delicate fragrance. They don't overpower you like some flowers. I think they were made for you."
It struck her odd that he brought her holly hocks. Didn't she hear that the female part of the murdering duo was named Holly? She looked at the delicate flowers. They certainly were lovely. Not many men thought of buying her flowers, much less something like this. "They're beautiful, Jack. They almost fit with my purple color scheme."
He smiled broadly, beautifully. "Do you like them?"
She sniffed them. Their fragrance was as delicate as the flower itself. Most men liked to send roses or daisies, but not Jack Ashcroft. He wasn't particularly romantic. All he wanted from her was the slim saddle between her legs. "Yes, I do. Very much." She carried her flowers toward the front door. She dug for her keys, finally found them, and managed to stick her key in the lock. She could smell his cologne behind her. Did he want to be invited in? She wasn't ready for his kind of company.
She didn't immediately open the door, Jack would simply follow her inside. "Jack, I accept your apology," she began. "Flowers doesn't fix anything, though. If you don't mind, I'd like to go inside and hit the sack. I'm pretty wrecked."
Ashcroft didn't move from his spot. "You look like you need some company. Donovan has Rachel, Lockwood is boinking some chick named Jill, Hurtz has Lauren, Director Buchanan has Bianca, and so on and so on. I think you need me tonight," he said in an annoying matter of fact way. "You don't need to be alone tonight. I can sense it."
Lily watched Ashcroft closely. Something was off. He was using some type of subliminal message that she wasn't understanding. She wished she had the guts to call Donovan about this. "I may be alone," she said. "But it's what I like, especially now. I'm not interested in pursuing another fling with you. We did what we did, but that doesn't seem to be bothering Frank or Rachel. I'm upset, I won't lie, but I'm not doing this anymore. If Frank wants me, he'll find me. Same with Rachel and you."
"Soon, she'll know what's she's missing," he threatened. "Soon, you will all know what it's like to hurt like hell."
Handling the flower box made her tempted to hit him with it. "That's okay, Ashcroft. Even if I never see Frank Donovan again, I refuse to sabotage his relationship. He's a good man, Jack. Anyone would be lucky to have him. I'm already hurt and I suppose you are as well. It's hard to beat history. I've learned that the hard way. Do you mind leaving so I can get some work done before we leave for Brandonvale in the morning? It's a four hour drive."
"I thought we could get a bite to eat at Dobson's, have some wine, and talk about the case? It's still early," he said after checking his watch.
"No, Jack. Thanks for the offer, but I'll pass. I'm pretty wrecked," she repeated. "I don't think we should see each other or sleep together anymore. I'm tired of it," she said, finally expressing her feelings. "I slept with you, got my revenge, but wound up losing the man I care for greatly. Did he come running back to me? Did she come running back to you? She is a smart girl, she knows what she wants. We left high school decades ago. We should act as such, don't you think?"
He approached her, putting his arm around her shoulders. She wanted to shrug him away, but couldn't. "While Rachel is in the picture, you should forget having another chance with him. I hope you know that."
She threw daggers at him with her eyes. "I know this, you dumb asshat," she exclaimed. "I know he loves her. I can guarantee he doesn't love me. Like me a lot? Sure, I'd say that. He does like me a lot. Other than that, his attention has changed, he has Rachel."
"I have ways of changing that," he said with a wicked gleam of his eye. "I can easily stake claim on Rachel. I have massive evidence against her."
She knew she would hate him afterward for asking this question, but she couldn't help it. "What do you have against her? What do you know that Frank doesn't?"
"I knocked her up," he said crudely. "Is he really going to be with a gal who's all knocked up," he asked comically. Unbeknownst to Rachel, he found out the news almost the same time she did. "I'm not letting her go without my child, Lily. She doesn't know that I was told. I have friends in high places, Lil. One of those is her OBGYN. I saw the doctor at the hospital a few days after she found out for sure. He told me that Rachel is due for her first appointment and asked if I would be attending it along with her. Oh, Donovan thinks he's slick, doesn't he? If he thinks I'm staying away from my kid, he's wrong. I'll kick his ass. Knowing how noble Donovan is, I'm sure he would jump in and say the kid is his. Well, I don't see that happening."
"Maybe you should just leave her alone, Jack. If you want your kid, you don't need to be forcing yourself back into her life. If you are indeed the father of her child, I'm sure she won't keep it away from you."
He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I'll do what I want when I want, Lily. I never wanted kids until I found out she was having one. I never believed in true love or marriage or all that other bullshit. I suppose since she's screwing around with your guy, that I will believe he's the baby daddy. Wrong."
"She probably didn't tell Frank," Lily said. She then realized that she was holding his gift of holly hocks. The smell of them were making her headachy and sniffly. "I appreciate the flowers, Jack, but I want you to leave. I have to get some sleep so we can plan our trip to the swamps."
He approached her, stood very close, and placed his hand on her back. He moved it in a circular motion. He knew she was a sucker for massages. He could tell immediately by her low, deep breaths. He was getting to her. Good. It was what he wanted. He needed to be with her tonight before she began poking about on her laptop.
"Come on, Wells," he said softly, his lips mere inches from her ear. "Let me in. Let me take care of you. Whatever you need to do, it can wait."
The flowers, her pounding headache, her disgust for Jack, and the fact that he wouldn't go away was wearing her down. "You need to get your own rest, Jack. You haven't been sleeping at all. You get weird when you don't sleep."
There was no one moving about in the building. Her apartment had two entrances. One led to a long hallway ending at a set of stairs. The other was near the front where everyone could see her whenever they pleased. She wondered which way he came in. She was about to ask, when he did something that he shouldn't have.
Ashcroft's hand slid down the back of her dress, finding the zipper. In one fell swoop, the zipper was all the way down. When the zipper was released, her summer dress slid easily off her shoulders, quickly pooling at her feet. Ashcroft moved her body, bending it slightly at the waist. She dropped the flowers as her hands grasped for the stair railing. He ran his finger along her spine, watching the goose flesh as it popped up all over her body. He put his hands on each side of her hips, bringing her back toward the front of his body. Holding onto the railing for dear life, she moaned aloud as his hands worked her out of her bra. His naughty hands, fiery and hot, worked their way inside her panties. In a whisper quick motion, they too pooled at her feet. When she felt his hand insert itself between her thighs, she couldn't help but cry out. What the neighbors must think! She tried to move away, but he was holding her hostage. She felt him at the back of her, hot, swollen, demanding to be let inside her. Coherent thought left her. She forgot what she was going to do for the night. She forgot everything. He entered her from behind, and for the moment, she let him have his way with her.
Once Ashcroft was safely passed out in her bed, Lily left him where he was. Like both Donovan and Ashcroft, Lily had connections. She carried her laptop into the kitchen, received an encrypted email, read it, and within a few moments, she had hacked her way into a CIA database. She checked numerous files, but found nothing on Jack Ashcroft. She was just about to give up for the night, when something caught her eye. There was nothing about Jack Ashcroft. There was plenty about another man, a double agent. He had several aliases, including Dominick Wilson, Fernando Duchamp, William Johnson, and Wilson Linkletter. After a bit more digging into the database, she discovered that the double agent turned out to be the many aliases of one Frank Donovan.
"Holy shit," she whispered to no one in particular.
It was Frank? It couldn't be? He never spoke much about his CIA days, so she had never pressed it. Rachel was in the CIA as well, with only one alias, Iris Whitwalker. Were they in this together? Were they the so-called TSK duo? No way. It couldn't be. It just couldn't. If any of them should have been suspects, it should have fallen onto Jack Ashcroft. He was the clearly weird one, wasn't he? He was wicked, vengeful, and full of hate. She didn't want to believe it could be Donovan or his current bed partner. She was with the fucking IA division for God's sake.
Checking in on Ashcroft, Lily noticed that he was still sleeping. She grabbed her cell phone, left her apartment, and pounded down the stairs. Her building had a vending room with a couple of soda machines that were rarely used. While she was in the safe confines of the vending room, she flipped through the paperwork and found a number for Megan Donovan. She had no idea that the woman would still be at the same number, but it was worth a try. She was overstepping her bounds, but she had to know something. She had to know more about Frank Donovan.
Over three thousand miles away, although extremely tired, Megan Weber Donovan answered the phone after three rings. She hated being called late, but at least she wasn't in bed. It would have made it worse. She stared bleary eyed at the phone, not recognizing the number, still clearly understanding it was a Miami call, she decided to answer it. It could have easily been her ex.
"Frank, if this is you, I wish you would learn to call earlier," she snapped.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Donovan," Lily began. "Excuse me, but I'm Lily Wells, calling from the Miami FBI. Do you have a few minutes?"
Megan's tiredness went away immediately. Although they were divorced, Donovan was the father of her boys. "Is he all right?"
"Yes, ma'am. Frank is fine. I'm not sure if you can help me with this or not, but I was wondering if you have ever known your ex-husband to be in some type of trouble."
"I'm not sure what you're getting at," she began huffily.
"Do you know if your ex-husband was ever accused of spying? Or rather, of being a double agent? Outside of his undercover statuses, of course."
"There is one thing I know about Frank, Ms. Wells. And that thing would be his dedication to his work. He would never serve as a double agent outside the scope of his job. Whomever supplied this information to you lied. Is that it?"
Lily took the phone away from her ear, looked down at it, and flipped the bird. The former Mrs. Donovan was a grade A bitch, and from the sound of it, proud as hell to be that way. "Yes, that's it."
Lily hung up on the other woman, hoping fervently that she wouldn't call Donovan. Wow, she was a supreme UC agent, wasn't she? For fuck's sake, she hadn't been on many missions and felt more than a little green. Tomorrow, she would hit the computers at work and do some snooping. Megan Weber Donovan was no big help, now was she? If she could make an excuse, get Ashcroft out of her house, she could easily get to the office to check him out. Fingers were pointing to Donovan as TSK, with Rachel Sloane as his accomplice. It didn't make sense. Fuck it all to hell, she thought. She had to go, even if it meant leaving Ashcroft in bed.
A quick check on him again told her that Jack was clearly passed out. She didn't care if he was faking, but if he was, she hoped he would not follow her. She threw on a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt. Without a second glance back at her illicit lover, she left her apartment and pounded down the stairs. Her research would better serve her with the federal government's computers at her mercy.
Working UC had its advantages. It didn't take much for Lily to gain entrance into their wing. It actually rotated on a twenty-four hour schedule with different agents in for different things. No one glanced at her twice as she strolled with purpose to her office. When she noticed that no one was giving her much of a second glance, she dove out of her office and bolted toward the main computer room. It was kept locked at all times, but UC agents had swipe cards to remedy that. They had plenty of discretion to use the computers. Her crappy hacking job wouldn't get her as far as these machines would.
Quietly, Lily stepped over to a terminal. It was operating and ready for input. She spent the better part of an hour looking up information about Frank Donovan and Rachel Sloane. She learned a great deal about them, including Donovan's shooting by one Ramon Rivera. The name sounded familiar to her. And it should. His name was all over the papers ten years or so ago. He had gone down on a cocaine rap. Oddly, he had worked with both Donovan and Sloane. In fact, Rivera had shot Donovan down. When Rivera was prosecuted, an all too familiar name was associated with his case. She was a lowly law clerk back then, but she helped get this man a nice stay in federal prison. She guessed that Sloane had likely used evidence that was completely illegal to Rivera's drug case. Was it a good thing or bad? The way the legal system worked, she should have been disgusted. However, if this guy had attacked Donovan, Lily would like to shake Sloane's hand for that one.
She accessed more files along the way, clicking on anything of interest to her. Yes, Donovan had had a lot of aliases, he had posed as a double agent many times, but there was nothing to suggest he was dirty. It bothered her. There was also nothing to suggest that Sloane was dirty either, other than her miracle information that helped convict Rivera. But then…what about Jack Ashcroft?
Opening another can of worms, Lily accessed all of his personal files, the cases he worked, his rate of capture, and so on. There was nothing unusual. He was either very clean, or he had someone working on his side, cleaning up the dirty marks. She didn't figure Abby would do such a thing. Would anyone else? Who else did Ashcroft speak with on a regular basis? Any other secretaries with blue badge access? She knew Nathan Fitzgerald had a secretary. Actually, she looked a little like Lily with the exception of the red hair. Taking on that theory, Lily accessed the records for Mary Gold. Like Ashcroft, nothing out of the ordinary. Either she was wrong about Donovan and Sloane or someone was playing with her, because they knew she had access to files, she had access to programs to hide her every step. Tonight, before going home, she ensured that she ran the program which would leave her walking away with no traces left behind.
Donovan and Rachel wound up sleeping in the guest room. She felt awkward sleeping with Frank in the bed she shared with Jack. She knew it was stupid, but it bothered her. Frank didn't seem to mind. The bed was smaller, but that was okay. It was just big enough for them to snuggle together. She missed that about Donovan most of all. His body, the way he held her, the way he seemed to bring her closer to his body just before it was time to get up.
There were decisions to be made, but she wanted to wait before making them. She wasn't psychic by any stretch of the imagination, but she felt as if their trip to Brandonvale would end the nonsense once and for all. After TSK was caught, Rachel could resume her duties as an entertainment lawyer, she could give up the shield for good. Which was what she wanted most of all. Right now, Fitzgerald wanted nothing to do with that idea.
Rachel couldn't help but look up into Frank's sleeping face. He had barely moved for an hour or more. She wasn't sure who Fitzgerald was pushing as a suspect in the TSK fiasco, but in her heart she thought he was pointing fingers at Donovan. It was true he had a rough time in the CIA. It was true that he had great upheaval in his home life. His wife left him, took their sons, and moved to the other side of the country. She even went further by enrolling the boys in a school overseas. She wasn't sure where that was, but thought it was in London. Any of those things could make a man crack. However, she didn't think it was Donovan who was cracking. She knew him, she knew he wouldn't break like that.
She didn't know any of the other agents that well, besides Jack. Lockwood and Hurtz were relatively new, but they were more along the lines of muscle guys. They were agents, but had never spied a day in their lives. Lily was an agent through and through, but she was a tech agent mostly. She completed all their profiles and served UC well when she was asked to do it. Who did it leave? It left Jack. For as long as she had known him, Jack didn't seem like one who would play with fire like that. He loved his job, often saying he was his job. She didn't think that as long as she lived with Jack, she could have missed something that grand. Yet, she had her suspects. She had her short list. She might have to spend the rest of her life making it up to him, but God help her, Jack Ashcroft was on that list. Like Lily, she checked him out, noticed that his records were impeccable. Anyone with enough network savvy could change a few things without another person noticing. It was as simple as that. It was scary how Rachel's mind worked in the same vein as Lily's. She might have been stunned by it, if she had known. She knew there were two office workers who had access to the terminals. One of those was Abby Bush with the UC side. The other was Mary Gold with the IA faction. They had free reign inside that room. Other agents could use the terminals, but not many knew how to cover their tracks.
Although she was ready to go to Brandonvale, she also dreaded it. Something was coming. Something bad. She was afraid, but she would do as she was directed. It was her only way out of IA and back to the semi-normal life of an entertainment attorney. She thought of her baby. She was no more than eight or nine weeks along, according to her OBGYN, but there was a little life growing there. If she fully intended to keep this child, she could no longer wear two hats. She also didn't know if it would be Frank Donovan beside her along the way.
Donovan shifted position in his sleep and it brought Rachel back to reality. She knew this well. It was part of his routine when he was waking. She shifted position as well and moved a bit back away from his body. If she moved too far, she would land on the floor. She leaned up on her elbow and watched him closely. He was a complicated man, one so hard to shake. Once someone was able to get under his skin, he would die for them. She found her eyes tearing up. Heaven help her. She didn't just have a place in her heart for the man, her heart already belonged to him. It always would. As much as she thought she loved Jack, the moment he made love to her the first time, she knew she was wrong.
He came awake slowly, opening his eyes, searching for her beside him. He noticed that she had moved away slightly and was looking at him. He could tell she had been crying, but he wouldn't ask. He remembered asking a pregnant Megan once why she was crying, and she bit his head off. Although Rachel was completely different than Megan, he wasn't taking any chances.
"Do you see anything you like," he asked comically.
"Surely," she said with a smile. "You always look good in the morning. I'll bet women hate you for that."
"Ah, jealousy gets you nowhere," he said with a smile. He leaned up to accept her kiss. Her lips always tasted so very sweet. "Are you ready for Brandonvale?"
She placed her hand on the side of his face. "Not exactly, but I don't have a choice."
"True," he said regretfully. "I believe it's just you and me with the chief of police for the duration."
She laughed ruefully. "That should be fun. I visited relatives in that area once, and it's like a humid bath. Are you prepared for that?"
He kissed her again. "It's Florida. Where is not a humid bath? As long as I have a cool bath and a room next to yours, I'll be fine."
She smiled at him, returning his kiss. In the back of her mind, she hoped everything went smooth. She hoped this with everything inside her.
A/N: Earlier in the chapter, I mentioned the movie, The Terminator. There was no infringement intended or implied. Thanks!