Chapter 8- My Masquerade

Cabe knocked on the door. "Just open it! Let's not play games. We know you're here," he said loudly. Walter had tracked the woman with street cameras to this dingy motel near LAX.

After a second, the door opened. Leah stood in the doorway, glaring at the group. "Are you dumb or just pretending? Or maybe you want to get killed? Why are you here?" she asked, clearly angry.

"Let us in and we can talk," Cabe said.

"You know what, Agent Gallo?" Leah began.

"If you're about to say what I think you're going to say, don't. Just let us in. We're not going anywhere," he interrupted.

If possible, the woman's glare got worse, but she moved to open the door further so they could come in. The group of six entered the motel room and waited while she shut the door and then moved further into the room.

"Well, Agent Gallo, what would you like to talk about before you die? Better make it good because this is your last chance," she said in a snippy tone.

"Who is after me?" he asked.

"I don't know."

"Bullshit."

She smirked. "The guy that you saw bothering me earlier? He attacked me in my hotel after I got back. He also had a friend with him, whom I left in the street. My guess is they're in on it. Whether they're after you or just me, I don't know. But they certainly are a part of it. So there. That's what I know."

"You're leaving something out," Toby said.

"Yeah, but I didn't think you'd want to hear about me dropping kicking the one guy out on the balcony, or me getting clothes lined." She gingerly touched her throat. "That was a new one. It fucking hurts like you wouldn't believe."

"Ah, deflecting. You're still leaving something out," Toby pushed. "Why do they want you dead?"

"I told you, I know too much."

"And yet not enough," Happy commented.

"Excuse me for not asking for specifics on the situation. I was a bit preoccupied. Next time, I'll make detailed notes," Leah said sarcastically.

Cabe smiled. At least she had something of a sense of humor.

"You've never seen either of those men before today?" Cabe asked.

"No, no I haven't. I know! You guys can get out of here and go to the hotel and get the security footage and track those guys down while I go about my way," Leah suggested, smiling.

"Good idea," Walter said. He sat down at the table and pulled out his laptop. "What's the name of the hotel?"

"The fuck?" Leah muttered. Walter gave her a look and so she told him the name of her hotel and where it was located.

Cabe looked up at her and shrugged. "It's their thing."

"Ok, I know. But like…why? Why do you work with them? Why is this a thing?" she asked, annoyed by the entire day. Cabe could tell she was having a bad day.

"They do good work. They save lives."

Leah's eyes went wide and she looked like she was fighting back a grimace. Shaking her head, she walked around the bed and sat down, putting her head in her hands.

Cabe looked back at Walter. "Anything?"

"The connection is slow. It's going to take a few minutes."

"In the meantime," Toby said as he stepped closer to Cabe. "I am getting a pretty good reading on this woman. I think she was the one sent here to kill you," he whispered.

Cabe looked over Toby's shoulder at Leah. "Well she's going about it in an awfully funny way."

"Clearly she's had a change of heart. If she's telling the truth about these guys trying to kill her, then maybe the organization she works for believed she would never have carried out the crime. Who knows? But I don't think we should be here. I think we should be far from here," Toby said.

"Maybe Toby's right," Paige said quietly, standing next to Cabe. "Something's really wrong here, Cabe. It's bad enough that someone apparently wants you dead, but this woman clearly knows more than she's saying."

Cabe frowned, still watching Leah on the bed. He knew they were right, but he couldn't admit it. Not yet. He needed more facts.

"I got it," Walter finally said.

Cabe, Toby, and Paige walked around Walter and looked over his shoulders.

They watched footage from the hotel lobby. After a few seconds, Leah came around a corner, her large bag slung across her chest. As she neared the front door, a man stepped up and clothes lined her.

"Ouch!" the quartet all reacted as the woman hit the ground painfully. Cabe grimaced. That must have hurt.

To their right, Leah groaned, fully knowing what they were watching.

As the video ended, Cabe shook his head. "Ok, Walt, grab his face if you can. See if you can find out who he is. Maybe we can connect him to someone."

The room grew quiet as Walter got to work, only the sound of his fingers hitting the keys on his computer echoing in the tiny room. Happy and Sly stayed near the door, as far away from Leah as they could be.

Cabe looked over at the younger woman again. He had to get more from her. Walking around the bed, he stood in front of her. Resting her head on her hand, which was in turn resting on her leg, Leah didn't look up at him.

"If you're afraid of going to prison for whatever illegal activity you're involved in, don't be. I can get you a deal," he said quietly.

Leah snorted. "Yeah, ok."

Cabe knelt in front of her, making them almost eye level. "I mean it, Leah. Whatever you're involved in, I can help," he said gently.

She didn't look impressed. "Save it for some lesser fool, Gallo. I don't know what you expect me to be able to tell you."

"Tell me who wants me dead and why."

"God help me, I have no clue why," she admitted. She frowned sadly and Cabe was surprised to find how much it made his heart ache. "I-I," she trailed off.

"I'm not arresting you for anything, no matter what you say," he assured her.

Leah stared at his face intently, seemingly taking in every wrinkle, every mark. She finally settled on his eyes. After a long minute, she sighed. She moved so she was leaning her arms on her legs and so she was closer to Cabe's face.

"Look, I've seen your file. I know not everything's in it. I know there's so much missing and yet, there's nothing there to suggest why on Earth someone wants you dead. Do you know what that says to me?" she asked quietly.

Cabe shook his head.

"It suggests it's personal. And I don't do personal. I don't do people's personal vendetta's. It's not my business. That bugs me. Somebody's trying to kill me. They brought me here under false pretenses. Whether that means they actually want you dead or if it was just a ruse to get me some place where they could get to me, I don't know. You'd think there's a much easier way to kill me, but men have a flair for the dramatic, I've found."

"Who?" he pushed.

Leah's shoulders rose and fell as she breathed in deeply and then slowly let the air out. He watched her lips part and felt the air on his face.

"The Irish," she finally answered.

Cabe stood up. "Irish?" His heart sped up.

"Yeah. Although, I suppose there's the option that it's a rival just trying to get rid of me," she said. "That could work too."

Leah looked away from Cabe. He followed her line of sight. Her bag.

"I could call him," she said aloud. "That would help determine if it's the Irish or not." Leah looked back at Cabe. "I don't know if you can connect the Irish to these two guys. They were sloppy as can be. Probably local help that was hired just out of sheer convenience and who will also end up dead, especially given how shitty they are at their jobs. So, let me make a call. See what we can find out, hmm?"

Cabe knew he should say no. He shouldn't trust her, that's what his gut said. But a voice in his said was saying the opposite.

"Fine, but speaker phone," Cabe finally said.

"Okay, but everyone keeps absolutely quiet no matter what," she said. Leah looked over at the rest of the group. "I mean it. I can admit to murdering the President and you keep quiet, got it?"

Toby grimaced. "Yeah, we get it."

"Fine."

Leah got up from the bed, walked over to her bag on the floor, and opened a side zipper. Fishing around, she pulled something out. Cabe kept his hand near the weapon on his waist, just in case. But as she turned around, he saw it was just her cell phone. He relaxed.

Leah dialed a number and waited as it rang. Toby walked around the room to stand next to Cabe so he could watch Leah. She rolled her eyes.

"Is it done yet or are you still mad at me?" a male voice on the other end said after the ringing ended.

"Depends. Are you going to tell me why you hired two dipshits to attempt to kill me or are we going to pretend it wasn't you?" Leah asked.

Straight to the point.

"I don't know what you're talking about," the man said.

"Andy, please. How many years have I given you? Loyal service. And now? This? I'm not only disappointed, I'm pissed off. You could at least send the best to kill me. Or do I not even rank that?"

Silence.

"Pretend all you like, Andy. I know the hallmark of a lame Irish wannabe gangster when I see him. Been around them enough to know, don't I?"

"It was insurance. You shouldn't have even seen them unless you didn't do your job," Andy finally admitted.

Leah gritted her teeth, her face growing red. "You son of a bitch. What was so important about this damn Agent that you had to send someone to kill me?"

"It doesn't matter. It's done."

"It matters to me!" Leah yelled. "You used me. You put me in an impossible situation and didn't give me a way out. How dare you! I'll be sure to send those two punks in a bag to the cops. Let them know who is behind all of this so you go down for what you did to me," she threatened.

Cabe made a step towards her, but Leah held up a hand, stopping him. She winked.

A game. It was all a game.

"Leah, please. I just wanted to be sure this got done. That's all. Agent Gallo deserved this."

"How do I know what he deserved? I don't get to know, do I? I never get to know," Leah said sadly, looking at the dirty carpet. "I told you, rule #1. No law enforcement."

"And you've broken your rule, haven't you?"

Leah looked up and locked eyes with Cabe.

She sighed before answering. "I did."

Silence again. "Then why did he enter your motel room about 15 minutes ago?"

Leah looked panicked for half a second before she started to laugh. "Can't kill him in public, now can I? Law enforcement deserves something better."

"Quick or slow?"

"Quick. I'm not a bastard," she answered without emotion. Leah looked away from Cabe, ashamed. "Now, is it just those two idiots outside or did you bring the big guns?"

Cabe could just barely hear the man breathing on the other end of the phone call. "There's a few more, I believe. More of those guys friends. I'm sorry, Leah. You have been loyal. But this partnership is at an end." For a moment, Andy did sound sorry. But, Cabe figured the guy wasn't really that sorry.

Leah motioned to the window. Cabe nodded and quickly made his way around the bed. As carefully as he could, he peaked out behind the curtains. There were a few cars in the parking lot, but only one that had been there when they arrived. The other cars looked unfamiliar. Cabe moved back and motioned for everyone to get away from the window. They complied quickly.

Leah snorted. "I'm going to come for you, Andy. One day. One day, when you've started to forget, when you've stopped looking over your shoulder every day, I'm going to kill you. And I'm actually going to enjoy this one."

"I doubt it."

"And by the way, Andy, rule #9."

"I don't know that one, do I?"

"No, I don't think you do. You'll die, but Sean and the others? They're going to prison." Leah smiled as she moved to the front door. "Rule #9: Always keep evidence." She hung up the phone as she looked through the peep hole.

"This is going to be violent," Leah commented, glancing over at Cabe.

Cabe took out his gun. "No kidding. I just want my kids out safe," he told her.

Leah nodded. "Got it, pops."