Material Witness (27 page)

“On the contrary, Detective,” Charley
said as she nodded to Agent Radcowski. “The more evidence we can gather against
the Trumbella clan and Angel Fagnelio the less pressure will be on Cassie. I've
asked John to work with me on special assignment. I'm also asking you.”

Frowning, he asked. “Why me?”

 “I need people on my team I can
trust.” Charley gave a dry laugh. “These days they've become few and far
between. But the way I see it, you have a vested interest in finding out the
truth. If you feel the way I think you do about Cassie, then I'm betting you're
my best shot at digging up the evidence on Fagnelio. If you do, we can keep
Cassie from having to testify, take the heat off her with Trumbella's
organization. It's the only chance Cassie has at getting her life back. Are you
willing to work on my team?”

“Fagnelio was after me too because of
my involvement in his sister’s death five years ago.”

“I know that. I think we can use that
to our advantage.”

Jake tossed the idea around in his
head a minute. He couldn't do a damned thing to help Cassie if he was locked up
with her for the next who-knows-how-many months. If he was out on the street,
now that was a different story.

But it could take months if not years
to find the kind of information needed to secure a conviction without Cassie's
testimony. They didn't have years.
Someone else was out there.

“Who shot Bellows, Charley?” he
asked.

Kevin ran his hand over his face.
“Jeez, Jake does it really matter?”

“Was it you?” he asked his partner.

Kevin turned his eyes toward the
floor.
Not a good sign.

“Are you willing to be part of this
team or not, Jake? I need to know,” Charley pressed.

“Answer the damned question!”

“You're either in or out?”

“Who shot him, Charley?”

“I did!”

Jake stared at Charley for a long
moment, saw the tears that welled up in her eyes and the tightness in her stand
as she held herself together. She kept her composure and he had to admit he
admired that about her.

He once believed there was nothing
but ice flowing through Charlotte Tate's veins. She was woman with an agenda
who didn't care who she stepped on to get where she was going. Looking at her
now…

No one broke the silence.

“I'm in,” Jake finally said.

And he walked out the door.

# # #

Chapter Fourteen

I'm getting a cat, Maureen,
Cassie typed on her brand spankin'
new laptop, courtesy of the FBI. Or rather, FBI Agent Charlotte Tate. Cassie
had the feeling it was more of a personal gift than one made by the United
States government. The new hairstyle too. Charlotte had taken one look at the
chunk of hair missing from the back of Cassie’s head and an hour later a hair
stylist was being frisked at the hotel room door.

Both gifts were very much
appreciated. Especially the laptop. Cassie felt more at home with her fingers
clicking on a keyboard while she stared at a computer screen than she did most
anywhere else. Especially here in the hotel room with a half dozen chattering
agents just outside her bedroom door.

And I'm getting real houseplants,
Cassie continued typing
. None of
those plastic things. I'm going to learn how to take care of something real and
live for once in my life. Something that will miss me if I'm gone. If this mess
has taught me anything it's that I could leave for six whole months and no one
would be the wiser. I'm moving out of the city, too, getting a cat, and maybe a
dog. Well, maybe I won't be that ambitious just yet. I'll start with a cat.
They can pretty much take care of themselves, right? All I have to do is feed
it and snuggle with it once in a while and it will be happy. I can already hear
you snickering about
that
sounding just like a man.

Cassie's fingers paused on the keyboard
as she re-read what she'd just written. She had that, too, she thought
wickedly, thinking about Jake. But she wouldn't elaborate further on her
relationship with Jake until she had a chance to introduce them face to face.

She continued typing.
Yeah, I'll
stick with the cat and live plants for now. If all goes well tomorrow, you'll
be seeing me in a few days. I can't wait. I'll fill you in on the scoop then.

Cassie signed her email and punched
the send button. She'd been strictly advised not to make any calls until after
tomorrow's trial. But what harm could a simple email from her own on-line
account do? Especially since Maureen probably wouldn't get around to reading it
until tomorrow anyway. By that time the trial would be over and it wouldn't
matter.

Despite the suggestion that she
should just lay low, she'd given Maureen the message to call her parents and
let them know she was okay. Surely by now they'd know the danger she’d been in
and have seen all the news coverage of the shooting at her apartment. They must
be worried sick, and rightly so.

As much as Cassie knew she was being
a coward by having Maureen make the call, she couldn't help it. With all that
had gone on, she couldn't deal with her father's disapproval. He wouldn't have
to say anything, but Emilio's death and the subsequent trial would hang between
them again. Old memories would invade that quiet security they'd all fought so
hard for.

She couldn't think of that now. Once
she testified and Fagnelio was put behind bars for good, it would all be over
and she could get back to her life. She'd worry about mending fences with her
father then.

After folding down the laptop screen,
Cassie stretched to pull the stiffness out of her muscles. For the first time
in the last few days, she breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help but
smile. A real honest-to-goodness, feel-it-from-your-toes-to-your-hairline
smile.
Normalcy.
Who'd ever have thought something as simple as sending
an email to her editor would make her feel so happy, so
grounded.

She'd been holed up in one of the
most luxurious hotel rooms just outside the city, been fed wonderful food by
the best chef and she didn't give a damn. All she wanted was to go home to her
own apartment and curl up on her sofa with Jake.

Jake
. She hadn't seen him since the
moment they'd returned. One step into the station and all hell broke loose. It
was just as Jake had warned. The federal prosecutor, Aaron Savage, immediately
whisked her away to seclusion. They'd gone over the case countless times. While
she sat in a chair in the middle of the room, she repeated her testimony,
giving in detail what she'd seen the night of the shooting at Rory's.

Both the prosecutor and his assistant
took turns pitching questions of all kinds at her, to see if she would trip up.
Each time her testimony never wavered. They seemed pleased both with that and
with their chances of convincing the judge there was enough solid evidence to
warrant bringing Angel Fagnelio to trial for the multiple murders.

Everyone was happy.

Except her.

Cassie wanted to see Jake. She wanted
to be home. And since she couldn't have that, she wanted Jake. She knew he'd be
buried in a mountain of paperwork. She also knew by the brash comments the new
agents in charge of guarding her let slip, that neither Captain Russo nor Agent
Tate held Jake high on their list of favorite people right now.

When Jake walked through the door
some hours later, she launched herself into his arms, relief filling her.

“What took you so long?”

He didn't say a word for a minute.
Charley Tate had followed him into the hotel room and gave him a strong look.
Although she'd been nice enough on the few times Cassie had to deal with her,
it was obvious there was no love lost between her and Jake. Obviously,
something had gone on between them to draw such a hard line.

She pulled him into the bedroom of
her suite, not caring that the other agents were still in the main suite. The
queen-sized bed was made and what few clothes she'd been able to get access to
were folded neatly and piled on top of the dresser. She absolutely refused to
put them in the drawers. She wasn't staying here any longer than she had to so
there was no need to settle in.

As Jake glanced at the bed, a frown
crinkled his brow.

“You have something on your mind,
Detective?” she teased, snaking her arms beneath his leather jacket. The
familiar scent of leather and man welcomed her. Oh, what she wouldn't do to
take a tumble on that big bed with Jake after the day she'd had.

He shrugged lazily. “More than you
know.”

Smiling up at him, she said, “I can
think of a good way to ease a little tension.”

As he enfolded her in his arms,
Cassie couldn't help but revel in how good he felt. It had been two long days,
too long to do without something she'd all but thought would never exist in her
life.

“Tomorrow is a big day,” he said, his
voice filled with regret. “It'll be exhausting.”

“I know.”

“If we go anywhere near that bed you
know we won't get any sleep tonight.”

“You're probably right. But the good
news is tomorrow it will all be over. I suppose I can survive one more night
without being in your arms.”

Still smiling, she leaned against the
wall of his solid chest, found the comfort she craved there. Jake hesitated
just a fraction of a second before tightening his hold. It was just enough for
Cassie to notice her smile hadn't had the effect it usually had on him.

Finally, after too long a time, Jake
kissed her deeply, then pulled her into a wing chair in the corner of the room
so she sat sideways in his lap. He felt so right. Being in his arms made sense
out of so many things tangling her sanity.

He'd asked her if she still wanted
him in her life when this whole mess was over. And she did. After years of
holding her emotions in a box, it felt good to finally free them. And with Jake
she could. They just had one more day to get through.

Cassie burrowed her face into the
crook of Jake's neck and inhaled deeply. He smelled fresh and clean, his skin
smooth, as if he'd just showered and shaved before he'd come over to see her.

“Did you get everything worked out at
the station?” she whispered.

“Most everything. I have to meet with
Charley and Kevin a little later to go over some things.”

“What things?”

“Nothing you need to concern yourself
with now.”

Laughter from the other room broke
through the closed door, invading their quiet place. Cassie recognized Agent
Tate's voice and wondered if she and Jake planned to leave together. She didn't
want to feel insecure about it, but she realized with certainty that she did.

Jake's arms tightened around her and
she didn't want to delve into what that meant. He had gone
somewhere
.

It was amazing. He was holding her
close enough for her to hear his heartbeat, smell his skin and drink in his
warmth. He was here, but he'd gone someplace else in his mind.

“What's with you and Agent Tate?” she
finally asked, cursing herself silently for doing it.

“Me and Charley?”

Her cheeks flamed and she pulled away
from his arms. “There's been a lot of talk, not that I want to listen.”

Jake stared directly at her, his gaze
so intense she had to look away.

“A lot has happened. There's going to
be a lot of talk until the whole truth comes out, Cassie.”

“I don't mean about the case.”

Finally, she lifted her eyes to meet
his, saw the crease form in a knot in the center of his forehead. Serious and
intense. She’d smile at how utterly adorable he looked if she didn't feel so
insecure.

“Charlotte is a very beautiful
woman…and I know she was seriously involved with a police officer a few years
ago—”

Awareness seemed to take hold of Jake
and he suddenly flashed one of those make-your-knees-weak smiles of his.
Cassie's cheeks burned so strong it made her want to sink through the floor.

“And you think it was me?”

Cassie lifted herself from his lap,
but Jake immediately reeled her back in, crushing her against him. She needed
that comfort. She didn't know if this insecurity was because of the trial or
idle chatter from agents who had too much time on their hands. Or something
more.

She was being ridiculous. Jake was a
man of integrity. What had happened in Jake's life before they'd come together
didn't matter. It didn't change what was happening between them now.

“I'm sorry I mentioned it. It's none
of my business.”

“I'm making it your business,” he
said, his face still filled with a tinge of amusement.

Damn, he actually liked that she was
jealous!

Jake tilted her chin up so she was
forced to look at him. “But it wasn't me. It was Tyler.”