Material Witness (29 page)

Jake leaned forward to talk to Kevin
over the sound of the rain on the roof. “When Radcowski stops the car out
front, they're going to wait a few minutes before opening the door. As soon as
they stop, take us around back,” he said.

“They always take prisoners in
through the back, don’t they?” Cassie asked, flitting a glance to Kevin's
reflection in the rear view mirror and then to Jake.

Kevin's face peered at her from the
tiny glass. “We're never going to get you through this crowd, Cassie.”

Jake sat back next to her. “You're
not even going to see Fagnelio. If the wagon's there, then we know he's inside
already. There's nothing to be afraid of.”

Cassie nodded, turning in her seat to
watch the throng of reporters engulf the car that Agents Tate and Radcowski were
driving. The tinted windows of the car and the moisture on the window made it
impossible for anyone to see inside.

“You're the boss,” she said,
chuckling nervously as she turned back in her seat.

Jake gave a slight chuckle. “Since
when?”

The SUV rolled to a stop as close to
the back door of the courthouse as Kevin could maneuver. Almost immediately,
Kevin bolted into the rain and ran to the side door to talk to who Cassie
perceived to be another FBI agent. As he jogged back to the truck, he popped open
a black umbrella.

Jake shoved open the door. Bile rose
up strong from Cassie's stomach, threatening to choke her. Brushing her fingers
across her cheek, she wondered if her skin looked as pale and clammy as she
felt. As Jake stepped out into the rain, she clutched her stomach, hoping to
God she wouldn't get violently sick right there in the car.

From where she was sitting, Cassie
could see the paddy wagon parked alongside the truck. The doors were closed.

Jake reached a hand inside to help
her out of the car.

“You ready for this?”

“About as ready as I'll ever be,”
Cassie said.

She stepped out into the rain.

* * *

The trial went off without a hitch,
much to Jake's relief. The judge denied all motions for bail and set the date
for the criminal trial to be held in six months.

Six whole months being separated from
Cassie. He'd have to tell her the truth.

Cassie had only been in his life a
short time, but the thought of living without her for six whole months was
unthinkable. He couldn’t figure out how she’d done it, but she’d gotten under
his skin. And it wasn’t likely that was going to change. Yeah, Jake knew the
moment he saw her all decked out in that slinky red spandex dress and that
ridiculous makeup, Cassie had stolen his heart. He’d tried to keep himself
detached. And he’d failed. Now he knew with absolute certainty that he was in
love with Cassie Alvarez and all her aliases. There was no going back.

She was Cassie Alvarez, the tender,
innocent woman who longed to take control of her life. Cassie Lang, the
infamous crime novelist with a wild imagination. And she was CJ Carmen, no
matter how much she didn't believe it. Steam, sass and innocence all rolled up
to make one hell of a woman. And he was helplessly in love with every inch of
her.

They convened in a conference room at
the courthouse soon after the motion for trial. Cassie was sitting next to the
federal prosecutor, Aaron Savage. A look of pure relief smoothed the worried
creases he'd seen on her face earlier. He was glad for the reprieve. But he
knew it wouldn't last.

Charley came up behind Jake as he
stood in the doorway. She pulled him back into the corridor by the arm.

“I have to tell her,” Jake said.

“It might be easier if I do it,” she
said sympathetically.

His chuckle was wry. “It's not going
to be easy any way she gets it.”

Charley shrugged. “At least she'll
hate me instead of you.”

“That's awfully big of you.”

“Hey, I do my best to puff out as big
as you boys.”

Jake strode into the conference room
with Charley following behind.

Agents filed out of the conference
room as he approached Cassie. “Could I have a moment with her?” he asked Aaron
Savage. The prosecutor ignored Jake.

Charley tapped her foot on the tile
floor, cutting into his silence as they waited for a response.

“Maybe you want to go get a soda or
something, Savage?” Kevin ground out from the doorway. “We could all go over
the details of the transfer.”

“You'll be filled in with whatever
you need to know when the time comes, Detective Gordon. As for you,” Aaron said
pointedly to Jake. “What makes you think I'm going to let you be alone with my
witness after the stunt you pulled?”

“Enough already,” Charley said. “We
have a few minutes before we have to leave. I suggest we put it to good use.”

“What's going on here?” Cassie asked,
her expression one of pure bewilderment. “What transfer are you talking about?”

Cassie's questioning eyes darted back
and forth from the prosecutor to Jake, then to Kevin, to Charley and then back
to Jake. Kevin turned his head and looked out to the hall. Jake couldn't do
that. He
wouldn't
do that to Cassie.

“For cripes sake, Savage,” Charley
said. “We have about fifty police officers and federal agents roaming this
hallway alone. I'll stick one or ten of them at the door. Trust me, he's not
going to fly with her anywhere without us taking notice.”

Jake smiled dryly at the burly man.
“I promise to behave myself.”

“Don't smart mouth me, Santos. You're
lucky to even be here at all.” Savage snapped his briefcase closed and flipped
his wrist to check his watch. “No more than two minutes. I don't want Ms.
Alvarez hanging around the courthouse any longer than she has to. And the door
stays open with you and Gordon guarding it.” He glanced sharply at Kevin. “And
just so you don't get it in your head to try anything
heroic
, I'll be
watching
you
. Two minutes.” Without another glance, he strode
heavy-footed from the room.

Kevin leaned against the doorjamb
with his back to Jake and Cassie, his arms knotted across his chest. It didn't
afford them much privacy, but it was the best they had at the moment.

“Guess I'm the last one to know about
the party. Mind filling me in on the details?” Cassie said the words lightly,
but even the slight lilt in her voice didn't mask the fear that had tumbled
back. “Jake? What's going on?”

There was no easy way to do it. So
Jake didn't even bother to try. Cassie was familiar with how the system worked.
So was he. But even in knowing it, sometimes things fell apart. Like now. And
there was nothing either of them could do to change the inevitable.

Jake did the only thing he
could
do. He pulled Cassie's small body into his arms and held her for a long,
lingering moment, trying to breathe in the fragrant scent of her shampoo and
the smell that was uniquely her. She was soft and warm and belonged there in
his arms. A piece of himself he didn't even know he was missing.

He closed his eyes, and drank her in.
Every detail flowed through his mind and his senses. He had to remember this
feeling. It was all he had until this nightmare was over.

“You're a material witness,” he
finally said in a voice that sounded far away to his ears. “They want you to go
with them, Cassie.”

Even in his arms, Jake felt Cassie
sway. He held her tighter.

“But I testified. I thought this was
over.”

“Charley thinks otherwise. She wants
you in protective custody. She's afraid of repercussions.”

“Fagnelio is behind bars. He's in
jail!” Cassie insisted.

“We still don't know who leaked your
name to the press, Cassie. Until we know who it was—”

“You said it was Agent Bellows.”

“I was wrong.”

She let the words sink in. Jake could
see her turning something over in her mind as he peered into her sable eyes.

 Tears brimmed the corners of her
eyes, but she pushed out her chin and held them back. A trooper. It was what he
loved about her.

“Did you know about this last night?”

On some level, Jake had expected
Cassie to ask that question. But hearing it from her lips, he realized he
hadn't been prepared for the depth of betrayal behind the words.

“Yes.”

She nodded.

“You won't be coming with me then.”

It was a conclusion, not a question,
he noticed with dread. Whatever feelings of deception she had, she hid them
well. It didn't relieve him from feeling like a son-of-a-bitch for not telling
her the truth sooner.

He cupped her face with both his
hands and kissed her. Her lips were just as soft as he remembered and just as
sweet. “I want to. Believe me when I say that.”

She pulled from his grasp, leaving
him cold. From the vacant look on her face, Jake knew she didn't believe him.

“The FBI thinks Fagnelio is going to
talk to save himself. Maybe cop a deal to give information about the breach
within the FBI. They don't take kindly to treason within their own
organization. If that happens—”

“Then whoever leaked my name to the
papers will want me dead to prevent Fagnelio the trouble of saving his own
hide,” she said evenly. Jake knew that inside she was anything but.

“Exactly. But there is a lot of
turmoil in Trumbella's organization—”

“So even if Fagnelio doesn't talk,
there'll always be the threat that he will one day reveal information about
their organization that may lead to an indictment.”

His eyebrows furrowed into a tight
knot. She was too…calm. “Yes, that's right.”

She laughed cynically. “Don't look so
surprised, Jake. I told you when we first met that I research my books
thoroughly. I know how this system works. I just never dreamed one day I’d be
living the nightmare I created in my own novels.”

The room seemed enormous as she
stepped away from him. Moving toward the huge conference table, she picked up a
piece of paper and then calmly placed it back down on the polished surface
without glancing at him. Without showing any emotion at all.

“Any way you look at it I'm the final
piece of a series of ugly puzzles. Eliminating me is the one thing that will
keep peace in Trumbella's clan and keep the dirty secrets of a rogue FBI agent
quiet. I'm never going to get my life back, am I, Jake?”

Her sultry dark eyes lifted to meet
his. He caught the slight tremble of her full lips.

“Cassie, someone needs to uncover
enough information about Trumbella's organization to keep you from having to
testify. That's the only way the heat will be taken off you.”

“Answer me,” she said with a small
laugh that hinted of her inner hysteria.

“Maybe not,” he said quietly.

“And you knew that all along?”

He cleared his throat and looked
directly at her. “I knew as soon as I heard Bellows was killed that something
wasn't right.”

He lifted his arms and stepped toward
Cassie, but she abruptly pushed back.

“No, Jake. It's okay.”

He cursed loudly, didn't care who was
there to hear. “Cassie, I'm sorry—”

“It's okay,” she insisted. “You did
what you had to do. You went one step further and even managed to do what the
FBI couldn't do themselves. You saved my life.”

“You saved mine,” he reminded her
quietly.

Her eyes drifted to his and she
cocked her head to one side, offering him a weak smile.

“Then I guess we're even. No strings
for either of us.”

“What the hell is that supposed to
mean?”

She caught her bottom lip between her
teeth for a moment before speaking. “I'm giving you the opportunity for a clean
break. Giving you…your out.”

He jammed his fingers through his
thick crop of hair and rested his hand at the nape of his neck. “What?”

“This break may have been forced by
circumstance, but it was bound to happen eventually.”

When Jake didn't immediately
understand, she continued.

“I had a lot of time in the hotel to
hear the stories about Jake Santos and his women. You don't have to feel
obligated to me now because I took things too seriously. That's my fault. I'll
always be grateful for everything you did to save my life.”

Cassie's words were harder than a
kick to the gut. “You think I'm blowing you off? After everything we've been
through, that's what you really believe?”

Her shoulders slumped with the weight
of her sigh. “Let's call it what it is, a natural end…to a difficult situation.
A clean break.”

“And you're making it easy on me by
letting me off the hook. Is that it?”

“Pretty much. I think that's the best
way.”

“I think it sucks!”

Her determined expression faltered
slightly. He had to admit he admired her for what she was trying to do. Still,
he wanted no part of it.