The Innocent (43 page)

Robie made sure he wasn’t followed and zigzagged the last ten miles of his trip just to be certain.

He got back to the farmhouse early in the morning. Vance was
awake with gun in hand and a serious expression on her face. Julie was asleep on a couch in the back room of the first floor.

Vance had seen the car pull up. “Where’d you get it?” she asked when he came into the house.

He held up the pieces of paper. “Same place I got these.”

As they stood in the doorway gazing at the sleeping Julie curled up like a cat on the couch, Vance said, “She didn’t want to go upstairs. I don’t think she wanted to be that far away from me.”

He walked into the kitchen. Vance followed.

They sat, looked over the names and current addresses.

“Three individuals. Two guys and one woman,” said Vance. “How do you want to do this? Split up again?”

“Don’t think so. They’ve been warned by Julie’s comments. They probably know what we’re going to do.”

“So they’ll anticipate we’ll go after these folks and they’ll be waiting?”

“Maybe something a little more efficient.”

“Like what?”

“Like maybe they’ll make all three disappear.”

“You mean kill them?”

“If they kill two, then they’ve done our work for us. They left the one who really matters. If they make all three go away, we’re in the same boat as before.”

Vance set her gun on the table and rubbed her eyes.

“You need to get some sleep,” said Robie.

“Look who’s talking,” she shot back.

“I’ll take the first watch. You can catch a few hours.”

“It’ll be eight a.m. You won’t go to sleep then.”

“I actually feel pretty rested.”

She squeezed his arm.

“What was that for?” he asked.

“Just checking to see if you’re actually human. Despite your ability to bleed.”

He said, “So we go after these people one by one, knowing that they’ll be waiting.”

Vance added, “So they really have the upper hand. Like you said, they could just make them disappear.”

“They could, except for one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“If they need one of them for some reason to do something.”

“Like what?”

“If I knew that I wouldn’t be sitting here trying to figure it out.”

“What do we do with Julie? We can’t leave her here. And it would be really stupid to take her on something like this.”

“It might be stupid, but I’m going anyway.”

They glanced over to see Julie standing in the doorway looking at them with sleepy eyes that still managed, at their edges, to look angry and even betrayed.

Vance said, “Boy, you’re really good at eavesdropping.”

Julie retorted, “It’s the only way I find out anything with you two.”

Robie said, “It’s dangerous.”

“What else is new?” Julie replied in an even tone. She sat at the table. “I’ve been shot at, nearly blown up, seen my parents killed. Chased on foot, chased by car. So really, your ‘dangerous’ argument falls pretty flat.”

Vance glanced at Robie and a smile tugged at her lips. “At certain levels her logic is awfully compelling.”

“So the logic is, since you’ve nearly been killed a few times, the smart thing is to put you in another situation where you’ll probably get killed?” said Robie.

“Don’t feel you’re responsible for me, Will, because you’re not,” replied Julie. She tucked her hair behind her ears and glared at him.

Vance’s smile faded. “Okay, you two, the last thing we need is to turn on each other.”

Robie said, “I am responsible for you. I’ve been responsible for you ever since we walked off that bus.”

“Your choice, not mine. I’m a victim of circumstance.”

“But you’d still be a victim.”

“I want to find out why my parents were murdered. That’s all. Anything more than that I don’t care.” She looked at Vance and
then at Robie. “So don’t feel you have to care about what happens to me. Because you don’t.”

“We’re just trying to help you, Julie,” exclaimed Vance.

“I’m not your little do-gooder project, okay? Foster kid off the street you want to make all well and good. Forget it. That’s not what this is about.”

“You’re stuck with us, Julie, whether you want to be or not. And if it weren’t for us you’d be dead,” added Robie.

“I feel like I’m already dead.”

“I can understand that. But feeling dead and actually being dead are two totally different things.”

“Why should I trust anybody?” she retorted.

“I think we’ve earned your trust,” Robie snapped.

“Well, think again,” Julie shot back.

She stood and left the room.

Robie said to Vance, “Can you believe that crap?”

Vance stared across the table at him. “She’s just a kid, Robie. She’s lost her parents and she’s scared.”

Robie immediately calmed and looked guilty. “I know.”

“We have to stick together to get through this.”

“Might be easier said than done.”

“Why?”

“Events might conspire to tear us apart.”

“Events?”

“Your loyalty should be to the FBI, Vance. Not me.”

“Why don’t you let me decide that for myself.” She put a hand over his. “And me being here shows exactly where my loyalties lie, Robie.”

Robie stared at her for a moment and then got up and walked out, leaving a surprised Vance staring after him.

R
OBIE WENT OUT
into the barn, uncovered a box on the workbench, and took out a pack of Winston cigarettes. He popped one out, lit it up, and put the filter to his mouth. He drew in the carcinogens and then exhaled them.

Lung cancer slow or bullet fast. What’s the real difference? Time? Who gives a shit?

He took another pull on his smoke, stretched out his neck. He took one final puff, ground the cigarette out on the workbench, and left the barn, locking the door behind him.

He stared up at the small farmhouse. There were two lights on inside.

One room where Julie was.

One room where Vance was.

He was separated from them by about fifty feet.

He was actually separated from them by about fifty light-years.

I am a killer. I pull triggers. I end lives. I do no more than that.

He turned and pulled his gun so fast she threw up her hands to shield her face.

Vance slowly lowered her arms and gazed at him.

He eased down his gun and said, “I thought you were in the house.”

“I
was
in the house. But I decided to come and check on you.”

“I’m just fine.”

She eyed the gun. “Fine, if a little edgy?”

“I prefer to call it being professional.”

She folded her arms across her chest, took a breath, exhaled,
and watched it turn into mist in the chilly air. “We all are in this together, you know.”

He holstered his weapon but said nothing.

She moved closer. “You know, I understand guys who keep it all bottled up inside. The silent, stoic warrior. The FBI sure as hell has enough of them. But it does get old after a while. And a little grating, particularly at times like these.”

Robie looked away. “I’m not like anybody at the FBI, Vance. I kill people. I’m ordered to do it. But I carry out those orders. No remorse. No nothing.”

She said, “So why didn’t you kill Jane Wind and her son? Why did you take the time to get her other child to safety? And you did it while people were trying to kill you. Explain that to me.”

“Maybe I should have just killed them.”

“If I thought you believed that I’d shoot you right now.”

He turned to see Vance pointing her pistol at his chest.

“So are you just a killer, Robie? Don’t give a damn about anything or anyone else?”

“Why do you care?”

“I’m not sure why. It just seems that I do. Maybe I’m just stupid. I just swore an oath of loyalty to you back there. But it didn’t seem to register with you. I wasn’t expecting you to jump up and cheer when I put you above the FBI and my professional career, but I did expect some type of positive reaction. Instead you just walked out.”

Robie turned and started to walk back toward the house.

“Do you always just walk away when the questions get tough?” she snapped. “Is that your way of handling things when the going gets shitty? If so, it sucks. I expected better from you.”

He turned back around, settled his hands in his pockets, and rocked back and forth on his heels. He took several shallow breaths and stared at a spot directly over Vance’s shoulder.

She walked toward him, sliding her gun back into its belt holster. “I thought I came here to be part of something. Please don’t tell me I was wrong about that.”

Robie glanced at the house. “She’s only a kid. She’s in way over her head. She shouldn’t be involved in this at all.”

“I know that. But she’s also a tough kid. And smart. And determined.”

Robie’s mouth twisted. “This isn’t some scrape-up on the playground. Or some chemistry test you either pass or fail. One or both of us probably won’t make it through to the end. So what chance does she have?”

Vance said, “But you’re just a killer, Robie. You said that’s all you are. So why do you care what happens to me or her? It’s just another job. If we die, we die.”

“But she shouldn’t die. She deserves to have a life.”

“Pretty weird statement for a cold-blooded killer to make.”

“Okay, Vance, I get your point.”

She pointed toward the house. “Let’s go work on the plan.
All
of us.”

Robie didn’t say anything, but he started to walk toward the house. Vance fell into step beside him.

He said, “Whatever happens, Julie is going to survive this.”

Vance said, “And for what it’s worth, I’ll do all I can to make sure you do too.”

J
EROME
C
ASSIDY.

Elizabeth Claire Van Beuren. Her maiden name was Elizabeth Claire and she had incorporated that into her married name, Van Beuren.

Gabriel Siegel.

Those were the three names on the list.

Robie stared down at them as he drank his coffee at the kitchen table of the farmhouse.

It was eight-thirty. The sun was well up. He could hear the shower running upstairs and figured Vance had just stepped into it. Julie was already up. She was in the back room, no doubt brooding about their last encounter.

Fifteen minutes later Vance was seated across from him, her hair still wet, her pants and shirt wrinkled but presentable.

“If we have to be off grid much longer,” she said, “I might have to get a few things.”

He nodded, rose, and poured her a cup of coffee.

She spun the pieces of paper around and eyed the list of names.

“Who do we go after first?” she asked.

Robie handed her a cup of coffee right as Julie walked in. Her eyes were puffy and her clothes were even more wrinkled than Vance’s. She obviously had not bothered to undress when she had gone back to sleep.

Robie held up the cup. “Want some?”

“I can get it,” she said irritably.

She took down a cup and poured out her coffee. They sat at the table, not making eye contact.

Robie pushed the pieces of paper at Julie and said, “Recognize any of these names?”

She took her time looking at the list.

“No. My parents never mentioned any of them to me. Do you have pictures of them?”

“Not yet,” answered Robie. “You sure, though? None of them ring a bell?’

“None.”

He took the list and eyed it.

“Gabriel Siegel is closest distance-wise. Lives in Manassas. We’ll go there first, find out what we can.”

Vance said, “If we’re doing it geographically, Van Beuren will be next and Cassidy last. But they might be at work. I’m assuming these are the home addresses.”

“I thought about that too. But if they’re not at home and someone else is, we can flash our creds and get the work addresses.”

“Once we hit one of these addresses we could pick up a tail, Robie,” said Vance. “And they could follow us right back here.”

“Well, we just have to make sure they don’t do that.”