that’s not what I meant. I think you’re great, it’s just she would be in over her head with you.”
“She’s a twenty-three-year-old genius who’s been trained to take down men three times her size. Maybe you all are underestimating her.”
“It’s not her head I’m worried about. It’s her heart.”
“What’s going on, Doc,” Wyatt asked, coming up behind her. “Who are you talking about?”
“Nobody. It’s nothing.”
“You seem upset, belleza,” Wyatt continued, pulling her to him by the waist, even as he threw a wary glare at Trey.
“It’s fine. I promise. Trey is like a brother to me, which means we fight like pissed off siblings sometimes.”
Trey’s phone began buzzing. “I have to take this, sorry, Jenna.”
“But I wasn’t finished…” she groused as Trey walked away.
“Hey, Stephen, what’s up?”
“Are you ready to get out of Pittsburgh, yet?”
“Almost.”
“That’s not good enough. David Murphy’s dead.”
“What?”
“Found hanging in his cell about forty-five minutes ago. I’ve been scrambling ever since. He’d been dead at least a few hours.”
“Suicide? I’m not buying it. I interviewed him myself today.”
“I’m betting it’s staged, too. Does Agent McCoy know you were doing your own digging about her theories?”
“No. I don’t want anything else to distract from getting her out of town.”
“Then definitely hold off on this news.”
“No shit. Damn it. How the hell did no one find him until now?”
“My source says the video feed into his cell was tapped into. Someone overrode it and had the same image of him asleep on a loop, so no one saw any reason to check up on him.”
“Why didn’t Jacobs tell me? Fucking FBI.”
“We can’t worry about that right now. It gets worse. My contact in Murphy’s federal detention facility also told me Agent McCoy was set to meet with him tomorrow. It was in all the logs. Anyone with resources of their own would be able to find it. And I’m pretty sure they did. The cameras we set up outside of Agent McCoy’s house just picked up someone casing the place.”
“Fuck. Anyone we’ve seen before?”
“Not sure. He was smart enough to keep his face mostly hidden, and screwing our chances of running him through our facial recognition databases. Either way…”
“I know. Claudia and I have to get the hell out of here.”
“Everything is set up for you. I just left her place. I was able to make my way in. I found your duffel and the suitcase she’d packed. I added a couple things I’d want her to have if I were in your position,” he added, with a lascivious tone to his voice.
Trey clenched his free hand in response to Stephen’s ribbing. Stephen was only slightly less of a man-whore with women than Trey was — or at least used to be, before Claudia had him so distracted — and the thought of him in her house made Trey consider doing violent things to his old friend.
“Don’t even fucking joke about that, dude.”
“You’ve got a lot more to worry about than me going through your precious little Agent McCoy’s panty drawer. You know it, too, or you wouldn’t have brought me into this. Because, if she’s right about that bloody Sydney job being connected to Jack Taylor’s murder…”
“I know. I get it.”
“Do you? Did you tell her about Operation Lexis?”
“Hell no.”
“It’s only a matter of time before she figures out something. It looks like she sniffed around about Sydney more than you realize.”
“Christ. She is so fucking stubborn.”
“If you care about this girl at all, you need to keep her as far away from Lexis as possible.”
“No shit. It feels like my full-time job since I met her is trying to keep her safe.”
“But it’s not enough just to protect her. You have to ask yourself if you believe in Claudia, and trust her, enough to let her help you for real.”
“Spoken like a true CIA handler. Claudia’s not a spy.”
“But she’s a part of your team. And she’s taken this personal project of yours to a whole new level you either couldn’t, or wouldn’t, see before.”
Stephen paused, allowing his statement to sink in before going on.
“I’m on the way to get your new car to you. It will be about a block from the entrance to Washington’s Landing, so you can walk to it. I made sure Claudia’s FBI sidearm is in her suitcase. You’ll also find a briefcase of weapons hidden in the wheel well, under the trunk cover. Leave the keys to Claudia’s car under her driver’s seat for me. Your destination is already programmed into