"Stone was there all along," I said, staring at Sam's hand holding me steady. "He brought Reynolds. No one could have helped us."
Vilet looked down at Sam. "Maybe the right person was at your side after all."
"Boss," said Mallory. "This mean I can't shoot her?"
Vilet laughed. "Save your anger issues for McCarthy's trial."
"Stone's alive?" The air burst out of me. Sam squeezed my hand, but there was no calming my nerves. As long as that man breathed air, Sam and I would be in danger.
"Should be out of surgery soon. Don't worry, he's technically in custody." Vilet nodded solemnly, an old-fashioned promise. "We don't fully understand his role in all this, but I'm sure you'll clue us in, Miss Larson. His obsession with you has played to our advantage."
I swallowed hard, tried not to let Sam feel the change in my posture. He meant Stone's advantage. My stomach roiled. I wanted, needed to shut down the conversation.
"The rest of my team found Reynolds. Fortunately, his phone survived the fire's heat," said Vilet. "I would have preferred questioning him before shooting him, but I suppose he got his justice the hard way. You can explain events to me when you've recovered, Agent Fields."
That the man didn't even look at me said he thought Sam had done all the work. Typical.
"Thanks to you two," he continued, "we've not only unearthed the mole, we're already running down his accomplices." He patted Sam's leg. "We got 'em, Sam. We finally got 'em."
"So it's over. Goliath is done." Relief washed over me like a warm bath. Reynolds was dead, Stone in custody, Max out of the cold with James and Malta making their escape. The evidence of my trespasses soon at the bottom of the Hudson, and the evidence of Sam's genius in Houston's safe hands. And Sam alive.
Mallory grimaced and Sam squeezed my hand. I got that old chill.
"The war's just begun." Vilet's voice dropped an octave. "But yes, we've dealt them a blow." He looked me in the eye. "You dealt them a blow, Miss Larson. Your testimony and Sam's evidence can bring down the house on Goliath's operation. We need you to be sure which side you're on."
"I have as much reason to nail those bastards as you now. Whatever you need, I'm in. Two hundred percent."
"While admirable, that dedication, unfortunately, means you can't go back to your old life now."
"No more running." I looked down. This time I squeezed Sam's hand first. "I found my new life."
IF YOU ENJOYED THIS BOOK...
...Please consider writing a customer review on the site from which you purchased this book. Or let your friends and family know through social media sites like email, Facebook, or Twitter.
Your referrals makes a difference to authors and help support them so they can go on to write more stories. This author in particular would be very grateful for the kind support!
Warm regards,
Christine
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Christine M. Fairchild (aka The Editor Devil) is a California native who's worked as a writer and editor for over 25 years. Though trained as a journalist, she spent the last two decades working for niche publications (XFiles, Paramount Pictures), technical giants (Microsoft, AT&T), and consumer product companies (DHL, Hitachi).
Christine now focuses on writing fictional stories, her great love since she was ten.
She also teaches writing and editing, helping fiction writers improve their character development, dialogue, and story structure through classes and book critiques.
For the last seven years, Christine has also rehabilitated dogs for behavior problems, working with aggressive, insecure, anxious or plain misunderstood canines and their families.
Christine (and Bo) retired from this business in fall of 2011 so she could focus on writing fiction and dog books, including a children's style book called
Bo Doesn't Know: A Dog's View Of Living With Cancer & The Humans Who Love Him
(on Amazon.com for Kindle: http://amzn.com/B007A53PKK). Bo passed away the last day of 2011. All profits from Bo's book go to charity to help dogs with cancer.
Christine currently lives in Seattle with her husband, Rob, and their new chocolate lab puppy, Tucker Rex Fairchild (aka, T. Rex), who is already training to do therapy dog work.
***
For FREE writing/editing tips and tricks, teaching/conference schedule, or interviews and guest blog posts visit:
http://EditorDevil.blogspot.com
.
For Christine's fiction editing books, see:
The Editor Devil's Guide to DIALOGUE
(http://amzn.com/B007K1PZZC)
The Editor Devil's Guide to CHARACTERS
(http://amzn.com/B007PTQKXA)
Or follow her on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/fairchild01
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/christine.c.fairchild
TABLE OF CONTENTS