“Who could have taken him? They had to forge a court order, fake FBI credentials, spoof a phone line out of the prison . . . This was a sophisticated operation.”
“My first guess would be Rispel. She’s the one trying to kill Diaz, or at least she’s the cat’s-paw. So when things went sideways for her in Freeway Park, she busted Schrader out of jail as a Plan B. But . . . could be another player entirely. Different agenda, different plan. Hard to say.”
“Can Kanezaki help?”
“I already talked to him. He’s trying to find out what he can. While dancing around Rispel’s suspicions.”
“What about Rain?”
“Larison’s calling him. John’s not going to have any intel, though.”
“I don’t want him for his intel. We don’t know what we’re up against.”
“Yeah, I know. I just feel bad. John’s trying to retire, or at least he thinks he is. I didn’t want to bug him. That’s why I called Larison. Larison loves this kind of shit. If trouble didn’t come looking for him, he’d go find it on his own. And I didn’t want . . . I’m sorry, Labee, I know you don’t need protecting, I really do. It’s just, if I can save you from something, I just . . .”
His voice trailed off and he looked away, his expression so forlorn it almost made her feel guilty.
“Carl. You have to stop making this about me. About us. It’s bigger than that. Okay?”
He looked at her and nodded slowly. “There’s not a lot for me that’s bigger than us. But . . . point taken.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I do. That’s the problem.”
She wished she could tell him how much she . . . cared about him. She wished he knew how much she wanted to say it. But all she did was look at him, hoping he would somehow understand.
“You know,” he said after a moment. “It occurs to me, maybe psychologically I’ve just been trying to get your attention. And if we could see each other more regularly, like normal people, then I wouldn’t be so motivated to get up in all kinds of political skullduggery as my only hope of ever being with you.”
She folded her arms and stared at him.
“I’m joking, of course,” he said. “And by joking, I mean eighty percent serious.”
Her phone buzzed. Someone named Jill Ehrman. Diaz. “Hello.”
“It’s me. I borrowed a phone.”
“Are you someplace safe?”
“Storyville Coffee.”
“The one at First and Madison?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll be by in ten minutes. Look for the Jeep. Make sure you confirm it’s me driving. I’ll have a passenger, too, but don’t worry about that. When I pull up, come out and get right in.”
“Livia—”
“I don’t care if it sounds paranoid. Just do as I say.”
“It . . . doesn’t sound paranoid. Not anymore.”
chapter
twenty-seven
RISPEL
There was a knock, followed by Rispel’s admin opening the door. “Director Rispel, Director—”
Devereaux barged past her. “Thank you,” he said. “And now please leave us.”
The admin looked at Rispel. Rispel nodded, and the admin left, closing the door behind her.