She exhaled heavily. “That’s pretty much a given, but it’s more than that. My family and I are at risk. Just because I’m not really Tony’s
goomah
, doesn’t mean anyone else knows the truth. Perception is reality in this case.”
“Then we need to alter those perceptions.”
“How? There’s some sort of leak on the FBI team.”
Chase didn’t seem surprised. “Which is why you didn’t want to meet at the station?”
She nodded. “They had photographs of Todd and I doing shots last night as part of their investigation into me. The FBI believes the stuff about me being Tony’s girlfriend, and nothing I said convinced them otherwise. Yet one of the agents showed them to Tony, to prove I was cheating. I think someone knows he has a temper and hoped he’d clean up the loose ends.”
Something else clicked in Chase’s brain. “When he saw me take your hand, Lenzi said he knew McKay was wrong. That was about the photos? Agent McKay is the leak?”
The hand grabbing her elbow startled Emma. She turned to find Jim and Tony standing next to her again. Jim took in her tear-streaked face and frowned. “What did we miss?”
She swiped a hand across both cheeks, not wanting to get into it. “Nothing. Have you worked out an arrangement?”
The grimace on Jim’s face deepened. “Agent McKay complicates things. If he’s reporting back to New York, they’ll know about this meeting and have Dr. Anderson’s photo. Not ideal.”
Tony’s face was an unreadable mask. “What does it matter? He’s a dirty cop either way.”
Chase spoke up. “As I understand the situation, we have three important goals to accomplish. One, getting Emma untangled from this mess. Two, shutting down the Eco Dawn project, and three, keeping Tony alive to testify against the crime bosses who railroaded him.”
Emma’s chest tightened at his words, and at the determination on his face. She wanted so badly to believe in him and in his ability to make her problems go away. She had no idea if he planned to stick around long term, but right now she was glad to have him on her side. She looked around at the unlikely group planning to take on the mob. “This has the makings of a really bad joke. You know, the kind that starts with a scientist, a cop, and a gangster walking into a bar. Do we have any chance of success?”
“Shutting down the project is the easiest part.” Chase hesitated before shoving his hands into his pockets again. “You, uh, won’t have a job to return to, but breaking the contracts and returning the donations shouldn’t pose much of a problem once the company’s technology is publicly debunked. The mayor might end up with political egg on his face for being duped by mobsters, but he’s not on our list of problems.”
Tony folded his arms over his chest. “Okay, Doc. What’s with the keeping me alive part of your equation? Super cop over here told me they framed me for Vito’s murder and need me to be their fall guy for the money scheme. So why do you think my life is in danger if I don’t testify or nothing?”
“Someone obviously wants you out of the picture, like I said earlier.” Jim spread his hands palms-up. “The department isn’t quite sure who, or why. Your uncle’s rivals in Boston attacked you, and McKay obviously tried to rile you with the photos. They either want you behind bars for life, or dead.”
The sarcastic look on Tony’s face showed his indifference. “My life is always in jeopardy. Goes with the job description. And don’t think any WITSEC program can keep me safe from Don Lenzini. He’s got hooks in everywhere, like with McKay.”
Chase cleared his throat. “If we focus on the first goal, untangling Emma and her family from this web of lies, the answer will fall into place.”
“Ambitious goal, Doc,” Tony said with a snort of disbelief.
“So is saving the planet. But you have to start somewhere.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
“Are you sure you can trust the guy?”
He may have already asked the same question a dozen times, but Chase needed positive confirmation. Pacing back and forth across the small motel room left a well-worn path in the carpet. With Emma on the other side of town at her family home, he allowed himself the luxury of a few moments of doubt. He didn’t want to panic her with the many variables in the equation. Even though they came up with a reasonable sounding plan, anything could go wrong. He didn’t like the gamble they took trusting Agent Roth.
Jim sat on the edge of the bed, flipping through television channels while they waited for Emma’s call. “Roth is hard-nosed and old school, but he’s an upright guy. I’m sure it pissed him off to hear about Agent McKay taking money from Lenzini. You should’ve heard some of the choice words he used to describe the poor bastard.”
“Can we trust him? Emma’s safety hinges on him doing the right thing.” He didn’t care what happened to Tony Lenzi. The guy deserved whatever he got for dragging someone innocent like Emma into this pile of crap. Chase still didn’t believe Lenzi when he claimed to believe the technology was legit. Too much money was at stake. He stopped mid-stride to check his watch. “Shouldn’t she have called by now?”
Jim lowered the remote when the Red Sox game roared to life on the small screen. “She planned to stop by the neighbors to check on the dog and call her parents in Boston, remember? Even if Sean gets released today, they need to stay off Cape Cod. Jeez, man, you gotta quit the pacing. Lighten up, Francis.”
“That’s the second time this week someone has quoted Sergeant Hulka to me.” A smile quirked his lips as he paced, remembering the playful movie argument from the night before. One thing had quickly led to another and ended back to this very motel room, very naked and very steamy.
How can it still only be Friday?
“Yeah, well, you should’ve listened the first time,” Jim grumbled, raising the volume of the game a few notches. “Why don’t you go take a shower to cool off? Or do you need to go over things again to get it straight in your head?”
Straight in my head? If only it were that simple.
Today’s events sent him on a roller coaster of emotional highs and lows. He wasn’t sure the ride had come to a full stop, and had no idea where he stood with Emma. Because of FBI men with ready cameras, he hadn’t been able to touch her or hug her in public, or even go home with her to offer comfort. This morning he’d been almost ready to declare his love for her. Now he wasn’t sure she wanted anything to do with him. Because he’d had that moment of doubt.
“Bloody hell, Chase! Stop pacing in front of the game!”
Chase opened his mouth to retort, to remind Jim who paid for the room, when rapid knocking stopped him in his tracks. He whipped his head to the sound, then back to Jim. The detective shrugged and nodded toward the door. Chase put a hand on the deadbolt. “Who’s there?”
“Boss, it’s me. Todd. Are you watching the Sox and Yankees?”
In all his plans for tonight’s showdown, he’d totally forgotten about his intern. He’d left Todd sleeping in his room hours ago, but the kid was obviously awake now. He glanced at Jim who shrugged again. “Sort of,” he called.
“Boss, are you going to open the door?”
Chase sighed and slid open the deadbolt. Todd stepped into the room, looking much less bedraggled than at noon. “It’s amazing what six hours of uninterrupted sleep can do for a person.” He stopped short when he saw Jim on the bed. “Oh, hey. I didn’t know you had company, boss.”
He kept the introduction simple. “Todd, this is Jim. He’s a friend of Emma’s.”
Jim stood and Todd shook his hand. “Any friend of Emma’s is a friend of mine. She’s awesome.”
His eyes wide with recognition and excitement, Jim turned to Chase. “He should be part of it! McKay took those photos, remember?”
Tension knotted his stomach. “What? No. He’s my intern. I’m responsible for the kid.” He wasn’t about to drag a university student into a mess involving mobsters and the FBI. His eyes darted from Jim’s sly smile to Todd’s pissed-off expression.
“How many times do I have to tell you? Dude, I’m not a kid. I’m twenty-two, all right?” He ranted on about how he thought Chase changed this week, but it must’ve been an illusion. “Still the same uptight, know-it-all jerk you’ve been all along.”
Chase wanted to tell Todd the whining only made him sound more childlike, but clenched his jaw instead, letting the insults slide. After tonight he would send the kid back to New York, but Jim was right. They needed Todd’s help to make the plan work.
“He’ll be that extra distraction we needed,” Jim added. “And like I said, McKay will recognize him. Makes it a more believable story, since it echoes one he’s already told.”
“Fine,” Chase spat. He felt backed into a corner. Lowering himself to the edge of the bed Jim vacated, he cradled his head in both hands, wondering just how much they needed to tell Todd to make him effective. He’d have to tell Emma, and warn Lenzi of the slight change in plan. But Jim had a point. Todd’s presence would make it more believable. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of it himself. He’d been too preoccupied with worry about Emma, and her reactions. Everything hinged on the element of surprise.
Lifting his head finally, he nodded to Jim. “Fill him in on what he needs to know to be safe. I’m going to step outside and call Emma’s cell.” He didn’t wait for Jim to acknowledge his words but rose to his feet and exited the room in one swift motion. A brisk walk across the parking lot and street left him standing at the sea wall, watching two dogs and their owners frolic in the outgoing tide. At six o’clock, the sun was low enough in the sky to lose the heat of midday, but high enough to still offer full light on the beach and ocean before him. He took a deep breath of the salty air before dialing her number.
“Hello?”
“Emma, it’s me.” He paused a moment to see if she wanted to say something in greeting, but when the silence became awkward he plunged ahead. “Slight change in plan. It’s going to be Todd you meet for drinks at the bar, not me.”
“Okay. Why?”
Her indifferent tone cut like a knife. He tried to ignore the pain and focus on the plan. “The photos. McKay already circulated the pics of you and Todd from last night. It gives them the outcome they expect rather than add another new face into the mix. Lenzi boils over with rage when he finds you with Todd after he’s already seen the black and whites. You break things off amidst much screaming, and Lenzi gets hauled away by the local cops. You’re out of the picture. Simple.”
“Yeah. Simple.”
He winced at the ice in her tone, but kept going. He needed her to be safe. That was the only thing that mattered right now. If they made it through, he vowed to win back her trust. And her love. “Don’t forget about quitting your job. Work that into the fight and follow through with an immediate text to your boss. Donald plans to file injunctions first thing Monday morning, so you need to cut ties as soon as possible.”
“I know. We already went over this.” She paused for so long, he wondered if she’d hung up on him. “Are you headed back to New York tonight?”
“I can’t leave Provincetown without Todd, or the samples in the Center’s cooler,” he pointed out logically, and then wanted to kick his own ass for sounding like a selfish moron. “What I meant was…”
“I heard you.” This time she did hang up on him.
“Damn.” He stared at the phone in his hand, wondering if he should call back and apologize. Deciding against it, he scrolled through his contact list for the burner number Lenzi plugged in and clicked the call button.
“Doc! How’s it hanging?” Lenzi sounded chipper for someone about to undertake a dangerous deception.
“We’ve got a change in plans for tonight.” Chase explained that the guy in McKay’s black and white photos wanted to help.
“Perfect.” Lenzi sounded much more enthusiastic than Emma about the change. “After the way I beat down Vito for his insults about Emma, they probably showed me the pics expecting me to go ape shit.”
“Probably,” Chase agreed, wondering again why he hadn’t thought of bringing Todd into the plan earlier. Probably because he wanted to be there himself, to make sure no one got hurt.
Lenzi must have picked up on his reluctance to give up his role in the charade. “Listen, you should still come to the bar. We can meet there to discuss the Eco Dawn project some more, like I’m trying to wring a fat check out of your stingy wallet. My FBI tail will never believe I’d walk into a dive bar like that on my own. The Squealing Pig? Gimme a break. Even the name of the place is a joke. The Ritz Carlton is more my speed.”
“Detective Wilton knows the owners,” Chase said, defending the choice, although he had his own reservations about meeting in the crowded pub. Jim swore that between band sets the crowd thinned out when people spilled into the back alley for cigarettes and fresh air, a contradictory combination but perfect for their needs. He considered Lenzi’s offer half a second more before agreeing to meet him. He needed to be there tonight, whether Emma wanted him there or not. Something occurred to him. “Hey, Lenzi. You’ve known Emma a while now.”
“Almost eight months of Sunday coffees and fundraising galas. Why?”
“She seems pretty angry with me. Think she’ll ever forgive me?”
He paused before answering. “That depends.”
“On what?”
“On you deserving her forgiveness. Like my sainted mom would say, you gotta be the man she needs you to be. Earn her trust, and you earn her forgiveness.”
Chase thought he understood. “What about love? How do I win that back?”
“
Paisan
, if she didn’t already love you, she wouldn’t be so angry.”
****
Emma stared at the phone in her hand for a long time, thinking of all the things she wished she’d said to him. She’d had a plan of her own for later tonight, and a list of things she wanted to clarify with him about her feelings, and his feelings, and if they had any sort of future together. But he changed the master plan, and she’d been too slow to adjust on the fly. In the end, the words stuck in her throat, unable to confront or accuse. And definitely unable to apologize.
I have nothing to apologize for
.
He was the one ready to walk away.
“Everything okay, Emma?” Her elderly neighbor stepped into the kitchen through the back door. Her arms clutched a small wicker basket filled with laundry fresh off the clothesline. “Hershey’s waiting on his dinner.”