didn’t bother to play dumb. Clearly, Raissa knew the drill. “Some prick named Fields.”
Raissa laughed. “You gotta be kidding me. Hell, Fields couldn’t find me if I was sitting on top of him.”
Zach couldn’t help feeling pleased that Raissa had the same opinion of Agent Fields. “Yeah, I liked him about that much myself. The idiot’s parked in front of your shop, beating on the door every ten minutes. I told your landlord a bum was banging up his property. It should distract him for an hour or so.”
Raissa smiled. “Fields is going to be royally pissedthat he’s stuck at my house. He’s sorta an early-to-bed guy.”
Zach sobered and looked her directly in the eyes. “So are you going to tell me why you’re wanted by the FBI and hiding out in a hotel room with Pentagon-level security? You wouldn’t have given me that fingerprint if your secret still mattered. I knew that at the time. Something changed, but what?”
“What did Fields tell you?”
“Nothing, except that it was FBI business and the New Orleans PD was forbidden to contact you. Given the tip you provided on the Franco girl, my captain is about to have a coronary over that directive. I fi gured I’d just go ahead and ignore it and likely pay for it later.”
“Unless you can find Melissa Franco.”
“Yeah, there is that angle.”
Raissa stared at him for a couple of seconds, then sighed. “The FBI wants me to testify against a mob boss, but they had some trouble keeping me safe. I left protective custody nine years ago and never looked back. Well, not for the FBI, anyway.” She tapped one of the monitors. “I keep the mob boss in my sight on a regular basis, which is probably why I’m still alive.”
Zach nodded. What Raissa said made complete sense, given her lack of background history. “Were you an informant?”
“I was an agent.”
Zach straightened in his chair, unable to control his surprise. “Shit! I mean, I knew you could handle a weapon, but lots of criminals can, too. Not that I’m saying I thought you were a criminal…Oh crap, I’m messing everything up.”
“It’s okay. You’d have been stupid not to think I was a criminal. I would have.” She smiled. “Although thatdoes bring into question exactly why you were caught in a compromising position with a woman you thought was a crook.”
“I didn’t think that, exactly. Not really. Oh, hell, the reality is that all the evidence pointed to you being a criminal, but for some reason it never felt right. Intuition sounds stupid, but I guess that’s all I’ve got.”
“Intuition is far from stupid. It’s kept me alive more times than I can count.”
“Yeah, but still. An FBI agent? Wow. Sorry, but that’s really not what I was expecting to hear—” He jumped up from his chair and stared down at her. “Holy shit. You investigated the other abductions. That’s why you know so much.”
“Actually, I fell into the investigation by accident when I was undercover on another case. In fact, investigating those abductions is what blew my cover. The bureau wasn’t thrilled.”
Zach sat back down. “What did you find?”
Raissa sighed. “You’re going to think I’m crazy again.”
“Maybe. But I’m not going to think you’re lying. This case isn’t exactly normal.”
“I saw an alien suit in the closet of one of the people I was investigating. Not hanging, like you would a costume, but in a trunk by itself. A padlock was on the trunk but not fastened all the way, so I took a look inside. I had no idea what to think about something so weird and dismissed it, figuring I didn’t want to know. Then a friend of mine told me about this abduction case he was working where the MO matched some previous cases. I asked about dates and times. Every time an abduction happened, this particular guy was ‘unreachable.’ ”
“And the other girls had already been returned, so you knew about the alien part.”
“That’s the thing that really got me.
Raissa laughed. “You gotta be kidding me. Hell, Fields couldn’t find me if I was sitting on top of him.”
Zach couldn’t help feeling pleased that Raissa had the same opinion of Agent Fields. “Yeah, I liked him about that much myself. The idiot’s parked in front of your shop, beating on the door every ten minutes. I told your landlord a bum was banging up his property. It should distract him for an hour or so.”
Raissa smiled. “Fields is going to be royally pissedthat he’s stuck at my house. He’s sorta an early-to-bed guy.”
Zach sobered and looked her directly in the eyes. “So are you going to tell me why you’re wanted by the FBI and hiding out in a hotel room with Pentagon-level security? You wouldn’t have given me that fingerprint if your secret still mattered. I knew that at the time. Something changed, but what?”
“What did Fields tell you?”
“Nothing, except that it was FBI business and the New Orleans PD was forbidden to contact you. Given the tip you provided on the Franco girl, my captain is about to have a coronary over that directive. I fi gured I’d just go ahead and ignore it and likely pay for it later.”
“Unless you can find Melissa Franco.”
“Yeah, there is that angle.”
Raissa stared at him for a couple of seconds, then sighed. “The FBI wants me to testify against a mob boss, but they had some trouble keeping me safe. I left protective custody nine years ago and never looked back. Well, not for the FBI, anyway.” She tapped one of the monitors. “I keep the mob boss in my sight on a regular basis, which is probably why I’m still alive.”
Zach nodded. What Raissa said made complete sense, given her lack of background history. “Were you an informant?”
“I was an agent.”
Zach straightened in his chair, unable to control his surprise. “Shit! I mean, I knew you could handle a weapon, but lots of criminals can, too. Not that I’m saying I thought you were a criminal…Oh crap, I’m messing everything up.”
“It’s okay. You’d have been stupid not to think I was a criminal. I would have.” She smiled. “Although thatdoes bring into question exactly why you were caught in a compromising position with a woman you thought was a crook.”
“I didn’t think that, exactly. Not really. Oh, hell, the reality is that all the evidence pointed to you being a criminal, but for some reason it never felt right. Intuition sounds stupid, but I guess that’s all I’ve got.”
“Intuition is far from stupid. It’s kept me alive more times than I can count.”
“Yeah, but still. An FBI agent? Wow. Sorry, but that’s really not what I was expecting to hear—” He jumped up from his chair and stared down at her. “Holy shit. You investigated the other abductions. That’s why you know so much.”
“Actually, I fell into the investigation by accident when I was undercover on another case. In fact, investigating those abductions is what blew my cover. The bureau wasn’t thrilled.”
Zach sat back down. “What did you find?”
Raissa sighed. “You’re going to think I’m crazy again.”
“Maybe. But I’m not going to think you’re lying. This case isn’t exactly normal.”
“I saw an alien suit in the closet of one of the people I was investigating. Not hanging, like you would a costume, but in a trunk by itself. A padlock was on the trunk but not fastened all the way, so I took a look inside. I had no idea what to think about something so weird and dismissed it, figuring I didn’t want to know. Then a friend of mine told me about this abduction case he was working where the MO matched some previous cases. I asked about dates and times. Every time an abduction happened, this particular guy was ‘unreachable.’ ”
“And the other girls had already been returned, so you knew about the alien part.”
“That’s the thing that really got me.
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