Switched by Anne O'Connell

eye
before he had Agent Salazar’s credentials on the counter in front of him, too.
“It’s not illegal to have a PI dig into your girlfriend’s past is it? Certainly
not a case for the FBI?”
         “Not at all. However, Ted Agares
ended up dead in Los Angeles last night, so it became our business,” Brocco
said.
         Brad found himself speechless. Agares
had only sent him the emails last night. “He’s dead?”
         Agent Brocco nodded. “Evidently
your girlfriend’s ex didn’t want to leave any loose ends. He already has three
guys out here looking for her with orders to bring her back to Los Angeles, by force
if need be. Evidently she stole some money from him. He’s not happy about it.”
         A whirl of thoughts raced through
his mind. Between not being able to imagine Kali stealing money to wondering if
she was safe with Amy his racing mind finally stopped on one question. “How did
you find me so quickly?”
         “We stopped at Agares’ office and
found all your information there. Now we need to know where Ms. Stanton is.”
         “She’s with her friend and they’re
moving some things out of her apartment into my place.” A queasy feeling
started in his gut. This couldn’t be good.

     “We should probably find her
immediately. Now luckily we have a guy inside Kolknov’s crew cooperating with
us - for now. We have no way of knowing if this guy is going to back out at the
last minute. Your girlfriend could be that key we need to finally catch
Kolknov.” Brocco’s expression remained even and detached.
         “You can’t possibly mean you want
to use Kali as bait…” he lifted an eyebrow. He wasn’t stupid. As an ex-soldier
he knew all too well how a situation like that could turn out.
         “We’d use an agent, but that won’t
work. She’s known to one of the men and your PI showed her picture around so
the others know what she looks like.”
         Brad could tell Brocco was holding
back. That wasn’t the whole plan. “Okay, let me call her.” Numb, he picked up
the phone and dialed Kali’s cell phone. He breathed an audible sigh of relief
when she answered. “Kal, it’s me. Where are you and Amy right now?”
         Kali seemed to be back to her usual
cheery self. “We’re sitting in your house having some early evening coffee
before unloading the car. Why? Don’t tell me you need Amy. I need her more.”
         He heard Amy giggle in the
background. “Do me a favor and stay there. In the house and lock the doors.”
         Kali grew suddenly silent on the
other end of the phone. “What’s wrong?” she finally asked.
         “Just trust me and stay there,
okay? I’ll be there in a few. I’m closing the store. Today just wasn’t the day
to open.”
         After she agreed and they said
their goodbyes, he hung up. “Let’s go.”
         Brocco nodded. “Lead the way.”
         Brad closed By the Book and
soon found himself driving toward home followed by the black sedan.
         They arrived at Brad’s less than
twenty minutes later and he led them into the house, greeted by a cautious Kali
and a suspicious Amy. Without word they all made their way into the dining room
and Brad motioned them to sit. He took a chair and beckoned Kali to sit beside
him.
         Brocco and Salazar both sat across
from them at the dining room table. After assuring Kali they were both FBI by
allowing her to inspect their IDs, she seemed more relaxed. Amy sat at one end
of the table.
         It was Brocco who spoke first.
"So, Ms. Stanton, you understand that Victor Kolknov is after you?”
           She nodded.
         “Good. I don’t want there to be any
secrets here. You know he’s after you, we know he’s after you. Here's what we
want to do. We want to create a controlled situation where Richard..."
         Kali interrupted, "Richard
Vogt?" 
         Brocco nodded. "You know
him?"
         "He