The bathroom was empty.
I let out a long sigh, put my gun away, and leaned back against the wall, breathing hard. There was nobody here, but I was sure there had been. I could feel it.Why break into my apartment a second time and just..leave?Nothing seemed to be missing.
I huffed and sat down on the toilet to think. As I sat, something metallic caught the light and glinted under the sink. I got down on my hands and knees and found a small, silver screw lying on the tiles.Where did that come from?
I looked around. My bathtub is boxed in with a cheap, white plastic panel to hide the plumbing. And one of the screws was missing.
I started to get a bad feeling.
I ran and got a screwdriver, then unscrewed the remaining screw and lifted away the plastic panel. “Oh shit,” I said aloud.
I was staring at three plastic-wrapped bricks of what I guessed was cocaine.
And at that second, someone banged on my front door. Halifax’s voice, stressed and urgent. “Brooks? Open up!”
24
ALISON
I shovedthe plastic panel back into place and screwed in both screws. Then I opened the front door. Brooks was there with a bunch of agents, none from our team. This wasn’t a social call. “What’s up?”
Halifax showed me a search warrant. “Some...itemsare missing from evidence.”
I pretended to read the warrant while I thought. I’d gone light-headed with panic, the room spinning around me. I was being set up. They’d tried to kill me last night but failed, so now they’d found another way to take me out of the game.
We’d had it all wrong. Someone wasn’t trying to take out Gennadiy; they were trying to take outme.
Halifax’s face softened, and he looked genuinely concerned. “Alison, talk to me!”
Fuck.What do I do? If he wasn’t behind this, I should tell him everything. But if he was, I’d just be showing my hand.
One of the agents was slashing open my couch cushions. I could hear another one rooting through my bedroom. No one had gone into the bathroom yet, but as soon as they did…
I had to make a decision fast. If they took me in, I’d be questioned and charged. Once I was locked in a cell, it’d be next to impossible toget anyone to listen to me, let alone convince them I was innocent. And I didn’t like my chances in jail, once the other inmates found out I used to be FBI. But the alternative wasn’t any better. If I ran, I’d be a fugitive.
An agent walked into the bathroom.Fuck.
Halifax turned away for a second. I started to back towards the sliding glass door that led to the balcony.
I heard the sound of a screw hitting the tiled floor. I pressed up against the glass door, feeling for the handle…
The sound of plastic wobbling as the panel came off. A low whistle from the agent in the bathroom. “Found it!”
Halifax whirled around, frowning accusingly...and saw me standing at the door. I turned the key, wrenched the handle down, and shoved the door open. Then I was out onto the balcony.
“Alison, stop!”yelled Halifax. Then, “Get her, she’s running!” into his radio. I could hear him sprinting towards me.
I climbed over the balcony’s railing, dangled for a second and then dropped down to the parking lot. It was only one floor, but when I hit the concrete, the jolt still rattled my teeth. There was no time to shake it off: cops were already running towards me. I swung my leg over my bike, hit the starter, and shot forward, weaving between them and twisting away when one of them got his hand on my shoulder. Then I was out of the parking lot and roaring down the street.
Almost immediately, sirens wailed behind me and red and blue lights lit up the night. I turned left, right, trying to throw them off, but after a few seconds, the glow behind me returned, relentless.Is this what it’s like for Gennadiy when I’m tailing him?
The panic had taken hold, clawing at my insides. I knew that by now, Halifax would have called it in. Cop cars would be scrambling to head me off. Roadblocks would appear. They’d get a helicopter up and pin me with a searchlight. I darted down side street after side street, but I couldn’t shake them, and the closer the lights behind me got, the more my breathing tightened.
I turned into the next street.Think!I could feel I was close to hyperventilating, my breath fogging my visor. I had to be calm, I hadto be calmright nowbecause if I kept panicking, I was toast.How do I lose them?I thought about procedures, search patterns, everything I knew about how a search like this was conducted.
I had to lose my beloved bike.
I turned into the next alley, then into another, narrower one, too narrow for the cop cars to follow me. They screeched to a stop, and I knew they’d be radioing ahead, getting the alley blocked at the far end to trap me.
