“I can’t tell youallour secrets,” Bruno protested, though he really wanted to.
The phone rang and saved him. “Yes?”
“Agents Noah and Aiden are on their way to get you.”
“Gil?” Bruno begged.
“Everyone is fine. We moved the kids and intercepted the raid. Interestingly, Veronica Chase tripped the alarm on their way in, instead of disarming it.” Bruno looked at Clarice but still couldn’t make out her expression. That certainly supported her theory that Veronica wasn’t playing ball with any of these evil organizations.
“Did you arrest them?”
Juliette was quiet long enough for Bruno to guess her disappointing answer. “They took our unwillingness to start a shooting battle downtown as an opportunity to get away before our backup could get there and pin them in.”
“And Veronica?” Clarice asked anxiously
“They took her with them. To all appearances under duress.”
“You have to help her!”
“Ms. Turner, I hope you understand that we have bigger problems than protecting a woman who has been causing problems for us for several years now.”
“I know you don’t like her, but she doesn’t deserve what those people will probably do to her if they think she crossed them.”
Juliette’s silence was skeptical.
Bruno had more pressing concerns. “Where’s Gil now?”
“We’ve got the kids at a safe house. You’ll be brought there for a full debrief.”
“What about me?” Clarice asked meekly.
“We have plenty of questions for you, Ms. Turner, and you’re definitely on some unsavory radars now. Consider yourself our guest in protective custody for the next few days.”
Juliette hung up and Bruno put Veronica’s phone down.
“He’s going to be okay,” Clarice said, immediately understanding what concerned him most. “He’s safe, and so are we.”
Bruno gathered her into his arms. “Thanks to you.”
38
CLARICE
Noah proved to be a massive, humorless man in a black suit who smelled like cleaning fluid and peppermints, while Aiden was smaller, nervous, and bespectacled. They were driving a black SUV and came to the door with disciplined caution. Clarice invited them in while she shut off the fireplace and turned the heat back down. “There’s not much I can do about the French doors,” she sighed. “The whole place is probably going to freeze solid.”
“It’s a crime scene, ma’am,” Aiden pointed out. “Please stop touching things.” Clarice locked the door behind them carefully, as if it mattered, given the hole on the other side.
Juliette’s safe house was a completely unremarkable family home in the Grove neighborhood. Clarice noted the high privacy fence and the nice snowy landscaping. It was a good location and a nice big house. It would fetch a high price on the current market.
“We don’t have rooms for everyone to have their own space, or enough agents to protect everyone in their ownhomes,” Aiden explained. “You’ll have to bunk together for a bit. The kitchen is stocked with basics.”
“I’mstarving,” Clarice said as she scrambled from the car. Her stomach was in miserable knots of emptiness.
Gil met them at the front door and Bruno scooped him up in his arms and clung to him until Gil squirmed to get down. “You’re SQUEEZING me! I got a POPSICLE and rode on a BUS.” He didn’t seem to notice Clarice at all.
Clarice recognized a few of the people, mostly from her binder of interest, and Bruno introduced the rest. Vivian was dishwater blonde and buxom, bouncing a fussy older baby. Logan was talking earnestly to Juliette about protecting a farm. A penguin was waddling around with a filly and a puppy, and several other kids were toddling and shrieking and pelting around. For them, this was clearly a giant festive sleepover, and the happy atmosphere was genuinely contagious, if quite crowded.
A figure at Clarice’s elbow proved to be Weird Wendy from the DMV. “If you want some food, there’s a pizza in the kitchen that’s going fast. Darius has already had four slices.”
