“Thought you’d appreciate an update.” Quinn Taggart’s deep voice rolled over the line.
“You bet. Let me put you on speaker.” He set the phone on the table so both of them could hear.
“The shooter we arrested last night was a woman named Eliza Spears.”
“A female assassin,” Beau said with a shake of his head. “She confess to the murder attempt?”
“She confessed to a lot of things. The woman’s a professional contract killer known as The Spear. Until last night, we thought The Spear was a man.”
“Who’s she work for?”
“Most of it’s going to go public soon, so here’s where we are. Clifford Jennings hired The Spear. We arrested him this morning. We’re offering him a deal in return for testifying against Malcolm Vaughn. If he accepts, which we’re fairly sure he will, we can arrest Vaughn for conspiracy to commit murder—among other charges.”
Beau’s pulse was thrumming. “You think Vaughn will give you something that will help you nail Jamal Nawabi?”
“Vaughn’s a sleazeball. He looks out for himself—first, last, and always. He’ll make whatever deal it takes to stay out of prison. I’m not sure he can help us with Nawabi, butit doesn’t matter. We’ve got most of the members of the cell he was involved with in custody. Turns out they’re not the loyal bunch you might imagine. A couple of them have already implicated Nawabi. This morning he was arrested for terrorism.”
“That’s good news,” Cassidy said.
“Nawabi’s lawyered up,” Taggart continued. “But he’s considered a flight risk, so he’s cooling his heels in jail and he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.”
Beau smiled.
“So far, the only one who’s managed to escape the long arm of the law is Luca Reichlin. He’s hightailed it out of the country to parts unknown.”
“Always one snake able to slip off through the grass,” Beau said.
“As far as the two of you are concerned, Reichlin’s no longer a threat. Not with his boss in jail. The Spear is in custody and Vaughn likely will be by the end of the day. Aside from some additional questions that might come up, this is over for the two of you.”
Beau sagged back in his chair. “Thank God.”
“The CSIs have cleared the crime scene at your house. Your man Egan had a cleaning crew brought in this morning. You can go home anytime you want.”
Beau glanced at Cassidy but couldn’t read her face.
“We appreciate everything you’ve done,” Taggart said. “If you ever need me, you know where to find me.” The FBI man ended the call, and they both rose from their chairs.
Cassidy said nothing, just went in and started packing. Beau joined her a few minutes later. He tried to start a conversation in the car on their way back to the house, but Cassidy seemed distant, so he left her alone. He’d been worried about her all morning. He wasn’t sure what was wrong, but something was on her mind.
“Hey,” he said as he parked the Ferrari, got out, and walked into the kitchen. “You okay?”
She just nodded. “I’m fine, just tired.”
“You sure?”
“It’s been a long couple of days. I need a little time to work things out.”
A long couple of days, to say the least. It was early afternoon. He had more than enough to do at the office. Maybe giving Cassidy a little time to herself wasn’t a bad idea.
“Listen, if you’re sure you’re okay, I think I’ll make a quick trip into the office. It’s Saturday. Nobody’ll be around. I can go in, get some stuff done, and come right back. What do you think?”
She smiled, but it didn’t look quite real and she seemed strangely sad. “I think it’s a good idea. I’m a big girl, remember?”
Fresh worry filtered through him. He bent his head and kissed her, wishing he knew what was wrong. “You’remygirl. That’s all that matters. That’s something we need to talk about when I get back. Okay?”
He’d been thinking about it all morning, and one thing he knew, he wasn’t ready to end things with Cassidy. There was no reason they couldn’t continue to see each other. Maybe she’d even want to move in with him. It was a big step, but they could at least discuss it.
“I’ll see you later.” He gave her another soft kiss, but when the kiss ended, Cassidy pulled his head down and kissed him long and deep.
