"I—I'm going to my mom's house. She lives in New Jersey. I'm too scared to stay here." Whitney's gaze flickered from her to Max and back again. "What are you doing here? I told you everything I know."
"You didn't tell me you go to Forge Fitness, that you know Elias Costa and Jonas Cray."
"Jonas? I don't know a Jonas."
"But you know the others," Max interjected. "Do you play poker with Elias?"
"I don't understand why you're asking me these questions about the gym?"
"The gym is tied to the bombing, which means you're tied to the bombing," she said. "You didn't just accidentally forget something before that bomb went off. You knew it was coming. You knew when to get out."
Whitney's face paled in the shadowy light, and she put a hand to her heart. "I—I didn't know. I swear. I had no idea there was a bomb."
"You're lying," Max said. "You set your boss up to be killed."
"I didn't know," she repeated, desperation in her voice.
"You didn't know they were going to kill James?" she asked, bringing Whitney's attention back to her. "That's good, because then you may escape a murder charge. But there could be other charges unless you help us. Tell us what you know, and I'll make sure you get the best deal possible. Make no mistake, Whitney, you are in a hell of a lot of trouble. A man died today."
Whitney bit down on her lip so hard that she drew blood. "He just told me to make sure the inspection was today, and to make sure James checked the electrical panel on the fourth floor before he left."
"Who told you to do that?"
"His name is Cal. I met him at Forge Fitness at one of Elias's poker games," she admitted.
"So you did play," she said.
"Yes, and I lost a lot. I owed Elias forty thousand dollars. He said he'd clear my debt if I did this one small favor for his friend Cal. I couldn't say no. I didn't think anyone was going to die." Her voice broke. "I thought they just wanted to sabotage the inspection, delay the building project. Cal said that someone wanted James to understand his decisions could be painful. And that I should stay out of the electrical closet. I thought maybe there was a hot wire or something in there. Or they wanted him to find something to delay approving the inspection."
"You thought it was worse than that," Max said sharply. "That's why you ran, isn't it, Whitney?"
"Something felt off," she admitted. "I was afraid of whatever was coming, so I said I needed to get a file, and I left. I had barely reached the car when the building blew up. It felt like the world shattered around me." She turned from Max to Kara, giving her a pleading look. "I realized I was supposed to be in there when it happened. That I was supposed to die, too. I have to leave tonight. I have to get out of here."
"You're not going anywhere by yourself because you're not safe," Kara said. "You're a loose end. And someone will want to make sure you never talk. The only way for you to ever be safe again is to work with us."
The sound of an engine revving snapped her head toward the street. A dark sedan was speeding down the block. The window opened.
"Gun," she yelled, grabbing Whitney's arm and pulling her back behind the car as gunfire erupted, shattering the windows above their heads.
Max was on the other side of the car, firing back, but the car had already disappeared around the corner. Dogs barked, and lights came on as the neighbors reacted to the shots.
She looked down at Whitney, who was crying, her eyes filled with terror. "Are you hurt?"
She shook her head. "No. I'm terrified."
"He's gone."
"For now."
Max came around the car, his weapon still in his hand. She hadn't realized he had a gun, but she was happy that he did, because she'd been too busy shielding Whitney to fire her own weapon.
She called 911 to report the incident and to verify she was an FBI agent on scene so the police wouldn't draw their weapons when they saw them. The dispatcher told them that cars were already on the way.
"The police are coming," she said.
"Are the police going to arrest me?" Whitney asked.
"No. I'm taking you into my custody," she said decisively. "We'll get you into a safe house tonight." She called Ops to report what had happened and request a safe house. She was given the address of an apartment in Midtown and was assured that two agents would meet her there as soon as they could. In the meantime, she needed to deal with the police.
