“Of what?”
“Getting drunk and leaving bars with beautiful women you don’t remember.”
“Mr. Ledbetter—”
Everyone in the room looked up as the door at the back opened. Luke slipped in and handed a piece of paper to Ledbetter, then slipped back out. Ledbetter scanned the page, and his lips tightened into a grimace. “Mr. Monteith, at this point, I’m going to ask you a question, and I suggest you think about it before you answer.”
Monteith glared at him.
“Would you like your friends to remain in the room while we continue this discussion? Or would you prefer they leave?”
Tessa could almost see brain cells colliding in Monteith’s mind as he tried to figure out the best way to proceed. He obviously wanted to avoid doing anything that would make him look bad in front of his friends, but he also didn’t want to make himself look guilty in front of the Secret Service either. “I’m sure they’re ready to go home.”
“We aren’t going anywhere, Monty. Something weird is going on here tonight,” Meadows said.
McCloud settled himself in his chair and crossed his arms. Hewasn’t going anywhere either. Ledbetter smiled, and it was a smile that would make hardened criminals flee in terror.
Monteith looked at him and said the words Tessa had been expecting since the conversation began. “I’m done talking to you, Special Agent in Charge Ledbetter. If you have something to charge me with, do it. Otherwise, I’m leaving. I’m a US citizen. A personal friend of the president. And a guest in this home. You cannot detain me.” He turned to his friends. “Let’s go.”
Ledbetter tapped the paper on his knee. “Yeah. See. I’m afraid since you put it that way, I’m going to have to go ahead and charge you with kidnapping, attempted rape, and”—he held up three fingers—“three counts of attempted murder.”
32
THE AIR IN THE ROOM CRACKLEDwith enough energy to blow the roof off the place. Zane’s gaze circled from Monteith to Meadows to McCloud to Carmichael.
At the wordskidnapping and attempted rape, Monteith had flicked his focus for a mere fraction of a second to Tessa. It wasn’t an admission of guilt and wouldn’t stand up in court, but Zane had the sense deep in his bones that Monteith was their man.
Meadows couldn’t have been more stunned if someone had shoved his face in ice water. He gaped at Monteith in disbelief.
McCloud’s lips flattened so thin that tiny white lines flared out from his mouth.
Carmichael was the first to find his voice. “Special Agent Ledbetter?”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Carmichael. Right now, I’m going to have to take Mr. Monteith and Ms. Monteith into custody. I can assure you we will be in touch tomorrow.” Ledbetter turned to McCloud and Meadows. “Consider yourselves warned. This goes nowhere. You don’t share it with your Janus buddies. You don’t talk about it with your lawyers. You do not say a word.”
Meadows bobbed his head in understanding.
McCloud’s response was a curt, “Of course.”
“Special Agent Reed?” It was the first time Ledbetter had looked at Tessa. “Would you care to do the honors?”
“I’d be delighted.” Tessa pulled the handcuffs from her belt and walked to Monteith. But before she could ask him to put his hands behind his back, he struck out. The blow would have left her with a black eye if it had landed. But Monteith was far too slow. Tessa caught his arm and twisted it behind him before Ledbetter, Jacob, or Zane reached her. “We’ll go ahead and add attempted assault on a federal officer to the list.” Her voice was ice.
“I want my lawyer.” Monteith growled the words and turned his gaze to Tessa. “You’ll never win.”
She tilted her head to the side, and there was no hostility, no simmering cauldron of rage in her expression. Instead, she gave him a faint smile that held a hint of compassion. “Sorry, Monty. But I already did.”
The click of the handcuffs echoed in the otherwise silent room. Zane and Jacob took positions on either side and slightly behind Tessa as she escorted Tyson Monteith from the room all the way to the patrol car outside.
Moments later, Wendy Monteith emerged, handcuffed, with Luke on one side and Gil on the other. She took one look at Tessa and started shrieking. “You’ll never get away with this! You’re a murderer! I’ll take you down!”
Tessa ignored her, and they climbed the stairs to the wide front porch. Wendy was still screaming when Luke closed the door of another patrol car in her face, shutting her inside.
He and Gil joined them on the wide front porch. “She”—Luke widened his eyes—“is going to make their night extra fun. I need to call Morris and give him a heads-up to be careful. She’s trying to pull off crazy, but cunning is a more appropriate description.”
“Agreed.” Gil quirked an eyebrow at Tessa. “You okay?”
She sighed. “Maybe? I’m not sure what’s going on.” She turned to Luke. “What was on that paper you handed Ledbetter?”
