It seemed like an hour. Cole moved toward the exit on legs so tight with tension it felt as if her feet had turned to wood. Sweat ran out from under her bangs to sting her eyes but she didn’t wipe it away for fear the most persistent of the curiosity seekers would mistake her action for wiping tears.
Where was Scott? How far could he have gone? She kept walking but she couldn’t see anything. It was as if she was deaf and blind. There was only the thundering of her heart and the deep-down soul burn of humiliation. She had been outed in public. The task force operation was blown to hell. All because she’d walked right into a trap without any plan at all.
“Noel. Noel!” Scott’s sharp voice brought her to a sudden halt.
She looked up at him. She was shuddering so hard she couldn’t focus.
“Jesus. What’s wrong?” He raised his hands to frame her shoulders but she flinched away.
“Don’t touch me. Just don’t.”
He dropped his hands but continued to study her face. She was showing all the signs of shock, pale lips, shivering, a hundred-yard stare. He couldn’t guess what had happened. He glanced down at Hugo who seemed fine but on full alert as he stared full focus at his handler. He needed to get her out of there, and fast.
“Can you walk?” She nodded. “Then start moving. Parade march, Officer. Now.”
Cole wasn’t at all certain how she made it back to the truck. She wasn’t aware of anything until the engine started. Finally she glanced at Scott, who was staring at her with worried eyes. Still he said nothing.
She swallowed hard. “I’ve been called a bitch many times in my career as a cop. This is the first time I felt someone was right.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
“Way to go, Lucca. Flame out, much?”
“Go stuff yourself, Hadley.”
The FBI advisor snickered as he passed Scott and Cole in the hallway of the DEA Baltimore offices. It was Monday morning and there was about to be a full meeting of the task force to decide how to proceed.
The story of the “outed” undercover policewoman had been all over the weekend news. Everyone from Extra to Huffington Post was vying for a chance to interview Cole and her “unidentified accomplice” who went by the name Sam Lott.
Most of the speculation centered around rumors that Cole was part of a sting operation meant to snare Eye-C in illegal activities that ranged from tax evasion to his reentry into the world of illegal dogfighting. None of them came close to the real reason, which meant the puppy mule drug-smuggling operation could possibly continue.
One thing was certain. It was going to happen without the services of K-9 Officer Nicole Jamieson and Special Agent Scott Lucca.
Shajuanna was everywhere in the news and entertainment media, proclaiming loudly about the “police state” tactics of local and federal authorities. And promoting the late summer edition of her show, where she promised to reveal the “entire explosive footage” of her confrontation with the “heartless b-i-zitch who wormed her way into my innocent children’s lives.”
“The thing is, Shajuanna’s right. Her family’s done nothing wrong. That’s all we proved, that she’s innocent.”
Scott kept silent when Cole spoke those words on their drive into Baltimore. They were the only words she’d spoken on the subject since they left Philly two days ago.
He was worried about her, deeply worried. Few undercover agents ever had their covers blow up so spectacularly in their faces. When an agent was outed, it was often in private, and sometimes just before a bullet ended their lives. While he felt for her, felt deeply, he knew she was going to be okay. She was alive and safe. But he also knew that was of little comfort at the moment. She still had to face Lattimore and the other task force members.
When they were shown into his office, Lattimore looked as if he had aged five years over the weekend. His expression was flat, his complexion paler than usual. “I’ve read your initial reports. Is there anything either of you want to say before we begin the debriefing process?”
“Yes. I’m sorry, sir.” Cole’s voice was calm, distant. “I should have been more wary. Especially after Shajuanna told me she’d made Agent Lucca.”
“Are you referring to her claim to have some special ‘sight’ that allows her to so-called ‘read’ people?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’d have been more concerned if you had taken her seriously. I saw your report last week. That didn’t concern me. Your explanation to her for Agent Lucca’s attitude made more than enough sense to be believed.
“I’m more interested in the person who mailed that newspaper article to Ms. Collier. You were outed by a third party, Officer Jamieson. We need to know how compromised we are.” His gaze strayed from one to the other. “Do either of you have any information on who and what is behind that?”