Rogue Alliance

TWENTY-FOUR



“What do you mean they’ve been released?” Shyla shouted into the phone. Wincing, she rubbed her temple. Last night’s retreat had been cheap vodka. She had purposefully chosen the lower grade alcohol, like a punishment.

“Their arraignments were first thing this morning,” Eli said, “you know that. Judge dismissed all evidence on the tape, concluded that there is no quantifiable evidence to show there was mal-intent toward Ricardo, and let ‘em go.”

Shyla stayed silent.

“Come on,” Eli prompted, “you can’t be shocked? You know as well as I do, that Champlain has the means to have a judge or two in his pockets. I warned you about this. It’s gonna take a lot more to get where we need to be with this case than what we’ve currently got. This is only the very beginning to a long cause.”

He paused.

“Do you think your cover is blown?”

“I honestly don’t know,” Shyla sighed, “I saw him on Monday and he seemed to believe my confused and scared bit, but who really knows? He’s a smart guy. I’m sure he’s starting to doubt me at the very least.”

“Well maybe you should come home, then. I don’t want you to put yourself at risk.”

“No, no, I’m going to see this one through. I think I’ve got it covered. Ricardo was just frantic and would do anything to save his hide. Speaking of which, how did Ricardo’s interrogation go? I wish could have been there.”

“You know very well why you couldn’t, for exactly this reason. I’m hoping you are still in good standing with Victor. If your cover is intact, we still have a chance. Ricardo has retracted his earlier statements of being willing to talk. He’s denying any and all business dealings with Victor. I’m sure he’s hoping to benefit from Victor’s connections as well. He really has no idea who to trust and who not to trust at this point. He’s just trying to cover his own ass.”

Shyla put a hand to her stomach. It rolled and burned.

“Okay. So we’re back to square one, except now Victor’s gonna be skittish, which means I’ve got a lot of convincing to do.”

She heard a soft sigh.

“Shyla, I’m thinking of pulling you off the case,” Eli said.

“What?” she said, leaping off the couch. The world tilted and she broke into a cold sweat, “No, way, Eli, I’ve got this. Victor might have his sensors up, but don’t count me out. I’m already in. You aren’t going to be able to find anyone who can get as close as I already have. You pull me and you’ll lose the whole damn case and you know it.”

The line was silent.

“Listen,” she continued, “Victor will be home within hours. He said he’d call me as soon as he got into town. Let me feel him out, see where he’s at. I told you, the visit we had on Monday went well. He knows Ricardo would try anything and feed anyone to the wolves if it meant striking a deal.”

“Yeah, well, Ricardo hasn’t done that yet. I think he’s hoping Victor will step in.”

“Screw, Ricardo,” Shyla said. “He obviously isn’t going to get us anywhere. What we need is solid evidence - shit that a judge won’t be able to deny.”

“Settle down, Shyla,” Eli sighed, “I know this case is getting to you. You are right in the middle of it, sacrificing and giving more than you should. But if I think for one second that you are in jeopardy, or not coping, then I will pull you. I want you to contact me as soon as you and Victor talk next. We’ll see how that plays out and go from there. Okay?”

Sweat was pooled on her upper lip. Her voice quivered.

“Okay.”

She hit the end call button, tossed it to the couch, picked up the waste basket and vomited.



*



Rummaging through the center console between the two front seats of her Range Rover, Shyla cursed a red streak until she finally found her sunglasses. The sun was shining without mercy and her hangover wanted nothing to do with it.

Only minutes after the phone call from Eli, as she bent over her waste basket and emptied her stomach of everything from the evening before, Hal Jorgensen had called. “Emergency meeting at my house in half an hour,” he’d said before slamming down the phone without waiting for an answer.

She had hopped into a scalding hot shower, quickly brushed teeth to rid herself of the dragon breath, and was on her way to Hal’s house. Her head was throbbing and her mind was in disarray as she tried to make sense of the last twenty-four hours. But thinking hurt, so she rolled down the window and concentrated on taking in deep breaths of fresh air.

When she arrived, she didn’t bother to remove her sunglasses as she greeted her small team.

“Good morning, Hal. Hello, Jason. Shawn.”

Shawn kept his distance, standing farther back from the group. When they followed Hal down the hall to his study, he sat in a lonely chair in the corner while the rest of them sat on the two couches facing one another. She wondered if he regretted his actions two nights ago or if he was just embarrassed of them. Either way, it appeared he was going to pretend it never happened. She wished she could do the same. But it would have to be addressed at some point.

She took off her sunglasses after she had a seat on the leather couch, Jason next to her, Hal sitting directly across. She should probably open the dialog, she thought. But she waited.

Hal leaned back and gave a deep sigh.

“You wanna go into detail about what went down this weekend?” he asked.

Shyla mirrored Hals movements and leaned back.

“I thought you and Eli already had that conversation.”

“We talked. I just thought that maybe you might have a bit more to offer.”

“Not really,” Shyla shrugged, “we went to San Fran. I taped the conversation that took place between Victor and his contact. The tape specifically addresses the fact that Victor deals and Ricardo is not only a pusher, but has been scrimping off the top. When I get back to the boat, Victor says we’re going to make a quick stop in L.A. Sunday morning. I figure there’s a good chance they’re going to mess Ricardo up pretty good, so I call Eli in for back-up. All three are arrested. Ricardo spots me and calls out, saying he knows me and he’ll talk. But he doesn’t because he gets to thinking about it and realizes he might still have a chance to make good with Victor. Meanwhile, Victor and Brennan get off Scott-free because they’ve got a Judge on the payroll. The tape is dismissed. And the criminals are home laughing at the system. Did I miss anything?”

Hal cocked his head to the side.

“Nope. Sounds like the same story Eli gave.”

She glanced at Jason who sat wide-eyed and amazed. Shawn sat forward with both elbows on his knees, a stern look on his face.

“What happened to your neck?” he asked.

“It happened in the warehouse,” she said, putting a hand to her throat where Victor had choked her.

He met her gaze with scrutiny.

“Sure it did.”

“Okay,” Hal said, “I guess now what we have to do is determine what this means for the case.”

“It means we keep plugging along exactly like we have been,” Shyla said with determination.

“Not exactly,” Hal said, “not with you under-cover.”

“Listen,” Shyla sighed, “I already went over this with Eli. My cover is still solid. I’ve talked with Victor a couple of times to establish that I have no idea who Ricardo is or why he thought he recognized me. I visited him once in jail, and then we talked on the phone as soon as he got back. In fact, we have a date tomorrow night.”

“Jesus Christ, Shyla,” Shawn shouted as he bolted out of his chair, “do you have some kind of death wish or something? It’s over. Your cover is no longer ‘solid’ as you call it. This case is a goddamn mess and you want to go make out with the drug dealer anyway, so you can feel like your some kind of hero or something?”

Shyla shot to her feet.

“Outside,” she ordered, “now, Shawn.”

“Screw this,” he said and marched out the door.

Shyla glanced down first at Hal then at Jason.

“I’m sorry you guys, but this meeting is over,” she said, “you know where I stand and so does Eli. The case is moving forward. I have a date tomorrow night. I’ll give report first thing Friday morning. Now if you excuse me, I need to have a word with Shawn.”

She strode out the door. Stepping outside, she saw that Shawn was already half-way across the gravel drive and nearing his car.

“Shawn,” she called out.

He ignored her.

“Shawn!”

His long-legged stride never faltered. She sprinted across the drive and grabbed him by the arm just as he opened the driver side door.

“Damn it, Shawn, I want to talk to you.”

“Well I don’t want to talk to you,” he said, shrugging off her grip, “you’ve got your mind made up and there’s nothing anyone can do to talk some sense into that fool brain of yours. You tend to do whatever you want, whenever you want. That’s why you’re so goddamn unpredictable and can’t keep a partner.”

That was a low blow, thought Shyla.

“Is this about the case, Shawn, or is this about the kiss? Come on, be honest here. You obviously have a lot to get off your chest, so let it all out.”

She knew she wasn’t playing fair, pressing his buttons when he was already angry. But she was livid, confused, and frustrated. Something had to give.

“You think you can just stomp into my apartment and kiss me then stomp right back out without even an explanation? Then you’re just going to act like it never happened today before you start yelling at me in front of Hal and Jason, insinuating that I’m just whoring around with Victor to pump up my ego at the expense of the case?

“Well screw that, Shawn. I’ve had enough of your pouty, schizophrenic attitude. I can’t tell if you hate me or want to f*ck me. I don’t think you can either. But none of that matters anyway. What matters is the case and your job. Everything else is null and void. Do you get that?”

Shawn’s face hardened.

“You’re right,” he said, “it doesn’t matter. I’ll catch ya later.”

With that, he slid into his mustang.

Shyla stood back and watched him peel out of the drive, rocks flying in his wake.

She didn’t have to turn around to know that Hal, Jason, and Hal’s wife were watching from the kitchen window. Popping her shades back on, she pulled out her keys and hopped in her car. She was thankful that her date with Victor wasn’t until the next evening. She needed a break from men. She’d had more than she could take for the time being.