The Innocent

Chapter





76


ROBIE RODE SHOTGUN and he kept rotating his gaze to look behind and then over at Vance. His gaze was suspicious and his hand gripped the butt of his Glock. That had been unbelievably close. If he hadn’t looked down and seen the dot, Julie would have joined her parents among the dead. It was apparent to Robie that the other side no longer required either or both of them to continue living.

He settled back in his seat, but his posture was rigid, coiled. He did not think the danger was over just yet.

Vance kept her gaze on the road mostly. Every once in a while she would glance at Robie’s gun and then her gaze would travel to his face. When their eyes occasionally met, she would quickly look away.

They had traveled about two miles when she finally spoke.

“You have a particular reason keeping your gun out with the muzzle pointed in my direction?”

“I have about a dozen reasons for it, but you’ve probably thought of them all.”

“I didn’t rat you out, Robie. I’m not the one behind all this.”

“Good to know. I’ll take that into consideration.”

“I can understand why you don’t feel you can trust anyone, including the FBI.”

“Again, good to know.” His voice was flat, dead. Robie didn’t even recognize it as his.

“Where do you want to go?”

He looked at her, his expression inscrutable. “Why don’t you pick a place? We’ll see how it goes.”

“Is this a test?”

“Why shouldn’t it be?”

“Will you guys stop? This is not helping.”

They both glanced in the rearview mirror to see Julie staring at them.

“Someone just set us up while in FBI custody,” said Robie, his voice calm and even. He said again, “So pick a place, Agent Vance. Take us there and we’ll see what happens.”

“How about WFO?”

“How about it?”

“Robie, I’m on your side!”

He glanced out the window. “The guys you called in from out of town?”

“I didn’t call them in. They were called in by others at the Bureau.”

“What others?”

“I don’t know specifically. I put in a request for agents from out of town.” She gave him a hard stare. “At your insistence. They were the ones who were sent.”

“One was killed,” said Robie. “I doubt he came down here to die. So we can rule him out. But someone left the blinds open in the room where Julie was placed.” He looked at her. “Which agent sent you back there?”

Julie said, “The one who came to the door after the shot was fired. I recognized his voice.”

“The one who never came back. The one who killed his partner,” added Robie. “The one who told us to hang tight.” He glanced at Vance. “Just like you told me to. Hang tight.”

Vance slammed the Beemer to a stop in the middle of the road. She turned and faced him.

“Okay, shoot me, then. If you don’t trust me I’m no use to you anyway. So put the gun against my head and pull the damn trigger.”

Robie said, “Histrionics really won’t get you anywhere on this.”

“So what exactly do you want me to do?”

“I already told you. For now, just drive.”

“Where?

“Pick a direction and stick to it.”

“Shit,” Vance muttered in a shaky voice. She put the car in gear and sped off.

She said, “I heard explosions before I turned onto the street. Your doing?”

“I blew up two Bureau cars. Be sure to bill me for that.”

“You blew them up?”

“We needed a diversion,” chimed in Julie. “It was the only way we got out of the house alive.”

Robie sat back in his seat. “So I’ve got traitors in my own organization. Traitors in the FBI. A puzzle I’m not close to solving. And time is running out.”

“So what are you going to do?” Vance asked nervously.

“Regroup and rethink. The three of us are going to stick together. But we need new transportation.”

“What’s wrong with my car?”

“Principally, that people know it’s your car.”

“Are you going to steal another car, Will?” asked Julie.

“Another?” asked Vance in a raised voice.

“He’s really good at it,” added Julie. “Makes it look easy.”

“And I hope you’re just as good at driving,” said Robie to Vance.

“Why?” asked Vance.

He had his gun up and he hit the button to bring his window down.

“Because we have an SUV on our six and it’s coming fast.”