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“Michael, no. I told you I can’t talk about this.” Rielly buried her face in her hands. “Just please leave me alone.” Anna wanted everything to stop. Her head was throbbing. All she wanted was to have Mitch home and safe. She’d been having nightmares about this very thing for the last two months. In every single one of those dreams, Mitch was dead, and it scared her in a way she had never experienced. It was unbearable to think that she could come this far, find the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, and then lose him.
Before telling her his real story, Mitch had made Anna promise that she would never discuss what he did for the CIA. Not even with her parents and surely not a U.S. congressman. But Mitch had reached out from wherever he was and contacted Liz and Michael. Anna didn’t know what to do.
“Why don’t you ask Mitch yourself?”
Michael ignored her and said, “Anna, you know what I do for a living. I can pick up a phone and have someone from the CIA sitting in this room within an hour. It’s required by law. I sit on the House Select Committee on Intelligence, and they have to answer to us. I could go down to the Hill right now, and with my security clearance I could start digging. I will probably set off some alarms at Langley and the Pentagon and God only knows where else, but people will have to answer my questions.”
Anna lifted her head and looked at O’Rourke. “Michael, I’m begging you, just leave it alone until you can talk to Mitch.”
“I can’t do that,” he said, firmly shaking his head. “Mitch dumped this in our laps, and in the process he has dredged up some stuff that I would really prefer be kept buried. I need to know how he knows about that stuff, and I need to know now.”
“I can’t tell you. I promised.”
O’Rourke took in a deep breath and then let it out in a frustrated moan. He wasn’t getting anywhere. Rielly was every bit as stubborn as his wife. Changing tactics, he asked, “Do you think it’s fair to my family that Mitch has dumped this on us? He’s obviously in some serious shit if he’s worried about your safety.” Leaning closer to Rielly, he said, “I think I know what Mitch does for a living, and this is not some game.” O’Rourke pointed to himself. “I know. I’ve been there. Dark-clad men, in the middle of the night with silenced weapons, making people disappear without a trace. That’s why he got hold of us. There is no other reason. He’s worried about your safety. Now, would you please answer my questions? I need and deserve to know what we’ve been involved in.”
Rielly’s tears fell even harder, and she blew her nose on a tissue. “I can’t. I made a promise.”
O’Rourke was getting really frustrated. Tears be damned, he pushed ahead. “Mitch wanted us to bring you here because he’s afraid someone will try to get their hands on you so they can get to him. I have no problem protecting you. I love you, and Liz loves you, but for Christ sake, we’re now in danger, too. If you won’t answer my questions, I’m going to be forced to start digging.”
Rielly began to cry so hard she shook. Liz pulled her close and held her tight. She looked at her husband with the most disgusted expression he had ever seen. He opened his mouth to speak, but Liz stuck her hand out. “Don’t say another word.”
O’Rourke stood and out of sheer frustration said, “This is a bunch of bullshit.”
A second later, Anna Rielly was up and walking across the room. “I’m sorry…I’m so sorry I got you involved in this.” She continued into the foyer and grabbed her jacket.
Liz O’Rourke was right on her heels. As she passed her six-foot-two-inch, two-hundred-fifteen-pound husband, she delivered a forearm shiver that moved him back a step.
“Anna, where do you think you’re going?” shouted Liz.
“I’m leaving. It’s not fair to have gotten you involved in this. I made the choice to fall in love with him, not you. You shouldn’t have to go through this.”
Liz grabbed her best friend by the arm and swung her back toward the stairs. Pushing her up the steps, she said, “You are staying right here until I know you’re safe!” Rielly began to protest, but Liz would have none of it. She continued pushing her old college roommate up the stairs. On the fourth step, Liz stopped and glared at her husband.
Michael started to say, “I was only…”
“Don’t even try to explain yourself!” snapped Liz. “I am so disappointed in you right now, I don’t even want to look at you!” With that, the two women were up the stairs and gone.
Michael watched them go and then smacked himself in the forehead with the palm of his hand. On his way into the kitchen, he threw a dozen well-punctuated swear words at himself and then threw in a few more for good measure. Michael yanked the refrigerator door open and grabbed a bottle of beer. He took a big swig and leaned back against the counter. Duke came up and sat in front of him. O’Rourke looked down at the yellow Lab and said, “It’s just you and me, buddy.”
After taking another gulp of beer, O’Rourke shook his head in sheer frustration. It really sucked knowing that even though you were right, you were wrong. Every single thing he had just said in the other room was right, but because they didn’t like the way he said it, he was now wrong and would pay the price. O’Rourke let out a loud moan and thought, Give ’em an hour, and then go upstairs and apologize.
In the meantime, there was one thing he could do. O’Rourke walked over to the phone on the kitchen wall and grabbed it. Opening the cupboard, he glanced down a phone list until he found the right number. A short while later, a woman answered on the other end.
“Capitol Hill Police Department. How may I direct your call?”
“Watch commander, please.”
There were two clicks on the line, and then another female voice came on. “This is Sergeant Hall.”
“Sergeant, this is Congressman O’Rourke. How are you doing tonight?”
“Just fine, and you, sir?”
“Well…I just got a weird phone call. The second one in two days.”
“Did they threaten bodily harm?”
“Yeah, the standard stuff. I wouldn’t bother you, but my wife is pregnant, and she doesn’t need the stress right now.” O’Rourke pinched the bridge of his nose. If the watch commander only knew how true that was.
