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“Open the door, Mr. Norman,” Shane said.
“But it’s against bank policy. If I do it for you and the word gets out, others will expect me to do the same. Or worse, they’ll worry about the safety of their deposits and go elsewhere. I’m sorry, but it just can’t be done. She’ll have to come back when she has proper identification or the key. It’s the best I can do.”
Shane moved as fast as lightning, grabbing Mr. Norman by the shirt collar and holding him off the ground. Mr. Norman’s face was turning purple, but Shane showed no signs of distress. “Open her box now, Mr. Norman, or I’m going to throw you through that wall over there. Nod if you understand me.”
Mr. Norman nodded and Shane dropped him to the floor in a heap. He scrambled off the ground and looked through the numbered keys with shaking hands. Rachel took the wad of keys from him and walked to the far corner of the room where her box was located. Mr. Norman managed to get up off the ground with minimal fuss. He flitted around nervously, wringing his hands, either concerned the bank propriety police were going to come through the door and arrest him or Shane was going to break every bone in his body. From the way he was eyeing Shane, she had a feeling it was the latter.
“I want to press charges against this…this brute,” Mr. Norman said to Jones. “You were a witness to the way he treated me. You’re an FBI agent, sworn to uphold the law.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jones said. “I didn’t see anything of the kind.”
“We don’t have time for this,” Shane said, turning his back on Mr. Norman, but Mr. Norman grabbed his sleeve and wouldn’t let him leave.
“Arrest him,” Mr. Norman said, voice shrill. “I demand it.” The three men were gathered in the corner, Shane’s face growing dark with rage and Jones trying to contain his laughter as Mr. Norman listed each of Shane’s transgressions.
Rachel ignored the argument going on behind her and focused on the lockbox. It took her two tries to get the key into the lock. The nervous tension had only increased the longer they were in the bank. There were too many possibilities. Too many things that could go wrong once she had the papers in her hands. When the lock snicked open, relief consumed her. It was almost the end now. She feared her life would never be “normal” again, but if the FBI did their jobs and shut down the dangerous players on the list, maybe she could begin to live day-to-day without looking over her shoulder. Rachel pulled the rectangular silver box out of the wall and placed it on one of the heavy tables.
“Do you have it?” Carrie asked from the doorway.
The envelope with her name and address on it was exactly where she’d left it eight months before. Rachel grabbed it and shoved the box back into the wall. She just wanted to get out, and get out fast.
Rachel went to stand by Carrie in hopes the men would quit arguing and notice she’d done what she came to do.
“We need to get out of here,” she said to Carrie. “I’m not having good feelings about being here. Do you think you can get their attention?”
“I think that can be arranged,” Carrie said.
Before Rachel could blink, Carrie had an arm wrapped around her throat, cutting off her air. The discharge of Carrie’s gun was deafening in the small room, and Rachel watched in horror as Mr. Norman fell to the floor. Blood pooled beneath his head and ran so dark it was almost black.
“Carrie,” Jones said, his weapon out automatically at the sound of gunfire. “What have you done?” The devastation and realization on his face was almost unbearable to look at.
“Don’t pretend like I didn’t just do you a favor,” she said. Carrie positioned Rachel in front of her so the men didn’t have a clear shot of her body. “I’ve wanted to shoot him since the first time I met him.”
“I don’t understand,” Jones said, trying to make sense of the betrayal. “Your career. Everything you’ve worked for. They’ll send you to prison. What about us?”
Rachel’s heart went out to Jones. He was confused and hurt, but his training wouldn’t let him lower his weapon. Rachel wondered if it came down to it, if Jones would be able to pull the trigger.
“Well, here’s the thing, Jones,” Carrie said. “There never really was an us.”
A second shot sounded near Rachel’s ear and she saw the bloom of red on the front of Wildcat’s shirt and the look of surprise on his face as he dropped to his knees. His weapon skidded away from his body, and he touched the wound in his chest before falling over. Rachel’s ears rung and she thought she screamed out, but she couldn’t be sure.
“Men are so sensitive when they’re the ones who are being dumped,” Carrie said in her ear. “It’s pathetic.”
Rachel struggled against the vise of Carrie’s arms but her grip was too strong, and Rachel whimpered when Carrie pulled hard on her hair to get her to cooperate.
Mr. Norman’s eyes were open and staring and she could only see the smallest movements of Wildcat’s chest as he struggled to breathe. Rachel prayed the same fate didn’t befall Shane. She kept her eyes locked on Shane’s face, mentally telling him how much she loved him, but Shane was focused on Carrie. Shane’s gaze didn’t waver even as his friend lay bleeding at his feet. His .9mm was pointed at Carrie and his hand was steady.
“Carrie, this isn’t the way,” Shane said. “I won’t hesitate to pull the trigger like Jones. I shoot to kill. Let Rachel go.”
“You know I’m not going to do that, lover boy,” Carrie said. “I’m making a lot of money on this deal, and I always deliver exactly what the client wants.”
Her voice was different, Rachel thought. Rougher and less refined than the woman she’d thought she’d known. Hell, they’d never really known her at all. Only a few days. But Wildcat had been fooled for much longer. It took a true psychopath to live a double life of treachery and feel no remorse for the people destroyed along the way.
“You killed the other FBI agents working the Valentine case,” Shane said.
Carrie shrugged and tightened her grip around Rachel’s throat. “Just Agent Culver,” she said. “Angelo hired me to bring him Dom, and Culver was in the way. Culver was a casualty of war, but I can’t claim responsibility for the other agents. I was just the inside source for information. Angelo’s men took care of the rest.”
“You know Angelo isn’t going to let you live once you’ve done what he hired you to do. That’s the way Angelo works. You’re smart enough to know that, Carrie.”
