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“I won’t soft-soap this,” Connor said. “It’s a dangerous, volatile situation. But you’ve got the FBI watching your back, and we’re intensifying the hunt for Oertel.”
He paused, glancing at the car clock. "And now, we'd better get back. You need to get some rest. You've done a damned good job today, Cami. So – let's hope this is all in the past soon and that a lot of people who never deserved to be caught up in the business with Oertel get closure. And when you've had a few days to rest, we need to talk. About the FBI. About your future. No rush. And no pressure."
The offer from Steve Billings loomed in her mind again.
She had options for her future, but after feeling sure about the offer from Steve earlier, she now felt conflicted all over again, feeling that her loyalty lay with Connor and the FBI.
They sat for a few minutes more in silence, and then Connor started the car and drove her home. They didn’t speak during the drive. Exhaustion was weighing heavy on Cami. But she felt grateful to Connor for explaining the situation at last, and she felt relieved to know that the plainclothes officers would be looking after her and Kieran, and that they would be safe.
When Connor pulled up outside the building, he didn’t drop her off, but insisted on walking her inside and riding up with her in the elevator. And when they reached her floor, Cami was surprised to see the undercover agent nearby. Dressed in dark cargo pants and a black sweatshirt, with a gun on his belt, he was standing at the junction to the corridor, looking alert and competent.
“Evening,” Connor greeted him quietly as they passed, with Cami doing her best not to turn and stare. A real, live, undercover guard? More than anything, this brought home the danger of the situation to her.
“Evening, Agent Connor,” the man greeted him. “Evening, Ms. Lark.”
“All okay here?”
“All quiet, yes.”
“You look after things, then.”
With her door in sight, Connor waited and watched with the guard while she walked toward it, unlocked it, and got safely inside.
She locked the door quickly and breathed out. What a night. What a stressful time. The grief she felt about Jenna was still raw and real, but she didn’t even feel ready to process it.
Cami tiptoed through to the bedroom, trying to feel her way in the semi darkness, and not to wake up Kieran, but he was already awake.
“Hey, Cami,” he said. “Everything okay?”
In a whisper, she updated him. “The case is over, but we’ve still got problems. Bill Oertel is at large. There’s a guard outside our apartment tonight in case he comes here.”
She’d felt okay when Connor had told her that, but watching Kieran’s eyes widen in astonishment, the fear hit her suddenly, right in the solar plexus. This guy was a brutal sadist who had engineered the trafficking and deaths of many. And she and Kieran were key witnesses.
Trying to breathe deeply, Cami quickly went to the bathroom, showered, got dressed in her pajamas, and climbed into bed. She knew she needed to sleep, she knew the guard would be alert, and she knew that Connor was doing his best to keep her safe.
But she felt as if she’d never sleep again. It was as if every noise, every tiny rustle, every car engine she heard outside, was being magnified in her mind as she lay in bed, tension in every muscle. Kieran relaxed, his breathing softening, sleeping again.
She couldn’t, though.
Was that a footstep by the front door? She thought it was a footstep outside. But she tried to convince herself that a footstep didn't matter because the guard was patrolling. She was being looked after, and there were people nearby.
She told herself that, very persuasively, until she heard another sound.
This one got her sitting bolt upright.
It was the faint but unmistakable sound of the latch turning.
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
Cami’s panic was threatening to choke her. Images were swirling in her mind of Oertel, overpowering the guard, leaving him trussed or dead somewhere that he couldn’t make a noise, and coming for her. Coming to destroy the key witnesses before they could destroy him.
Doing it stealthily, quietly, so discreetly.
Cami opened her mouth to scream. That was the immediate, instinctive reaction. Scream loudly, make a noise, bring people running.
But he might still get inside too fast if she screamed. It might not help her to do that at all.
Or else, worse still, the scream might just chase him away, and he might disappear and go into hiding, and they would then have to wait for this entire scenario to replay again.
