AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Look, if you want to leave here before lunch time tomorrow, you’re going to have to be straight with me. How did you know Agent O’Connell was going to be shot?”
“I didn’t.” And that was the truth. She had no idea what would happen to him, only that it would. And it wouldn’t be good.
“I have a copy of the tip you submitted on the website right here in front of me. You specifically wrote that Agent Blake O’Connell had to stay away from an address we executed a warrant on this afternoon. You said his life would be in danger if he went. So, I’ll ask again. How did you know about the agent getting shot? Did you get a tip? Did the shooter confide in you? I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me, and just so we’re clear, lying to the FBI is a crime.”
“I had no idea. No one told me anything.” That was also the truth. Mostly.
Hallie wanted to squirm under the scrutinizing way he was studying her, but there was one question she was dying to ask, and she didn’t think she’d get a better opportunity than right now. “Is Agent O’Connell okay?” The words came out before she had the chance to think them through. Maybe asking about him was the wrong thing to do in her situation, but she couldn’t help it. She had to know.
It got her a stern glare from the agent, who for the first time since stepping into the room, looked her in the eye. “You almost sound like you care.”
Hallie swallowed. Of course, she cared. Why else would she have risked everything for a man she didn’t even know. “I do,” she said, softly. “Is he...okay?”
“He’s alive,” the agent said. “Now, how about you answer at least one of my questions, and I’ll consider letting you walk out of here.”
Hallie knew he was being on the level with her. If she didn’t tell him something he could take back to his boss, it was very likely she’d be arrested for being a suspicious person or aiding and abetting, or something like that. She hadn’t watched nearly enough crime shows to know how things like this worked, but she knew enough to choose her words carefully. She’d just never been interrogated before, probably because she’d never seen anything worth a damn.
Last week was different. As she lie in bed, hoping not to pull another all-nighter from her chronic insomnia, she had a clear glimpse of a badge lying in a pool of blood next to what looked like a federal warrant with an address on it. She wasn’t sure what the point was of what she was seeing, except right before the glimpse ended, she saw the name on the badge clear as day: Special Agent Blake O’Connell.
Hallie couldn’t very well tell this agent all that. He’d probably have her shipped off to the looney bin faster than she could blink. Instead, she decided to tell him a version of the truth that would either distract him long enough for her to come up with a better answer, or hopefully get her out of this room. “Okay, but you’re not going to believe me,” she started, leaning forward into the cold metal table like she was about to divulge the secrets of the universe.
The agent pursed his lips and raised one eyebrow. His posture remained tense, his hands rested on the hard surface in front of them. She got the feeling not much rattled this man. “Try me, Ms. Owens. How did you know?”
“I guess I’m psychic,” she said, half-seriously, half-nonchalantly, with a shrug of her shoulders.
The agent cracked a smile then, surprising Hallie. “Really? And I’m a surgeon. Come on now, seriously. How did you know he was going to get shot?”
“I didn’t,” she repeated, sitting back in her chair, slightly annoyed now. No matter how many times he asked her that question, her answer would be the same. She didn’t know Blake O’Connell was going to get shot. She never saw the gun or the gunshot wound. Just the blood. For all she knew, he could’ve been stabbed or hit in the head with a crowbar. “And anyway, it doesn’t even matter because judging by your answer, Agent O’Connell went to the address anyway. So, it’s not like anyone believed me.”
At that the agent looked up at her, his expression unreadable again. Then, without saying another word, he stood and walked out of the room.
Was that it? Was she free to go? Hallie wrapped her arms around her waist and wondered what would happen if she stood up and tried to leave the room. She was about to do just that when the door opened again.
This time, it was a different agent. Taller, handsome, and with the kindest steel gray eyes she’d ever seen. No wait, she had seen him before, just last week at her store. She tried to help him pick out a wedding present for his friends. She’d put four custom photo albums on hold for him. Caden Dobbs. His name had replayed in her mind for days now, ever since he’d walked out of her store with the promise to come back. He never did.
The way he was looking at her now though, she doubted he remembered her. Hallie had liked him from the moment he first walked into her store. He had such a warm smile, and even though she wasn’t usually so hands on with customers, she was drawn to him unlike she’d ever been to anyone else. He seemed genuinely nice, and the fact that he cared so much about his friends only made him more attractive to her.
“I’m Special Agent Caden Dobbs.” He sat where the other agent had just been sitting, but unlike the other agent, he looked her right in the eye. He looked tired tonight, with bags and dark circles under his eyes. His furrowed brow brought out the little lines on his forehead, making them appear deeper than Hallie remembered them being the last time she saw him. It made her wonder if Blake O’Connell was a friend of his, if he’d been at the hospital with him, and had come back to work because she was brought in. “I’ve read your message about a dozen times, and I find it interesting that you used your business computer. I have to admit, you definitely saved us a lot of man hours trying to find you.”
Hallie swallowed. She thought the tip was anonymous. Had she known the FBI would track her down because of it, maybe she would’ve found a different way to send it. But honestly, the only thing on her mind was making sure the FBI got her message in time to prevent the senseless death of that agent. She wasn’t reallythinking of herself. Maybe if she’d gotten one of those burner phones or gone to an internet cafe or something like that instead of using the computer at The Mystic Cow, she wouldn’t be sitting in this freezing cold room right now. But Katelyn had called out the last few days, first due to a bad cold, and then because she had to study for an exam, so Hallie just didn’t have the time to do all that extra leg work to send a message she thought would be anonymous. “I guess I didn’t think of it,” she shrugged... “I was…” Hallie wanted to say she was only trying to help, but stopped herself before going down a rabbit hole she’d never recover from.
“You were what?” He pressed. There was a softness to his tone that threatened to bring down Hallie’s carefully erected defenses. Even now, knowing he was an FBI agent wasn’t really a turn off for her. And the way he was watching her, his gaze never leaving hers, made her want to squirm but not in a bad way.
He let the silence between them go on, and Hallie was surprised by how much she wanted to tell him everything. He had the kind of eyes that made a woman feel naked in front of him.And his deep voice with a slight raspiness to it made her want to keep listening to every word he said. But he was a Special Agent of the FBI. Telling him the truth could result in all sorts of repercussions she wasn’t ready for. Hallie lived a simple life, and she didn’t want to give it up, not even for a man like Caden who oozed goodness.
Hallie shook her head. “I’m not denying I sent the tip. But that’s all I did. I swear. I’m innocent.”
He met her gaze, his eyes soft, almost longing. “I believe you.”
After the initial shock wore off, those three words sent a kind of relief through Hallie that she hadn’t known in all of her twenty-eight years of life. No one ever believed her, not that she’d really given them a chance to. After that stint with the sleeping pills, she never spoke of her ability, and even though she hadn’t divulged any part of it to Caden, just hearing him say he believed her went a long way to ease her frazzled nerves. “Does that mean I can go?” She asked, hesitantly.
Caden gave a slight nod. “Just don’t leave town.” He stood and motioned for her to follow him out. As soon as he opened the door, Hallie shot out of that room and beelined down the hall to the elevators. The doors opened to one of the elevators and Hallie quickly stepped inside, not caring if it was going up or down. She just had to get out of that place, and away from the man who threatened to undo every single wall she’d put up over the years.
When the elevator doors opened on the ground floor, she stepped out, and looked back for the first time, wondering if she should’ve at least said goodbye before racing out of there like a spooked animal.
Exhaling for what felt like the first time in hours, she shook herself mentally, and started for the parking garage, only to realize she didn’t have her car here. The agents had taken her straight from The Mystic Cow. A sinking feeling clawed at her gut as she turned to go back to the elevator, but instantly hit what felt like a brick wall. A very well dressed, toned and muscular in all the right places, brick wall.
Her gaze followed the sleek lines of a polished suit until she locked eyes with the steel gray eyes of the man she’d just run from. “Hi,” she said sheepishly.
