Being with them all had helped. Her pity-party was at a tolerable level now, but it was time to return and face the truth. She was nowhere near ready to see Mason again, wasn’t sure what she’d do when she did, but she’d deal with that when the time came. For now, she was ready to be back home and talk to her team.
Starting with Viola.
She’d missed having her around the last week. They’d chatted some, but it had been brief. They had a lot of catching up to do, so when she reached town, she decided to head straight to Viola’s house. It was Friday evening, so it was too late to go into the office anyway, and if she timed it like this on purpose, she wasn’t going to admit that. She wanted to speak with Viola without the scrutiny of everyone else at the office. When she reached a stoplight, she fired off a text to Viola to let her know she was coming over.
Shelby rolled to a stop in Viola’s driveway, immediately thrown off by what she saw. The front door was open, but Viola’s car was not there. Frowning, she got out and walked slowly to the door, cursing when she instinctively reached for a weapon she didn’t have. She didn’t see anything suspicious except for the door being ajar. She hoped Dave was home and had left it open, and nothing serious had happened. When he came jogging out, she started.
“Jesus, you scared me,” he said, surprised.
“Likewise.” She chuckled nervously. “I was hoping to see Viola.”
He shook his head. “She’s working late on a case. I’m headed out of town. On business.” His eyes darted, giving her the impression he wasn’t being honest about something.
“Okay. I’ll catch her at the office.” But not tonight.
He turned and locked the door, not saying anything else. She guessed he was running late for a flight or something. Not wanting to delay him, she got in her car and headed to Darrell’s house. If Viola was a long shot, Darrell probably was, too, but she was not going to the office. Not yet. If Darrell wasn’t home, she could pat herself on the back for trying to reach out to not one but two people on her team, and then lock herself inside her apartment for the weekend.
It didn’t take her long to get to Darrell’s place. The bureau required they all live within a certain distance of their assigned office. She wasn’t sure if she was pleased when she saw his SUV in his driveway or not. She’d already started liking the idea of going home. He walked out of his front door as soon as she pulled in, killing that possibility. He knew she was here, and she’d have to at least visit for a little while before begging off. He crossed his arms and watched her as she parked her car and got out.
“’Bout fucking time you showed up, little bit.”
“Good to see you, too,” she muttered, walking up to him. He pulled her into a quick hug and stepped to the side, holding his screen door open for her. She walked in and sat on the old, comfy brown couch he had.
“Wanna beer?” he asked, trekking past her to the kitchen.
“No thanks.”
“You missed some serious shit during your disappearing act. I’m going to let Rick know you’re with me.” He pulled out his phone and started clicking away on it. “He was getting a team together to come get you tonight.”
“Um, why?”
“Because things changed about two hours ago.”
Maybe she should’ve had the beer. “What?”
He pocketed his phone and sat on the coffee table facing her. “A body was found matching the description of Carl O’Brian.”
She blinked. “And?” She knew there had to be more. A man matching the description of someone else was too vague. Hell, she matched the description of half the brunettes she passed on the street.
“He was found in a car registered to Carl O’Brian.”
“Oh,” she breathed. Her mind started was racing as Darrell continued.
“Yeah. He and the car were burned, so we couldn’t do an immediate I.D. Medical examiner’s pulling dental records as part of the autopsy.” He clutched her hand in between his, his face solemn. “A package was delivered to headquarters earlier this afternoon with the coordinates to its location, along with video of Showalter and another man carrying something large and stuffing it into the truck of the same make and model vehicle. We’re trying to identify the other man. It’s not William Baxter, but it’s definitely Showalter in the vid.”
“Oh God.” She was numb. She didn’t think things could get any worse…until they did. There was no doubt now that Mason was who they were after.
“Carson intercepted a recent transaction where Showalter transferred large sums of money from an account we believe is linked to the Culpepper Hedge Fund to an overseas bank. Rick’s worried he’s going to jet.” His thumb brushed over her hand. “That’s not all,” he said softly.
She yanked her hand away and steeled herself. How much more was there? The case being built against Mason was airtight. There was no way he wasn’t involved. She couldn’t even come up with a crazy scenario that’d explain his innocence.
“He’s coming after you.”
Shelby stood up. “What?”
“The package also had images from inside your apartment. One contained a note written on a pad and left by your key bowl that said, “I punish liars.”
She gasped, and Darrell ran a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry. We went to your apartment, but there was no sign of forced entry. No notepad. Does he have a key?”
She felt her head shaking no, but she wasn’t sure if it had actually moved or not. Everything was so surreal.
“You’re going to a safe house.” Darrell started to
