Everyone nodded.
“And what are you doing here, Stubbs?” Sin asked.
“I resigned my position. I’m with you. All of you.”
She eyed her team, staring at Fletcher a bit longer than the others. “You all know about this and have agreed?”
“We have,” Fletcher said. “Troy is good. With some training, he’ll be great.”
She addressed Tiffany and Deb. “And you two?”
“With the way you people get shot, I figure you could use a good surgeon. I resigned from the Navy, official tomorrow. I’m in,” Deb answered.
“Did she just say, you people,” Marcus said. “I think the doc may be racist.”
The table broke out in a bit of laughter before Sin continued. “Tiff, are you sure this is what you want? After everything that happened in Miami, I didn’t think you wanted this kind of life.”
“I didn’t think so either. But I think I’m a lot more like you than I knew. Besides,” She threw up air quotes. “you need someone who can worm her way into places she doesn’t belong.”
With everyone in agreement, Sin told them what she had discovered and what her plan was. “Grab your belongings, we head out in a half hour.”
Everyone headed upstairs but Fletcher. He remained behind.
“Okay, Fletch, why don’t we finish the conversation started during the mission.”
Fletcher leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. “Since the beginning, when it was just you, me, and Garcia, we’ve always been straight with each other. This team works because we keep our personal lives out of our missions.”
She nodded when he paused. “Go on.”
“You didn’t do that in West Palm Beach. There was no reason to have Troy go with Frank back to the yacht club. You did that for his own safety, not for the good of the mission.” Sin said nothing. “We could have used an extra set of eyes and another gun in that building.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but Fletch held up his hand, stopping her. “I just need your word that won’t happen again. That’s all I need.”
“You have my word.”
Fletch grinned. “That’s all I needed. Let’s join the others and get out of here.”
She grabbed his shirt as he turned to walk up the stairs. He turned back toward her. “Have you mentioned this to Troy or anyone else?”
“Just you and me.”
“Thank you.”
“We’ve saved each other’s asses more times than I can count,” Fletch said, “so let’s forget about this and go do what we always do.”
“And, what’s that?”
“We stand back and watch you kick some ass.”
She hip-checked him as they walked. “Who needs chocolate and roses when you whisper such sweet nothings.”
66
With her plan in place, everyone along with Carmelita flew to D.C.
Sin met Frank at what had become their spot, the Capital Grill. Walking in, she knew where to find him, the table in the far corner of the restaurant.
“You look good,” she said, taking a seat. “How do you feel?”
“Sore, but good.”
“How pissed was Silvia when you got home?”
Frank waved over a server and asked for a Johnny Walker Blue, straight up. “Give the lady whatever she wants,” he said.
“Make it two,” Sin said.
Sin sat back and waited for him to answer her question.
“She was pissed. In fact, this is the first time she has let me out of her sight since I returned home.”
Sin grinned. “Smart lady.”
“How about you? How are you feeling?”
“Like I was shot seven days ago.”
Frank laughed, grimacing. “Damn, that hurts.”
“Bullets will do that to you.”
“It hurts, but it feels good. During what never happened in West Palm Beach,” Frank grinned, “I felt alive for the first time since I was sworn in as the director of the Bureau. I didn’t realize how much I missed the action.”
“There’s hope for you yet.”
After their drinks arrived, they took a breather and enjoyed a moment of peace.
“Have you spoken to Lancaster?”
Frank nodded and took a sip of his drink. “He still wants your badge. All of your badges. I tried to talk him out of it, but he’s not budging. He said you pulled a gun on him. Is that true.”
“He said, she said,” Sin answered.
“Damn it, Sin. You dug your own grave this time. I can’t help you.”
She ignored his comment. “What did you think about the intel I sent you?”
“It’s pretty incriminating. How do you want to play this?”
“I want you to arrange a meeting with me and Lancaster.”
“I don’t think he is in the meeting mood when it comes to you.”
“Tell him I brought Carmelita with me to bring Maria home.”
“Carmelita? Is she with you?”
“At the hotel.”
Frank nodded and slapped some cash down on the table. “I don’t like that look in your eye. What do you have planned?”
She finished her drink and stood. “Pick us up at the hotel in the morning. Once we get to the White House just follow my lead.”
“The last time you said that, I got shot.”
“Let’s hope for a better outcome this time. I really don’t want to have to answer to your wife.”
67
The next morning, Sin and Carmelita rode with Frank to the White House. Passing through outside security, they picked up a tail.
“This is interesting,” Sin said, peering out the back window. “New security protocol?”
“Not that I’m aware of,” Frank responded. “I have a feeling it’s your welcoming committee.”
“Lucky me.”
Inside, Frank was waved through the security desk. Carmelita, also. Sin wasn’t so lucky. Her backpack was searched and sent through, but she was stopped as she tried to proceed. “Agent O’Malley,” the Secret Service agent said, “you’ve been suspended from service. I’ll need you to leave all your weapons with us.”
Sin eyed Frank. He nodded. Using her off-hand, she withdrew each of her pearl-handled revolvers and with a flick of her thumb opened the cylinders, emptying the bullets in a plastic bin. She then deposited her guns and gunbelt in the bin.
“Your back-up weapon,” the agent said.
Sin bent down, pulled her pantleg up over her boot, and unbuckled the holster.
