Free Collateral Damage by Fern Michaels

pension stays intact. What do you want, Akers?”
    “I’d be more than pleased if you’d accompany me down to the Hoover Building.”
    Jack’s mind raced. “Do I have a choice?”
    “Not really,” Special Agent Akers said jovially.
    “Okay, let me get my jacket. Just so you know, I had a poker game scheduled for nine o’clock. I need to call someone to cancel. That won’t be a problem, will it, Special Agent Akers?”
    “Five minutes. If you aren’t standing next to me, I’ll be breaking down your door.”
    “Understood.” Jack slammed the door shut. Ten seconds later he had Maddy, the office manager at Nikki’s firm, on the phone. “Listen up, Maddy, this is Jack. The FBI is here at the house to haul my ass downtown. I’m going to need a lawyer, ASAP. The best of the best. Fifteen minutes and I’ll be at the Hoover Building. Unless this guy takes the long way. And I’d like the press there when they walk me in. A picture of me being hauled in will make for a Kodak moment. Can you do it?”
    The voice on the other end of the phone made a very unladylike sound. “Consider it done.”
    Jack heaved a mighty sigh of relief as he reached for his jacket and slipped into it.
    He dropped the cell phone into the bottom of the umbrella stand and fished out a second one from his jacket. He speed dialed Harry’s number and waited for the martial arts expert to speak. “They’re here to take me downtown. If anyone asks, I called you to cancel our poker game. Be alert, Harry, the shit is starting to fly.”
    “Gotcha.”
    Jack went out the front door and locked it behind him.
    “What took you so long, Mr. Emery?”
    “I had to go to the bathroom, Special Agent Akers. I know for a fact you guardians of the law aren’t big on bathroom breaks when you drag someone in for questioning. I think that’s against my civil rights.”
    “Shut up, Mr. Emery. Get in the car.”
    Jack knew he needed to stall for time. He wasn’t sure Maddy could get her people to the Hoover Building before he arrived. “Look, Special Agent Akers, I don’t mind your coming here and asking me to accompany you downtown, but I do object to your not telling me why. Let’s cut the bullshit and tell me why you’re dragging me out of my home at this hour of the night.”
    “All in good time. Think of this as a come-to-Jesus meeting. We’d like some input from you. We’re a generous bunch, so we’ll share what we have, and perhaps we can all learn something.”
    Jack did a quick little dance. “You see, you see! That’s just it. Learn what? Share what? I’m all for both, but I need a clue. You want me to cooperate, you need to give a little, Special Agent Akers. Being the Deputy District Attorney for the District of Columbia, I’m hardly a novice at interrogations. In fact, Special Agent Akers, you might want to remember that when you work in the District you are subject to its laws, and I represent those laws. ’Nuff said?”
    “It’s not my place to enlighten you, Mr. Emery. My boss will be doing that. I’m following her orders. Think of me as a foot soldier. A messenger.”
    Jack worked up some more outrage, hoping his eyes were bulging. “Her! Did you say her? A woman? Well, no woman is going to tell me what to do. What are you, some pussy? A wuss? You take orders from a woman! Well, damn. Now I really do feel sorry for you. Nah, I don’t think I’m interested in going with you.”
    He turned around to walk back up the steps to the house. He heard the click of the agent’s gun but didn’t stop. No one was going to shoot a deputy district attorney on the steps of his house right here in Georgetown. No way, no how. He fit the key in the lock. He risked a glance down at his wrist. He’d wasted almost ten minutes. That was good. Another ten, and things should be in place.
    “Stop right there, Mr. Emery.”
    “Or what?” Jack asked, opening the door. He turned around. “So shoot me! Make the eleven o’clock news. There goes