Free One Night Standoff by Delores Fossen Page A

mind.
    “There was a glitch in communication that night,” James explained. “I didn’t get your message for hours, and then I got word from another agent that you were in the marshal’s hotel room. Where you spent most of the night. I was trying to figure out how to handle it.”
    That didn’t sit well with Clayton, and he did some glaring of his own. “Why would you believe that you needed to handle anything? Lenora and I were both consenting adults, and by then she was no longer in my protective custody.”
    “Lenora wasn’t exactly thinking straight that night, and I didn’t want her breaking down and revealing her real identity to you. It might have compromised the entire task force.”
    Even though Clayton didn’t like that answer, either, he glanced back at Lenora to see what she thought of it. She clearly wasn’t buying it.
    “If you were concerned that I’d spill all to Clayton, then why not return my calls and warn me not to do it?” she pressed.
    Another huff from James. “Because I was trying to figure out how to deal with it. Besides, I was pretty torn up about Jill’s murder, too. I needed some time to work out things in my head.”
    Lenora stepped out next to Clayton. He groaned and shot her a stern warning to step back, but she obviously couldn’t see the look behind his glasses. If it wouldn’t have caused a full-blown migraine, he would have shed the shades just so she could see that he did not want her to do this. Of course, she already knew, so the migraine would just be wasted.
    It didn’t take long for James’s gaze to drop to her stomach. “You’re pregnant.” He didn’t seem exactly surprised, but upset instead. “You should have let me know something like that.”
    “Well, you and I haven’t exactly stayed in touch, have we?” Lenora clearly didn’t try to take the sarcasm from her voice.
    “Are you accusing me of something?” James fired back.
    “Are you guilty of something?” she returned just as fast.
    James didn’t answer her, but instead turned back to Clayton. “I know you’re looking for the person responsible for putting a bullet in your head, but it wasn’t me. I’m not even convinced it was Riggs.”
    Clayton hadn’t expected James to say that. “Riggs has a solid motive. Or at least he believes he does. He could want Lenora and me out of the way so we can’t testify against him.”
    “Even without your testimony, he’ll be convicted,” James reminded him. “Lenora and you have both done affidavits, and your sworn testimony could be used against him. Riggs and his lawyers know that.”
    True. However, there was the other angle that Lenora and Clayton had already considered. “But with us out of the way, maybe Riggs could get murder one reduced to a lesser charge.”
    James didn’t argue that, but his attention went from Clayton to Lenora. “I’ve been investigating this, and I think we need to take a harder look at Quentin Hewitt.”
    Because Lenora’s arm was against his, Clayton felt her muscles tense, and despite the shades, he saw some of the color drain from her face.
    “Quentin was the man who got me involved in money laundering,” she said, her voice barely louder than a whisper. Clearly, she wasn’t comfortable talking about this. Clayton wasn’t comfortable hearing it, either, but from the sound of it, this could be critical.
    “Why would this guy want to shoot us?” Clayton asked James.
    James, however, looked at Lenora. “You want me to tell him, or should you?” And for some reason, the agent didn’t seem too upset about revealing something that was obviously unsettling to Lenora.
    Yet another reason to dislike the man.
    Lenora didn’t dodge Clayton’s gaze. She looked him straight in the eyes. “Five years ago, I was Quentin’s executive assistant. And I was in love with him. Or I thought I was, anyway. I did whatever he wanted me to do to make his business succeed.”
    So, Quentin and she had likely been lovers.