Free Beholden by Pat Warren Page A

right.”
    “So this is how you figured on getting me back, knowing how badly I’d like to even the score with the Russos?”
    Bob shrugged. “The thought crossed my mind.”
    Luke studied the man across from him as he sipped his beer. The chief wouldn’t push; it wasn’t his style. Yet Luke knew that
     they really needed his help on this one or Bob would never have come in person to ask. The other thing that Bob would never
     mention aloud was that Luke owed him. Out in the field when they’d both been fairly new agents, Bob Jones had taken a bullet
     meant for him. It wasn’t the sort of thing a man like Luke Tanner ever forgot.
    Luke cleared their plates, poured two coffees, then sat back down and gazed out the window at his spread. He felt an affection
     for the place that he’d put his mark on and a genuine reluctance to leave right now, when there was so much yet to do before
     the snow fell. But a man who hates to flinch when he looks into his shaving mirror knows there are some debts that have to
     be paid whether the timing is wrong or not.
    Besides, when push came to shove, he was aching to put the Russos out of commission for good.
    “Okay, I’ll do it,” he said quietly. “You got Washington’s approval, I take it?”
    “Not yet, but it’ll be here any day. I had to get her out of that hospital. When Terry drew that sketch, Andy Russell looked
     at it and thought he’d passed a man who looked like Ozzie in the halls of Phoenix General a couple of times. You remember
     that Swain always wears bright-colored suspenders, and with that pockmarked face he’s not hard to spot. Visiting hours are
     all day long. Security at most hospitalsisn’t what it should be. The place is like Grand Central most of the time. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sam sent Ozzie to keep
     an eye on the girl until they determined her condition and identity for sure. With McCarthy getting the police reports, Russo
     knows that one girl was burned beyond recognition. In their line of work, it pays to eliminate all loose ends.”
    “So where’d you take her?”
    “To that private hospital outside San Diego that we’ve used before. She underwent plastic surgery on her face yesterday. Temporarily,
     I’ve got George Everly with her and Sara Baines. Remember them?”
    “Yeah, sure.” Luke had worked with Sara before. She’d been an RN for ten years before going into law enforcement. She was
     good, a big motherly woman who knew how to follow orders even if she didn’t like them. George was another story. The man was
     methodical enough to drive you crazy, someone he could never partner with. Privately Luke thought that Everly should have
     taken voluntary retirement some time ago, or requested a desk job. They really had to be shorthanded for Bob to pull George
     out and put him on a case.
    Luke finished his coffee. “Looks like you’re bending a few rules on this one, old buddy, rushing her through before the paperwork’s
     in.”
    “Sometimes, you have to. I want this under way ASAP. Terry Ryan is a brave young woman who had a good life going for her,
     until she witnessed that shooting. She’s lost a reporter friend, a cousin who burned to death in the crash, and survived an
     attempt on her life. And now she’s been taken away from everyone she knows. That can’t be easy.”
    No, it never was. “How’s she handling it?”
    “She’s not happy, but she’s cooperating so far. She doesn’t know it, but the worst is yet to come.” When the healing was over,
     loneliness and frustration would set in. Jones glancedat his watch and stood. Eight, and it was a long drive back to Phoenix.
    “Looks like you’ve got a case. When are you planning to issue arrest warrants?”
    “Tomorrow. I had to delay until Terry was safe. This morning, I had Phoenix General release a statement that the second occupant
     in the Volkswagen has died of internal injuries. The longer we can keep the suspicions that Terry’s still alive