Bombshell

“We’re fortunate that Ruth and Dix have been through both entrances of Winkel’s Cave, front and back. We’ll be splitting up, and when both teams are in position, we’ll go in together. They’ll have no way out.”

“Anna, you’re Team One leader. Claus will be your guide inside the cave. Ruth expects the front entrance to be barred, probably chained. Claus will be bringing a hydraulic rescue tool he borrowed from the fire department along to cut through any locks or chains you might find. If you can’t get through, you’ll still have the exit covered for us, but this is unlikely, since the gang would want both exits available to them.

“I’ll be Team Two leader. Dix and Ruth will fill us in on what to expect when we reach the rear entrance of the cave. We don’t know how many gang members will be inside, don’t know if Salazar will be there. Remember, they attacked Griffin and Anna with automatic weapons last night, and grenades. You will be fighting in an alien environment, one that will require discipline and concentration. I want no casualties, so keep focused. Let’s suit up and get it done.”

Three minutes later they were climbing into the SUVs assigned to them and heading out onto the road.

The Hoover Building

Tuesday noon

Jesse Griggs handed Savich the sketch he’d made of the man Melissa saw in Peter Biaggini’s apartment lobby.

Savich looked at the sketch, then at Melissa Ivy. She met his eyes, her eyes as blue and limpid as a paradise lagoon. He said, “You’re sure this is the man, Ms. Ivy?”

“It’s close. But I told you, I barely saw him, so—” She shrugged.

“He looks,” Jesse said slowly, “a lot like the news anchor on the CBS six o’clock news.”

Savich’s expression didn’t change. Jesse was right. He felt a spurt of anger, then calmed. What game was she playing with them?

He leaned over the table, his hands flat, and said not six inches from her face, “You realize, Ms. Ivy, that if you’re lying about any of this and keep it up, you will go to prison for obstruction of justice? By the time you get out of jail, you’ll be too old for TV. You understand me?”

Melissa pressed herself against the back of her chair, to get as far away from him as she could. She looked terrified.

Good. She couldn’t play them well if she was terrified. “I’m waiting, Ms. Ivy,” Savich said. “Your choice.”

She rose straight up in her chair. “All right! But I didn’t lie. I came here to help you. I didn’t realize I was describing Scott Pelley’s face on TV. I watch the news show every night, and I got confused. I told you, I didn’t see the man well. I’m not lying about seeing him, though, swear it.” She lowered her face in her hands and burst into tears.

Savich straightened, nodded to Lucy. She sat beside Melissa, lightly rubbed her fingers over her arm. “Come on, Melissa. You’ll make your eyes all puffy and your mascara will smear. Who knows what kind of photos or footage you’ll be in today, and you won’t look very good. That wouldn’t do, now, would it? Come on, now, get yourself together, and trust me on this: telling the truth is the only way to go or you’ll spend tonight in jail.”

Slowly, Melissa Ivy raised her face to Savich, looking, he thought, like she was ready to enter the Miss America pageant. Her mascara was perfect, and her unshed tears sparkled like diamonds. She looked gorgeous. She leaned toward him, clasping her hands tightly in front of her. “I didn’t make it up, Agent Savich. I did see someone. But I did make up some of the sketch, I guess.”

“Why?”

He saw her thinking madly, her brain squirreling around, and wondered if she would treat him to another fiction. Finally, she raised her chin and looked him square in the eyes. “I didn’t get all made up like this for you, Agent Savich. I thought since I’m a witness I might be interviewed by the press. I loved Tommy and Peter, and I’ve lost both of them. Their funerals are tomorrow. I thought there might be a chance for me to, you know, get some coverage in the news, get myself known at some of the news stations as a promising young student.”

She was fast, he’d give her that, and not a bad actress.

“That’s very resilient of you, Ms. Ivy, especially considering neither Tommy nor Peter is around now to tide you over with money until you graduate. I imagine you’ll be down to hocking the earrings Tommy gave you for Christmas soon, won’t you?”

She stared at him, pinned, biting her bottom lip. He saw her lipstick there was gone, not that it mattered.