They may not have come in on horses, but they were still a calvary to me.
Daniel burst into the room, oblivious to the guns that swung in his direction. It took me a moment to register why he was so unconcerned, but when I saw the ring of swat team members filing in after him, I understood. Nate, George, and Mike were outnumbered. That didn’t mean they wouldn’t do anything stupid, or that Daniel was safe, but then, spies rarely worried about how safe something was before dashing in. At least he’d brought back-up, and that made him a lot smarter than I was.
“You okay?” he shouted at me.
Well, other than being tired to a chair, dehydrated, sleep deprived, starved, and with a lump growing on my head the size of Cincinnati, yeah, I was great. But I didn’t even have the energy to be a smart ass, and all I could manage was a little head wiggle.
“I’m going to go with that meant ‘as well as could be expected, under the circumstances’,” he said. I gave another head wiggle. “Don’t worry, old man, I’ll get to you as soon as I can.” He grinned at me, and turned to address Nate, who was still somewhat between the two of us, if off to one side.
Nate still had his gun pointed at me, and Mike and George kept their guns trained on Daniel. It was a very tense stalemate, and I knew better than to speak up. Daniel was a much better negotiator than I was, and we could all see where my fast talking had landed me. On the wrong end of the gun barrel.
“Nate, you might as well give yourself up. We have all the proof we need. Proof of your dealing with Edward Gaust and his crime syndicate, how you filtered everything through George and used Mike as your errand boy. You weren’t careful enough, Nate, there are witnesses.” Daniel spoke in a low, controlled voice. I was glad one of us had stayed awake during the negotiating classes.
“What, the word of a criminal trying to avoid a harsher sentence? I’m sure that carries a lot of weight,” Nate scoffed. “They would jump at the chance to put any of us behind bars, and everyone knows that.”
“Perhaps not if their word was all we had, Nate, but there’s a lot of evidence. The kind of evidence that doesn’t lie.”
“Faked evidence,” Nate said.
“How, exactly, do you explain this, then?” Daniel gestured to me, still bound in the chair. I was hoping one of the SWAT guys would slide over and untie me, but so far they were holding their positions, all weapons aimed at Nate, George, and Mike.
“I’m sorry to tell you, Daniel, that Jake here is the traitor. We uncovered evidence that he was working with Robin when she killed Jason and Robert. They must be the ones who’d been working with Edward.” Nate said. He was a good liar.
“I’m sorry to tell you, Nate, that I think that’s a load of horse shit,” Daniel said pleasantly. “And what about Sandra? Can you explain how her blood ended up smeared on the floor in your house?”
That stunned everyone. Nate gaped, looking like a drowning fish, his lips moving silently. Finally he rallied. “I was set up, then. I don’t know anything about the Sandra case.”
“But you do know something about the Jason and Robert cases, don’t you, Nate? You know you were the one who ordered them killed. Jason, because he was getting too close to clearing his name after you’d tried to frame him, and Robert… that one I can’t understand, Nate. Why did you have Robin kill Robert?”
“She did that all on her own, I had nothing to do with it!” Nate yelled.
We were all silent for a moment as the words sunk in. They weren’t a confession, but they were damning.
“Nate, just give yourself up,” Daniel said.
“How many times do I have to tell you that it’s Jake you’re after? Jake is the one who betrayed the agency. Jake is the one who had Sandra and Jason and Robert killed. Hell, he probably killed Sandra himself. Isn’t it always the boyfriend?” He sneered at me. “And then he tried to frame me!”
Daniel glanced at me, and I could see the worry in his eyes. I understood. Nate was no longer stable. He couldn’t be reasoned with. He was an animal, backed into a corner, fighting for his life. Prison was a bad place for people who had put a lot of the criminals away, and he knew he had a better than average change of ending up in a traitor’s prison, and having a horrible accident befall him in the laundry room.
“Nate, why don’t you and I step out of here and talk it over. Leave George and Mike to look after Jake, okay? You can show me the proof you have.” Daniel was trying to separate them, figuring that if Nate wasn’t there, George and Mike would give themselves up. He was right, too, I could see George’s hand was already starting to shake, and it was only with a fair amount of effort he kept the gun up and pointed in the general direction of Daniel. Mike just looked confused.
“Don’t you come near me, I see it now, you’re working with him, aren’t you? You’re all against me. You’re all traitors!” Nate was plunging head-first into crazy now.
And then I did something stupid. I know, surprise, surprise.
“What the hell could I possibly have to do with your business dealing with Gaust? We have evidence that there was money that went directly from his companies into your pocket. The funny thing is, it isn’t even about your job. No matters of national security, no super-secret spy business. It’s because your wife is a council person and gets to vote on new developments. You were selling her vote. It was all just garden-variety greed and dirty political dealings.” I shook my head sadly.
“Shut up,” Nate growled. Normally I wouldn’t be cowed, but he was waving a gun at me.
“Yes, shut up, Jake,” Daniel hissed at me. He shot me a look that clearly said ‘I am trying to save your worthless hide, you pain in the ass, so please don’t try to help or I will shoot you myself’. Or something very similar.
“I’m just saying, maybe Nate needs to take a deep breath and consider his options carefully. If he is being set up.” I shot Daniel a look. “If he’s being set up, then he’ll need us to help clear his name. We are the best investigators.”
“That is true,” Daniel said. “And really, Nate, Jake has no reason to set you up. It had to be someone else. We can find that out. Obviously, they’ve been trying to deflect suspicion all over the place. You, Jake, George…”
Nate seemed to consider it. “How do I know you’ll actually look for the person who did this? How do I know you won’t just hang me out to dry on the Sandra killing? That blood in my house is probably enough evidence for half the agency, they’ve always been out to get me.”
I saw a flicker in Daniel’s eye. It was brief, and I doubt many people would pick up on it, but I noticed. And I knew what it meant. Daniel could bluff when it came to most people, but I knew him too well. He’d lied about the blood. But it had worked. Nate was rattled. I couldn’t help it, I started to laugh. I blame the stress of the last few days. Nate was having a psychotic break, I should be allowed a little hysterical laughter.
“What’s so funny?” Nate demanded.
I couldn’t answer, I was laughing so hard I couldn’t catch my breath.
“Shut up!” Nate yelled. And Daniel and I saw the look in his eyes at the same moment.
“No, don’t be an idiot,” Daniel said, his hand going to the butt of his gun.
But Nate didn’t listen. He fired, hitting me square in the chest. My last thought as I sank to the ground in a haze of pain was that at least I got to see his body riddled with bullet holes. Between Daniel and the various member of the SWAT team, they must have punched him full of a dozen holes. I only had one, though it was a doozy, and I counted that a win.
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