The Law of Motion (Law Series) (87 page)

             
When Victor was done rubbing his wrists he gave me a proper hug, we had to step out of the van to do it but once we were done we sat on the back with the doors open. I didn’t want to scare David too much.

             
“I’ve missed you…” I admitted after I filled him in on everything that had happened in the shortest and fastest way possible. “Did you get my letters?”

             
“Every last one Miss Alyssa.” He promised, looking down on me with kind eyes. “Even the order from Liam to carry things out with Myles. You and Juan can sleep well Miss Alyssa, everything is done.”

             
Part of me was angry because I had wanted to carry it out myself, but with the thought of everything that Victor volunteered for to keep me safe, I couldn’t help but smile, “You know, I said that you and I were going to have it out the next time that I saw you. Leaving like that without a word, you knew I would be mad.”

             
“Sounds like the pot calling the kettle black to me.” He smirked looking down at me. “You and I both did what we felt we had to, and from what I can tell some good came from it.” He noted motioning towards the ring on my finger.

             
“May 23
rd
is the big day, but I suppose you knew that this would be coming too.”

             
He gave me a single nod, and I jumped from a loud pop filling the night behind us. Victor put his arms around me, “It’s just them blowing the tire Miss Alyssa, don’t worry.”

             
“Did you know that Hunt was planning this?” I wondered.

             
He shook his head, “Not until I heard your voice.”

             
Hunter stepped around to the back of the van with an apologetic expression. “Sorry Babes but they’re sending another transport van to collect Victor. He’ll need to be locked up and we’ll need to be long gone before then.”

             
We had been talking for over an hour, the sky had burned orange, the moon had risen and we had barely noticed. I nodded forcing myself to stand and hug Victor one last time before David started putting his handcuffs and chains back on.

             
“You’re going to your new location now, and you’re set to be released in a few days.” Hunter assured. “I just figured, Alyssa would want any opening she could get before then.”

             
Victor nodded, “Thank you son. Until next time Miss Alyssa.” He dismissed climbing back into the van so that David could secure him back to the bench, lock the cage door, and then the van doors all over again.

             
“Bye Victor, I’ll see you in a week.” I swore before I walked back to the car with Hunter.

             
Once we got back in the car Hunter breathed, “Alright, let’s get you back home, huh?”

             
He drove me seven and a half hours and almost eight hundred miles to give me what I wanted for just an hour. Hunter was awesome, no more than awesome, he was amazing, I leaned over before we pulled off and planted a kiss on his cheek, “Thank you, Babes.”

             
“You’re welcome.” He sighed getting back on the highway to go back the way we came.

             
We stopped to fuel up again, and to get something to eat at a diner. Hunter was oddly quiet the entire time. “What’s up with you?” I nudged from the driver’s seat getting his attention. “You’re quiet.”

             
“I wanted to talk to you about something before we get back to D.C.” He confided turning his focus on me.

             
My eyes shifted from the road to him and then back to the road, playing the which is more important game. “What’s up?”

             
“I’m going to be going away for a little bit.” He answered.

             
“I thought your job kept you in the pentagon.”

             
“It does… for the most part, but I’m going to head out on a mission.” He clarified. “A few things came up.”

             
“Like what?”

             
His forehead creased and then he perked up once again joking, “I have to keep my world safe you know?”

             
“Is there something you can’t tell me or won’t tell me?” I asked feeling uneasy in my gut. “You know you can trust me right?”

             
“With my life.” He promised, “But some things are easier, if you don’t know.”

             
“Ah, well the government doesn’t really interest me, but my best friend does. Are
you
ok?” I pressed looking away from the road again to search his eyes. “You aren’t leaving because of me or anything are you?”

             
“I’m leaving to keep my world safe Alyssa, don’t flatter yourself.” He snorted leaning back in his seat.

             
I chuckled with him, but then sobered up to ask him again, “You’re ok right?”

             
“Of course I am.” He vowed. “I just have a project I have to see to the end. I put it on hold to help you, but I can’t suspend it for much longer or my trail will cool down.”

             
“So… this is your work and has nothing to do with me.” I breathed an exhale of relief, thinking that being around me would be too much now that the case was over and he wasn’t forced to be around me so much.

             
Hunter rolled his eyes, “What’s with all of the questions Babes, am I losing my honest face or something?”

             
I smirked at him, “No your honest face is still there Hunt, but you know the thing about honest faces…”

             
“And what’s that Babes?”

             
That was the third time that he shirked out of the question I asked him. He told me everything, but I had no doubt at that moment there was something he was keeping from me. “They usually come attached to liars.”

Sneak Peek of Murphy’s Law:

What would Alyssa do?
I asked myself as I sat at the steel table in front of a couple of Arlington's finest. With a few deep breaths it was like her voice filled my head.

I had been forced to put myself inside her head for years, to expect her reactions, to keep her calm, and in the past pull her from her shell. Of course.

Keep calm, pay attention, and be clever with your words. So clever that you can get everything from them and give nothing in return.

My eyes combed between them, assessing which one was mentally the weakest, because any good mental sniper knows that to bring down the big gun, you scare him by trimming the fat first.

"Tawny Kerrigan you are in a lot of trouble." The fat man informed sitting down in front of me. He wiped the sweat from his balding head before opening the file in front of him. The lights and heat were affecting him more than it was me.

I looked at the two-way glass, which no doubt held a few more members of the APD and back at the fat man, "De Luca," I corrected.

"Excuse me?" He wheezed wiping sweat from his face again.

"Kerrigan hasn't been my last name for a while now," I smiled twisting the golden band on my ring finger.

Then my smile faded because I wanted to be with her. To know where she was, what she was doing, I wanted Juan with us and not on the other side of the world with Makenna for safety, but most of all I wanted to know how the team was coping with the losses.

Our team seemed to have a habit of being surrounded by death, but it never quite managed to touch our circle, nowhere near this bad and trouble was nowhere near over…

"Mrs. De Luca…" The fat man repeated bringing me out of my thoughts.

I nodded, "Yes officer Bridges, what can I do for you?"

He shifted in his chair, I knew he would. Officers always felt uncomfortable when you mentioned them by name. It shows that you are paying attention to them. He recovered quickly though. "You know you're in big trouble don't you. Assaulting an officer is a very serious offense."

"I'm aware." I nodded looking over at Sgt. Fields, the officer I punched in the face to get arrested in the first place. "I'm sorry for hurting you. Though I am sure it was more emasculating than it was painful."

"This isn't something that can go away with a sorry." He spat pulling up a chair next to Bridges. His eye was fine, maybe a little bruised, but I could have done worse.

Bridges slapped him on the shoulder and they exchanged a not so private exchange. His
way of telling him to keep calm, because they needed me to cooperate - a means to an end.

"You know… the thing is Mrs. De Luca… we weren't even after you. Did you know that?"

Of course I did, why did they think I punched Sgt. Fields in the face instead of running away? "Oh?" I questioned, "Who were you after?"

Bridges smiled when Fields scoffed in disbelief. "You can't tell me that you didn't know your employer was a suspect-."

"-She
didn't
kill him." I cut harshly.

Fields slapped another file down this time opening it in front of me. There were pictures of the body at the scene of the crime, then on the examining table. I had seen dozens of bodies, but I couldn't take it I had to look away.

Fields argued as he showed me picture after picture, " She was seen by several officers leaving the scene of the crime, her DNA is
all
over that body, even her skin under his nails, how do you explain that?"

I didn't have to explain it, I saw it. "She couldn't leave him."

"Well those lights got her moving fast enough…" Fields carried on.

"You don't understand. She didn't kill him, she
loved
him." I protested as calmly as I could.

Bridges eyed me curiously, "You defend her like you care more about suspect than the victim. Weren't you all-"

"Don't you
dare
!" I threatened losing my cool my voice breaking just a bit. "Don't you dare say what I think you're trying to say. He is ¾ was my friend. You can't fathom how much his death hurts me."

"Then help us put it right." Bridges urged handing me a tissue. "Tell us the whereabouts of Alyssa Marshall."

I swiped at my eyes and shook my head. "Even if I knew I wouldn't tell you. You'd be wasting your time anyway, she didn't kill him. She's being set up."

This was a theory that they obviously had never considered, people always had a habit of taking the answer that was in front of them as the only possible way. "So who is
setting her up
?" Fields asked trying to hide his amusement. "Let's bring them down."

"If it were that simple I wouldn't be in this chair right now." I chuckled grimly. "We're trying to catch a ghost."

"I don't get it." Bridges pondered.

Of course he didn't and I couldn't explain it without sounding more crazy. Gravity was facing it's biggest obstacle we ever faced, and our numbers were dwindling by day. We had no allies, and we were out of tricks because it was literally impossible to fight an enemy that knew all of our moves. This asshole knew everything we were capable of, secret pasts included so he was a step ahead of us every time. No, these idiots couldn't understand that, because I could barely understand it and I am in the middle.

"We're going to tell you plain and simple Miss
Kerrigan
." Fields snapped, "If you can't give us the whereabouts of your boss, we're going to charge you as an accessory and that's a shit load of jail time."

Him calling me Miss Kerrigan annoyed me to no end, and I wanted to smack that confident look off of his face, but instead I squared my shoulders and looked him in the eyes, "Check your file again Sgt. Fields, I'm no stranger to jail."

"This isn't a few weeks in New Haven Miss Kerrigan," He hissed calling my bluff standing to tower over me. "We have two dead bodies, and a missing person. This is hard time were talking about."