Michelle Gagnon - The Gatekeeper

Jackson ’s phone rang, and he frowned at Dante’s number. The man was turning out to be such a disappointment. Though Dante was infinitely more capable than the scum he ran with, and had mustered support in arenas that he could never have accessed otherwise, the string of recent failures proved what he had always suspected. Once trash, always trash.

Jackson answered on the fourth ring. “Yes.” He listened, and the frown deepened. A PA appeared at the door and held up five fingers. Jackson nodded to show that he understood, waiting until she was out of earshot to say, “This is very bad news. How did they find it?”

As he listened a red flush rose up his neck, tainting his makeup. “You’re right, under the circumstances we need to reconsider the targets. We’ll switch to the backup sites. Make it happen.”

Jackson hung up and drummed his fingers on the armrest, blood pressure climbing. He fumbled in his jacket pocket for a bottle of pills, popping one in his mouth. As his pulse stabilized he focused on his breathing, eyes closed. It was going to be okay. He’d been very careful, and hopefully Dante had, too. Nothing tied him to that warehouse, and according to Dante it would take the FBI days to sort out the situation anyway. By then it would be too late.

The PA reappeared and Jackson hopped down from the chair, practicing his easy grin as he followed her down a long hallway to the set. In a way, this might be for the best. The new targets were not obvious ones, which meant he wouldn’t have to worry about last-minute security measures. And after all this was over, he’d send Dante on a well-deserved vacation-one he’d never return from.

Jackson rolled his shoulders once, waiting for the applause to begin before bounding onstage to shake the host’s hand. No one can stop me now, he thought, raising both arms to the crowd and letting their approval wash over him.

Kelly scanned the scene. The perimeter now encompassed a full half mile around the warehouse. They had passed through two checkpoints to get within one hundred yards of the building. The entire warehouse had been covered in plastic sheeting, and the parking lot was bumper-to-bumper mobile labs and office units. It was like a small city had been raised within the past twelve hours. Dozens of people hurried from trailer to trailer, most wearing full Hazmat suits and masks, looking like so many moths fluttering around a bulb. It was madness, Kelly thought, taking it all in.

“Jesus,” Rodriguez said, almost reverently. Kelly guessed she wore the same expression of befuddled awe. In all her time with the Bureau, she’d never seen anything quite like this. It drove home the enormity of what they had stumbled across.

Someone directed them to one of the many trailers, and she stood on the threshold. It was packed with people, a solid mass of bodies. Leonard leaned against a desk on the far side of the room, flanked by two other agents in matching suit pants and windbreakers. He was in his mid-fifties, taller than average with a beaklike nose and dyed hair. Against the opposite wall, facing him, stood Jake.

Kelly was surprised by a sudden welling of emotion. All the events of the past week caught up with her, and she had to restrain herself from rushing into his arms. As if sensing her, Jake turned. A slow smile spread across his face and he crossed the trailer in two long strides, elbowing people out of the way. He grabbed her in a tight hug and kissed her hair.

“Hey, babe. I missed you,” he whispered.

Kelly let herself relax into him for a moment before becoming aware of everyone’s stares. She stiffened and pulled away, managing a weak smile.

“So you two know each other,” Leonard said drily.

“This is my fiancé,” Kelly said, self-consciously running a hand through her hair.

“We were discussing what a strange coincidence that is.” Leonard’s face had hardened, as if he’d like nothing better than to slap handcuffs on her wrists.

“So has there been a break in the case?” Rodriguez asked, crowding in behind her.

Kelly stepped forward to give him room, at the same time surveying the rest of the crowd. She recognized Syd, who issued a nod along with her usual look of dismissive disdain. Another agent, an Asian man, stood next to her. The mood in the trailer wasn’t friendly.

“You could say that. Apparently the vic hired these people,” Leonard said, pronouncing it as though their status as people was in question, “to find his daughter. Then he disappeared.”

“Where’s the daughter?” Kelly asked, turning to Jake.

“Fine. At a hospital in Sacramento with her mother and sister.”

Leonard’s cell rang and he made a show of turning away, as if privacy was possible under the circumstances. “Agent Leonard.”

They all stayed in place as if frozen, waiting for him to finish. Kelly felt Jake’s arm wrap around her waist, his thumb stroking her side through her shirt, and she repressed a shiver. Now that he was here, all of her doubts about their future seemed silly.

Leonard hung up.

“Well?” Syd asked.

“I’m afraid everything about this investigation is on a need-to-know basis,” Leonard said dismissively.

“This is my investigation,” Kelly said fiercely, taking a step forward.

“Was. Now it’s being overseen by a joint task force, under the umbrella of Homeland Security.” Leonard eyed her coolly. “You don’t like that, take it up with your boss. He signed off on it.”

“C’mon everyone. Let’s take this down a few notches,” the Asian agent said. “We’re all on the same team.”

“Not really,” retorted Leonard. “Unless I’m mistaken, those two-” he pointed at Jake and Syd “-are civilians.”

“Civilians who have information about your vic, and might be able to shine light on what’s going on,” the agent continued calmly. “And I’m guessing time is short. We play nice, everyone wins.”

Leonard opened his mouth to reply, but Syd cut him off. “I know what Randall was working on. What he might have given them.”

Jake snapped his head toward her. Interesting, Kelly thought, that Syd hadn’t shared that information with her new partner.

“We’re already working on…”

“Getting that information? From the facility?” Syd snorted. “Good luck with that. I’m guessing they’re so busy trying to cover their asses right now they’ve buried you in red tape.”

Leonard looked peeved, but shrugged. “So? What’s the connection?”

“Randall was in charge of making sure all low-level radioactive waste was transferred to a few high security facilities. My guess is, he was paid to reroute a few of them. That jibe with what you found inside?” Syd jerked her head toward the warehouse.

“Maybe,” Leonard said noncommittally.

“Randall was a trained physicist. If they were trying to construct, oh, say, a dirty bomb-” Leonard stiffened visibly at the word, and Syd flashed a smug smile “-they’d need someone like him to provide access to radiation sources. So they kept him at the facility, and kidnapped his daughter when money wasn’t enough to persuade him. Then they grabbed him for the second phase, to process the raw material. That fit your scenario?”

Leonard shifted, glancing at his partners before saying, “It fits.”

Kelly recognized the look in Jake’s eye. She’d only seen him that angry once before. “And you figured this out when?” He asked evenly, the accusation plain in his voice.

Syd waved him off. “Relax. It came to me on the flight, once George told us what they found here.”

“Thanks for the input,” Leonard said. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to work.”

“What, that didn’t help?” the Asian guy asked.