Erica Orloff - The Golden Girl

“I’m glad you didn’t quit. We might never have met.”

“Yeah…but it never gets easier. Not really. You toughen up. You learn to tell yourself it’s all part of the risks. That we’re all working for the greater good. That it’s the eternal battle of good versus evil, white hats versus black hats. That we’re on the side of the righteous. But if you care about people, you never get used to watching them go out there in a vest.”

“You know, going through all this…it makes me more determined to be an agent. I’m really proud that Renee asked me to join.”

“Even if you always have to hide that side of your life from John?”

She nodded. “I told him no more secrets. But I guess I tell myself this is different. Like you said, it’s for a greater cause. But I’m also good at it. I was the one who put the puzzle together. I can do this, Troy. Renee’s faith in me wasn’t misplaced. She was right. I can make a difference in a way I never thought possible.”

“All right then, Agent Pruitt…go wash up and get ready. Today’s the day.”

“We’re going to get him, Troy.”

“Let’s hope you’re right.”

Madison rose and turned to go to the bathroom. Two agents were posted outside the motel room.

“Maddie?”

“Hmm?” She turned her head to look at Troy.

“Do me a favor? Wear this?” He took a silver chain from around his neck, a ball design like the kind for dog tags. Suspended at the bottom was a medal.

“What’s this?”

“It’s Saint Christopher. It was my partner’s. I guess I’m superstitious. I want you to wear it.”

“Then I will,” Madison said. “Thank you, Troy.”

Maddie turned from him, her eyes wet with tears. She’d be damned if she was going to let Troy lose another partner.

Chapter 22

The plan was to surprise Bing—and Katherine.

Bing was scheduled to speak at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the waterfront tower property. Katherine—Troy found out by hacking into her scheduler at work—was going to accompany him. Troy had managed to plant a bug on the lapel of Katherine’s suit jacket, which she had left that morning on the back of her desk chair for a few minutes, so the FBI was listening in on their conversations in the limousine.

After the ribbon-cutting, Bing and Katherine were driving to look at a piece of property farther south. It was a fairly open space, also waterfront, and snipers would be posted on the tops of the four warehouses surrounding the area. Once Bing and Katherine got out of the limo, ostensibly to meet the Realtor who’d told them she would be arriving in a Mercedes, Madison would exit the car instead.

In the Mercedes would also be three agents, all crouching. On the way to the meeting site, Madison tested and retested her own wire. She tried to breathe normally, despite the weight of the vest and the way it constricted her rib cage. And she told herself over and over again they were going to get them.

In the vacant lot, the minutes ticked by. Madison saw two vans full of agents, but they were battered old vans that would never arouse suspicion. She reminded herself they were full of men and women ready to protect her at all costs.

Troy reassured her, “Look…he’s expecting a Realtor, not you. Most especially not you. You’re armed, you’re wearing a vest. We’ve got you covered from every angle. The bottom line is, we’re looking for something to hang him and Katherine with—rather than risking that they somehow twist this and pin the whole scheme on your father, or worse, cover their tracks so well they hire a Dream Team defense and get away with it. So we’re looking for a confession of sorts.”

“What if they see you guys?”

“We’ve done this a hundred times before, Madison. Again, they’re not expecting this. You see that van. You see the guys on the roof. They see an abandoned warehouse area and a piece of property they want to buy. They see the Mercedes of the Realtor they’re meeting.”

Madison inhaled and exhaled a few times. Troy’s cell phone rang.

“Yeah…? Okay. We’re ready.”

He hung up. “They’re five minutes away.” He spoke into his wristband, which had a walkie-talkie built into it. “Five minutes, people. Remember, Madison is going to be in the thick of things. At all costs, she is to be protected. Hold fire unless I give the signal. No one get trigger-happy. Let’s do this. And let’s get them.”

Five minutes later, Bing and Katherine’s long, black limo pulled into the gravel area in the center of the four old warehouse buildings. Their driver parked and leaned his seat back, expecting to wait for the two of them as they toured the land. Madison saw him take out a newspaper and start reading.

Bing and Katherine climbed out from the back of the limo, shut the car door, and were talking. Katherine pointed through the warehouses—you could glimpse the Hudson River through the buildings. Madison knew how their minds worked. They loved the property. Hell, if she wasn’t on the case, she’d buy it herself.

Madison waited until their backs were turned slightly, and then she climbed from the Mercedes after a whispered “Good luck” from Troy. Almost involuntarily, she fingered the medal around her neck.

“Hello, Bing. Katherine…” she said as she stood and they faced the direction of her voice.

“Oh, my God,” Katherine said.

Bing’s face was drained completely of color. “How…? How…?”

Madison shut the door of the Mercedes and took a couple of tentative steps toward them.

“Surprised to see me?”

Neither one of them said a word.

“Yeah…shocking, isn’t it? I just refuse to die. You blew up my limo driver, but miraculously I didn’t get blown to smithereens. I’m still standing.”

Bing glared at Katherine. “I thought you said you’d take care of everything.”

“I did.”

“Well, someone screwed up. It’s obviously not taken care of if we still have the former acting CEO of Pruitt & Pruitt standing right in front of us.”

“Sorry to disappoint.” Madison stared at them coolly. “Katherine…why?” Madison asked. “I’ve sung your praises at work…thought you were absolutely someone who was essential to our organization. Why? I mean, not only did you frame my father, but you were willing to kill me…and Claire?”

“I was Claire,” she said, her voice tinged with bitterness. “Years ago. I was the girl who fell in love with Jack Pruitt, who believed in him. Believed in his high ideals. And then he discarded me. Worse, he passed me off to his brother. Like I was something to be traded.”

“So why didn’t you move on, Katherine? Why didn’t you leave the company, find another job?”

“Pruitt & Pruitt was my life.”

“You mean your obsession. Does Bing know?”

“Does Bing know what?” Bing snapped.

“He doesn’t, does he?” Madison suddenly felt more confident. This wasn’t unlike a boardroom meeting, setting the scene, making a case. Manipulating the players if need be.

“I don’t know what?” Bing’s face registered annoyance. Madison knew he hated being in the dark about anything—surprises were his least favorite thing in the world. They once gave him a surprise fiftieth birthday party—and at the Plaza, no less—and he didn’t speak to Jack or Madison for a month afterward.

“Nothing. It’s nothing.” Katherine waved her hand in the air dismissively. “Ignore her.”

“Oh, no…it’s something, all right. Why don’t you tell him, Katherine? You tell him.”

“Tell me what? What is she talking about? This is madness. Get to the point.”

“Do you know Katherine’s real name?”