The Sixth Man (Sean King & Michelle Maxwell 5)

“Exactly.”

“It’ll have to be some damn heavy-duty stuff.”

“Yes it will,” said Sean.

“Do you have any in mind?”

“Yes I do.”

“When do we do it?”

“Tonight of course.”

CHAPTER

36

CARLA DUKES PULLED her car into her garage around nine o’clock. She unlocked the door that led into the kitchen, put her bag down, and stood in front of the alarm code pad, her finger poised to hit the appropriate buttons. It took her a moment to realize that there was no high-pitched squeal from the alarm system telling her that she had to disarm it before the delay ran out.

That was because the alarm wasn’t on.

She whirled around.

Sean stood there, the butt of his gun visible at the waist.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Dukes demanded.

“I need to talk to you.”

“You broke into my house.”

“No I didn’t. The door was open.”

“Bullshit. I lock everything up before I leave and then arm the system.”

“You must’ve forgotten. As you can see, the alarm system is off.”

“Then you turned it off.”

“I said, you said.”

“You’re in my house. I’m calling the police.” She eyed his gun.

He looked at where she was looking. “It’s a Beretta nine mil. Standard issue for the FBI, ironically enough.”

She slid her cell phone from her purse. “Good, why don’t we call them to come over and collect it and you?”

Before she could hit even one button, Sean said, “Would Agent Murdock want to know you’re working for someone else?”

“All right. I am with the FBI. And therefore I can arrest you right now. But instead I’ll give you five seconds to get the hell out of here.”

Sean didn’t move. He just looked at her, a tight smile edging across his features. “Just so you understand, Carla, the next minute or so will determine whether you end up in a federal prison or not.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You just made a big mistake.”

“I’m warning you.”