I take a deep breath of relief and grin. “You were saying?”
~
“That’s a pretty big fish you reeled in,” the detective from the local police tells me moments after I have the satisfaction of watching Bruno Zane getting hauled away in cuffs. “Congratulations, Agent…”
“Chandler,” I supply him with my last name as I shake the hand he’s offering. “Thank you, Detective.”
A big fish indeed. Slippery. Fierce. For a moment there, I thought he’d pull me overboard and bring me down with him. But he didn’t. I caught him. And now it’s up to the law to clean him, fillet him and throw him into the pot for the world to tear him to shreds. I can’t say that sounds appetizing, but hey, it’s a hard-earned meal.
As a woman from animal control passes in front of me carrying a baby monkey, I feel a swell of pride. Bruno Zane behind bars? That’s good. Knowing that animals are going back to their families, their homes? That’s better.
At that sense of accomplishment, I can’t help but smile. It’s moments like this that make me glad I joined the FBI.
“I have to say, though, I’m stunned that you did this alone,” the detective remarks.
I look at him. “I’m not alone.”
He glances around. “Well, I don’t see anyone else from your… bureau.”
I shrug. “Yeah. Well, they’re busy.”
Following orders.
The detective nods. “Anyway, I don’t know if I think you’re stupid or very brave.”
My eyebrows crease. Did he just insult me?
“But I do know you’re lucky,” he adds.
I say nothing. I used to have a horseshoe keychain attached to my school backpack. I used to draw a tiny four-leaf clover at the corner of my test paper. But I don’t believe in luck anymore.
“Also, you look cute with that wig,” he says. “But then you already know that, right? That’s why you’re still wearing it?”
I quickly take it off. Shit. I didn’t realize I was still in costume.
I throw the detective a puzzled look as he chuckles. Seriously, is he making fun of me or flirting with me?
Before I can figure it out, my phone, which I managed to get back just minutes ago, rings. I answer it.
“Agent Chandler.”
“Good morning, Agent Chandler,” my supervisor greets me.
Shit.
“It is already morning where you are, isn’t it? Say 3:00 AM?” I hear the dismay in her tone clearly.
I glance at my watch. It is. She knows exactly where I am.
I sigh. “Janine, I can explain…”
“I’ll see you in my office at ten.”
She hangs up.
I roll my eyes. Great. I don’t know if I’m brave or stupid or lucky, but I do know this:
I’m in trouble.
~
“What were you thinking, Allie?” Janine starts spouting her lecture as soon as I close the door behind me.
She’s strong. She’s intelligent. She really rocks those suits she wears – even the plaid one she’s wearing right now. And I love her. But sometimes, she acts more like a mother than my mother.
“What on earth?” Her brows furrow in dismay as she takes my bandaged hands in hers.
“They’re not that bad.” I pull my hands away. “Just a few cuts.”
She puts a hand on her hip. “Really?”
“More like scratches, really,” I correct myself. “And to answer your first question, you said we didn’t have enough evidence to bring Bruno Zane down, so I decided to get some.”
“You decided to get some?” Janine’s eyebrows arch. “Just like that?”
She snaps a finger.
“Well, I didn’t just barge into Bruno Zane’s house, if that’s what you’re asking,” I tell her. “I’m not that crazy or suicidal. I prepared. I had a plan.”
“A plan that involved dressing up as a man Bruno Zane knew well…”
“I’ve dressed as a man before,” I remind her.
“Having dinner with a madman and getting yourself transported to a heavily guarded mansion in the trunk of a car,” Janine goes on. “Also, getting tied up in a basement and using said madman as hostage.”
“Which was a brilliant move, I think,” I say.
The hostage taking. Not the bondage part.
“Also, setting nearly a hundred animals loose,” Janine adds.
I put my hands up. “That was not my doing.”
But I think I know whose it might be. Not that I’m telling.
She heads back to her desk. “So, tell me, how was any of that not crazy or suicidal?”
I sigh. She’s not listening to me, is she?
I approach her desk. “Janine, I…”
“Oh, did I mention you didn’t have any backup?” Janine unbuttons her jacket before sitting in her chair.
I sit in the one in front of her desk. “I thought you said the Chief said we didn’t have manpower to spare. That’s why the operation wasn’t approved.”
“You were part of that manpower he was talking about, too, you know,” she points out.
I shrug. “Clearly, you could spare me.”
Janine’s eyes narrow as she leans forward. “Clearly, you could have been killed.”
“The police arrived in time,” I remind her.