Why am I watching this? Why? The video is going to show him getting killed. Oh, God.
She watched in horror as Anthony and his team walked right into the trap. Women were screaming for help. They were coming to their aid trying to get to them to save them. He knew there were victims in there and he was doing his job.
She saw them turn, the team of three and another set of four a distance behind them.
She knew it was Anthony. His stance, his body language, even in undercover clothes. The shots rang out. A series of pop, pop, pop filtered through the air. They hit him. He threw himself in front of his men, taking the initial blows, trying to protect them. But the rapid gunfire continued, until all three men were down on the ground and others were yelling and firing back.
Anthony. Oh, God, Anthony, you were so brave. You put yourself in the line of fire to try to save your men. Oh, God. Dooley killed you. Dooley is responsible for all of this.
“Baby? J.J., honey, can you hear me?”
Conway. What am I going to do? How do I explain this to them?
“J.J.?” Calder raised his voice.
She locked gazes with him. He looked so upset, and she realized that the tears were rolling down her cheeks.
“We shouldn’t have let her watch it. Maybe it brought back memories of the incident?” Lincoln stated from the side of her.
“Fuck. She’s not even responding,” Conway stated.
She jumped up.
“I’m okay. I’m okay,” she said and tried to flee the room. She just needed a few moments to organize her thoughts, to face and accept what she’d just seen. There was rage, anger, sadness, regret, and so many different emotions running through her system. She wanted to cry out in agony for her loss. She loved Anthony, but she couldn’t do that, show that in front of these men. Calder, Conway, Lincoln, and Brook would be insulted, upset, or even angry with her. She didn’t know. She was too scared to face it to tell them. Calder grabbed her by her arms and gave her a shake.
“J.J. Snap out of it and talk to us.”
She looked up into his eyes. He was pissed off already.
“I can’t. Not yet. Please. Not yet.”
She hugged him and he hugged her back. She knew she’d probably confused him and she was buying herself time. Time to tell them that she had been engaged to Anthony, had been in love and that he had died. It was him being killed in that video and Dooley was responsible. She felt hatred. So much hatred and disgust for the congressman. She wanted to kill him. With her bare hands, with a gun, with anything she could get her hands on, just make him suffer.
She was crying hard against Calder’s chest, and then he was carrying her out of the room.
It hit her all at once. As Calder sat down on her bed, with her standing between his legs. She looked at the others. All concerned, all angry. And she said the first thing that came to her head.
“I’m going to kill Congressman Dooley. I don’t care if I die in the process. He’s going to die, and I’m going to kill him.”
Chapter 9
Dooley downed another glass of scotch as he stared at the computer screen. They were getting worse. Someone had hacked into all his computer programs, his cell phone, his contacts, and were spreading these pictures of him and words accusing him of rape, murder, and being a cop killer. They were popping up everywhere. People were calling him, and his own security team and computer people couldn’t figure it out.
He felt the warm liquid burn down his throat. He was done, finished, and it was all that little bitch’s fault. Where the fuck was she hiding out? Who was helping her to do this to him? If they knew about the video tapes, and they knew about the murders and had evidence, how could he stop them?
He was shaking with anger. He couldn’t even call the McCues. They were picked up by a group of CIA agents, none of which were loyal to Dooley, and they were being charged with numerous crimes, including prostitution. He was next. At any moment they were going to come to that door and take him away. All his crimes, all his pleasure would become public record. If that bitch thought she was going to get the last laugh, she was wrong. Dead fucking wrong.
He picked up the phone and made the call.
“Do it. Take Reynolds out. This is the last thing I’ll ask of you.” He didn’t listen to anything else. His guy would handle it. He’d kill Reynolds and leave that bitch with nothing, no one. See how she liked that.
* * * *
“She clammed up. She won’t talk to any of us. What the fuck is going through her head?” Lincoln asked as he paced the kitchen. Brook was making a pot of coffee. It was just giving him something to do.
“Something isn’t right. It was a difficult video to watch, but she seemed so intense and emotional over it. Was it just because Dooley was responsible? Was it because of her loyalty as a police officer? What?” Lincoln asked.
“Let Conway figure it out with her. We’ve got more bad news, and considering how J.J. feels about Reynolds, she might just lose it,” Calder stated as he stood in the doorway. His hands were on his hips and Brook thought he looked really upset.