Hindsight Page 2

  * * *

  She shouldn’t have mentioned the red underwear, Kendra thought as the C-130 took off. It had probably been the crowning blow as far as Kotcheff was concerned. She’d held on as long as she could, but he’d been so damn obnoxious. She’d be lucky if that pompous asshole didn’t scramble some F-18s to shoot down the plane. Yet she hadn’t been able to resist that last parting shot. She had been so angry and frustrated…and hurt.

  Face it: Not about the smirking general, about what Lynch had done to her.

  Yes, she had tried to smother it, but there had also been hurt mixed up in all those other emotions she had felt toward Adam Lynch today. How could there not be after these years when they had been friends and partners, solved cases, laughed, gone through terror, watched each other’s backs, while constantly growing closer and closer?

  Until only recently when that inevitable sexual explosion had almost torn her apart.

  Don’t think about it. She had been right to try to take an immediate step back after that mistake. She had a career, friends, and a mother, all of which filled and enriched her life. She had no need of Lynch and he clearly had no need of her if he could betray her as he’d done today.

  Her satellite phone was ringing. She glanced down at the ID.

  Adam Lynch.

  She let her voicemail pick it up.

  Four minutes later her phone rang again.

  Lynch.

  Screw him.

  She turned her phone off.

  She leaned back and closed her eyes. Concentrate. She couldn’t let Lynch do this to her. Try to think of a way to pull enough strings to get her visa reinstated so that she could go back to Kabul…

  “Dr. Michaels, you have a telephone call.” She opened her eyes fifteen minutes later to see a very irate copilot glaring down at her. He thrust his phone at her. “I have orders from General Kotcheff that you’re to take this call. I’d appreciate you doing it immediately so that I can have my phone back.” He added sarcastically, “There just might be an emergency.”

  He turned on his heel and strode back to the cockpit.

  Kotcheff? He must have been even more pissed off than Kendra had thought.

  She lifted the phone to her ear. “You’re not going to get an apology, Kotcheff.”

  “I don’t believe he expects one,” Adam Lynch said. “He’s too busy gathering the shards of his dignity around him at present. Bright red underwear, Kendra? Seriously? Now, I can wait for you to tell me how you knew the rest of it, but I really have to know about the red underwear.”

  She stiffened. “I’m hanging up, Lynch.”

  “I don’t think so. That copilot would only get another call from Kotcheff, and that would further indicate what a disruptive influence you can be. You might never get your visa reinstated. Wouldn’t it be simpler to just talk to me and get it over with?”

  “No.” But she had to consider her options. It wasn’t smart to let stubbornness get in the way of long-term goals. “Nothing is ever simple with you, Lynch. Particularly the outrage you’ve managed to concoct this time.” She paused. “You talk, I’ll listen. Then I get to hang up and forget about you. I only have one question I want you to answer: How the hell did you have the nerve to go to these extreme lengths just to get me thrown out of Afghanistan?”

  “With equally extreme trepidation. You can see how terrified I was if I had to send Jessie to keep you from blowing up the base.”

  “I noticed you decided to cower at a safe distance and let her take the flak. You didn’t even tell her what happened last night. Were you afraid she’d agree that I was right and not let you get away with this?”

  “There was always that possibility. Jessie is super sharp and she wants to bring down Brock Limited as much as you and I do. She might have thought that I was wrong.” He chuckled. “Ouch. That hurt. Naturally, she’d be wrong, but there’s still a sting to my ego.”

  “Gigantic ego,” she amplified. He was taking this too casually. She could almost see him sitting there, those movie-star good looks, the blue eyes dancing with mischief. “But you went too far this time, Lynch.”

  He was silent. “I don’t agree. I only hope I went far enough.” He paused. “And the reason I sent Jessie was that I was too busy trying to pull this situation out of the toilet to come myself. I had to work fast to get you safely out of the country.”

  “Which should never have happened.”

  “The hell it shouldn’t.” His voice was suddenly rough. “There was no way I was going to let you be a target for those sons of bitches. The Taliban were probably already sharpening up their scimitars by the time you left my apartment.”

  “You don’t know that. I got the first clue we’d found since we arrived here in Afghanistan that Brock Limited was actually making deals with the Taliban for weapons. All you had to do was follow up on it.” She added fiercely, “And I should have gone with you. I had the right.”

  “Yes, you did.” He didn’t speak for a moment. “You’ve done a great job since we got here, and under normal circumstances I’d have let you go for it.”

  “Let me?”

  “Wrong word. Just calm down and let me go over my side of what happened last night so that you might see why I did what I did.”

  “Not likely,” she said bitterly.

  He ignored the comment. “Look, from the moment we arrived in Kabul, you were on fire. You were doing everything you could to find evidence that Brock Limited had been involved in corruption since they opened their headquarters here. Not only that, but you were looking for documents that Brock’s main headquarters in the U.S. stashed away here.”

  “So were we all,” she said defensively. “Why are you acting as if I was the only one?”

  “Because you were the only one on fire,” he said quietly. “You couldn’t help it. That’s the way you operate. And you were smart, you were careful, but you had a skill that Jessie and I didn’t have. It was natural that you were driven to use it.” His voice hardened. “But why the hell couldn’t you wait for us before you went after them?”

  “Because I wasn’t sure I was right. I thought I smelled that same damn cinnamon scent at the Brock headquarters as I did in the Tangi Valley, where the Taliban has a strong presence. I had to check it out to make sure I wasn’t mistaken.”

  “And got yourself shot by a sentry.”

  “It was only a scratch. And I got away without anyone getting a glimpse of me. Anyway, I got the verification we needed. And we might be able to nail them.” She added hotly, “I was careful. I did everything right. So why the hell am I on this damn plane?”

  “You got shot. I’d hardly call that doing everything right. I’m not giving them another chance at you.”

  “I told you, they couldn’t have known it was me.”

  “They’ll know someone is investigating the conspiracy that they desperately want to keep secret. The first thing Brock and the Taliban will do is scatter and dissolve any sign of collusion. It’s probably being done already. The second thing they’ll do is start an investigation of their own. They’ll move very fast, Kendra.”

  “Then we should move faster. We can find the evidence we need.” She was frantically trying to salvage an opportunity that seemed to offer so much hope. “Bring me back there, and I’ll start to—”

  “It’s not going to happen, Kendra. No way on Earth I’m going to yank you back here and make you a target.” He paused. “We’re going to shut down the operation for the time being.”

  “What? No!”

  “Yes,” he stated firmly. “Right now there’s no actual proof we got that close to any cozy arrangement existing between Brock and the Taliban. As I said, they’ll probably scatter and be cautious for a while. We need them to feel safe enough that they’ll come back and let us get that proof. Temporarily, I’ll turn our mission over to the CIA to see what they can dig up. Jessie and I will stay here for a little while and continue to look as if we’re still searching for clues, before we su
pposedly throw in the towel in disgust. You will have already officially given up the search, and Kotcheff’s records will show that you left Kabul three days ago.”

  He was rattling off plans with his typical efficiency, but she wasn’t happy with any of it.

  “I don’t like it. It’s giving up. There has to be some other way to do it.”

  “And I don’t like the idea of anyone thinking that you know too much and they have to put you out of commission,” he said grimly. “That was a flesh wound, but you left blood at the scene. The Taliban might not be up to tracing your DNA through that blood, but the Brock medics would have no problem.” Lynch continued crisply, “Listen to me, here’s how it goes. You left Kabul three days ago and promptly forgot the place ever existed. In fact, you were immediately involved in an FBI case that had absolutely nothing to do with Brock Limited or Afghanistan.”

  She tensed. “Is that an order?”

  “I wish it could be,” he said wryly. “I’ll have to settle for calling Griffin with the FBI and begging him to find some way to cover for you.”

  “Ridiculous. You never beg Griffin for anything.”

  “Until now,” he said softly. “I’d beg him to keep you safe.”

  “Is that supposed to make me feel all warm and fuzzy?” she asked coldly. “It’s not working. I’ve no intention of forgiving you. Getting me thrown out of Afghanistan was completely unnecessary. You could have found a way to handle the situation that left me with dignity intact.”

  “I admit I wasn’t overly concerned with your dignity at the time. I was more worried about Brock or the Taliban finding out that it was you who’d made that connection and coming to look for you.” He paused. “And to be honest, I’d do it all again if it meant that it had the same result. Afghanistan can’t exist for you any longer. It’s not safe. Forget about it.” He suddenly chuckled. “Saying that, I’d judge it would be very wise to make my exit quickly before you verbally strike me down. I’ll be in touch. Have a good flight, Kendra.” He cut the connection.

  Always the last word, Kendra thought as she looked down at the phone with frustration. Even as furious and upset as she was with him, he’d still managed to do it.

  As well as disturbed her and turned her life upside down with his orders and this latest outrageous action. He always thought he knew best because all those corporations and governments believed he walked on water. Yes, he was brilliant and able to pull strings that no one else even knew were there, but he wasn’t always right. He was sending her home where she was presumably safe, but what about Jessie Mercado and him? They could still both be in danger. They had started this mission together, and they should finish it together. But now he was arbitrarily putting it on hold and sending her off to pretend she was working with Griffin and the FBI again?

  No way. He might have been able to ban her from Afghanistan, but he had no control of her once she was back on U.S. soil. She worked with the FBI only at her own discretion, not Lynch’s. She’d go back to teaching her students until she decided what she wanted to do next.

  The phone was ringing.

  A text.

  DON’T THINK I’VE FORGOTTEN ABOUT THE RED UNDERWEAR. IT’S STILL INTRIGUING ME. BUT I’LL LET YOU EXPLAIN THAT THE NEXT TIME I SEE YOU. CONTACTED GRIFFIN. HE’LL BE WAITING EAGERLY FOR YOU THE MINUTE THAT C-130 LANDS.

  LYNCH

  Damn him!

  * * *

  Naval Air Station

  North Island

  Coronado, California

  The first person Kendra saw when she climbed down the steps of the C-130 was FBI Special Agent in Charge Michael Griffin, who was standing beside a black SUV several yards from the aircraft.

  “Hello, Kendra. You don’t look too happy. I wonder why.” He smiled sourly as he took her elbow and nudged her toward the SUV. “Could it be that you’ve gotten your fill of Adam Lynch this time? Join the club. Now you know how I feel when I have to deal with him.”

  “But I notice that you still come when he calls you. You’re a busy man. There’s no way you have time to show up yourself to pick me up.” She looked at the troops being processed out of the transport plane. “Nor go through all the hassle of dealing with the military and the Justice Department to slip me out of here with no problem when my documents are, shall we say, questionable.”

  “Lynch has been pulling in favors since you left Afghanistan to make you fade into the landscape as soon as you hit the tarmac.” His lips twisted. “I’m just one of the primary pieces in the main puzzle. He had to offer me a mega-favor to get me to take you under my wing.”

  “Well, I won’t bother you for very long,” she said coolly as she stopped in front of the SUV. “You can drop me off at my condo and I’ll handle my own repatriation from here on. But by all means take advantage of whatever favor he offered you. Stick it to him. He deserves it.”

  Griffin looked at her in surprise and then chuckled. “He really did piss you off,” he said as he opened the car door for her. “Would you care to elaborate?”

  “Isn’t getting me thrown out of Afghanistan enough? He thinks he owns the world. Let him pay for it.” She climbed into the car. “Just get me off this base and let me go back to running my own life. Your work is officially done.”

  “Well, not exactly,” Griffin said. “Lynch always strikes a hard bargain. In order to get my particular payoff, I have to produce results that will make him content.” He gestured to the bustling military hubbub going on around them. “This was only the beginning.”

  She tensed. “What are you talking about?”

  “It appears that he’s apprehensive about your well-being and wants me to take the heat off you until he can do it himself. I believe you discussed it?”

  “He discussed it. I didn’t agree to anything.” She gazed directly into his eyes. “Drop me off at my condo.”

  “You’re being very difficult.” He sighed. “I can assign you surveillance but apparently that won’t be enough. Lynch wants to make sure that whatever you did in Afghanistan won’t be traced back to you.” His brows rose as he asked curiously, “What did you do?”

  “Nothing that should have put me in this position. I’m surprised Lynch didn’t share it with you since you seem to be such friends.”

  “You shouldn’t be. Lynch doesn’t share anything with anyone, except maybe you. He told me what he needed and that you probably wouldn’t want to give it to him. He told me to get it for him.” He grimaced. “He made me feel like a pimp. I reminded him that I was head of this office and I’d do what I damn well pleased.”

  “Yet here you are.”

  He shrugged. “He made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. So my team spent the last eighteen hours focused on getting him what he needed. He made it clear that this meant making it look like you’ve been working on an FBI case during the past week…a project you’ll continue for the foreseeable future. Now, what would make you want to do that?” He chuckled. “I guarantee you’ve never been this carefully researched before.” He started the car. “It became almost a game to my agents.”

  “Which I regard as the ultimate violation of my privacy.”

  “It was done very respectfully. You have an awesome reputation.”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  “Well, you’re not always polite, but they do respect you. And your friend Agent Metcalf likes and respects you.” He darted a glance at her face. “And he’s known you long enough that he’s able to see things other agents might ignore. He knew what would push your buttons. Yes, I think Metcalf might have won the grand prize.”

  “I like Metcalf. But I have no intention of joining your happy little group. I’ll go back to teaching my music students until I find a way to get back to Kabul. And there’s no way you can convince me to do anything. Give it up, Griffin.”

  “I haven’t begun to fight yet,” he murmured. “Let’s play our own game, Kendra. You want me to take you to your condo? No problem. There’s a manila folder on the floor at your feet.
Pick it up and open it. It’s the case that Metcalf thought might tip you over the edge. Read it. Study it. Then tell me whether you want me to drive you home. Or whether you want me to take you to the regional office so that you can talk to Metcalf.”

  Kendra hesitated, then slowly picked up the folder. It was probably a mistake. She should probably just refuse to open it and ask to be taken home. Griffin was brilliant and had no compunction about manipulating people to suit himself. If he thought he had something that might intrigue her, then he probably did.

  But she was curious, dammit. She wanted to know why Metcalf had thought this case would interest her.

  She slowly opened the folder.

  She inhaled sharply as she looked down at the photo on the first page.

  “Kendra?” Griffin said softly.

  She couldn’t take her gaze from that photo.

  Griffin tilted his head, his eyes narrowed on her face. “Your condo or the regional office?”

  The bastard knew he had her.

  “Neither.”

  “You have someplace else in mind?”

  She held up the photo. “Take me here.”

  “It’s late. It’s already getting dark.”

  “I don’t care.”

  “Your time will be better spent at the office, getting brought up to speed. Tomorrow we can go out there, and—”

  “Now.” Kendra flipped the pages of the file. “Or you can drop me off at my condo and I’ll drive myself. But one way or another, I’m going there tonight.”

  Griffin sighed. “Okay. Fine. I’ll have Metcalf meet us there.”

  “That’ll work,” she said jerkily, her eyes already devouring the text. “I’ll read the report on the way.”

  Chapter

  2

  Woodward Academy for the Physically Disabled

  Oceanside, California