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  Lara needed to handle this the way she handled things. Not the way Nick handled things.

  Lara didn’t have much hope that Christina would be able to track Halpert. And Halpert was too smart to keep this conversation going if Christina somehow could do it.

  So as far as Lara was concerned, this conversation was over.

  “Well, I’m certainly sorry to bore you Agent Grant.” Halpert paused for so long Lara thought he might have disconnected their communication.

  “Are we done, Halpert? I have work to get to. Like I said, go ahead and release whatever you want about me. I don’t care.”

  When Halpert spoke this time his voice was a little tighter. Good. “Are you sure you don’t want to know where the bomb is, Lara?”

  “It’s not going to change my answer.”

  “I did leave a you a little clue in your computer monitor.”

  Lara leaned forward to look, but didn’t see anything but the white letters and red background.

  “What, Halpert? I don’t see it.”

  “What if I tell you the bomb is in your screen, Lara? Would that make a difference in our little game?”

  She heard a couple of members of the team gasp and curse around her. She waved her arms to make sure everyone stayed away from her desk.

  “Don’t jerk back too quickly. You might set it off. A pretty little explosive, just enough to take you out. Now, should we start the game again, Lara? Maybe this time you’ll take it more seriously. Give me the respect I deserve.”

  He was bluffing. He had to be. But even if he wasn’t, right at this moment Lara didn’t care. Nobody else from the team was around. They wouldn’t be hurt. She would not give this asshole what he wanted even if it cost her her life. Screw it. If Halpert had a bomb planted and was going to take Lara out, then just let him.

  “Halpert...”

  “Yes, Agent Grant?” He sounded so much more smug this time.

  “My answer is still fuck you. If you’re going to blow me up, do it. Do it right now.”

  “Lara—” Nick called out but she ignored him.

  “I’m right here, Halpert. And I don’t have a bit of a respect for someone like you, you pencil-dicked little—”

  “Goddammit, Lara!” Lara heard the desperation in Nick’s tone and prepared herself for the blast.

  But it never came.

  “He disconnected,” Christina said. “He can no longer hear us, nor can we hear him. I’m working on keeping him permanently out but it’s going to take a little time.”

  “What the hell is the matter with you?” Nick roared. “He could’ve killed you.”

  “He was bluffing,” Lara snapped back.

  “But you didn’t know that!”

  Everyone else in the room began looking around other places. Anywhere but at the two of them.

  Nick glared at her. “My office. Now.”

  “Your office?” Her tone met his in volume and anger now. “It’s our office.”

  Neither of them said anything until they walked into Victoria’s office, because that’s whose it still really was, and slammed the door.

  “That sort of behavior is reckless and stupid, Lara. You didn’t know he was bluffing. Halpert is a genius and having a bomb in your computer wasn’t outside of the realm of possibility. Difficult, yes, but not impossible.”

  “First of all, you’re not my superior and second of all, it was a calculated risk I was willing to take.”

  “It doesn’t matter who is whose superior. You can’t just risk your life like you did just now. You’re part of this team. A critical part.”

  “Halpert is an overgrown bully. He probably got pushed around as a kid or whatever and now that he’s got some power, he’s going to bully everyone else.” Her volume rose more. “Well, no more. Not with me. Someone had to stand up to him.”

  “You don’t care about your own life, Lara! We need you.” All of a sudden the fight seemed to have fled from Nick altogether. “I need you.”

  Lara refused to be drawn in to the emotion in Nick’s eyes. Refused to hear what he really wanted to say.

  Not because she didn’t feel the same emotions but because she couldn’t handle where they might lead.

  Lara didn’t do real. Not when it came to emotions.

  “Yeah, Nick. You do need me. You need me because I’m willing to bend the rules when all you know how to do is follow them.” She could tell her words wounded him, but didn’t stop. Couldn’t stop. “You need me to do the things you’re not willing to do.”

  He didn’t flinch as he looked at her. “Like be an uncaring bitch?”

  She knew he could mean when she’d forced Halpert’s hand with the bomb, risking her life. But he didn’t. He meant now. What she was saying. The distance she was forcing between them.

  But she would pretend like she didn’t know that.

  “Someone has to look a bully in the eye and force his hand. I will always be willing to do that. Even if it’s not the smart or the popular thing to do.”

  “But just remember you’re not fighting this war alone, Lara. We’re a team. Not me and you.” He stopped and cleared his throat. “Not just me and you. All of CMU—we’re a team. This time you might have won the battle, but—”

  Xander burst in without knocking, face pale.

  “What the hell is it, Xander?” Lara asked.

  “We need you guys out here.”

  Lara’s eyes met Nicks. Had there really been some explosive but Halpert just hadn’t used it?

  Lara and Nick rushed out to the bullpen.

  It was another message from Halpert. Repeating itself over and over. The same white lettering against the gaudy red background.

  LARA’S TOO BUSY TO PLAY? FINE.

  XANDER: MADDY HARRINGTON. NICK: JASON DELANO. JENNIFER: LOUISA HAMILTON. JAMES: WILLIAM WALSH. TY: MICHAEL DAVIDSON.

  SHE DOESN’T CARE ABOUT HER SECRETS. DO YOU CARE ABOUT YOURS?

  * * * * *

  Lara set herself up as bait, but Mitchell Halpert is going after her whole team—and threatening to expose their secrets. Lara needs to fix this—and fast. The Whisperer has messed with the wrong city, the wrong team, the wrong agent. And now Lara has him in her sights...

  TOUGH JUSTICE:

  COUNTDOWN

  (Part 6 of 8)

  Emmy Curtis

  Going Rogue

  When the Crisis Management Unit finally catch a break that may lead straight to their key suspect, Special Agent Lara Grant takes the bait he’s offered only to her. She’s ready to match wits with a madman if it means solving the case and stopping the bomber. But when her risky strategy of playing the lone wolf goes critically wrong, she wonders whether her willingness to do whatever it takes—alone—will prove to be the fatal choice...

  Part 6 of 8: an explosive new installment in the thrilling FBI serial from New York Times bestselling author Carla Cassidy and Tyler Anne Snell, Emmy Curtis and Janie Crouch.

  For Susan Litman, who got me over the finish line.

  Contents

  Episode Six

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Episode Six

  Agent Lara Grant has screwed up. Royally. All of her CMU teammates’ secrets are to be exposed or more innocent lives will be taken. Mitchell Halpert should know that when Lara is pushed to her limit, she never goes down without a fight. And with so much at stake, Halpert better run for cover because Lara isn’t in the mood to forgive or forget
. She’s in the mood to take him down—for good…

  Chapter One

  “What did you do? Dammit, Lara!” Nick glared at her with barely reined-in fury.

  The others were transfixed by the text floating across their screens like it was a news station’s ticker tape. Breaking News—you’re not the only one with secrets, Lara Grant.

  “Are you kidding me?” Xander exploded.

  LARA’S TOO BUSY TO PLAY? FINE.

  XANDER: MADDY HARRINGTON. NICK: JASON DELANO. JENNIFER: LOUISA HAMILTON. JAMES: WILLIAM WALSH. TY: MICHAEL DAVIDSON.

  SHE DOESN’T CARE ABOUT HER SECRETS. DO YOU CARE ABOUT YOURS?

  “Dammit, Christina, do something,” Ty yelled.

  Christina swore, then ran from the room.

  “Okay, everyone. Take a breath. There’s no sense in panicking,” Lara said, waving her arms to quiet everyone down.

  The lid blew off the pressure cooker.

  “You can talk. You did this. You forgot you are an agent—again—and replied to him. Provoked him. Provoked this. It’s always you, Lara,” Xander said with gritted teeth.

  Lara took a step back. Xander’s gaze was accusatory, and no one was coming to her defense. “What—” she started.

  “When has any other member of the team got us into trouble, chased a lead without telling anyone, deliberately put themselves in the line of fire, made a bad judgment call...”

  “You’re out of line, Xander,” James bellowed. “Way. Out. Of. Line.” He jumped up and slammed the palm of his hand on the table.

  The room went silent.

  Lara could only gape at the scene unfolding before her. James shouting, Xander losing his sense of humor. Nick angry at her. What had she done? It wasn’t her fault.

  “Why are you taking her side?” Xander stood to meet James at eye level. “You know she did this.” He gestured to the screens just as a clock appeared. It held at 24:00 for a long moment, and then started to count down. And then all the screens went black. “What just happened?”

  Christina reentered the room, oblivious to the high tensions within. “I pulled the plug,” she said with a level of triumph only seen on an Olympic bronze medalist’s face; a look that said “I did it!” but also “I should have done more.”

  “No, wait. There was a countdown clock, but now we don’t know what it’s counting down to,” Jennifer said. “But whatever it is, it will be around 2:30 p.m. tomorrow.”

  It was the first time she’d spoken since her name and that of Louisa Hamilton had appeared on the screen. Lara forced her mind away from Xander’s recent attack, and back on to Mitchell Halpert. Jennifer didn’t seem relieved, so Lara could only assume that Louisa Hamilton was the subject of the desperate secret that would ruin her life. “I think given the kidnappings, car bombing, murders and city explosions, we can safely assume that it’s not counting down to anything good.”

  Xander inhaled as if he was going to rail again.

  James shut him down with a raised hand. “This is a distraction. While we’re worrying about our own secrets, he’s slipping through our fingers. This isn’t about us—it never was—it’s only about him and whomever he is planning to kill next.”

  “Well that’s easy for you to say, we all know your brother’s secret,” Xander said, sitting down again and scowling at the black screen in front of him.

  James opened his mouth to speak again, but Lara laid a hand on his arm. There was no way Xander would have said anything like that to his partner if emotions weren’t running high. The last thing she wanted was for everyone to turn on each other.

  “No. This is me. I’m sorry if I brought this on you. I really am,” she said. “I honestly thought that maybe showing that he’d made a mistake in thinking I’d care if the world knew about Moretti, that he’d panic. I thought my call for him to go ahead and release the information would make him hesitate—throw him off his game. I would never have provoked him if I’d thought it would put you guys in his crosshairs. Never.”

  Only Nick, Christina and James met her eyes. The others looked away. She wondered if everyone had a secret as private and painful as Jennifer’s obviously was. She wondered if everyone else was blaming her.

  Xander pushed his seat back, swallowed, and looked at them almost defiantly. “Maddy is not mine.” He paused as he clocked the confused expressions around the table. Eyes that had been averted focused back on Xander.

  “My girlfriend had an affair the year before Maddy was born. I found out much later at the hospital that there was no way she was biologically mine. I’ve kept that knowledge to myself. I didn’t want Heather to know I knew, and I certainly don’t want it on the internet where Maddy can find it ten years from now.”

  Jennifer’s jaw tightened. “How do you think Halpert knows?” she said.

  Xander shrugged. “I did a paternity test to be sure. I’m sure all that information is available online if you’re good enough to know how to get at it.” He gazed without focus at the wall. “I also emailed my sister about it when I first found out. He could have found that, too.” He shook his head. “I always knew that nothing was private anymore. I mean, we all know that—the Patriot Act, the NSA—and you have to trust that it’s for a good reason. And I don’t mind the government having access to my emails if it means they can clear me and move on to a real threat to our security. But if someone like Halpert can hack our stuff—and let’s face it, we don’t know if we’ve individually been hacked, or the NSA’s been hacked, we—”

  “If it had been the NSA that had been hacked, we wouldn’t have gotten a look-in on this case. They’d be all over this like a rash,” Lara interrupted. “I think we have to assume that he’s targeted us, as James said, as a distraction.”

  “You’re probably right,” Nick said. “I’m guessing that all our secrets are embarrassing to us and our families and friends, but not illegal. We shouldn’t—”

  “Speak for yourself,” Jennifer said, fists bunched on the table.

  The room fell silent as all eyes fell on her pale face.

  Suddenly the room felt oppressively hot to Lara. She shrugged off her jacket and leaned forward. “Who’s Louisa Hamilton?” she asked quietly.

  “My sister.” Jennifer cleared her throat. “She’s dead. I... I killed—”

  “Stop,” Ty said.

  There was a second of silence, as if everyone was processing this ridiculous information.

  Ty stood up. “Don’t say any more, Jenn. My law degree is rusty, but I’m still a member of the bar. Don’t say anything that will get you, or anyone here, subpoenaed.”

  She offered him a weak smile. “I think it’s time I told someone. I think it’s time I was punished.” She pressed a hand to her chest. “I don’t want this secret to kill me.” She glanced at Nick, probably remembering what had happened to Dunbar just a few days earlier.

  * * *

  Nick felt a finger of ice flash down his spine, despite the heat in the room. What had he said to her at the hospital? That guilt would kill someone? That only people without consciences could murder and not confess? What had he done? He held up his hand. “Don’t, Jennifer.”

  Shock seemed to permeate the room. She’d killed her sister? Nick tried to imagine what could have happened. Had she been a kid? An adult?

  “No I want to tell you. You’re my family now. I haven’t been able to...be a part of my own family since it happened. It felt wrong. I couldn’t sit with my parents around a holiday table pretending it never happened. Nor with my brother-in-law, or my niece and nephew.” Her voice cracked as she mentioned her sister’s children.

  Christina sat next to Jennifer and put her hand on hers. “It’s okay. We are your family. You can tell us anything.”

  Nick wanted to tell her no. That she couldn’t tell them anything without repercuss
ions. That they couldn’t not report a murder. Lara’s wince told him that she thought the same. But none of them said anything. No one spoke. And they should have done. Nick opened his mouth but no words came out.

  “Louisa was my big sister. I relied on her for everything. Advice about school, about boys, about my career. She was always there for me. So I felt—” she swallowed hard “—that when she got sick and needed me, needed me to do the things she couldn’t do by herself, I wasn’t able to say no. I just...”

  Lara covered her face with her hands, and Nick began to understand exactly where the confession was going.

  He put a level of steel into his voice. “Jennifer. This isn’t the right place and it’s definitely not the right time. We need you on the team. We understand what happened to you, and if you want, we can talk about it later. But right now, I need you here. Really here.”

  Jennifer stared at the table. Ty put his hand lightly on her forearm. She looked up at him and he raised his eyebrows as if to make sure her mind was in the game.

  She nodded, tentatively at first, then with more resolution.

  Jeez. With their luck every one of them would fall by the wayside as each of their secrets brought them to their knees, or removed them from the team. Even Nick’s own secret filled his stomach with grit, roiling in a cement mixer. But arch nemesis or not, he owed his father a heads-up that their own family secret about Nick’s junkie, deadbeat brother could be public knowledge within twenty-four hours.

  Lara spoke. “This is terrible. I know this is terrible, and I know that I provoked him. I’m so sorry about that. I honestly...” She cleared her throat, as if to clear away the emotion that inflected her tone. “I honestly thought he would come after me.”

  Xander’s tone was lower, but no less resolute. “Lara. You can’t keep doing this. I don’t know if you think you’re being a martyr when you do things like this—and you always do things like this. But we’re a team. If someone’s pointing a gun at you, they are also pointing it at us, because we are right behind you. When you make yourself a target—you make us one, too, and it’s about time you realized that.”