In Too Deep

felt her pulse kick up. “Maybe she wrote something important on one of the dates.”
    Fallon moved to stand directly in front of the calendar. Isabella joined him. Together they studied the colorful, glossy picture of a stretch of beach complete with crashing waves. The focal point of the shot was a large, oddly shaped rock. Eons of wind and tides had formed the stone into the shape of a roughly hewn arch.
    “I don’t understand,” Isabella said. “It’s just a generic calendar landscape. The rock is a little unusual, though.”
    “Yes,” Fallon said. “The rock is very unusual.”
    “I’ve seen rocks similar to that on the beach in Santa Cruz.”
    “That’s not Santa Cruz,” Fallon said.
    He reached up to remove the thumbtack that secured the calendar to the wall.
    Voices sounded outside. Mrs. Ragsdale was talking to someone.
    “She just got here,” Mrs. Ragsdale said. “About time, if you ask me. It’s been a month since Bernice passed.”
    “Everyone handles this kind of loss in a different way, ma’am,” was the response.
    Isabella went cold.
    “Fallon,” she whispered.
    He folded the small calendar, stuffed it inside his jacket and took out his gun.
    There was a sharp rap on the door followed by a low, chillingly familiar male voice.
    “I know you’re in there, Angela, and I know that Jones is with you. I’m unarmed and I’m alone. Open the door. We need to talk.”
    “You know that guy?” Fallon asked, keeping his own voice equally low.
    “It’s my old boss at Lucan Protection Services, Julian Garrett. When I worked there I used the name Angela Desmond. Julian’s the one who set me up and then sent those two men to kidnap me in Phoenix.”
    “About time the guy from the maintenance crew showed up,” Fallon said.

27
    F allon opened the trailer door, making sure to keep the gun out of Mrs. Ragsdale’s line of sight. He made certain the man on the front steps got a clear look at it.
    “Ah, shit,” Julian Garrett said, weary and resigned. “Take it easy. I just want to talk to Angela. I swear, she’s got it all wrong. No one is trying to hurt her.”
    “That’s good,” Fallon said. “Because anyone who lays a finger on her will wake up dead.”
    Julian was dressed in a green work shirt, pants and low boots. The logo for a company named Desert Sun Maintenance was stitched on the pocket of the shirt. Garrett looked to be in his midthirties. His gray eyes, high cheekbones and sharply etched features gave him the air of a lone wolf. There was energy in the atmosphere around him, a lot of it.
    “Trust me, the last thing my boss wants me to do is bring Arcane down on his neck,” Julian said.
    Isabella moved up behind Fallon and looked at Garrett. “My name is Isabella Valdez now, and if you don’t want to hurt me, why did you send those two thugs to grab me in Phoenix?”
    Julian glanced meaningfully over his shoulder and then lowered his voice another notch. “I admit that was badly handled. My men had instructions to pick you up, that’s all. Look, I can explain everything. Mind if I come inside? I don’t want to get too dramatic here, but there’s a small matter of national security at stake.”
    “Oh, bullshit,” Isabella said.
    Julian’s mouth tightened. He switched his attention back to Fallon. “Department A has done some jobs for some very black-arts agencies. Just like J&J.”
    Isabella rounded on Fallon. “You never told me that we do work for the Feds.”
    “We try to avoid those jobs,” he said patiently. “But we have been known to do some consulting for certain agencies.”
    “Consulting.” Julian’s mouth twisted in a humorless smile. “Nice turn of phrase. It’s the same kind of consulting work that Department A does at Lucan. And that’s what this is all about.” He looked at Isabella. “Give me five minutes. That’s all I ask.”
    Fallon did not take his eyes off Julian. “What do you think, Isabella?”
    “Well,” she said. “I guess we can’t just shoot him here in front of Mrs. Ragsdale. The gossip would be all over the Court in about twenty seconds. And then there’s the problem of the body.”
    Julian winced.
    “You’re right,” Fallon said. He realized he was starting to enjoy himself in a perverse way. “Probably be better to do the actual shooting somewhere else where there aren’t any witnesses.”
    “Lot of desert out here,” Isabella observed.
    Julian’s jaw tightened. “Very funny. Five minutes. That’s all