Part 17

“Morrison.” Dawn reached for her cell phone, still half asleep. She blinked and tried to focus her eyes on the alarm clock by the bed. 7:30 am. Time to get up anyway.

“Special agent Dawn Morrison?” an female alto voice asked.

“Yes. Who is this, please?”

“I don’t want to give my name. Not yet. I believe you’re looking for a friend of mine.”

“That might well be true.” Dawn sat up and shook Joan’s shoulder. Already awake, Joan reached for a writing pad and a pen, handing it to Dawn. Pressing the button for speaker phone, Dawn motioned for Joan to take the notes instead. “Where did you get this number?”

“Our mutual friend at the gas station.”

Dawn had hoped Martha or Annie would get in touch with whoever they were protecting. Still, she would need more proof that this woman was Tiffany Ashton’s friend. “I’m glad you called. It’s important that we get a hold of…your friend.”

“Does anyone suspect her of any criminal actions?” The woman sounded tense.

“No. Not at this point.”

“She…she wasn’t aware that her father was murdered.” The woman sighed. “It hit her pretty hard.”

Joan scribbled a few notes, shaking her head while she made a quick face. Dawn knew Joan seemed like the toughest of the two outwardly. Having shared her life with Joan for the last six years, Dawn knew how sensitive her partner could be. On more than one occasion had Joan been known to go after the criminals without fear or hesitation, only to break down in tears after the fact, when the emotional impact of their crimes hit her. Now she clearly empathized with Ashton, for not knowing the full scope of Ozland’s death. I doubt Ashton knows very little about her father’s life either.

“I can imagine,” Dawn now answered the anonymous woman non-committally. “I take it since you called that you have something in mind?” Figuring she’d throw the ball back in the woman’s court would give her enough sense of security to agree to a rendezvous.

“We need to figure out a safe way to hook up.” The woman spoke curtly.

“Are you far away?”

“Far enough. Let’s meet at another location, though. I don’t want to compromise this place.” The woman paused. “Start driving toward E2 on Martha’s most popular map. I’ll call you in two hours.”

“Wait—“ Dawn sighed. “Damn. She hung up.”

“Bossy, huh?” Joan twirled the pen between her fingers. “And protective.”

“And not very trusting. Sounds like she might have a background in our business or something similar.”

“That,” Joan agreed, “or she’s a fan of ‘24’ and has caught every episode.”

Dawn chuckled. “Could be.” She got up and walked over to the bathroom. “I need a quick shower. Want to join me?”

“I’d love to, but she said she’d call in two hours and…you know if you let me near that luscious body of yours, that shower won’t be quick.” Wiggling her eyebrows, Joan blew Dawn a kiss.

“Very astute.” Dawn smiled to herself as she entered the bathroom. While she showered, she thought about the dossiers the bureau had on Edgar Ozland and his daughter. There were no indications that Tiffany Ashton knew of her gray areas of her father’s business, but looks could deceive and Dawn knew better than to merely assume. She remembered when all her assumptions had been wrong, and wasn’t prepared to stake anyone’s life on the notion that Tiffany must be innocent.

“You ready, honey?” Joan poked her head in as Dawn was toweling herself. A feral grin appeared on Joan’s face. “I was right.”

“What? What about?” Dawn wrapped the towel around her and plugged in the hairdryer.

“You’re already out of the shower only because I didn’t go in there with you.” Joan sighed with mock drama and closed the door.

Dawn chuckled again and started the hairdryer. Once she had made the assumption that loving Joan would only lead to heartache, since there was no chance Joan would ever love her back. I’ve never been so glad to be wrong in my entire life. Goes to show: never assume.

***

The Jeep bounced back and forth on the dirt road, making it nearly impossible to avoid hitting your head against the side window. “Ow.” Tiffany rubbed her temple. “We’re going to look like we’ve been assaulted when those FBI agents appear.”

“I’m sorry. I wish there was an easier route to take, but I don’t want to use the main road for obvious reasons.”

“So you opted for the adventurous, scenic route?” Tiffany smiled. “Nothing like a quite drive in the countryside, wouldn’t you say?”

Izzy guffawed. “You can say that again. As for it being quiet. Perhaps not so much.”

They’d driven for an hour and according to Izzy, it would take them yet another half hour to reach the rendezvous destination.

“Time to call the agents and make sure they don’t get lost.” Izzy pulled out Tiffany’s disposable cell phone and dialed.

“Dawn Morrison speaking.” A now familiar female voice answered.

“How far along are you?”

“We’re at the fork in the road you described.”

“Good. Take a left and drive another fifteen minutes. You’ll come across a camping site on your right, which has a small diner. We’ll meet you there.”

“All right. How far away are you?”

“We’ll be there.” Izzy snapped the phone close, ending the call.

Tiffany peered over at her lover. Izzy looked rigid and…nervous. “Izzy. You don’t think we’re being set up, do you?” She swallowed hard. “I mean, they’re the real deal, aren’t they?”

“Yes. I believe they are. Nobody spots fake IDs like Martha and Aunt Annie, trust me. They’ve had a lot of practice over the years. They assured me that as far as they could tell, these two women are legit. I also had Martha go online and look them up. She said she found several pieces on these two and the photos and info matched.”

“I hope you’re right.” Tiffany knew Izzy would never risk their lives and that she no doubt was carrying a weapon or two. “So what’s the game plan?”

“It’s pretty simple. We have lunch at the diner with them and listen to what they have to say. If their game plan is sound, we discuss what the next step is going to be. If these two are two hotheads out to use this as a career step or something wild, we leave.”

“They’re the FBI. They can make me go with them, no matter what, can’t they?”

“They can try. I won’t let them.” Izzy placed a hand on the outside of her right jacket pocket.”

“Oh, Izzy. I can’t let you get into trouble with the law, just because you want to keep me safe.”

“Tiff—“

“No, Izzy. Promise me, you won’t do anything that will destroy your life.” Tiffany turned in her seat, not taking her eyes off Izzy. “I couldn’t bare it if you did anything that took away from winning all those medals and stuff.”

“Listen to me. Tiff.” Izzy slowed down the car. “This is important. Nothing matters more to me than for you to be safe and happy. Nothing. If it means staying in the woods until winter comes and keeping you safe by hiding you, that’s what I’ll do. I promise.”

Tiffany gasped. There was something so serious and heartfelt in the way Izzy spoke, it took her breath away. “You should know I feel the same way. How could I be happy, and free, if I thought you’d ruined your life because of me? You have to promise me you won’t do something crazy.”

“I can’t let them do anything that will get you hurt in the long run.”

“They won’t hurt me.”

“No, but if they’re not good at their jobs, they can endanger you.”

“You’re not making me any less nervous by talking like that.” Tiffany frowned. “Living in a tent right now with you, is kind of romantic in the middle of all the insanity, but if we can avoid doing that through the winter, I’d be thrilled. In fact, I’m prepared to endure quite a bit, to not have to sleep in the snow.”

“Are we arguing?” Izzy asked quietly.

“No!” Tiffany hated the idea of them not being on the same page. She unbuckled her belt and slid closer to Izzy. “We’re…communicating. This is how it’s done, you know. We discuss. We negotiate. We drive each other a little nuts. And then we figure things out.”

“Ah.” Izzy put her arm around Tiffany’s shoulder. “I promise to not jump to conclusions and give these ladies a chance. Aunt Annie did have some fairly good things to say about these ‘city folks,’ after all.”

“Good.”

“Here’s the camping site now.” Izzy turned off the road and drove past the diner and in among some trees. “Here’s where we’ll park. This way I can get us out of here quickly if I have to.”

“All right.” Tiffany stepped outside, looking around at the camping site, which seemed only sparsely occupied at this time of year.

“During summer, this place is packed.” Izzy began walking toward the diner. “Now, this late in the fall, it’s mostly regulars and weekend tourists that find their way here. The diner is open all year around, though.”

“It’s beautiful here.” Tiffany looked around, and the stunning view of a lake just behind them made her nearly forget why they were there.

“All right. Come on, sweetie-girl.” Wrapping her arm around Tiffany again, Izzy guided her to the side door to the diner.

Inside, Tiffany felt she was moved back in time to the fifties, as the owner obviously had gone out of their way to decorate the diner in the style of that era. Most of the tables were vacant, except for a family with two children at the far corner and two women sitting in the booth by the main door.

“That’s them, according to Martha’s description.” Izzy pushed Tiffany in behind her as they approached the two. The dark haired one was sitting with her back turned toward them, but something made her turn her head and then nudge her redhead partner who looked up from her menu. She regarded Tiffany and Izzy with narrowing eyes.

“Hello,” the redhead said slowly.

“Dawn?” Izzy stopped six feet from the table.

“Yes. Tiffany?”

“Yes.” Tiffany stepped around Izzy, but remained at her side. She thought she saw kindness in the two women’s eyes.

“Are you all right?” the dark haired agent asked. “I’m Agent Joan Tremayne.”

“Yes. I’m fine.” Tiffany didn’t know whether to shake hands or remain where she was. Izzy wasn’t moving, so she opted to stay by her side and not shake hands.

“And I’m Special Agent Dawn Morrison.” The other woman motioned for them to take a seat. “We were just about to order.”

The normalcy of sitting down to eat in this all-American setting began to calm Tiffany’s nerves, but she could feel how tense Izzy still was. Once they’d ordered their food, there was an awkward silence before Dawn took the initiative.

“We’re so glad that you’ve contacted us, Tiffany,” she began. “We were getting concerned for your safety because of your father’s death. The way he died implied that you might be in jeopardy too.”

“I still can’t believe that he was murdered. I took care of him the last weeks of his life. We, I mean, everyone, his doctor even, assumed it was his heart.”

“It was. I mean, it was his heart too. He was also poisoned over a long period of time.” Dawn spoke gently, and Izzy took Tiffany’s trembling hand underneath the table.

“Poisoned?” Tiffany whispered, feeling herself go pale. “But, who…oh…” She swallowed hard against the bile rising in her throat. “Oh, God. Oh.”

“What? What’s the matter?” Izzy gently took her by the shoulder, but the dread in Tiffany’s heart couldn’t be alleviated.

“You know. You know something, don’t you, Tiffany?” Joan said slowly.

“Yes.” Tiffany sobbed and clung to Izzy’s shirt. “I do. Oh, I’m so sorry, Izzy.”

“What are you talking about?” Izzy refused to let Tiffany avert her eyes.

“Izzy.” Tiffany wept. “I’m so sorry. It was me. I did it after all. I killed him.”