Page 11 of No Reason to Trust

She held his gaze for a long moment, then sighed. “Yeah, I suppose they do. In that case, I’d like a glass of cabernet.”

He nodded. “Good choice. I’ll be right back.”

Once he handed Livvy her wine and slid into the booth again, he asked, “Did you talk to Mel and Dev about working with me in Washington?”

She swallowed a sip of wine and nodded. “I did. They’re all for it. And Mel will give the Bureau a break on the price, since Blackhawk Security has stolen a number of their agents.”

“How’re they gonna put that on an invoice?” he asked.

“Mel’s calling in a favor from Redfield. It was Mel and Dev who sniffed out Cliff Kingsley. Anytime one of Mel’s agents works for the FBI, Mel gives them a nice discount.”

“Okay. Sounds like that’s above my pay grade, but I’m glad they have an arrangement with Redfield.” He leaned back in his chair. “Have you thought about where you’re gonna stay in Washington?”

Livvy shrugged. “I’ll find a hotel close to your apartment,” she said. Text me your address, and I’ll book something close.”

Jake studied her for a few moments. She looked tired, and he wondered if she’d been on a job. “I’ve been thinking about where you should stay,” he finally said. He glanced around and leaned closer, even though there was no one close enough to eavesdrop. “I don’t like the idea of you staying in a hotel,” he said, lowering his voice. “This whole situation has me spooked, and I don’t spook easily.” He described the way other agents had either gawked at him or avoided him like he was poison. “We don’t know who at the FBI is a Russian asset, other than Nelson, which means we have no idea where the threat will be coming from. I think it would be smart for you to stay at my apartment.”

Livvy opened her mouth to say something, and Jake held up a hand. “Hear me out before you jump down my throat. I have a two-bedroom apartment, and it has two bathrooms. So you’d have your own space. I’ll give you the code to get into my building and the code for my front door. That way, no one will know you’re in town. I assume you’re flying with a fake ID?”

“Absolutely,” she said. Her mouth quirked up in a smile. “Mel and Dev keep a stash of fake papers -- SSN’s, driver’s licenses, even a few birth certificates. When we need to go incognito, we use one of them. I’ll be Patricia Coombs when I’m in D.C. So even if they’re monitoring flights, there’ll be nothing to send up a red flag. And I transfer planes in Chicago, so they won’t see anyone arriving from Helena.”

“Great,” Jake said, exhaling with relief. He didn’t want Olivia to have a target on her back before she even arrived in Washington. “But I still think you should stay with me. We’d have one place to defend, and two people to do it. As far as I know, I’m not on anyone’s radar at this point. But Nelson has told me he’s going to put me on some undercover work.” He frowned. “He hasn’t said what it would be, though, and that’s a red flag, I think. All the other times I’ve gone undercover, he tells me I’ll be undercover and spells out the details up front. Not this time. He said, and I quote, the details are being worked out.”

Olivia frowned and rested her arms on the table to lean toward him. “That could be interpreted a lot of different ways.”

“Yeah,” Jake said. “It could be. But to be safe, I have to assume the worst. So I’m glad you’re gonna be there to have my back.” He studied her for a long moment. “I’d rather have you backing me up than another FBI agent. At least I’d know you weren’t being paid to take me out.”

Her cheeks reddened, as if she was surprised by the compliment. Then she smiled. “I promise I won’t be in Tennessee that day.”

Jake shook his head. “I know it wasn’t my fault, but I’m really sorry I wasn’t there to help you on that case.”

She shrugged. “I survived. All’s well that ends well. That’s the important thing. And I’m so glad I talked to you. Otherwise, I would’ve had no idea that Nelson had set me up that day.”

Jake leaned across the table. “Neither of us is gonna get hurt on this job,” he said. “I’ll have your back, and I trust that you’ll have mine.”

Livvy nodded. “Yeah. Not sure I’ll ever completely trust anyone at the Bureau again. Good thing I don’t have to work with them.”

“Except with me.”

“Yeah, well, I’m pretty sure you won’t throw me under the bus,” Livvy said.”

“Good to have a goal,” Jake said, holding her gaze. “Get you from pretty sure I won’t throw you under the bus to certain that I won’t.”

“We’ll work on that while I’m in D.C.” Livvy said as she stood up. “Gotta get back to the compound. I’ll see you in D.C.”

“I’ll text you my address. You text me your flight details. See you in a few days.”

“I’ll be there.”

Chapter 5

Five days after he’d talked to Livvy, Jake was back in D.C., still waiting to hear about his upcoming undercover job. He’d been listening to chatter at the FBI office and hadn’t heard anything about Russian assets or undercover jobs that had gone south. But it felt as if everyone at the Bureau had heard about Livvy’s disastrous undercover job and was now looking at him. It wasn’t hard to read their expressions. What the hell had happened to Livvy? And was Jake part of the problem? Someone had clearly leaked the fact that he was supposed to have been her backup and hadn’t shown up. Now his fellow agents were holding their breath, waiting for another disaster -- one that wouldn’t have the same happy ending as Livvy’s ordeal.

Which had to be his imagination, because why would anyone be suspicious ofhim? When he was supposed to be backing up Livvy, he’d been in Tennessee, testifying at a trial. And more recently, he’d been in Helena to take a deposition from the son of a mobster, which had nothing to do with Russia. He avoided Nelson, other than to nod at him as they passed in the hallway. But Jake was jacked up. Hyperalert. Watching everyone in the building, looking for someone who passed him in the hall too often. Someone he saw more often than he should -- in the hall. The cafeteria. The parking lot. At the deli he went to a couple times a week for a sandwich. Looking for signs someone was watching him.

Wondering if the people who crossed his path a little too often were Russian assets. Which he knew was ridiculous – no one was going to wear a sign that said ‘I’m working for Russia’. Everyone was merely doing their job, which made it almost impossible to sniff out a traitor. As far as he knew, he was the only one who knew what had happened to Livvy -- other than the person or persons who’d betrayed her and set her up.

As Jake finished the paperwork from his most recent assignment, Nelson slid into the chair beside his desk. “How’re you doing, Dunbar?” he asked.

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