Page 49 of Say Now
And then he was gone, and with it, the danger was gone.
Alison breathed out, finding it hard with the amount her body was shaking.Claire turned toward her, but Alison was fine.
"Take care of him first."
Claire went to Tommy in the chair, pulling the gag from his mouth."Hey, are you okay?Tommy, are you with us?"
"I’ll kill him," Tommy managed."He killed Arturo."
"How about we keep the cuffs on you for now.You’ll need to go back to the station while we figure all of this out, and I’m going to pretend I didn't hear what you just said.Once we have everything in order, you will be free to go, Tommy, okay?"
Tommy didn’t say anything.He sat in the chair, blood slowly dripping down his head, staring at the carpet.
Two more agents appeared not long after, and Claire ordered them to get him some medical help and then put him back in a cell until everything was sorted out.That left the two women alone in the room.
"You were right again," Claire said.
"Thankfully," Alison admitted."If I had left, Tommy would have been killed in jail.If you hadn't believed me, I might be dead.We make a pretty good team after all."
Claire smiled."Yeah, we do."
"Did you hear everything out there?"Alison asked.
"Every word," Claire confirmed."I still can't believe he was behind it the entire time.I can’t believe he killed his sister."
"He’s a very disturbed man.I didn't like him from the start, and I could see you didn't like him either."
"Was it that obvious?"Claire asked.
"You’re a good judge of character."
"I like to think so.Still, the best decision I’ve ever made as an FBI agent was bringing you in to consult on this case.I like to think I’m pretty smart, but I wouldn’t have figured this out.You’ve done a great thing here and saved us from a lot of headaches and probably a lot of death.He would have gotten away with it, and you heard what he said.He would probably have killed again.We get to put an end to that."
"Yeah, we do," Alison put out her hand.
Claire shook it eagerly."So, what will you do now?"
"I need a good night’s sleep," Alison admitted."I can feel the tiredness consuming me.Maybe I’ll ask if I can switch rooms.It doesn’t feel right to sleep in this one tonight.I’ll get a flight back home soon, but I need to visit someone else first.We promised Lizzy that we would protect her son, and I think she’d be going to be more than pleased with the outcome."
"It was great working with you, it really was," Claire admitted."If you ever want to come back here, you’re always welcome.
"Let’s hope I don't have to come back," Alison said."The less you see of me, the better."
***
Alison felt better rested the next day after sleeping for a full nine hours.She got out of her rental car and made her way up the path to the door of the single-level dwelling.Her flight was due to leave in four hours, but she had time for a quick stop before then.She knocked on the door and Lizzy answered it a few seconds later.
"Come here!"Lizzy said.She pulled Alison in for a hug without asking.
Alison laughed as the woman embraced her.
"O, is it truly true?"Lizzy asked."Please, come in, come in."
"I can't, I’m sorry," Alison said."I need to get to the airport soon, and I should drop in on Agent Martinez on my way.
"Is it true?"Lizzy asked."Is he being released?"
"Yeah, he is," Alison said."I don't know when, but it should be soon.They’re still figuring everything out, but he will be released."
