60

The past…

Maggie forced a smile onto her face, but she was shaking so badly and felt so overwhelmed with rage that the gesture was impossible to hold. Marcus sat dumbfounded for a moment, apparently unsure of what to say or how to react. She had caught him red-handed. His betrayal crept inside her heart and made her feel cold all over.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend, Marcus?” He glanced between them and finally said, “Maggie, this is Special Agent Vasques with the FBI. She’s working on this case with us. And Vasques, this is Special Agent Carlisle. She works out of my unit at the DOJ.”

Maggie looked at Vasques, sizing up the competition. The dark-haired agent was quite beautiful with a tanned complexion the color of light caramel, high cheekbones, and large brown eyes. She resisted the urge to punch the woman in the face. It wasn’t Vasques’s fault that Marcus had stabbed her in the back.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Maggie said in a clipped tone, and they shook hands.

Vasques’s thoughts were written across her face. The FBI agent could tell that something was going on here, and she said, “You know, I’m sure you want to get Agent Carlisle caught up to speed, and I want to check in with Belacourt. So I think I’m going to head on out.”

“Okay, I’ll give you a ride back to your office.”

As Vasques grabbed her purse and slid from the booth, she said, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll just catch a cab.”

Marcus opened his mouth to protest, but Maggie gave him a fierce look. His words died in his throat. They sat silently for a few moments, just staring at each other. Maggie broke the silence first. “Now I see why you didn’t want me to come along.”

“Oh please, Maggie. I don’t know what you’re suggesting, but you’re way out of line.”

“You know damn well what was going on here.”

“I do know one thing. I have an agent under my command that’s disobeyed my direct orders. Just like she did in Harrisburg. What do you think I should do about that?”

She couldn’t contain herself any longer. She spun from her chair and slapped his coffee cup off the table and into his lap. Then she stormed out of the restaurant. She felt like falling to her knees and crying, screaming, breaking things. How could she have been so stupid and blind?

She heard Marcus calling after her, but she didn’t want to see him at that moment. She wasn’t sure if she ever wanted to see him again. His hand wrapped around her bicep, but she ripped free of his grasp. “Don’t touch me!”

“Dammit, Maggie! What the hell has gotten into you? You’re acting crazy.”

“So now I’m crazy, huh? I suppose that’s why you don’t want me with you on investigations. Because I’m so nuts.”

“Don’t put words in my mouth. I said you’re acting crazy. There’s a difference.”

“Don’t worry about it. Doesn’t matter, anyway.” She rammed her fist against the elevator call button. “Maybe, if you hurry, you can still catch your girlfriend.”

He breathed out with a low growl and cracked his neck to the side. She recognized the gesture. He did it, whether consciously or unconsciously, every time he was getting ready for a fight. “Maggie, let’s just calm down and talk about this.”

“I don’t have anything to say.”

“Then shut up and listen! There’s nothing going on. And even if there was, it’s really none of your business.”

Her eyes went wide. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. First, he betrayed her, and then he acted like they’d never had anything going between them to start with. Not knowing what else to say, she just slapped him across the face. The elevator dinged behind her, and its doors slid open. Maggie stepped inside and pounded the button to close the doors again and shut out the rest of the world.