Page 10 of Alibi for Murder (Colby Agency: The Next Generation #2)

“They took a number of files from your office and a few photo albums. Not that much really. What any investigator leaves a scene with is always telling. They obviously didn’t find the stash of goods or files they had hoped to discover. For now, we can consider that good news.”

Allie surveyed the entry hall then glanced up the stairs. “I keep trying to wrap my head around what’s happening, and it’s just not working. It feels like a bad dream. Like I should wake up any time now, and it will all be over.”

“Completely understandable.” He nodded. “I’m heading to my place for clothes and a few other things I need. I’ll be back in a couple hours. Get some sleep. We’ll start breaking this down when I return.”

“Thanks. I really appreciate this, Steve.”

He gave her a quick hug. “This will be just a bad memory before you know it.”

She had her doubts, but she could hope. The surge of warmth she felt with his arms around her was certainly something she would not soon forget.

Foolish, Al. You definitely need a life.

When he’d gone, she secured the three deadbolts and climbed the stairs to see the damage there. Her office was on the second floor, so she would charge her new phone and laptop and get them activated as well. The sooner she could do something constructive, the better.

He had suggested she sleep, but Allie wasn’t sure she would be doing that again anytime soon.

At least not until she understood what was happening here.

She stood at the door to her grandparents’ room and felt sick at how the agents had pilfered through their things.

But it wasn’t until she reached her parents’ bedroom that she wanted to throw something.

They had taken the room apart, one piece at a time.

The furnishings and the things in those furnishings hadn’t been touched since the car crash.

But those damned federal agents had come into the house and gone through their belongings with no care for their sentimental value to Allie.

The items in this room were all she had left of her parents.

Once she’d calmed down and set her new devices to charge, she headed for the shower. Losing herself in a long hot shower would be a relief right now.

Her mind wouldn’t slow down even with the hot water sluicing over her skin. She tried to relax, to find that Zen place that would allow her to think clearly and focus on the details of what was happening. So she closed her eyes and thought of the man who’d spent the last several hours with her.

She hadn’t seen him in what? Fifteen years? He was still just as handsome as she remembered. Maybe more so. And smart. Really smart and kind. Back in high school, he was one of the nice guys while others his age had been busy showing off. Not Steve.

A bit of time was required and a whole lot of hot water, but the effort to focus on anything but the FBI and their murder accusations eventually started to work. Her shoulders and neck and then the rest of her stopped fighting the need to relax.

When she turned off the water and stepped out into the cool air, she felt much better. She brushed her teeth, dressed in her favorite sweats and climbed into her bed. She hadn’t meant to sleep, only to relax, but suddenly she just couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer.

Thoughts of that hug she and Steve had shared followed her into sleep.

A sound poked at Allie. She told her eyes to open, but they refused. She was so tired. She needed to sleep just a little while longer.

Then the sound crept deeper into her consciousness.

A buzzing…like the doorbell.

Why would anyone be at her door? She never had visitors. Only deliveries.

But the buzz came again, and her eyes fluttered open this time.

Someone was at her door. She sat up. Her head felt fuzzy, and she had to think a moment before she could find her way back to the here and now.

Murder.

The video of her going into a patient’s room.

Steve Durham. The Colby Agency.

The FBI was investigating her.

For an instant, she wanted to drop back onto the pillows and close her eyes tightly to block this crazy reality.

Instead, she climbed out of the bed and stumbled out of her room and along the hall.

Steve was probably back. She finger combed her hair on the way down the stairs.

With a puff of breath into her hand, she tried to gage if it was fit for exposure to anyone beyond herself.

Vaguely she remembered adding toothpaste to her toothbrush last night.

Another insistent buzz. She was almost at the door.

She reached for the first of the deadbolts but stopped herself. She needed to be sure who was on the other side, especially now.

Going on tiptoe, she checked the viewfinder in the door and smiled. Steve stood on her porch, a leather overnight bag in one hand and a briefcase in the other.

What time was it?

As she unlocked the door, she checked the grandfather clock just behind her. Three thirty. She’d slept better than two hours, closer to three.

She opened the door and smiled, hoping she didn’t look a hot mess but fairly confident she did. “You’re back.”

“I am and I have some news.”

As soon as he was across the threshold, she closed and locked the door. “Potter and Fraser made a mistake, and it’s not me they’re looking for?” she asked hopefully.

“Not quite that, but additional information that can help us with finding our way out of this mess perhaps just a little more quickly.”

“I’ll take any kind of break at this point.”

Amazing what a difference twenty-four hours can make. A mere twenty-four hours ago, she had been working her final shift before vacation and had no idea trouble was headed her way. Blissful ignorance. She should have appreciated it more.

“Did you manage to get some sleep?” He dropped his bag onto the bench next to the door but hung on to the briefcase.

“Oddly enough, I did.”

“You up for coffee or tea?”

Coffee sounded amazing as a matter of fact. “I can put on a pot while you tell me what you discovered.” She led the way to the kitchen.

Once she had filled the reservoir and added grounds to the filter, he kicked off his update. “Your father was one of six staff members closely involved in the SILO project.”

Allie set the machine to brew. “Never heard of it.” Surely if the project had been significant, she would have heard something about it in all these years. Artificial intelligence, or AI, was certainly in the news frequently enough. Even more so lately.

“You wouldn’t have,” he explained. “The project carried the highest security clearance requirement the US government uses.”

Well, okay then. “Tell me about the project.”

She leaned against the counter, the smell of coffee filling the room. Inside, she dared to smile. He had this way of making her feel totally comfortable—as if it hadn’t been a decade and a half since they’d seen each other. As if they had been friends all this time.

“Special Intelligence Learning Operative,” he explained.

“They were working on the creation of AI operatives who could go under deep cover and learn everything there was to know about the enemy. Ones that could anticipate the movements of the enemy based on their knowledge of said enemy. All without risking human life.”

Okay, they had just entered the twilight zone.

“Robots who look and behave like humans well enough to infiltrate the enemy?” Maybe not a total surprise. She supposed that particular goal had been an ongoing effort since the inception of AI.

“Yes,” he confirmed. “Except this project hoped to take it further than ever before—for the timeframe we’re talking about.

That said, the really important part as far as you’re concerned is the fact this project was primarily funded by the CIA and the military.

Not your usual government scientific research. ”

This gave Allie pause. “So, we’re talking about spooks and secret agents.”

“In all likelihood, yes. My contact confirmed there were some issues related to where this project was headed, and it was eventually disbanded—or so that was the claim.”

Nothing he’d told her sounded particularly troubling. Government projects were started and then stopped all the time. Issues cropped up, et cetera. “What makes the cessation of the project different than any of the others we hear about all the time?”

There were plenty of examples of hidden research that came out years or decades later. In some ways, she understood that the technology race had to be secretive. There were far too many in the world who would use it for all the wrong reasons.

“No idea about what makes this one different—as of yet,” he admitted. “But what we do know is that five of the six employees closely involved in the project died suddenly and tragically within just a few weeks or months of the shutdown.”

A shock wave shuddered through Allie. “Then my parents’ accident was likely no accident.

” On some level, she didn’t want to know this…

she wanted to let the past be just what it was…

the past . She wanted to go on with her life believing the loss was merely another of life’s tragedies, and her grandparents had picked up the slack.

Except it was too late for that. She’d already heard the words.

“I don’t see how we can continue to call it an accident,” Steve agreed. “But there’s still a lot to discover before we can confirm a conclusion along those lines.”

“Who was the lone survivor?” She already knew the answer, but she needed him to confirm her suspicion.

“Thomas Madison.”

The corroboration quaked through her. She busied her hands with pouring the coffee. She didn’t use cream, and based on breakfast this morning, Steve didn’t either.

“Why was Madison allowed to live until just recently?” She passed a mug of steaming brew to him. “Seems like a loose thread to me.”

“That’s the part that doesn’t fit neatly into what I’m hearing about this project so far. I have people digging. For now, that’s the best we can do.”

She cradled her mug of coffee and wondered what the hell any of this meant. “Potter and Fraser may not want to wait about making an arrest.” The truth was, she could be sitting in a jail cell by dark or by morning. There was just no way to know which way this was going to go.

“Fraser has requested a meeting at ten on Monday morning.” Steve shrugged. “If an arrest was imminent, I’m not sure there would be a reason for the meeting.”

She wanted to feel relieved, but then again, all the delay suggested was that their people would spend all weekend going through the things they had taken and trying to find something relevant to the murder so that they could charge her.

Allie exiled the negative thought and sipped her coffee. Better to be optimistic and to see this upcoming meeting as a good thing.

“Until then,” Steve said, “we’ll search this house again just to be sure they didn’t miss anything, and we’re going to visit Mr. Rivero again. Maybe two or three times until he will talk to us or files a complaint with local law enforcement.”

That all sounded like a good plan. She set her mug aside. But there might be one glitch. She should have broached the subject already, but things had been a little out of control until now.

“I know you said I shouldn’t worry about fees, but we really need to talk about your retainer.” She had some money saved. She had her grandparents’ insurance funds as well. Whatever the Colby Agency fee, she should be able to handle it. But if she couldn’t that was a whole other nightmare.

He looked her straight in the eye and said, “There will be no retainer or fee of any sort.”

“Wait.” She frowned, shook her head. “No. You’re here representing me and a lot more. You need to be paid your usual fee. I’m sure your agency will expect me to be treated like any other client.” No way was she having him do this for free.

“No.” He shook his head. “I’m doing this for a friend.

I’ve already taken some of my vacation time so I can be right here working on your case for as long as it takes.

And no worries. I’ll still have all the support I need just one phone call away.

Although we’ll be spending most of our time here or in the field in pursuit of information, I reserved myself a room at the Baymont. ”

“No.” Him getting a room at a hotel was ridiculous. “Look, there’s plenty of space right here. If you insist on this no fee thing, the least I can do is put you up and feed you.”

He laughed. “That would be the most efficient choice—if you’re sure.”

“I am positive.”

“Then I’m staying here.”

Allie relaxed then. She had faith in Steve. He’d proven he could handle those agents, and he had all sorts of resources if even half of what she’d read about the Colby Agency was true.

In all honesty, she still felt unsettled by the idea of not being a paying client of the agency.

But that was his choice, and she had to get right with it.

Because the one thing she understood with complete certainty was that this man was likely the only way she was getting out of this nightmare free of a murder charge.