Page 103 of A Shot at Love
A moment later he threw the car into gear and peeled away.
As the cabin and woods became a distant dot behind her, Gemma let go of the sobs she’d been holding inside her.
“I’m sorry you had to go through all this, Miss Laine. I thought Pappandreos was one of my best men.”
“He is! You can’t believe what Winters is saying. You can’t. He’s being set up—”
“No.” Tiege shook his head. “Don’t you think I’ve checked this out? I wouldn’t willingly believe one of the best agents I’ve ever known is corrupt without making sure first.”
“How could you make sure?”
“As soon as Winters brought me irrefutable proof, I had it checked out by our computer forensics team. They confirmed what Winters found. We set this whole thing up as soon as Papps called in.”
“But Ky only called last night. How could you have proven it was him so fast? There was no time.”
Tiege shook his head again, a habit Gemma was starting to hate. “Winters came to me two days ago with his suspicions.”
“Two days ago? Wasn’t he still in the hospital?”
“Yes, but he was working on the case even from his hospital bed. He discovered the agents killed in the ambush were texted from Papps’ phone the day they were killed. Don’t you understand? Pappandreos sent them to their deaths. Calafano was the target and my agents were collateral.”
“But why would he do that? Hadn’t you had that man in custody for weeks? I’m sure Ky had more than enough chances to kill him, the same way he had with me, and he didn’t take advantage of them. Doesn’t that prove he’s innocent of all this?”
“No,” he shook his head again, “it doesn’t prove anything.”
“Then why didn’t he just kill me? Why did he escape with me? There were so many times he could have gotten rid of me and didn’t. It doesn’t make sense, which is why I know you’re wrong about him.”
She wiped her hands across her tear-drenched cheeks and then swiped her wrist under her dripping nose.
Tiege just shook his head again and kept driving.
Chapter Eighteen
Gemma opened her eyes. The sun glaring straight through the front windshield on its way to the horizon blinded her.
“Where are we?”
A piercing pain stabbed through her from a crick in her neck when she sat upright. She cupped her neck and massaged her shoulder. “We’ve been driving for hours.”
“We’re almost there.”
“Where? You still haven’t told me where you’re taking me. I have no clothes, no equipment. Everything is in the car back there at the cabin.”
“Don’t worry about any of that.” He turned and skirted a glance at her. “You’ll be taken care of once we get there.”
“Why won’t you tell me where we’re going?”
The SAC let out a deep, annoyed breath. “If it’s so important for to you to know, I’m bringing you to another safe house upstate.”
“Are we still in New York?” She glanced out at the road they were on and didn’t see any identifying road markers. They could have been anywhere along the eastern seaboard. Or further in, for all she knew.
“Yes. And you can relax, we’re almost there.”
Gemma sat back and crossed her arms.
Tiege turned the car down a narrow dirt road. She spotted a blindingly bright body of water in the immediate distance.
So, they were by a lake. Interesting.
“What is it with the FBI and log cabins?” she asked, taking in the surroundings. The small, single-floor structure stood atop a small rise, wooden stairs leading down to a dock at the lakeshore from behind it, visible from the drive. A cabin cruiser was moored alongside the dock.
“They’re easy and cheap,” Tiege told her. He removed his seat belt and said, “Come on.”
Gemma alighted from the car and took a look around. “Where are the other agents? I don’t see any cars.”
He didn’t answer, just took her arm and led her up the two steps to the porch.
The front door opened and three men stepped out. Two were holding assault rifles, the third was unarmed.
