Rebirth (John Taylor #1)

Chapter 9

We were silent on the whole drive back to the hotel. I found it hard to fathom that she was still pissed at me, but then I have never claimed to understand women.

We made a stop half way back at a random gas station that still had a bank of pay phones. I fed quarters I had just gotten from the store and dialed Robles number.

It connected after a moment and I head, "Deputy Robles."

"Robles, it's Taylor."

I heard rustling in the background and his voice sounded shaky when he replied. Most likely he was signaling someone that I was on the phone. I would have to keep this short, since a trace would be starting any time.

"Taylor, damn, I almost thought I had chosen wrong to believe in you. What the hell took so long?"

"We were getting good and lost, making it hard for the Russians to find us, and doing some research."

"On what?"

"We will get to that in a moment. First we need to talk about how I am going to get Renata back to you guys. I will meet you tomorrow at noon at the Hometown Cafe just outside of Moore Haven. Besides you, I would like you to bring at least one person from the FBI, one local cop, and someone from ICE."

"The FBI I can get since the actual case is theirs, but why do you want someone from ICE or one of the locals. We need to keep this as contained as possible. The less people that know where she is, the better, for her safety."

"That is precisely why I want people from those other agencies involved, and what my research was about yesterday. I am nearly positive you have a leak in your office."

"That's absurd," he said dismissively.

"It really isn't. Four dead witnesses in fourteen months, and it would have been five had I not shown up when I did ... and all of them out of your office. You guys have to know there is a problem. No, handing her over to just the Marshals is a death sentence for Renata. I know you guys don't want to do things that go against procedure, but it's the only way we come out of hiding."

"I'm not saying I agree with you, but you know the Feebs will never go along with it. It's their case and they hate sharing anything they don't have to."

"So convince them."

"What, you think I should call them up and tell them we are getting their witnesses killed so they need to be in on the exchange?"

"Well, that would be the most direct option, but I could see how you would not want to go that way. So blame me instead. Say I am being paranoid or something. Just get them there."

"I'll see what I can do."

"I would also like it if I had some kind of assurance I wasn't going to be arrested tomorrow. Not that it's a deal breaker, but I would prefer not to sit in jail while you guys figured out I'm not the bad guy."

"I'll see what I can do about that, too."

"Thanks," I said with a sarcastic chuckle.

Not that I expected any kind of guarantee. It was almost a certainty that they would arrest me when I dropped Renata off, until they could figure out what was going on. They would say I was being held as a material witness, but the end result would be the same for me. As I had told him, however, it wasn't a deal breaker. I would eventually be released. I couldn't be connected to any of the other murders and when Renata and her Marshal had first been chased from the blown safe house I was in a fight outside a bar. I was fairly certain the bartender would back me up on that much.

So it would just be an inconvenience on my part. I wasn't just being all noble and saying that was worth it to get Renata safe, although it was. It would also mean I was off the hook with the Russians, since they were chasing her and not me. So no more Renata meant no more Russians.