Page 79 of Trust No One

A knot in his chest unraveled, and he cleared his throat. “I was thinking we’d go to the parking structure across from Kingsley’s office building tomorrow. Park on the first floor and wait for Kingsley to show up. He hasn’t seen this car yet, because we got it right before we picked you up at the airport. When he pulls in, we’ll hide on the floor until he’s out of the structure. Then we wait for him to come back to his car. Follow him. At a distance, so he can’t make us.”

Dev nodded at Gideon. “Having a third person in the car gives us some cover. Kingsley won’t expect that. So there’s a good chance he’ll write our car off. If he doesn’t see us in a different car, he’ll eventually assume he’s safe. Then we see where he goes.”

“What if he goes to the park?” Mel asked, leaning forward, her gaze steady on him.

“I guess we call an audible on that one. My guess? The park was a distraction. He never intended to meet us there. But if hedoeshead in that direction, we call the police. Or the FBI. At the very least, we tell the police we witnessed Kingsley committing a murder there. I think they’d pick him up and hold him while they investigate. Gives us some breathing room to figure out our next step.”

“And if he doesn’t go to the park?” Mel said. “We follow him? See what he’s doing?”

Dev shrugged. “Unless you can think of a better plan.” He turned to Gideon. “Any ideas?”

“I think you’ve covered both the possibilities. Either he goes to the park, or he doesn’t.” Gideon shrugged. “If he doesn’t go to the park, we follow him. Figure out what he’s up to.”

“I have another idea,” Mel said.

Dev turned to study her, and he noticed that Gideon did the same. “What’s that, babe?”

Mel narrowed her eyes at him, but she didn’t say anything. “What if we call Allen?” she asked, pacing again. “Tell him Kingsley has my phone number, and make sure Allen knows he’s the only person who could have given it to him.”

Gideon scoffed. “He’ll deny it. Say it’s impossible.”

“Of course he’ll deny it,” she said. “How can he do anything else? If he admits he gave Kingsley my number, he’s admitting that he’s dirty. Complicit in Kingsley’s crimes.”

“So what’s the point in calling him?” Dev asked. “Are you going to believe anything he says? He could tell you he’s taking steps. Bringing Kingsley in for questioning. But how would we know that’s the truth?”

Mel stared back at him, her eyes holding that blank look she got when she was thinking hard. Finally she said, “Yeah. The risk of calling Allen is having him tell Kingsley what we’re doing. That would send Kingsley running for the airport and the first plane out of town.” She turned to Gideon. “What do you think?”

He drew a deep breath. Looked from him to Mel. Back to him. “I agree with you. Since you can’t be sure of Allen, don’t call him. We’ll handle this ourselves.”

“You’re right,” Mel said, flopping back onto the couch. “We can’t trust Allen.” She sighed. “I was thinking out loud. Trying to figure out our options. But I don’t think we have any, other than going to the parking garage and following Kingsley from there.”

“Which opens up a whole other can of worms,” Dev said. “If he heads to the park, how do we prevent an ambush?”

“You two have the advantage of having been at that spot in the park once before,” Gideon pointed out. “You know where Kingsley wants you, so you go somewhere else. Watch Kingsley and call the police to come and pick him up. Leave Allen out of the loop. The FBI can investigate him after Kingsley’s been apprehended.”

“Gideon’s right,” Dev said. “Don’t call Allen. That just adds layers of complications. At this point, we’re on our own. We can’t trust the CIA, except for Simon and Caroline, and they’re out of commission right now.”

“And it would take too long for the FBI to mobilize,” Gideon said.

“So it’s the three of us against Kingsley,” Mel said, beginning to pace the room. “We confront him. Disarm him. Cuff him. Then let the police deal with him.”

“I suspect he has a lot of experience in wiggling out of traps,” Dev said. “But it’d be three against one. Gives us a chance.”

“Maybe he’ll bring his own backup,” Mel said, still pacing. “One of his dirty buddies. Maybe they’d be hiding, just like we would be. Waiting for the double-cross.”

She immediately shook her head. “No. He wouldn’t do that. Kingsley doesn’t trust anyone,” Mel said, her voice flat. “It’s the only way he’s survived all these years. He’s been dirty for a long, long time. It takes incredible patience to amass that much money.”

Mel reached one end of the room, turned and paced toward the other end. “Bottom line? Unless Kingsley’s in a cell, he’s a danger to us. To Bree. To anyone else who runs afoul of him. Or does him a favor, like Graciella. And I think the best way to get him into a cell is to get the police involved.”

She swung around so she was facing both men. “But we have to plan carefully. If Kingsley feels cornered, if he senses a trap, God only knows what he’d do.”

Mel looked stressed. And why wouldn’t she? She had no experience in planning ops. Dev moved toward her and gathered her into his arms. She exhaled, as if letting go of tension, then relaxed against him. Trying to comfort her, to reassure her, he rubbed his hand down her back. Tucked her hair behind her ears.

Dev closed his eyes, relishing the warm curves of Mel’s body against his hard muscles. It felt… right to hold her. It made him burst with pride to be the person she relied on.

His hand stuttered as he smoothed it down her back. He’d never wanted anyone to rely on him before now. He’d always run screaming from any woman who made noises aboutcounting on him. It was the main reason he’d broken up with Mel in Kabul. When she’d told him she loved him, he knew what that meant. She’d turn to him for comfort. For reassurance. For help.

And being the stupid, immature idiot that he was, that had terrified him.

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