Read Online Life of Secrets by Bowen Greenwood - Free Book Online Page B

was.
    "Miss... Cobler , was it? Come on in. You must be new with Ben; he
didn't tell me he had a new assistant. Heck of a time to start work, huh?
Biggest news story of the new century."
    While he was
talking, Chambers opened the backpack that was all that remained of her
previous life. She drew out her handgun. Its six-inch long barrel was fatter
than most pistol barrels because sound suppression – a silencer, to most people
– was built directly in. The angular handle held a removable magazine loaded
with ten rounds of subsonic .22 caliber ammunition loaded. An eleventh round
was already in the chamber.
    She pointed it
straight at Wheeler's forehead so that the fat barrel almost touched him right
between the eyebrows.
    "Who did
you tell that I would be in West's headquarters last night, Wheeler?"
    His eyes went
wide, and for a moment Alyssa thought the man might actually pee his pants.
Staring at the gun barrel, his eyes were almost crossed. Then he came to his
senses a bit, and focused on her face.
    "Chambers?
Alyssa Chambers?" His voice rose, building to a shout. " Secur ..."
    "Shut up
or die."
    "... ity ," he finished in a hoarse whisper.
    They spent a moment
in silence, staring at each other. Finally Wheeler said, "You killed Rich
West!"
    "Wrong. I
didn't kill him, but whoever you told that I would be going in there did kill
him. So tell me who, and I'll go deal with them myself."
    "You’re the
woman I hired to…" he stopped, suddenly unwilling to say it aloud.
    "That’s
right. But I am not the woman who killed Rich West. I suspect you told
someone that I was going in there, and I suspect that someone killed him."
    "Can it,
Chambers! You can try convincing the jury you didn't kill him, but you can't
convince me. I know for a fact that you were there. At least talk to me
honestly."
    "I am. Try
thinking about it for a moment. What possible reason could I have for coming
here if I killed him? The FBI already knows about me, so it's not like I could
stop you from giving them any information about me by coming here to kill you.
No, if I were the assassin, I would already be sitting on a Caribbean beach
sipping something with a plastic sword in it. We both know that. So tell me who
you told, so I can go beat the truth out of them."
    "You're
crazy."
    "You keep
saying words, but not the ones I want to hear. That's an unwise position to
take with someone pointing a gun at your head. Who did you tell?"
    "I didn't
tell anyone , OK? No one!"
    "One more
chance, then you die."
    Chambers made a
show of tightening her grip on the trigger. It was enough.
    "A
reporter! This reporter called! He said he'd heard we hired a private
investigator and was asking about it for a story! I didn't tell him anything! I
hung up on him! But he knew somehow. It wasn't me. Please, it wasn't me who
told him!"
    "Now we're
getting somewhere. What was his name?"
    "Matt
Barr."
    The bottom
dropped out of Alyssa’s stomach. The emotional shock was so great that her
gun-hand wavered.
    Wheeler's
intercom picked that moment to go off.
    "Tom, some
men from the FBI are here to see you. I tried to tell them you were with
someone at the moment, but they're on their way back."
    Alyssa and
Wheeler stared at each other in horror. She recovered first and immediately
began seeking a way out.
    Tom tried to
put his poker face back on and said, "OK, now you're caught, right? So no
sense adding a second murder to make your case worse. You can't kill me
now."
    She paid no attention.
Instead, she quickly ran through her options. Yes, whoever could tell the FBI
her name could also point them at Wheeler as someone likely involved with her.
Any of her previous clients could identify the senior staff of an opposing
campaign as likely to be involved if Chambers was involved.
    All of which
meant the FBI would treat Wheeler as a possible suspect. Which would mean
they'd be here with a full team of agents for an arrest of this magnitude.
    In other words,
think what she might of