“You guys okay?” Peter asked.
“Not really,” Liza said softly.
“Having the time of my life,” Snoop replied, his voice filled with false bravado. “You’re not going to believe this, but one of these agents actually arrested me when I was in college.”
“That’s amazing. Which one?”
Snoop pointed at the lone female in the group. “Special Agent Nan Perry. We’re buds.”
Garrison stood in the doorway with his arms folded. “Both of you, cut the conversation. Your friends have been illegally accessing classified information, and are in serious trouble.”
“What kind of classified information?” Peter asked.
“The Order of Astrum.”
Peter glanced at Liza and Snoop, and saw his girlfriend lower her eyes. This was her doing. Damn, Peter thought. Liza knew about the Order, and now the FBI were here. He needed to regroup, and figure out a way out of this mess.
“If you don’t mind, I’m going upstairs to throw on some dry clothes,” Peter said. “Help yourself to some coffee and whatever’s in the fridge. I’ll be right back.”
“Not so fast. I’ve got some questions to ask you,” Garrison said.
Peter went to the doorway where Garrison stood. “This is my home. I’m not going to be told what to do by you, or anyone else. If you don’t like that, arrest me. Or, you can let me change my clothes, and then we can have a nice, friendly conversation. It’s your call.”
Garrison scowled at him. He looked like he just might take Peter up on his offer, and haul him off to jail. Then his face softened.
“All right. You can change your clothes, but I’m coming with you.”
“I can change myself. Really.”
“Shut up, kid.”
Peter walked out of the kitchen with Garrison breathing down his neck. The other three agents remained behind, and continued to watch his friends as if they were dangerous criminals.
Upstairs in the bedroom, Peter pulled fresh clothes from the closet, and went into the bathroom to change. Garrison stood by the window, looking down at the courtyard.
“Make it fast,” the FBI agent said.
“Are you going to time me?”
“I just might.”
Locking the bathroom door, Peter sat down on the toilet, and buried his head in his hands. This was bad. He didn’t want Liza and Snoop to go to jail. He loved Liza, and Snoop was the closet thing to a brother he’d ever had. He was ready to fall on his sword before he let anything happen to either one of them. After a minute had passed, Garrison banged on the door.
“Hurry up.”
Peter got undressed. In his pocket was the DVD he’d taken from Lester Rowe’s apartment. If Garrison did arrest him, he didn’t want the FBI agent seeing what was on the DVD before he did. He hid the DVD in the cabinet beneath the sink.
His cell phone sat on the washstand. It began to vibrate, and he picked it up. Max had sent him a text. It was about time his teacher got back to him.
U OK? Max asked.
YEAH WHERE R U?
JFK JUST PUT ROWE ON PLANE
FBI IS HERE
!!!!!!! SAY NOTHING!
HAVE TO TALK TO THEM
WHY?
LONG STORY
TELL ME!
MY GIRLFRIEND KNOWS ABOUT ME
THIS IS BAD
NO KIDDING
“What the hell are you doing in there?” Garrison said through the door.
“My hair,” Peter called out.
“Fifteen seconds before I break the door down.”
Peter told Max he’d talk to him later, and folded his phone. Throwing on dry clothes, he opened the door to find Garrison standing outside. The FBI agent pointed at the doorway.
“Move,” he said.
They returned to the kitchen. Garrison added a chair to the table, and told Peter to sit down. Peter parked himself in the chair while staring at Liza and Snoop. They both looked petrified. It was now or never if he was going to save his friends.
“I have a proposition for you,” Peter said.
Garrison stood at the head of the table with his arms crossed. “How come you keep talking when you’re not supposed to?”
“Sorry. Want to hear it?”
“Go ahead.”
“You obviously want to talk to me. If that wasn’t the case, you would have run Liza and Snoop to the station house, and booked them. Correct?”
“Correct.”
“I’ll be more than happy to talk to you, but you have to let my friends go.”
“I don’t think so. They’ve already admitted to hacking our computer.”
“That’s half the story. I told them to.”
“Doesn’t matter. They still broke the law.”
“They both work for me. I would have fired them if they said no.”
“Is that so? Why did you do that?”
“Let them go, and I’ll be happy to tell you.”
Garrison did a slow burn. “I don’t like your attitude.”
“And I don’t like the FBI.”
The special agent came around the table, and got in his face. “What did you say?” Garrison acted like he might rip Peter’s head off. The young magician held his ground.
“My mother and father were murdered when I was a kid,” Peter said. “This morning, I discovered that the FBI knew the Order of Astrum was responsible for their deaths, but never shared the information with the police. Like I said, I’m not a big fan of your employer.”
The words hit Garrison hard. He stepped back, unsure of how to respond. Liza caught Peter’s eye, and mouthed the word Wow! Snoop nodded approvingly.
It was hard to admit when you were wrong. Harder still when you had to do it in front of a roomful of people. The words that came out of Garrison’s mouth were a surprise.
“Sounds like the FBI owes you an apology,” Garrison said.
“It would be a good start,” Peter said.
“I’m sorry we never spoke to the police about the Order of Astrum’s involvement in your parents’ murders,” Garrison said. “They had a right to know. And so did you.”
Nothing was going to change the way Peter felt about his parents’ deaths. But it was still nice to hear Garrison say the FBI had not handled things right.
“Thanks,” Peter said. “Now how about letting my friends go?”
20
“You win,” Garrison said. “Your friends can go.”
Liza and Snoop broke into smiles. Garrison wagged a finger in their faces.
“Keep your noses clean,” the FBI agent said.
Snoop walked out of the kitchen with a lift in his step. Liza came around the table, and kissed Peter lovingly on the cheek.
“You’re a star,” she whispered.
“Get out of here before he changes his mind,” Peter whispered back.
Liza hurried out of the kitchen. Moments later, Peter heard the front door open as Liza and Snoop left the brownstone. He breathed a sigh of relief, knowing his friends were safe.
Garrison turned to his team, and told them to wait in another room. The three agents filed out.
“I need some coffee,” Garrison said.
Peter fixed a fresh pot. Soon they were facing each other at the table, the hostility between them all but gone.
“You go first,” Garrison said.
“I’d never heard of the Order of Astrum until last night, when one of their members tried to kill me during a show,” Peter said. “A British guy named Wolfe.”
“Who told you Wolfe was a member of the Order?”
Peter sipped his drink. Detective Schoch had told him Wolfe was part of the Order. He wasn’t going to give her up any more than Liza or Snoop.
“Wolfe had the Order’s tattoo stamped on his neck,” Peter said. “One of my assistants recognized the tattoo, and told me about the Order.”