Betrayal Read Online Free Page B

personal life had the sad, magnetic draw of the best soap operas. The irony of the latest development leapt to mind. During a recent interview on PoliTalk , Wiley had used the fallibility of condoms to make allegorical reference to homeland defenses—Was ninety-nine-percent efficacy good enough?—unaware that one of his own little soldiers had recently crossed enemy lines. If this were not so serious she would find it funny.
    How would he react? She wondered. Would he be thrilled or horrified? Angry or overjoyed? Would he spurn her or propose? Surely he would propose now, Cassi figured. That was what she wanted, more than anything. But did she want it this way? The answer came immediately, soft but solid like an elephant appearing beneath a magician’s wand. No. No, she did not want to get Wiley this way.
    The opening of a window on the second floor shook her back to the present. She stepped back for a better view and simultaneously plotted her course of retreat. She would beat feet at the first sign of a shotgun barrel. Unfortunately, she realized with a sinking heart, there was no suitable shelter anywhere close—just a thin lamp pole and a couple of scraggly bushes. The corner of the house was her only safe bet, and that was twenty feet away. The prudent thing for her to do would be to run there immediately.  
    Elvis preempted her bolt. “You can help by leaving, all of you.”
    Cassi paused. It was a good sign that Elvis did not open with a threat. To her that indicated that violence was not the first thing on his mind. Furthermore, his request showed that he was anxious to escape. She replied, “I’d be happy to leave. So would all my friends.”
    Elvis did not react immediately. He was waiting for her conditions. Cassi wanted him to accept the fact that there would be conditions, so she waited for him to ask. As she stood there on the concrete stoop beside the small dilapidated house, the focus of twenty sets of battle-ready eyes and one hostage taker, Cassi’s thoughts again drifted to her own condition.
    She could not tell Wiley about the baby. Not now. Not until he proposed. And that meant that she could not tell her employer either. They were one and the same. Standing there in the shadow of a crime she wanted to feel good about her decision. She wanted to rest easy knowing that she had made it for the right reasons. But she did not. She felt guilty. She felt guilty because deep inside she was glad for the excuse.
    Cassi was a leading contender to replace Jack Higgins at the end of the year when he retired as head of the FBI negotiations unit. Ever since he had announced his intentions she had tried not to court disappointment by thinking about it too much, but that was impossible. Running the negotiations unit was her dream job. And regardless of the psychological defenses she was trying to construct, she knew that she would be crushed if she did not get it.
    Cassi did a quick tally of the math. She would be in her fourth month when Higgins’ successor was announced. Since this was her first child, she could probably keep her condition hidden until then if she dressed loosely enough. She was not completely comfortable with the ethics of springing the news the same month she got the promotion, but then there was no chance that they would give her the promotion if they knew she was pregnant, and that was not fair either. Was it?
    “Okay. Then go on. Leave.”
    Cassi snapped back into the negotiation at the sound of Elvis’s strained voice. “It’s not quite that simple, Elvis. First I need you to throw me your gun.”
    “Don’t treat me like a fool.”
    “I don’t think you’re a fool, Elvis. I think you’re a good man in a bad situation. You’ve been betrayed. I know you’re a decent guy. I know you don’t have a record. I just want to keep you from acting foolishly in a moment of anger. I don’t want you to do anything that would ruin the rest of your life. Let’s face it. If she betrayed