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constituted an oversized object and had tripped the alarm.
192 ALEX KAVA
Sabrina wedged herself between the building and a
scrawny line of crepe myrtles. Her heart banged against her
rib cage. She couldn t think. Instead, her mind sounded its
own alarm, drumming over and over again. Why the hell
was Anna even there? Did she really believe she could
gain something by honing in on Sabrina s meeting with
Ernie Walker? One thing was for certain, Anna could not
have been the target. And that man, whoever he was, was
not Ernie Walker, the plant manager.
Sabrina contemplated what to do, where to go. If the
man realized his mistake, if he heard Sabrina s scream or
saw her down below, would he check the lab? Would he
find her office? Should she go to one of the security
outposts? Would they even believe her? What would she
tell them? She wasn t even sure what had happened.
She made her way along the side of the building until
she could cross between the tanker trucks, using them for
cover. One of the drivers waved her out of the way. She
found relief in the organized chaos despite filling her
aching lungs with diesel fumes. She continued to glance
over her shoulder, suddenly aware that the noise would ca-
mouflage his following her. But he couldn t attack, not
here, not out in the open.
She wanted to run again, but instead quickened her pace
and wove her way under catwalks and behind tanks. Two
men in hard hats looked up at her while they struggled
with a lever on what Sabrina knew to be a shutoff valve.
She checked their faces and wondered if she d even recog-
nize the man. That s when she realized she must look a
mess, her shirt stained and clinging to her, her shoes and
pant legs muddy.
She stayed away from the administration buildings,
WHITEWASH 193
circling to the parking lot. Her fingers grasped and held on
to the car keys in her trouser pocket. Her heartbeat throbbed
in her head and she stepped to its rhythm, hoping it would
keep her from panicking and running. She didn t need to
think beyond getting across this parking lot and finding her
rental car.
What the hell color was it? Why couldn t she remember?
Before the panic dismantled her, she saw the corner
space where she always parked. Thank God for routine.
Now all that was left was to get inside, start the engine and
get the hell away from there.
47
Washington, D.C.
Natalie Richards poured herself a second glass of wine.
She needed to sip, not gulp, this one. Her boss would cer-
tainly understand, but Natalie knew her own limits. She d
wait until after their phone call before she had a third. She
checked her cell phone to make sure it was turned on, then
she set it aside and dropped onto the sofa.
She had kicked off her shoes at the door and peeled out
of her panty hose. The tension in her shoulders and at the
pit of her stomach wouldn t leave, though she was deter-
mined to get both under control. This was the earliest she
had gotten home in months and thankfully it was peaceful
for a change. Her sons and ex-husband were somewhere in
Michigan at a campground on a lake in the middle of
nowhere. It was supposed to be a three-week vacation. She d
give them three days, maybe four, and they d be begging and
bargaining for a PlayStation or an Internet connection. As
nice as the silence was, she missed them all three
of them.
WHITEWASH 195
Ron had offered to take the boys when Natalie thought
she d be accompanying her boss to the energy summit in
Florida. You go to Florida and treat yourself to a few
extra days. You never do that, Ron had told her. The
boys and I have been talking about fishing with my dad for
over two years. We ll just do it.
He d say things like that and she forgot why she
divorced the man, especially since Natalie knew how much
of a sacrifice it was for Ron Richards to spend three weeks
in the wilderness, no matter how much he loved his boys.
And despite what Natalie told anyone, she had liked the
idea of going to Florida and possibly tacking on a few
extra days so she could enjoy an afternoon at the beach.
The Reid Estate sounded like a paradise retreat, fifteen
acres overlooking the Gulf of Mexico with a private coast-
line of sugar-white beach. But now for sure she d be
staying in Washington, D.C.
Her boss had called Zach Kensor s death unfortunate
and collateral damage. Sometimes it takes sacrifice and
loss for a greater cause, was another phrase. Natalie knew
all that. It was exactly the sort of thing she had tried to use
to reassure Colin Jernigan. It hadn t relieved Colin s guilt,
nor would it relieve Natalie s. And for a man like Colin
who had seen more crime scenes and collateral damage
than Natalie watched on TV, guilt was a frivolous emotion
and definitely one she didn t expect to see in him. Of
course, all that guilt was before the fingerprint match.
Either way it didn t really matter. It was a mess and it
would be up to Natalie to figure out how to clean it up. And
do it in forty-eight hours.
Her cell phone startled her. She jerked enough to spill
merlot on her white carpet. She cursed under her breath and
196 ALEX KAVA
grabbed for the phone, sitting up and gathering her
thoughts, then finally hitting Talk.
This is Natalie, she said only because she knew her
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