Open Case File [COMPLETED]

The Write Service (Part 2)

Donovan looked at her, his expression unreadable. He waited a beat to see if she had anything more to say then cleared his throat.

"Please excuse my partner's outbreak," he said, although it was clear in his tone he didn't think any apology was needed. While he hadn't been the one to lunge at Cece, she could tell he thought Cece's jab had warranted the attack. "This case has taken a lot of time and a lot of work."

Cece just shrugged. If he was looking for an apology, he wasn't going to get one. As Cece saw it, they were lucky she was willing to come back and share all that she knew. They were lucky she had been crazy enough to break into their van to get their attention. It seemed to her that without her help, their case would be failing.

When it became clear Cece would not be offering an apology, Donovan moved on. "Can you tell me why you are the one driving the Wainwrights to the airport?"

"I noticed their bags were packed this morning and when I asked, they said they were going on a trip so I offered to give them a ride."

Donovan nodded. "How did you end up seeing their bags?"

"They were by their front door?"

"You were in their house?"

Cece nodded. "I took over muffins this morning. I bake."

"Miss Mackenzie, did it ever occur to you that interacting with the Wainwrights was dangerous?"

"No," Cece responded quickly, because she had thought about it before. "They have an MO. They go after extremely wealthy people connected to gangs or mobs. I'm on my last two dollars of my book advance and I'm sure they already know that."

Donovan shook his head like he couldn't believe Cece was real.

"Donovan," Carter called. She nodded him over and he joined her in the back of the van.

Cece looked at the ground while she listened carefully, trying to hear what they were saying. But it it was no use. She couldn't hear a thing. Her eyes focused on her scatter snacks covering the floor and she began to collect them and put them back into her briefcase.

She was searching under the chairs when Donovan finally spoke in a normal voice. Cece jerked up, eager to hear what he was saying but forgot she was still under the chair smacked her head. She gritted her teeth as she held in a stream of curses and slowly pulled her head out before sitting up. She looked at the back of the van and found Donovan on the phone and Carter smirking at Cece as Cece held the sore spot on her head.

"Yes sir," Donovan said, pulling both Carter and Cece's attention to him. He nodded as the person on the other line talked. "Yes sir."

Carter was able to understand something in his tone because she started to move. She crawled further into the back to a large black trunk. She opened it and pulled out two bullet-proof vests.

"SWAT will be here in twenty minutes. We move in twenty-five," Donovan said, hanging up the phone. Carter tossed him a vest.

The next twenty minutes passed in a blur as Cece watched Carter and Donovan prepare to move on the Wainwrights. Their movements were precise as they prepared their gear, it was like watching a dance. They each had their roll and they never got in each others way. Cece was so caught up in watching them she was startled when Carter opened the sliding door and climbed out.

"SWAT just pulled into the alley," she said. "I'll meet them while you finish up here."

Cece could tell they were so focused on the task at hand they were barely aware of her presence and she planned on taking advantage of that. She wasn't dumb enough to want to be at the center of the action but she had also didn't want to miss the big take down. She would find a spot out of sight of everyone where she could watch the action.