Behind the Mask Read online

  “That’s great, Lexie,” Kate said.

  Adam abruptly changed the subject. “We’ve been discussing various strategies this morning. We wanted your input. We’re considering putting Savannah in front of the grand jury to see if she would talk.”

  “I . . . I didn’t realize we were at that stage,” Lexie stammered. “I’m almost positive that Savannah will plead the fifth.”

  Adam rubbed his temples. “We could interview Savannah using the information that you’ve gathered up to this point. If we go that route, you’ll more than likely be exposed as an undercover agent.”

  “What’s your opinion, Lexie?” Kate asked.

  Lexie’s right foot bounced like a jackhammer. “I think we should allow things to continue business as usual. Savannah doesn’t know she slipped up, and she desperately wanted to tell me what happened that night. Maybe if nothing happens to her, she’ll open up to me. If not, we can always use the information against her down the road.”

  Kate and Adam nodded, so Lexie continued. “I think we’re all pretty confident Haley and Nick are the more culpable targets. If Savannah opens the door so I can get closer to Haley, we’ll have a much stronger case. We’re relying on the premise that Savannah will flip on the group, but there’s no guarantee she’ll cooperate. She may tell us to pound sand, and we’ll be left with a weak, circumstantial case. I think we all realize Savannah is not sophisticated enough to pull off organizing this type of action. For one thing, she hasn’t been involved in the movement long enough to have the kind of connections she’d need for the animal liberation side of the direct action. Savannah definitely has knowledge of the crime, but my guess is she was a worker bee and not an organizer.”

  “I agree with Lexie’s assessment,” Kate said. “She’s been around the targets and is in the best position to make the decision.”

  Adam sighed. “This is a tough call. It could go either way.”

  “What’s the harm in going a little longer?” Kate asked.

  “Okay,” Adam said. “We’ll go with your plan, Lexie. Keep in mind, we’re on a time crunch.”

  Adam’s tone irritated Lexie, but she decided to let it go.

  Lexie reflected on her life as she drove the scenic stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway on her way home.

  Happy birthday to me.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Savannah

  Nearly a week later, Savannah was still irritated that Nick and Haley had accused her of telling Lexie about the fire. She had lied to them about going to class that day, but there was such a double standard when it came to information sharing in her relationships. Neither Nick nor Haley felt the need to tell her about their comings and goings, but the first time that she wasn’t forthright about her location, they went ballistic.

  Savannah jumped when her phone rang. She grabbed it off the desk and smiled when she saw Nick’s name on the screen. “Hi, handsome.”

  “Hey,” Nick said curtly.

  “What’s new?” Savannah asked.

  “Are we still on for dinner at Lexie’s and then the meeting?”

  “Yep, that’s the plan.”

  “I’ll pick you and Haley up about five.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll text Haley and let her know the plan.”

  Savannah had a surge of energy after talking to Nick. She showered and walked to class. On her way, she called Lexie. “Are we still on for dinner at your place tonight?”

  “Absolutely. Come over anytime.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Alexis

  Lexie planned to make soy tacos for dinner, so she spent the morning grocery shopping. She decided to keep it simple, since she wasn’t much of a cook. She bought a vegan dark chocolate cake for dessert. Her phone rang.

  “Hey, Kate.”

  “Hey, Lexie. How are you?”

  “Good. Just getting everything ready for this evening.”

  “Need any help?”

  “Naw, I got it. I’m keeping it simple. I have to pick up some beer, and then I’m done.”

  “Did you test the audio/video equipment in your apartment?”

  “Yep. I tested it last night. Everything appears to be working fine.”

  “Since this is the first time any of these people have been in your apartment, do you mind if I swing by to do a quick walk through to make sure that nothing sticks out as weird?”

  “I don’t mind at all. I’ll be home in about a half hour. Swing by anytime.”

  Lexie finished her shopping and returned to the apartment. After unloading the car, she chopped up the lettuce, tomatoes, and onion for the tacos.

  Lexie performed a cursory examination of her apartment. Everything looked good to her. There was a knock on the door. Lexie checked the peephole and saw Kate standing nonchalantly outside. Kate blended into the neighborhood well with her loose fitting hemp pants, organic cotton T-shirt, and fair-trade purse slung over her shoulder.

  “Come in,” Lexie said.

  “Thanks. Wow, you cleaned the place up.”

  “A little bit.”

  “Do you mind if I walk through?” Kate asked.

  “Be my guest.”

  Kate opened drawers and cabinets, checking for anything out of the ordinary. She looked through Lexie’s books on the small bookshelf in the bedroom. While Kate was searching, Lexie fixed them each a glass of iced tea. Kate returned carrying a couple of paperback books.

  “You might want to take a black marker to the name in the front of these two books.”

  Lexie opened the books, and her mother’s name was written on the inside cover.

  “Fuck! I never thought about checking my books.”

  “No worries. That’s why I always do a walk through. It’s good to do periodically, because as time goes by, it’s easy to become complacent.”

  Lexie crossed the name out with a marker and tossed the books in a coffee table drawer.

  “These targets are snoops and will take every opportunity to toss your shit when you aren’t looking.”

  “Thanks for checking for me,” Lexie said as she handed Kate a tall glass of iced tea with lemon.

  “No problem. Are you sure there isn’t anything that I can do to help?”

  “Everything is done. I just have to heat up the soy crumbles for the tacos. The toppings are all chopped and in bowls in the fridge.”

  “Leave all the dinner dishes on the table,” Kate instructed. “I’ll come over later and take custody of a few items to send to the lab for DNA comparisons.”

  “Great idea.”

  Lexie and Kate sat at the kitchen table and sipped their teas.

  “How’s everything going at the office?” Lexie asked.

  “People at headquarters are giving Adam grief. The arson put our investigation on their radar. He’s been a real grouch lately.”

  “What’s it like working so closely with Adam?”

  “It’s fine. He’s more of a typical FBI agent, a little high-strung and anal. Put it this way, I enjoy working with you so much more than him. In fact, I’m going to miss you when this case is over. It’s been nice having you around.”

  The two women leisurely drank their teas and shared a few laughs.

  “Well, I better get out of here so you can finish getting ready for tonight.” Kate gathered her purse and headed toward the door.

  Lexie walked Kate to the door. “I’ll call you when I get back from the meeting.”

  “Sounds good. Good luck.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Savannah

  Savannah and Haley were waiting for Nick to pick them up when Savannah received a text. Check your e-mail.

  “That’s strange.”

  “What?” Haley asked.

  “Nick sent me a text telling me to check my e-mail.”

 
; “He must be sending you something encrypted.”

  Savannah grabbed her laptop and logged into her Rise Up account. Most of the activists used Rise Up because the service refused to cooperate with law enforcement subpoenas. Savannah kept her Hotmail account to use with Nora and her parents, but she used her Rise Up account for everyone else. She used PGP to decrypt the message and read it to Haley. “S. I can’t make it tonight. You and H go and have fun. I’m heading out of town for a few days. The less you know, the better. I found a tracker on my car. I’ve destroyed it, but I need to lie low. I’ll e-mail you when I can. My cell phone is off, so don’t call me. I love you. N.”

  Savannah finished reading and looked at Haley. “What’s a tracker?”

  “It’s a device the fucking feds put on your car so they can track everywhere you go. I bet they stuck it on Nick’s car after the fire. He checks his car periodically, so it probably hasn’t been attached long.”

  “What did he do with it?”

  “He either smashed it to smithereens or threw it in the ocean. Those motherfuckers think they’re so sneaky.”

  “Oh God. Do you think they know Nick had something to do with the fire?”

  “No. They’re grasping at straws. They probably have trackers on a shitload of animal rights activists’ cars right now. Don’t panic.”

  “That’s easy for you to say. I’m scared to death.”

  “We need to go on with business as usual.”

  “Should we check our cars?” Savannah asked.

  Haley laughed. “Do you know what a tracker looks like?”

  “Well, no, but I figured you would.”

  “I have an activist friend who works at a body shop. I’ll give him a call and see if he can give our cars a quick once-over.”

  “What about going to dinner at Lexie’s house?”

  “Nothing wrong with going to a friend’s house for dinner. How close does she live to Jeannette’s house?”

  “It’s within walking distance,” Savannah said.

  “That’s good. After dinner we’ll walk to the meeting.”

  “Speaking of that, we’d better go so we aren’t late.”

  “Just remember, Savannah, business as usual. When Lexie asks about Nick, we’ll tell her his band got an out-of-town gig.”

  “Shouldn’t we tell Lexie about the tracker?” Savannah asked.

  Haley pondered the question. “No, I think for now, we keep it to ourselves. I don’t think we should say anything at the meeting either.”

  “Whatever you think. You know better than I do.”

  They hopped in Savannah’s car and drove to Venice. Savannah could tell that Haley was in deep thought.

  “I’ve changed my mind,” Haley said. “We should tell Lexie and the others about the tracker so they can have their vehicles examined. If they ask about Nick, we’ll tell them he’s lying low. No one needs to know he’s out of town.”

  “Whatever you think, Haley. I’ll do whatever you say.”

  Savannah found a parking spot down the street from Lexie’s apartment. She and Haley walked up and knocked on the door. Lexie opened the door and greeted each of her guests with a hug. “Where’s Nick?”

  “He had a change of plans and couldn’t make it.”

  “Too bad. I made a ton of food. Come in. Come in.”

  Savannah and Haley entered the apartment.

  “Make yourselves at home. The bathroom is down the hall if you need it. Can I get anyone a drink?”

  “Wow, you’re quite the hostess,” Haley stated.

  “Thanks. My good Southern upbringing, I guess.”

  “How about some wine?”

  “Sounds good to me,” Savannah said.

  “Me too,” said Haley.

  “White or red?”

  “White,” both replied.

  “I’m really disappointed that Nick couldn’t make it,” Lexie said as she poured them each a glass of Chardonnay. “I was looking forward to getting to know him better.”

  Lexie handed a glass to both Savannah and Haley.

  “This is good,” Savannah said after taking a sip of her wine.

  “I have a Riesling in the fridge if you prefer something sweeter. I prefer sweeter, but I realize not everyone shares my love of sweet wine.”

  “I have the same taste in wine as you do,” Savannah said.

  “Don’t be shy. Help yourself.”

  Haley wandered to the table and filled a plate with carrots, hummus, chips, and salsa. “This looks great, Lexie. Thanks for having us.”

  “It’s my pleasure. I’ve been meaning to have you guys over. I’m not the best cook, so I hope you like tacos.”

  “Love them,” said Haley.

  “Me too,” added Savannah.

  The three girls took their plates out to Lexie’s small patio.

  “This is a cute patio,” Haley stated.

  “Thanks. It’s not very big, but I love it. I sit out here all the time.”

  “I miss having a porch,” Savannah said. “Haley, when we look for an apartment, we have to find one with a patio area for entertaining.”

  “Because we entertain so frequently,” Haley said sarcastically.

  “Well, we might entertain if we didn’t live in a dorm.”

  “Are you guys looking for an apartment?” Lexie asked.

  “We’ve tossed around the idea of renting an apartment or a house,” Haley answered. “We’d like to get a few people and rent something we could use as an activist house.”

  “That sounds like a great idea.”

  “Would you want to move in with us if we did rent a house?” Savannah asked.

  “I would love to move in with you guys when my lease is up.”

  “When does your lease expire?” Haley asked.

  Crap, Lexie thought. When does my lease expire? Just say something.

  “Not ah, not until June,” Lexie stammered.

  “What kind of early termination penalty do you have if you leave before June?” Haley asked.

  “I can’t remember,” Lexie said. “I’ll have to check my lease to see.”

  The women sat on the patio sipping wine and munching on hors d’oeuvres. Lexie decided it was time to warm up the soy crumbles.

  “I’d better get our tacos going so we can make our meeting on time,” Lexie stated.

  “Can I help with anything?” Savannah asked.

  “You can get the taco fixings out of the fridge and put them on the table if you want.”

  “I can do that.”

  During dinner, Lexie approached the subject of Nick.

  “What happened to Nick? Is he coming for the meeting?”

  Haley and Savannah exchanged glances.

  “We’re not going to tell anyone outside of our activist group, but Nick found a tracker on his car,” Haley said.

  Lexie froze in disbelief. She forced herself to speak. “Really? Wow! Who do you think put it there?”

  “Probably the fucking FBI,” Haley said.

  Lexie’s heart raced. Did Adam install a tracker on the car and choose not to tell me? Act normal, she told herself. “Why would they put one on Nick’s car?” Lexie asked.

  “The cops are always fucking with us. Who knows why they do anything.”

  “Did he take if off?”

  “He did, but he thinks he should stay clear of us for a while, since it’s obvious someone is watching him. He’ll be back when things have cooled off.”

  “I don’t know what a tracker looks like,” Lexie stated. “He should take a photo of it, so we know what to look for on our cars.”

  “That’s a good idea, Lexie,” Savannah chimed in. “I don’t know what one looks like either.”

  “It’s a good thing he found it. Do you know how they put
them on cars?” Lexie asked.

  “I think the trackers are magnetic, so someone walks by and slaps one on a car when no one is around.”

  Lexie shook her head and said, “Fucking cops.”

  Savannah jumped up to grab the dinner dishes.

  “Don’t worry about the dishes, Savannah. I’ll take care of them when I get home,” Lexie said.

  “Are you sure? I’m happy to help.”

  “I know you are, but it’s almost time for our meeting. Should we take the chocolate cake with us?”

  “That would be nice,” Haley said. “Do you want to walk over from here?”

  “Yes,” Savannah said. “I need to walk off all my tacos so I can make room for cake.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Lexie said. “It’s not far.”

  * * * * *

  The three women told stories and laughed all the way to the house. The meeting was just getting started when they arrived.

  Jeannette greeted them at the door. “Hello, ladies. Phillip and the rest of the gang are in the living room.”

  Jeannette looked around behind the girls as they entered the house. “Where’s Nick?”

  Haley answered for the group. “Nick found a tracker on his car. He’s laying low for a bit just in case the cops are following him.”

  “There’s no end to what those Gestapo motherfuckers will do,” Jeannette declared. “I hope that tracking device is sitting at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.”

  Haley laughed.

  Lexie handed Jeannette the chocolate cake. “Here’s a little contribution for the snack table.”

  “Thank you, Lexie. It looks good. I love dark chocolate. Go on into the meeting. I’ll be along behind you.”

  The three strolled into the meeting. Lexie plopped into a worn-out purple beanbag chair. Haley and Savannah each grabbed a spot on the threadbare couch.

  Savannah overheard Ryan discussing the UCLA incident with one of the other guys in the group. She suddenly felt sick to her stomach. They weren’t supposed to discuss past acts. Of course, Ryan wouldn’t know that any of them had a part in the UCLA action. She concentrated on slowing down her heart rate and tried her best to appear calm, cool, and collected.