Eventually Voodoo was called in. She’d been dreading the interview. How much had Carter told them? Did they know her true identity? Should she tell them everything or let them draw their own conclusion... a love triangle gone wrong?
In the end, Voodoo gave them the bare bones of the story.
“Vanessa was my husband’s partner. I didn’t fake my death, as it's been said. And we have proof that it was Vanessa who tossed my sister over the three-sixty bridge.”
“So why did she willingly show up here if she wanted you dead? According to your husband, Agent Fulbright had unrequited feelings for him. Did you know this?”
“I knew she had a little hero worship going on, but I never thought Carter would act on it.”
“And you were missing for five years.”
“Yes. I didn’t fake my death. I simply walked away and started over. There’s nothing illegal about that.”
She tried to remain patient, but it was taking everything out of her. She was exhausted, and the mind game these men were playing was her last straw.
“Look, I’ve answered your questions. I’m tired, and I want to wash the day off me. You know where I live and work. Call if you need anything else.”
Voodoo walked out of the office and heard the investigator call Ghost in next. The agents had no clue who they were dealing with. Ghost would talk them in circles and shift their investigation down an irrelevant path. He was a master at disarming someone, especially since Ivy was quick to pull the trigger.
After a frustrating two hours, they summoned Ivy, and as expected, she said nothing. When the agents had exhausted all the witnesses, minus those they didn’t know about, they warned the group to stay in town and not to talk about their situation.
After they’d all left, everyone congregated in the war room. Much like ECP, ALIAS’s interior was behind heavily secured walls. The front conference room, where everything went down, was adjacent to the unmanned receptionist desk.
“We need a crew to come clean up the conference room,” Ivy told Ghost.
“I’ve already sent the text. They will be here this afternoon.” It had been a long night and early morning for the team. Even though everyone was exhausted, they still had work to do.
“How’s Byte?” Voodoo asked Seven.
“Aria just texted me. She finally got Byte to drink some hot tea and pushed her into the shower this morning. Aria said she had a fitful night and she could hear Byte crying. Something about a girl named Chloe. Does anyone know who that is?”
“No, I wish I did,” Ivy said, and Ghost agreed.
“There’s so much we don’t know about her.”
“Except now we know her first name is Danielle,” Voodoo said.
“What a couple of days. Two hackers who revealed their identities,” Ghost muttered.
“We’ll discuss Byte in a minute. What did y’all tell the Feds?” Ivy asked. “And don’t start with the whole ‘they told me not to talk’ BS.”
“I told them as much as I could, without revealing too much. They knew that we were partners until I resigned. I also told them about her fascination with me and that it was out of control, to the point of trying to kill Maxi.”
It felt strange, yet right, to hear Carter say her new name. Instead of making an issue out of it, Voodoo said, “It’s such a sad situation, and Vanessa’s other personalities... Wow. So, are we going to ignore the fact that she was mentally unstable?”
“As if we could,” Carter answered. “All those years we worked together and I never knew. How could I’ve missed something so enormous?”
“As did the bureau,” Ivy reminded him.
“Cut yourself some slack. No one expected what happened. No way could we have prepared for the mission to take such a drastic turn.”
“So what now?” Seven asked.
“We’re out of the investigation. It’s in the Feds’ hands now,” Carter reminded him.
“I know that! I mean about you and Voodoo.”
“I don’t think that’s anyone’s business but mine and Gwen’s.”