"We can't," I said. "Two dead Federal Police aren't going away, and we can't explain them here."

"Get Nicholas to a hospital," Vicki said.

I shook my head, no. "Taking a man to a hospital with a gunshot wound raises too many questions, Vicki. Questions you can't answer while you sit here covered in blood with two dead cops."

She was shaking as she pulled a phone out of the woman's pocket. "They made me shoot him, Alessandro. Master Caroline made him give me the gun, and they wouldn't help Nicholas unless I shot him. Traci recorded me doing it."

I took the phone from her. Frank had hog-tied the...