by Lisa Harris
“Thank you.” She wrapped her hands around the mug and took a sip. “What’s the latest update on the guys from the hospital basement?”
Jack shook his head. “Nothing yet, but there’s a BOLO out on them.”
She took another sip, then set her mug down. “I’ve made a list of all the phone numbers and email addresses I have for my father for you. I’ve tried calling and left messages for him, telling him I need to speak to him, but so far I haven’t got any response.”
“That’s a good start.”
“I’m also trying to figure out the complex web my father’s got himself tangled up in. I don’t know how the spy game works, but do you think he knows they’re after me? Do you think they’ve told him?”
“We have no way of knowing. We were able to get a bit more out of Hwang. Hwang said your father promised his Chinese handler a piece of intel worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. But if he turned around and betrayed them, either by reneging or giving them false information, they wouldn’t be happy.”
She nodded as Jack continued.
“We’re going to find the truth, but like I said, it’s a lot to process. Give yourself some grace. This isn’t just another case you’re trying to solve. This hits close to home.”
“Way too close. Ryan called me a few minutes ago. He told me they’re keeping Papps in ICU overnight, but he’s still stable.”
“He’s in good hands.”
“I know.” She fiddled with the zipper on the end of her jacket and stared across the table past him, toward the bay. “It seems strange that I have more memories of Papps than my own father.”
He sat back in his chair, waiting for her to continue at her own pace. Healing what had already happened was going to take time, and yet he knew that this was far from over.
“I remember him taking my mother and me to the opening of Whataburger Field. I was so excited I hardly slept the night before. I was worried he wouldn’t show up, but he did. I’m sure I drove him crazy. The field was spectacular, and seeing the Lexington and the aquarium from the stadium was amazing. I loved baseball, though I’m not sure how much of the game I saw. I remember eating burgers and ice cream until I was almost sick. The best part was that my parents were both sitting beside me. For those few hours we were a family and everything was right in the world. And then the next day, he was gone. I didn’t see him again for months, or even hear from him other than a couple postcards. I always knew deep down that the fun we had that night wouldn’t last, but for the moment—for that one night—everything was perfect.”
Jack caught the sadness in her voice. She’d grown up since that night at the ballfield, but he knew there would always be regret for what she’d missed. Part of him wished he could whisk her away from all of this, so she didn’t have to deal with it, but as hard as it was—if they were going to find her father—they needed her. But first he wanted her to rest.
“What do you need from me right now?” she asked.
“Right now? I want you to go lie down for a couple hours. When you get up, we’ll order some dinner, then you can help us work on a plan.”
She shook her head. “I need to find out the truth of what’s going on. I can sleep later.”
Jack sighed. He’d known it was a long shot. “Okay . . . then tell me more about your father.” He leaned forward, not wanting to push her, but she was right about one thing. They needed answers, and at the moment she was their best lead. “Anything you can think of, no matter how obscure, might help. Anything that would help me understand how he thinks and acts and how he might respond to this situation.”
She picked up her mug and held it in her cupped hands. He could read the mixture of sadness and frustration in her eyes. He knew she wanted to help, but there had to be a measure of guilt running through her, because no matter what he’d done, Charles Ramsey was still her father. And what he was asking her to do was help him bring the man in. Which meant his job was to walk the fine line between being an agent and being a friend.
“I know this is hard to talk about, Bree.”
“Our relationship is . . . complicated. Mainly because he hasn’t been a part of my world for a long time. To be honest, he never has been a part of it.” She put her mug down, then pressed her palms against the table as she formulated her words. “Maybe this doesn’t make sense, but as strained as our relationship has always been, I still don’t want to believe he would do something like this. It just seems like some bad movie. In the span of a few hours, I found out that my father is a spy and a traitor. It’s just . . . it’s going to take time for all of this to sink in.”
He appreciated her focus and willingness to move forward even though he knew it was difficult. “Do you have any idea where he might be?”
She shook her head. “I haven’t spoken to him for a couple years. I’m not even sure where he lives anymore. I’ve got an address, but it’s probably not up-to-date. I have a feeling that your FBI file will have more information than I do.”
“That’s okay. Just tell me what you do know.”
She sighed as she worked to dredge up memories he knew she’d rather forget. “I know he was in the military and that he worked in intelligence after he got out. Not long after he turned fifty, he went through some sort of midlife crisis. He divorced my mom and a few years later ended up marrying a girl half his age. By that time I was nineteen. She was twenty-nine. He traveled the world for a few months with his new wife, then he started some tech business. After he divorced my mom, I rarely saw him. He never demanded visitation rights, never seemed to want a relationship with me, though he always paid his child support on time. All of which was fine with me. I preferred to live with my mom than one of his girlfriends or later his wife.”
“You said his second marriage ended in divorce also,” Jack said. “How long did it last?”
“Five . . . maybe six years. That was the point where a lot of things fell apart for him. After he lost Rachel, his business started failing.”
“Did you ever hear from him?”
“He typically sent me postcards a couple times a year, mainly from when he traveled overseas. I tried to respond for a while, to keep in touch, but after my mother died, the connection between us dissolved, and eventually I decided there was nothing left for me to give.”
“And where did the senator and his wife come in?”
“They were always like surrogate parents to me. They made sure I had a place to go for holidays, both me and my mother. Never missed a birthday or an important holiday, and then there was duck hunting and fishing. Papps taught me clay pigeon shooting and how to tie fishing lines to a hook while Gail taught me how to make pies and macaroons. But the best thing he did was treat me like a part of his family.”
“You needed that.”
Bree smiled for the first time. “I did. I was hungry for attention and a father figure, and that’s what he gave me.”
“Now I know why you were always so multitalented.” He studied her body language, pleased that she was finally starting to relax. “How did you meet them?”
“Believe it or not, he and my dad were best friends in college. It’s hard to believe how different they are today. I think my father became resentful of my relationship with Papps and his family.”
“Does your father have any other relatives still alive? Siblings? Parents?”
“No siblings, though there are a few cousins I’ve never met. My grandmother, his mother, is still alive.”
“I remember you talking about her. Where is she now?”
“In a nursing home in San Antonio. She’s the one person in his family I’ve ever been close to. Or at least was close to. She has Alzheimer’s now, and most of the time she doesn’t even recognize me. But she was a wonderful woman who’d be horrified to know what her son has done. I don’t even think she remembers my parents divorced.”
“I’m sorry. I know from experience with my own grandfather how hard that is. When’s the last time you saw her?”<
br />
“Last month. I try to visit her as often as I can get away from work.”
“So sometimes she remembers you?”
“It depends on the day, but most days she’s lost in the past. The only good thing is that she’s always her same sweet self I remember from when I was growing up.” Bree drew in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “Nana is so different from my father. She worked hard her whole life and yet she always had time for me. She knew how to make me laugh, made the best chicken and dumplings, and loved sending me handwritten letters all through college.”
“What is your father’s relationship like with your grandmother?”
“I have a feeling he doesn’t go very often, which is sad. She loved him fiercely despite his neglect. She’s always had a place for my mom and me in her life.”
Jack studied her while she spoke, struck—not for the first time—by how one person’s actions could affect so many people. Both positively and negatively. In this case, how one father’s selfishness destroyed a family and left the daughter to be raised by a single mom. Charles Ramsey had taken off and apparently never looked back.
“I have a question,” she said. “You know how all this works better than I do. Why would my father have been recruited in the first place? He had contacts, but it’s been a while since he retired from government work.”
“It’s not an unusual approach. They look for people struggling financially, or who worked with contractors or are currently working as a contractor with connections in intelligence circles.”
He wished there was a way he could take her out of the equation, but even if he could somehow do that, he knew she wouldn’t want him to.
She pulled her sweater tighter around her shoulders. “Ever since he walked out on my mother and me, I’ve thought he didn’t love me enough. But now . . . now I wonder if he was trying to protect me in his own misguided way by staying out of my life, though maybe that’s just what my heart wants to believe.”
“So if he knew that the FBI was after him—along with the Chinese—where would he go?” Jack asked.
She shook her head. “I can’t narrow it down, but I would think close enough to be able to keep an eye on things and still be in control, and yet far enough away so no one could easily find him.”
“Then let’s start there. Everyone has habits. That place of familiarity. What was familiar to him?”
“He’d avoid the familiar, but that was his way. He loved visiting new places. I told you he used to send me postcards when he traveled. I remember daydreaming about how one day he’d invite me to come with him on one of his trips. We’d travel to Berlin, Morocco, Paris, and Beijing. But of course that never happened.”
“So you think he’d head somewhere unfamiliar.”
“I think so.” She tapped her finger on her lips. “I remember once, when I was about fourteen, he told me he planned to retire somewhere like Belize or Ecuador.”
“If he had the correct paperwork and enough cash, that would be the perfect place to disappear.”
“What if he’s already left?”
“It’s possible, but I don’t think so. I think there’s something else he needs from the Chinese. I think if he’d gotten it from them, he’d have left a long time ago.”
“Money.”
“Exactly. Enough to disappear for the rest of his life.” Jack tried to put himself in the man’s shoes in an attempt to figure out what he would do. “What about a weakness?”
Bree hesitated before answering. “My grandmother. If he is planning to disappear, he’d want to tell her goodbye.”
“Even if she doesn’t know who he is?”
“I think so.”
Jack scooted back his chair, a plan of action finally starting to form in his mind. “We need to call the assisted living home where she is and instruct them to tell us immediately if your father stops by. We can put the local authorities on alert as well.”
“I can do that,” Bree said. “What else?”
“I’ve got something.” Adam walked up to their table. “I just received a call from local PD. Your father was just spotted here in Corpus.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
HER FATHER WAS HERE?
A wave of nausea swept through Aubrey. On any other day, a visit to Papps’s house would have had her soaking up the afternoon sun on the back veranda of the senator’s large house. She’d always loved the warm winter days and the line of palm trees and the blue ocean spreading out in front of them. But instead of enjoying the incredible view, she was caught up in her father’s messy decisions.
She sat back in her chair. “Where is he?”
“With the BOLO out on your father, someone at the local PD found video surveillance of him at the Omni Hotel while investigating a separate incident. They followed up, but he didn’t check in, and there’s no evidence he met anyone.”
Her mind worked through the possible scenarios, and only one stood out. “He had to have been meeting someone. Maybe whoever it was didn’t show up.”
“It’s very possible.”
“If his ex-wife lives here, like I think she does, he might be here to see her,” she said.
“I think it would be worth paying her a visit,” Adam said.
“I agree.” Jack turned to her. “Do you know how to find her? With the new information we’re gathering, we’re still updating our files.”
“She shouldn’t be hard to track down.” Aubrey opened her laptop that was sitting on the table. “As far as I know, she still lives around here after remarrying. I don’t know her new last name, but her maiden name was Brook.”
Aubrey searched for Rachel’s Facebook page. Fifteen minutes later, she found the page that was filled with a sprinkling of energetic selfies and beach shots. “Looks like I was right. She remarried and lives just outside of Corpus with her new husband.”
“You’re good.” Adam leaned forward and studied the page. “What else can you tell us about her?”
Aubrey dug through another pile of memories she would have preferred to keep buried. But this wasn’t the time to let the past drag her under. “The last time I spoke with her was right after their divorce went through. She needed something from my father and wanted me to talk to him for her. It was clear from the tone of her voice that she was relieved to be rid of him.”
She remembered feeling sorry for her father at the time. Sorry that he was still searching for something and had ended up failing at another marriage. Sorry that she and her mother hadn’t been enough for him.
Adam flipped through a few of the photos. “She seems like a bit of a gold digger.”
“I’ve thought the same thing, though unfortunately for her, my father looked better with his expensive car and clothes than he did on paper. Which is why, I’m assuming, she ended up walking out when she found out the truth. He was always more flash than substance and spent more than he made.” She blinked back the emotion. “All of this makes me miss my mom, though on the other hand, it makes me so glad she’s not here. I know that when they married, she loved him, and to be fair, he loved her, but things changed. He changed. I would have hated to see her having to deal with the fallout from all of this.”
Adam nodded. “I always loved your mom. She had a way of making everyone feel at home no matter who they were.”
“She was always like that. Loved having a full house. She could whip up a meal for guests in thirty minutes that made you think she’d slaved over the stove for hours.”
“Her spaghetti and meatballs was my favorite,” Jack said. “I’d finish off my plate and she’d pile on another helping.”
Aubrey laughed at the memory. “For some reason she always felt like she had to fatten the two of you up.”
Jack reached out and squeezed her hand, making her wish for the moment that they could go back in time. That he could drive her to her mother’s house for spaghetti and meatballs with chocolate cake for dessert like they used to when everything in life seemed so much simpler. W
hen the biggest concern she faced was passing Mrs. Gunther’s science test and what she was going to wear to school the next day.
“What if Rachel hasn’t seen him?” Aubrey asked. “What next?”
“We’ll go to plan B,” Jack said.
“Aren’t we well beyond plan B?” She pulled her hand away and took a sip of her tea that was now lukewarm, trying not to be frustrated. “I understand you’ve been at this for months.”
She might not be close to her father, but she knew if he didn’t want to be found, it wasn’t going to be easy to track him down.
“You’re going to start making me feel like I’m shirking my job.”
She shook her head. “Not at all. But I will say this about my father. He’s been disappearing and shirking his responsibilities for as long as I remember.”
“We’re going to find him, Bree.” Jack stood up. “It’s just a matter of time.”
“I’m going with you.”
“Bree, I brought you here to keep you safe.”
“And you need me. Rachel will talk to me before she talks to the FBI.”
Jack frowned. “I’m not going to argue with that, but we need to be careful.”
It didn’t take long for them to drive to the house, which sat on a large piece of land overlooking the ocean with a dozen palm trees. It had to be worth at least a couple million dollars. Maybe Jack had been right about Rachel being a gold digger. She also couldn’t help but wonder if her father had felt any of the same loss that she knew her mother had felt when he’d left them. A single mom, struggling to pay the bills and keep food on the table. She’d risen to the occasion, but even as a young girl, Aubrey had seen that it hadn’t been easy.
It wasn’t as if Aubrey really knew her father’s second wife. She’d only spoken with her a couple of times. The first time had been the day her father had insisted on bringing Rachel to meet her just days before they drove to Vegas to tie the knot. The whole time it seemed more like an opportunity for him to absolve the guilt he had to have felt. To get her to give him the approval he seemed to want from her. Why, she’d never quite understood. He never cared what she thought about anything else.
