by F J messina
“I guess.”
“But he really doesn’t do anything bad to you, does he? He doesn’t really mistreat you, or physically hurt you. He doesn’t even say anything mean to you, right?”
“No. No, he doesn’t ever do anything like that. It’s just that he pulls me into his arms, into his world, then he pushes me away. It hurts like hell and it sucks.”
Jet’s voice softened. “You’re right, but that’s not my point. It just seems to me that there’s something else going on, something that makes him do this to you.”
Sonia sat silently for a moment. “Well, if there is, I sure as hell don’t know what it might be.”
“Tell me,” said Jet, sounding more like a detective than a friend. “What do you know about this guy, beyond the obvious? He’s an ex-Marine, he’s ex-NCIS, he’s got a good practice as a PI, he’s got a cool─I mean, had─a cool car. But what do you really know about him?”
Sonia reminded Jet that she had already told her how both Brad’s father and mother had been killed, “doing the right thing.” Her body language softened as she gave Jet a thumbnail refresher on how he had served in the Marines but left because he no longer felt like he was doing the right thing. How he had served with NCIS. Finally, having run out of steam, she said, “I guess Dunny’s just always been a good person.”
Jet’s head twisted. “Who?”
“Dunny. That’s what his friend Robbie called him.” Her voice perked up. “That’s what all his close friends call him I guess.”
“How do you know that?”
Sonia shook her head. “That computer lady he set me up with mentioned it. She seemed to know him really well. In fact, now that I think about it, she said something very strange to me. She said, ‘Good luck with your investigation.’ ” Sonia cocked her head. “Then she said in a weird way, ‘Good luck with everything.’ It was like there was a secret message there, one I didn’t get.”
“And that’s all she told you. Just that everyone called him ‘Dunny?’ ” Jet’s energy was rising.
“Yes, but there seemed to be some sort of subtext there for her. It was like she was trying to communicate something to me, but I never grasped it.” Sonia reached for her coffee again.
Jet stood up. “Well, don’t you think it’s time you found out what that secret message was?” She walked behind Sonia, put her hands on Sonia’s shoulders, and massaged them gently. “Honey, it’s time you got in touch with that lady and found out what you’re missing. You’ve earned it. You’ve earned the right to know what she knows. And if she was willing to hint at it when she didn’t even know you, I’ll bet she’ll flat out tell you if you just ask her the right way.”
Sonia dropped her head and shoulders, trying to let her muscles relax in Jet’s hands. “But I don’t even know who she is. I don’t even know her name.”
“Then how the hell did you get to talk to her?” Sonia could hear the confusion in Jet’s voice.
“Brad. Brad set it up.” Sonia stretched her back and rolled her head from side to side. “He just told me to be in his office at a certain time and that there would be a clandestine phone call from some computer geek he used to work with. He said the person would help me hack into the drug ring’s communications, and he─I mean she─did.”
“So, the only way you can get to this woman is through Brad? Is that true?”
“I’m afraid it is. And I can’t do that. I can’t ask Brad who that woman is.”
Jet stood behind Sonia for another moment, though she had stopped massaging Sonia’s shoulders. “No, but you could ask for more help, couldn’t you?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Sonia kept rolling her head, trying to lose the headache that wanted so desperately to afflict her, the same one she always got after she got angry. “We’ve already gotten into the system. I really don’t think I need any more help.”
Jet swiveled Sonia’s chair around and looked directly at her. “Trust me, girl.” She was completely energized. “You need help. You need help, and the only person in the world who can help you is that woman. You’re going to go right over to that Captain Dunham and tell him you’ve got another great idea, but you need more computer help to do it. And you don’t just need computer help. You need computer help from that same lady.”
Sonia’s eyebrows, shoulders, and voice went up. “Come on. How do I do that? I can’t make him call someone without giving him a good reason. What if he asks about my great new idea?”
Jet leaned forward and put her hands on the arms of Sonia’s chair. Her face was only a foot or so from Sonia’s. “Don’t you worry about that. You’ll think of something. You just need to have him set up another phone call between you and her, and you need to tell him he can’t be there when you’re talking to her.”
Sonia leaned back in the chair. “But why? Why would I need that?”
Then, in her favorite southern accent, Jet said, “Oh you got reasons, my dear. Lord-a-mercy do you have reasons. They’re right there below your eyebrows and on either side of your nose.”
Sonia’s hand went unconsciously to her face. “What?”
“Honey chil’, do you think the good Lord gave you those beautiful chocolate-brown eyes just so you could see better? No, no, no, my little honey lamb. Those eyes are powerful tools, tools you’re gonna use to help Captain Dunham realize how important it is that you speak to this woman─and that you do it alone. Oh, my, my, my. It could be a matter of national security.”
Sonia smiled for the first time in hours. “I can always count on you, can’t I?”
“Well, sugar plum, that’s what we women do. We stand together through thick and thin, no matter what those damn Yankees do to us.”
“Enough already.” Sonia shook her head. “I get it. I know the plan. Now quit talking like you just made a dress out of one of the curtains at Tara and get back to work.” She turned her chair around and faced her desk. “Just pray for me that I’ll be able to come up with something to say to Brad and that I’ll be able to pull it off.”
Jet put her hand on Sonia’s shoulder, squeezed, then walked around Sonia’s desk and left the room.
Sonia looked for something to straighten on her desk but found nothing. She turned her chair around again, looked out the window, and started planning how she was going to get Brad to help her speak to her secret technology guru. She heard a soft tap on the doorjamb of her office. She looked up.
Jet leaned back in and asked, “By the way, what’s the deal with Johnny Adams?”
Sonia sighed. “Oh, that. I told him that we should get together for dinner when I got back to town, but when he called, I just had to tell him that I was too beat to do anything last night.”
“And tomorrow night?” Jet’s voice and eyebrows went up.
“No, I’m done.” Sonia shook her head gently back and forth. “Right now, I’m not sure I have the stomach for being with any man.”
Jet nodded. “Good enough, girlfriend. He wins some. He loses some. And this was a monumental loss.” She pursed her lips. “For Johnny, that is,” she crossed her hands over her breast, “bless his little heart.”
48
Just past a quarter ‘til twelve, Sonia walked across the street and knocked on the door of Brad’s office.
“Come in!”
Sonia walked through the door and found him sitting at his desk. “Good morning.” She took a seat in front of him, sitting forward on the chair. “How are you?” Sonia sounded a whole lot more chipper than she felt.
“I’m good. A little worn out from the past few days, but good. How about you?”
“Oh, I’m fine, doing great. So, is Robbie still in town?” She smiled. It wasn’t easy.
Brad’s hands were still, his facial expression neutral. “I know that he spent the night here. I haven’t seen him this morning, but we did talk on the phone.”
Sonia struggled to stay upbeat. “And how’s he feeling about what happened yesterday?”
Brad leaned back in his cha
ir. “Well, bad news and good news. As you would expect, once we were made by those guys and they came after us at E’town, the whole surveillance plan was pretty much blown.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Our bad, but that’s just the way it goes. You seldom get to roll up the entire operation at once.
“On the other hand, we were able to give Robbie a pretty good idea about this side of the delivery chain, including southern Kentucky and some of Tennessee.” Brad’s pace quickened. “Also, and this is great, Robbie had left some guys watching the Memphis hub, and two more feed and hay trucks took off from there early that morning. Of course, his guys followed them and eventually picked them up as well.”
Brad leaned his elbows on his desk. “Given that all the men they’ve rounded up are only drivers and delivery guys, it won’t take much of a deal offer to get them to spill their guts. All in all, you and I have given Robbie quite a nice picture of the operation to show to his superiors. I hope he gets a lot of credit.”
His words lifted Sonia’s heart. She knew it hadn’t been a perfect operation. They had, after all, been “made” by the drug dealers. Still, to hear that everything they had done and been through in the last few days had led to the DEA arresting not just one group of criminals, but several, made her happy─made her proud. And the fact that Robbie Alvarez believed those arrests would most likely lead to the unraveling of the whole operation . . . well, that was something. She took in a deep breath. We did it . . . together. She felt a sense of pride and accomplishment. “Well, I’m glad it all worked out.”
“Are you kidding?” Brad became more energetic, his face full of satisfaction. “We did great. You get what you can get when you can get it. That’s how it goes in this business.” He let out a big breath and relaxed back into his chair.
Sonia paused, then decided to move forward. It was great to hear all of this, but she had another agenda for this meeting. “So, listen. I know we still haven’t quite figured out what happened with Hensley, and I’ve got another idea about how a computer program could help.”
Brad’s eyes opened wide. “Really?”
Sonia sat up taller, her body language keeping him at bay. “Now, don’t get too excited, it’s just an idea. In fact, I’m not quite sure how to do it. Do you think you could set me up with that same technology geek who helped me the last time so she can get me started?”
He shook his head slightly. “Well, maybe not her, but I’m sure I can get someone.”
“No,” said Sonia, trying to keep her voice calm. “I really want it to be her. We had such a nice working relationship and, you know, I’m a little embarrassed talking to these real pros. Can’t you make it happen with her, please.”
“If it’s that important to you.” The expression on his face made it clear that he didn’t quite understand why it was so important that she worked with the same expert, but he seemed willing to go along. “You did, after all, get us a real lead on the whole set-up. Let me see what I can do and I’ll get back—”
Sonia took a quick breath. “Also, I’d really like her to call me at my office. That way I can be at my own computer . . . in my own space.”
Brad sat silent for a moment then leaned in. “Can’t you bring your laptop over here?”
Sonia leaned in as well and looked directly at Brad with just a slight pout on her lips, “Well, I’m really a little embarrassed about this whole thing. It just seems like I’ll be able to think more clearly and work better with her if I don’t feel any pressure from anyone.”
Brad squinted. “From me?”
“Well, you know, you’re the pro.” She sighed. “You’ve got all that experience.” Sonia’s head rocked a little to her left. Her eyes opened wider. Her face softened.
Brad leaned back in his chair again, this time tenting his fingers─searching for an answer. He unconsciously let out a sigh. “Okay, but are you sure you can’t share anything about this with me now?”
Knowing that she and her chocolate-brown eyes had already won the day, Sonia didn’t back down. “No, I’m sure. I wouldn’t want to embarrass myself. Just help me talk to what’s-her-name and I’ll let you know if something comes of it.”
Sonia had cast a line, trying to find out the woman’s name, but Brad didn’t bite. He had brought the woman in on the down low; years of experience made it easy for him not to stumble and let her name slip.
Brad sat forward again and planted his hands on his desk with a distinct thud. “All right. I’ll give you a call as soon as I have it set up. Now, do you want to talk about how we’re going to wrap this Hensley thing up?”
“Not right now.” Sonia popped out of her seat and headed for the door. She had gotten what she’d come for and she didn’t want to take any chances. “Let me run down this other thing, and then we can talk.” She just tossed a, “Thanks,” over her shoulder, stepped into the hallway, and closed the door. She felt the distinct urge to whistle “Zippy Do Dah” as she left the building.
At four o’clock in the afternoon, Sonia was sitting at her desk when her phone rang. It was Brad, saying he could set up a conversation with the NCIS technology expert if she could do it immediately.
Sonia’s stomach flipped, but she tried to speak nonchalantly. “I’m available right now.” She stood up and walked to her office door, closing it gently. Then, with a quick, “I’ll be waiting,” she hung up and sat back down at her desk, absentmindedly still holding her cell phone. What if she won’t help me? What if she can’t? What if she tells me things I don’t want to hear?
Suddenly, the phone in Sonia’s hand rang, startling her. She took a deep breath. “Hello. This is Sonia Vitale.”
“Sonia, this is your friend. I understand I might be able to help you with some technology questions.” The voice was bright and friendly.
Sonia wouldn’t have said she was prepared for this, but she did know there was no point in beating around the bush. She jumped right in. “Thank you so much for calling, but I’m afraid you’ve been lied to. You see, I don’t have a technology question. I’ve got a much more important question.”
There was a pause on the other end of the line, but before Sonia could go any further, the woman at the other end said, “It’s about Dunny, isn’t it?” The tone of her voice had changed.
There was another moment of a silence. Then Sonia answered tentatively, “Yes, it is.”
“Somehow I just knew.”
Sonia’s voice rose. “How─how did you know?” Slowly, Sonia spun her chair around until she was looking out her window onto East Main.
“I knew the first time Dunny asked me to help you that he was all about you. I knew the first time I spoke with you that you were starting to fall for him as well. Just starting, but definitely there.”
“How could it have been that obvious? I didn’t even have feelings for him then.”
“Oh, yes you did, sweetheart. You just didn’t know it yet. And now?”
Sonia waited for there to be something else before she realized she’d been asked a question. It was hard for her to give an honest answer, but she knew that if she weren’t honest with this mystery woman the whole phone call would be a waste. She plowed ahead. “And now, I guess I just need to know where I stand.”
She had trouble going on, but the voice on the end of the phone went on for her. “And you think, even hope, that he cares for you, right?”
For some reason, tears were welling up in Sonia’s eyes. “Right.”
“But you can’t tell, because he keeps pulling away from you, holding back, like he’s protecting someone, right?”
Sonia reached back and grabbed a tissue from her desk. She blotted her eyes, trying not to smear her mascara. This woman she’d never met was telling her more about her relationship with Dunny than she knew herself. She’d never thought about him protecting himself, but now that she heard the woman say it, she knew that’s exactly how it felt.
“You’re right, you’re so right about that. But I don’t know why. I don’t know wh
at to do. What do I do? What do I say to him?”
“Let me ask you a question. Do you know why he’s like that? Do you know his story?”
Sonia stopped for a minute and thought. “Well, I guess I do. He told me that he lost his father, and that he lost his mom. Is that it? Is that what’s made him like this?
The voice on the phone rose. “Wait a minute. You know about his dad being killed and about his mom dying. Is that all you know?”
“Well, then he went to the university here, he joined the Marines, he worked for NCIS.”
“And that’s all you know? You don’t know anything else?”
Sonia began to panic. What is it? What else is there? Has he done something terrible? She said nothing.
“Let me fill you in.”
The phone call lasted another twenty minutes. When it was over, Sonia sat quietly at her desk, tears running down her face. She couldn’t get her mind around what she had just heard.
49
Sonia was still at her desk when a quiet knock interrupted her thoughts. She looked up and saw Jet. Sonia didn’t say anything. She didn’t motion Jet in. She just sat there.
“Are you okay?” asked Jet quietly. She took a tentative step. “Is it okay if I come in?”
Sonia nodded her head.
Jet slipped into the room and sat on the edge of Sonia’s desk. “Can you tell me about it?”
Sonia blotted her eyes, protecting her mascara from the tears that were welling up and the ones that had already fallen. She sat up a little taller and took a deep breath. “It’s Brad. It’s what he’s been through. Oh, Jet, I feel so sorry for him. And I feel so bad, like I’ve just walked all over his feelings like . . . like a careless teenager.”
“That’s not true,” said Jet, firmly. “I know that’s just not true. That’s not who you are. Tell me. What happened to him?”
Sonia looked around for her coffee. She and the cup had both been sitting there quite a while and she had to settle for a tiny sip of cold liquid. She spoke in a flat, neutral tone─numb. “I told you that his dad and mom had been killed and that after Iraq, the Marines assigned him to NCIS.” She swallowed hard. “Well, while he was stationed in Maryland, he was assigned to the same unit as a certain female agent. She was beautiful and he was, well, he was Dunny; and they seemed to be in love. And everybody loved seeing them be in love. He was happy, maybe for the first time since his folks died.”
