“Two days ago I asked you to send me what you had related to the Roger Beck homicide. You claimed that you had information and were following up; I specifically told you to stand down and send me everything. I’ve received nothing. So I followed up with my former office and there is no active FBI investigation into Beck’s murder in any jurisdiction. It’s being handled by Phoenix PD and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department. So I asked questions. I have a lot of friends in Phoenix, Agent Kincaid. And I learned that Beck rescued two girls from a sex trafficking organization before he disappeared and was executed. So I started to wonder, why is my agent here in San Antonio interested in the murder of a Phoenix cop a thousand miles away—a cop who she doesn’t even know? It must connect to her husband’s business. Which means you’re using federal resources for private purposes.”
Rachel stared at her. “You don’t have an answer?”
“You didn’t ask a question,” Lucy said through clenched teeth. Apparently Rick hadn’t called her, and she wasn’t going to say a word. Not like this.
“Are you using FBI resources to investigate anything related to Roger Beck’s murder or this Martin Hirsch you ran without permission the other day?”
Lucy took a deep breath. She honestly said, “After I spoke to you on Wednesday, I have not used any government resources to investigate anything. Because you haven’t assigned me anything to investigate.”
“Is that what this attitude is? Because I tasked another agent to follow up on the fake address?”
“I don’t have an attitude, other than the fact that you’ve called me on the carpet for nothing. I listened to everything you said Wednesday. I thought I understood you, that you would at least give me a chance to prove myself. I spent two months going through every cold case, updating every number and name and status, and the one case that has holes, you give to someone else. I could have—and would have—worked it hard and to the best of my ability, but you’re not even giving me a chance.”
Rachel stared at her for a long minute. So long, that Lucy almost squirmed. And here she thought she was good under pressure. Rachel had colder ice running through her veins than Lucy.
Rachel reached into her top desk drawer and pulled out three folders. She was about to hand them to Lucy when there was a knock on her door.
“Come in,” she said.
Abigail Durant, the ASAC who oversaw three squads, including Violent Crime, entered. “Oh good, you’re here, Lucy. Rachel, have you touched base with AD Stockton yet?”
It was clear from Rachel’s expression that she knew exactly what was coming next.
“No,” Rachel said.
“I talked to him late last night, told him to read you in this morning. No use interrupting your sleep—I needed a triple espresso to get going this morning. Stockton created a task force headed by SSA Kate Donovan at Quantico, and on the ground headed by DEA SSA Gianna Murphy in El Paso. The FBI has an asset inside a multistate sex-trafficking organization, but the situation is extremely delicate, especially after the shooting in El Paso. Stockton wants Lucy as the point person, and I agree—her knowledge of human trafficking in San Antonio and the surrounding area will be invaluable.” Abigail looked at her watch. “Damn, I have a meeting with the chief of police and I’m running late. If you have any questions, talk to me when I get back, or call Stockton directly. I’ll shoot you all his numbers and Donovan’s number from the road.”
She left as quickly as she entered.
Rachel didn’t say a word.
Lucy had to try to fix this. “Rachel, I didn’t make this happen. I’m sorry, I thought Rick was going to call you before I even got in.”
“You knew,” she said.
“He called me last night. After he talked to Abigail,” she added quickly.
“You went over my head. You couldn’t sit tight and let me do my job, you went right to the top and blew me out of the water.”
“I didn’t—”
Rachel didn’t believe her. “You have completely undermined me with my squad. My word means nothing because all anyone has to do is ask someone else for permission.”
Lucy kept her mouth shut because nothing she could say would fix this situation. It wasn’t her fault Rachel didn’t believe her, and if she didn’t believe the truth, what more did Lucy have to give?
“You’re on this task force? Fine. I apparently have no authority over you. At least for now. But mark my words—as soon as this is over, I will deal with your insubordination. Because I will not have anyone on my squad who doesn’t respect me or my position.”
Lucy got up and went to the door.
“For what it’s worth,” she said, surprised that she wasn’t shaking head to toe, “I do respect you and the position. I’m sorry this happened like this, it wasn’t my intention.”
Rachel stared at her. “I don’t believe you.”
“It’s the truth.”
“Unless I am ordered otherwise, you’re on your own. Our squad is spread too thin to run around doing the bidding for your husband and his company. That means no Nate, no Jason, no Kenzie, no Ryan—because even though Ryan is in Austin, he still answers to this office. Understood?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Lucy said and got out of there as quickly as possible.
* * *
“Suzanne came through,” Sean told JT after he read the information Lucy sent. They were sitting in the motel drinking coffee and eating tasteless energy bars. But they couldn’t go out, couldn’t risk being seen by Hirsch if he was still in town.
Sean showed JT the photo of Damien Drake. “This is the guy who sat with Bella for two hours last night, the one who killed Diaz. I didn’t see the other guy. Meyer.”
“Why hasn’t she called?” JT mumbled, pacing the small room. It was beginning to get to Sean, and very little got to him.
“Maybe she can’t,” Sean said. “Give her time.”
“I’ve given her hours.”
Sean handed JT his tablet to read more about Damien, hoping to distract him from his pacing. JT stopped, read.
“He’s a fucking psychopath,” JT said, tapping the tablet. “He trusts Bella? Really? It’s right here in his psych eval. Personality disorder.” JT glanced at Sean. “What’d Lucy say?”
“Clinically, yes, he has a personality disorder, but Lucy warned us not to read anything into it until she can dig in deeper. Based on his record, he has a strong sense of loyalty to those who are loyal to him.”
Sean wasn’t so certain that loyalty would extend to any sort of protection or help if Damien found out that Bella had infiltrated the organization with the purpose of rescuing trafficked minors.
“And when he finds out the truth about Bella?” JT said. “That she helped a cop extract two girls in Phoenix? What is he going to think then?”
“We don’t have confirmation that Meyer is in play, but the FBI has put out a BOLO on him, and if anyone sees him, they’ll pick him up for questioning.”
“So we don’t know if he works for Hirsch.”
“We don’t know a lot of things,” Sean said, “but we do know that Bella is safe right now. Breathe.”
It’s the advice Kane had given him when Lucy was in danger last year, and while it didn’t take away the very real fear, it helped him control his emotions, and he suspected it would do the same for JT.
The phone in Sean’s back pocket vibrated. He pulled it out. “It’s Declan’s phone.” Declan had given it to him last night before he went to the hospital in case Bella called his number for help or information.
Caller ID read Simon Egan.
He handed it to JT.
JT scowled. “Hello, Simon.”
He listened for a short while. Sean heard a few words.
Blow her cover.
Put Bella in danger.
Who the fuck do you think you are?
JT said, “I told you if you lied to me, that was it. I’m taking care of this my way.”
Your way!… fucking FBI … screw
you.
Simon Egan apparently knew JT very well.
“Bella wanted to be extracted and you thwarted us every step of the way.”
“Bullshit!”
Everyone in the motel must have heard that.
“We’re done,” JT said. “Declan was shot twice last night and is in serious condition in the hospital. Bella is in grave danger and you damn well know it, but your ego won’t let you admit it. You knew where she was, didn’t you?”
Sean didn’t hear what Simon said, but JT’s next threat was clear. “You threaten me and mine, I’ll bring the weight of RCK down on your head. Mutually assured destruction, Simon, but at this point, I don’t give a fuck. Bella is my family. I will find her and I will get her out of this life if it’s the last thing I do.”
He ended the call, breathing heavy. Then he took a long, deep breath and calmed down. He was almost back to his old self—the calm, cool, collected JT Caruso. The diplomat.
“What’s next?” he asked Sean.
“I’m calling Lucy. No secrets—she needs this information about Damien Drake.”
“Agreed. I’m going to touch base with Kane.” He walked out of the motel.
Sean had always be slightly in awe of JT Caruso. He’d known him his entire life, and while JT used to treat him like a kid brother—even more so at times than Kane—he’d always been the smart one. Everyone liked JT. He was the mediator, the RCK spokesperson, the negotiator when they had a prospective new client. He managed the money and ensured RCK was fiscally solvent, when Sean’s brother Kane didn’t give a thought about it.
Seeing JT on edge because of the danger Bella was in had unnerved Sean on the one hand; on the other, it showed that JT was as human as the rest of them. But Sean was glad he was regaining his footing, because they needed a diplomat in this volatile situation.
Sean called Lucy. She picked up immediately. He said, “We confirmed the information Suzanne found. Damien Drake is Hirsch’s right hand—I saw him last night with Bella at the bar, and it matches with what Declan told us earlier. We have no intel on Meyer.”
“Another city, running things?”
“Maybe, or maybe he’s not involved. Jack and Kane are staking out a place an hour east of El Paso where Bella is now, we’re assessing the danger level then will decide whether we need to pull her or follow her.”
“Rick Stockton called me last night about the task force.”
“Everything okay?”
“I don’t know that it ever will be. I went in this morning assuming that Rachel knew—she didn’t. Not until Abigail walked in and told her. Rachel is livid, and actually, this time I don’t blame her.”
“That’s not on you.” Lucy hated making waves. Sean used to live for stirring the pot, and sometimes still enjoyed it—especially when he was right. But Lucy respected people who did what they said they would do; she appreciated experience and hard work and she worked as hard as anyone in the FBI office. He hated that she had been so stressed and frustrated over the last two months. He tried to make their home life as easy and comfortable as possible so that at least she had a peace to relax.
“Well—you have to take it in context,” Lucy said. Of course—trying to look at it from Rachel’s point of view when that woman had been a thorn in Lucy’s side for months. “This was after she asked why I went to Austin.”
Sean froze. “How the hell did she know you were in Austin? Did she send that agent to follow you again?”
“I don’t know. Nate was driving the Mustang, we were careful. Not because we were doing anything wrong, but because if someone is following me and I can’t tell? Where have my instincts gone?”
“Nowhere.” Then it hit him, and he wanted to confront Rachel Vaughn himself. “She put a tracker on the car.”
“But it’s your car.”
“You’ve been driving the Mustang since we’ve been back from our honeymoon.”
She still called the Mustang Sean’s car, but he’d recently bought a Jeep Wrangler and was having a lot of fun with it. Lucy enjoyed the Mustang, and it was a far better and more reliable vehicle than her too-sensible, older, foreign sedan.
“What can I do? Confront her? I don’t want to do that—not now, after this whole thing with the task force. She was blindsided.”
“So?” He didn’t have any sympathy. “If there’s a tracker on one of our cars, I want it off.”
“Then she’ll know I know.”
“I’ve had it up to here with this bullshit.” He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to take it out on you.”
“You’re not. I just—shit. You’re right.”
Sean laughed, trying to take the edge off. “You never swear.”
“It’s been one of those weeks. I’ll take care of it.”
“Check the car when you can, you’ll figure out something. I know this is eating at you—you’ll do the right thing, and whatever you decide I’ll back you one hundred percent.”
“Thank you.”
“I love you, princess. It’s going to work out—we’ll make it work.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
When Lucy got off the phone with Sean, she left the office. Nate followed her.
“What’s going on?” he asked as they approached her car.
“Rachel forbade me from using you or anyone else while I’m on this task force. She’s so angry—and I don’t blame her. She thinks I’m undermining her authority.”
“She asked for it.”
“Don’t—I know you mean well, but this whole situation has been screwed up from the beginning. It wasn’t just me lying to her about going to San Diego in January. It’s everything else. It’s the office—what people have told her about me. What happened to Barry—I think his attack impacted everyone more than I thought, and they blame me.”
“That was not on you.”
“I know that, but sometimes, people can’t help but feeling the way they do. I’ll be okay—really.”
“But you still need backup.”
“I’m going to call in a favor with Brad.”
“Yeah, that would work.”
“But first I need to find the tracker on my car.”
“What tracker?”
“I think Rachel put a tracker on the Mustang. That’s how she knew we were in Austin. It’s how she knew we were at the restaurant with Kane.”
“That’s really fucked.”
“I’m going home to check it out, then figure out how to get rid of it. Sean’s … well, upset is not really the word I would use.”
“I wouldn’t put Sean and Rachel in the same room anytime soon.”
She smiled—otherwise she’d be worried all over again.
Nate took her hands. He wasn’t an affectionate person, but they’d gone through so much together over the last year that she had a warm kinship with him and felt as close to him as a brother.
“I get it, Luce. You do what you need to do, but if you need anything, call. I don’t care if Rachel says I can’t work with you. On my own time I can do whatever I want, and backing you up is number one, okay?”
“I’ll call.”
“When’s Sean getting back?”
“Probably tonight. He didn’t say, but there’s no reason for them to stay in El Paso.”
Lucy thanked Nate then left. She called Brad Donnelly on her drive home.
“Kincaid, or is it Rogan now?” Brad answered.
“Both. Technically, I’m Lucy Kincaid Rogan, but it makes life easier to go by Agent Kincaid.”
“What can I do for you?”
“Gianna Murphy.”
“She’s solid—don’t worry about her.”
“Not that—I trust your assessment. She was put in charge of a joint task force that I’m also on.”
“In El Paso?”
“Multijurisdictional. I need your help.”
Lucy knew that she had a problem asking for help, but no longer. She needed it, especially since Rachel had cut her off from FBI
Human Resources.
“Anything.”
“Can your office run the staff of North Tonio Trucking? They were recently sold to West-East Transport, which is owned by a known human trafficker—at least, that’s our educated guess, we don’t have proof yet. I sent a message to Kate Donovan at the FBI to ask White Collar Crimes to look into the shell corp history. Nate and I were on a stakeout last night when two trucks came in that we believe came from El Paso and likely carried sex slaves. We didn’t have probable cause, and Rick Stockton said only breech if a life was in immediate danger. We didn’t even see the girls, it’s just our guess based on information from El Paso that there were girls being moved to San Antonio. Nate and I tracked three vans that left the facility, but lost them off Hackleberry Street.”
“Sure, I’ll do it. But Zach is the king of information. Is he on vacation?”
What did she say? The truth. “I’m on my own.”
“You’re going rogue?”
“No, I’m on the task force, but I can’t use anyone in my office.”
Silence.
“You still there?”
“That’s fucked.”
“It is what it is. Like you said, two strong-willed women don’t always get along.”
“But this is different. Crap assignments are one thing, but this is an active investigation.”
“It’s a DC operation run by Stockton. Kate is his right hand on the task force. But you have more immediate access to local records. And sex trafficking and drugs go hand in hand, so we’re really helping each other.”
“That’s not the issue, you don’t need to hard sell me. We don’t have someone with the skill and experience of Zach on our team, but I have a new recruit who’s a whiz kid. You’ve got to meet her. Fresh out of the academy, green behind the ears, but give her a year and she’ll run circles around your husband when it comes to computers.”
She laughed. It felt good to relax. “Sounds like a competition.”
“Sean’s ego can take it. I’ll reach out to Gianna, tell her I’m on board. We’ve worked together before, known each other a long time. Her husband and I were tight.”
“Were?”
Breaking Point Page 18
