The gravity of the situation hit her like a ton of bricks. She tried to compartmentalize, but instead, she found herself punching the back of the passenger seat with her good hand and screaming a string of profanities. The only thing it accomplished was causing her other arm to be in immense pain as well, but she still continued to punch the backseat until Cole’s arm pulled her into him, effectively stopping her from continuing the assault on the leather. She didn’t struggle, she just stopped moving, rigid in his arms until her breathing slowly restored itself to normal.
“You back?”
“I’m back.”
“Good. Now tell me everything.”
“I’m going to kill that son of a bitch for messing with my family.”
“Who knows what’s going on?”
“My handler knows I was compromised. I was able to contact my grandmother in time for her to go underground, but by the time I tried to contact JD, he was already MIA. As soon as I realized I couldn’t reach him, I came here to find him.”
“Is this sanctioned?”
“My being here? No. Like I said, my handler knows I was compromised and that I was going off grid, but he doesn’t know I came here.”
“You’re on your own, then.” It wasn’t a question.
“Yes. My family is everything and taking down El Diablo has been something in the works for too many years. I get my family back in more ways than one if he’s dead.”
“Well, you’re not on your own anymore, but you have to tell me everything.”
“I did.”
“You’re still holding back from me. From us. You need to trust us.”
“I do. It’s just hard. I’ve been undercover for a long time. Too long. You have to understand I couldn’t trust anyone.”
“I understand that; we both do, but what I don’t understand is why you? Why were you the one that went undercover?”
“Why not me?”
“Come on. You can’t bullshit a bullshitter. You don’t fit the bill. Too clean, too pristine. You would have a hard time being trusted.”
“I volunteered for the job and as to being trusted…that was surprisingly easy, so much so that it gave us pause. But we had built my street cred for a while.”
“Why did you volunteer?”
“Because that son of a bitch, El Diablo, AKA John Abraham Ryan, a well-respected business man in his community, hell, in his state, one who is as freaking evil as they come, cost me my parents.”
15
There were a lot of things racing through his mind. The number one thing was the fact that Jessie was, in fact, a special agent. Which was followed closely by his mind wondering how the hell they had missed that when they looked into her background. But all of those were squashed into dust when she started beating the shit out of Coop’s passenger seat. From the second he had met her he could tell she was a force to be reckoned with, one with an explosive personality, but who tamped it back every chance she could. Calm, cool, and collected were ingrained in her, but there was also a hidden spark, and he had suspected if ignited she would be fierce. He wasn’t disappointed and knew she needed to release all the tightly controlled anger. But it didn’t mean he was going to let her beat her hand bloody.
When he was no longer able to watch her hurt herself, he pulled her into him and once her body was against his, he realized how much he had missed the warmth of her soft curves against his body. He wondered if she felt him relax at the same time she did. He didn’t think so since she was still coming down off the adrenaline spike, but he felt like he was home with her in his arms. There would be time for that later, the discussion of what they wanted to happen between them was meant for another day.
They needed to have a serious conversation, and she needed to disclose everything. Cole had heard of El Diablo but had been fortunate enough to have never crossed his path in any of his dealings. Not necessarily surprising, since most of his work had little to do with drug cartels and this was one of the worst around. If he had anything to do with this, the tables had just changed. He had held back a lot of his questions because he felt what she was hiding wasn’t pertinent to what was currently happening.
However, that had changed the moment he found out she was a special agent and that El Diablo, one of the most wanted drug dealers in the United States, was calling her private cell phone. The fact she had kept it from him might have been why his radar was picking up on something not right with her story. Yet, he still thought there was something he was missing, and it was time to push her to give up the information she was holding back.
“Is El Diablo the one who killed our parents?”
“He’s the one responsible.”
Again, her response was off, as if there was a clue he was missing. It was as if there was something she was trying to get him to see but didn’t know how to show him. What was he missing? He was done speculating and decided it was time to just ask.
“What am I missing? What aren’t you saying?”
“I will tell you, but I need to make sure we’re in a safe place. They know where I am, they have my cell phone number, my personal cell phone number that only JD and my grandmother knew; even my handler doesn’t know that number. I already said too much in this car, and under an abundance of caution I need to be absolutely certain there are no ears around.”
“My car is safe,” Coop said.
“Can you tell me with one hundred percent certainty that there are no listening devices in this car? That they haven’t put a GPS tracking system on it? If they have JD, it would be smart to bug your house, your property, to see what you know, to follow you. Don’t you think?”
“You’re right. Of course, you’re right. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it.”
“I did, that’s why I swept your house for bugs.”
“Right, but what about my car?”
“I checked it before you went into town. I didn’t find anything, but there are a lot of hours that passed since then, and anything is possible. Jessie is absolutely right that we should be cautious.”
“It would make sense they would leave a device somewhere just to monitor Coop, it could have been a way to cultivate information on how to find me if JD was a dead end. I will admit, I didn’t think he would look for me here. I thought he knew nothing about JD, and if he did find out about him, I figured he knew I would stay far away from him. Hindsight being what it is, now that I know he has him, I suspect JD was taken to get me to come to them. They knew I would come looking for him. Using my family is classic. If he knows who I really am, which he does, then he knows they are my weakness. In essence, my thinking I would be hiding in plain sight is flawed. After all, their ultimate goal is for them to find me.”
“A seasoned special agent like you wouldn’t make a flawed call like that.”
“You’re right. I came here intent on finding JD and with the full knowledge they could and would eventually track me. It’s the fastest way I could think of to reach my end goal.”
“Which is?”
“To take that son of a bitch down, get JD, and right a wrong that happened many years ago.”
“Why do they want you so bad? I mean, other than the fact that you tried to get inside their circuit. I know there’s another reason.”
She sat quietly, clearly thinking through how to answer his question. He was sure there was something else motivating her—and El Diablo, for that matter. Something that was going to culminate in a bad confrontation. He knew he wasn’t going to like whatever it was; he just wasn’t sure which side he would land on when it was all said and done. He hoped her side was still the right side.
“Let’s just say it falls into the category of, I will tell you once we’re in a safe spot. I can tell you with utmost certainty, John Ryan knows where I am, and he has already hatched his plan. The biggest question is whether he is going to wait to act or move swiftly. Now that he knows I know who he is, I suspect it’ll be soon.”
“You purposely baited him
on the phone to get him to act.”
“I did. I need him to come out of his hole in the ground.”
“Why would you take such a risk? It was stupid, and you know it. The risk doesn’t outweigh the benefit.”
“I have my reasons!” she all but yelled at him, shocking him with her vehemence. Then she took a deep breath and continued speaking. “He won’t win this battle. Not this time. I am not the coward he thinks I am, and I will take him down. Once and for all.”
“He couldn’t be further from the truth if he believes you're a coward. Anyone willing to go undercover to take him down is not a coward.”
They had pulled up outside the farmhouse; the barn was a pile of ash, but all the horses were safely in the paddock. She could even make out the silhouette of a regal black stallion. King had come back, and they had gotten him into the fenced in area as well. That was good.
“The fire investigator is going to be back first light, which isn’t too long from now,” Coop said, looking at his watch. “I’ll leave you both to it, then.”
“No, stay. You’re as involved in this as we are,” Jessie said. If Cole wasn’t mistaken, Coop seemed relieved, or maybe it was more that he was thankful to be included.
They went inside, Jessie leading the way as both men looked at each other in confusion and concern. It was obvious that Coop was also having reservations about what she was going to tell them. They both knew it wasn’t going to be an easy discussion or they would have had it already.
“Tell me what you know about John Ryan.”
“He’s stretched too thin, so he didn’t meet me or let me anywhere near him for a long time. Not until he had several of his highest-ranking people vouch for me. It took years to track down his identity, and once we did, it took another year to get me firmly entrenched, but once I was in, no one seemed to question a thing. To be fair, I’m a really good actress. I was brought into the inner circle. Things were going well. But now I wonder if, perhaps, I wasn’t as good an actor as I thought, and they knew all along or if they figured it out after I was in.”
“Is it possible you were betrayed by someone? There’s that old saying, loose lips sink ships. Maybe someone from your office slipped along the way. It might not have been malicious; it might just have been bragging to a girlfriend or boyfriend,” Coop said.
Cole was deep in thought. Maybe Coop was onto something. In fact, he was pretty sure that was exactly what had happened. Someone had screwed up, or they had intentionally told someone about her.
“I think Coop’s right. You’re too good at your job for it to be something you’d done.”
“How are you sure? With all due respect, we just met, and it’s not like you’ve seen me in action.”
“Because no one was as shocked as me when he called you Special Agent Carpenter. You’re right, you’re a very good actress. Good enough that because I had done a thorough background on you when JD first came on board, initially I wasn’t going to look into your background again, but Harrison insisted. He told me not to let my personal feelings or the fact that your brother is missing mess with my judgment, that maybe something had changed in your life since I did the background check.”
“For what it’s worth, he was right. You didn’t know me. I could have been pretending to be his sister or I could have been responsible for his disappearance. It isn’t unheard of for family members to do heinous things like that. I would have checked into your background if I had the resources right now.” She was chewing on her bottom lip, apparently agitated. It was clear to Cole that she didn’t like being at a disadvantage, but he also could tell she was resourceful enough it wasn’t going to hamper her like it would some. “And, yes, I think someone has betrayed me. I’m just not sure who it is, but I do feel it was malicious and not an accident.”
“Harrison didn’t find anything on you. No indication what you really do, that you’re a special agent. There wasn’t even a hint of the fact that you work for the FBI. He told me the backstory you fed us checked out. That you’re squeaky clean.” She nodded stoically.
“When I went under they did their magic and made my history change. The backstory I told you is completely fabricated. It would be nearly impossible to find me connected to the FBI. The intention was to protect me if John Ryan found out my real name and checked into my background.”
“He wouldn’t find anything alarming.”
“Nope. He might think it odd that a boring person like me would get involved with them and he might dig. But in the end, he wouldn’t find anything useful.”
“Which leads us back to how he discovered who you are and who JD is. Which circles back to someone involved in your operation giving up the goods.”
“It’s absolutely the most logical reason. But I don’t like to think that’s what happened.”
“When are you going to tell me why he’s responsible for your parent’s death?”
“This is the hard part to explain. I would tell you to have a seat—both of you—but I don’t think you would even if I begged.”
“You’re right, just start talking.” He knew he sounded like an asshole, but he couldn’t help himself.
“My parents aren’t dead.”
“Wait, what?” Coop asked, clearly shocked, but Cole stayed quiet. Somehow, he had been prepared for something like this.
“Fourteen years ago, my parents were involved in a sting operation to take down none other than El Diablo. They didn’t know who they were after, but by the time they found out, it was too late. Two civilians ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time, and there was a shootout. My mother was hit, but she was wearing Kevlar. El Diablo was fleeing, and my father stopped to help my mother. El Diablo decided to come back to finish the job and turned the car around, gunning for them—but by some miracle he missed them. When the backup arrived, they realized who they’d accidentally come across. It was determined their lives were in mortal danger.”
“They were placed in protective custody.”
“Yes. They were put into witness protection. Eventually, they fell off the grid.”
“Out of sight, out of mind.”
“Something like that. Anyway, I followed in their footsteps and became a federal officer, and pretty much from the second I became an agent, I worked tirelessly to find out the real identity of El Diablo. Once I did, I pressed to go undercover.”
“Because that was the only way your parents could leave protective custody.”
“Yes. For fourteen years, they’ve been hiding. Our grandmother took us in and showered us with love, but I wanted my mom and dad to come home. I was almost an adult when they were taken away, but JD was so much younger. At least I knew they were alive. He didn’t know.”
“How did you know?” Cole asked. “It isn’t like they would tell you. More than likely they would have just hidden them away until it was safe.”
“I know because I saw it all go down that day. I was visiting a friend who lived in the neighborhood. No one knew I was there. Another one of those wrong place and wrong time scenarios. Although, in my case, at least I was able to know they’re okay. Grandmother and JD don’t know. I kept it from them for all our sakes.”
“And you watched him gun down our parents?” Coop asked, his voice sounding as tortured as Cole felt.
“Like I said, I was there. I hid and watched it all. I was close enough to hear when the man introduced himself to my father and mother. Based on that, I was able to keep tabs on their children over the years.” She looked to the ground and then raised her face up until her eyes met his. “I felt better watching their boys become solid businessmen, upstanding citizens. It made me feel slightly better about what had happened that day.”
Then she looked at Coop and met his eyes before she looked at Cole again, holding his eyes one more time. The sun was starting to rise over the horizon, which allowed him to see the anguish in her eyes, but it didn’t dampen the fact that there was more for her to tell.
“I had h
oped it would absolve me of any guilt over knowing the secret. It wasn’t as hard to manage the guilt by keeping my distance, but after I met them, the guilt began to eat away at me. I needed to tell them both, but I didn’t know how to, and I didn’t think I should because it might put their lives in jeopardy, and if I couldn’t return their parents to them, then it wouldn’t do them any good to know what I’d seen. I see now that I made a mistake and for that, I apologize. I should have told you all along what had happened.” Her voice wobbled a little. She lifted her chin, swallowed, squared her shoulders, and continued. “And for keeping this all from you, I only hope you look past it all and understand the reason I was not being completely honest.”
“You were only doing your job. It’s admirable that you were trying to protect us…” Coop trailed off when he noticed the tension ebbing off of Cole.
“What aren’t you telling us?” he asked between gritted teeth.
She shook her head slowly, and a single tear slid out of her eye before she quickly swiped it away.
“I’m so sorry, Cole…Coop…I hope you’ll be able to forgive me.” Her voice broke.
“What. Aren’t. You. Telling. Us?” Cole felt like he was chewing glass.
“You know the answer.” Another tear slid down her cheek, but he didn’t care. He glared at her brutally.
“Tell. Us.” He needed her to say it.
“God forgive me. Kevin and Karen Davenport went into protective custody that day with my parents. To my knowledge, they are still in protective custody with my parents, they aren’t dead.”
16
Coop sucked in a breath, but Cole’s face was etched in stone. He didn’t move, seemingly didn’t breathe, and Jessie felt like her world was caving in. He had to know she did it to protect them all. To protect their parents, to protect JD, Grandmother, Coop, and Cole. That even though they were all grown men and women, it had always been to protect them. If she had told one person, it could have compromised both sets of parents safety. He had to see her silence had been the only option. Until now. Eventually, he would see that to be the case. When he wasn’t looking like he was going to blow. Right? He had to see it was the only way, that her intentions were pure.
Missing the Stars: Chandler County Page 13
