Best Laid Plans (44 page)

“It is, but—”

“Sean, I’ve made my decision. I’ll also be posting a unit on your house until we know what’s going on, so don’t give them a hard time. And I have two agents who will be following to make sure Barry and Lucy don’t pick up a tail.” He paused. “I don’t have to tell you that Agent Donnelly is trained for this kind of detail.”

“No, sir,” Sean said. He wasn’t happy. But he couldn’t force himself into the investigation. He’d already crossed the line; he needed to step back and trust Donnelly to watch Lucy’s back.

But he didn’t have to like it.

“Good.” Juan turned to Barry. “Dunbar is furious, but he’s backing down. He’s with the AUSA right now working on the case to present to the grand jury as soon as possible. AD Stockton said they have more than enough, but Dunbar had hints that Adeline was involved with a known criminal, a thug by the name of Javier Marquez. He wanted to develop that further, but he’s going to have plenty on her. If we get her on murder or conspiracy to murder, she won’t be given a slap on the wrist. And—she might turn on Marquez if given enough incentive. If she paid to have her husband killed, she’s eligible for the death penalty. We can take that off the table.”

Sean caught Brad’s eye. He didn’t dare say anything.

“Did you say Marquez?” Brad asked.

“Is he on your radar?”

“Yes, sir. We believe his gang took out nine people on Sunday night—the remainder of the Trejo/Sanchez gang. It’s the case I’ve been working with Ryan.”

“Are you positive?”

“Yes. The guns used in the slaughter were from the shipment stolen from the dead Marines six months ago. One of the shooters was shot during the attack and then executed by the gang. He has SAS gang tats on his arm. The San Antonio Saints swore allegiance to Marquez.”

“What would a congresswoman be doing associating with a violent street gang?”

“That’s the thing—Marquez likes to pretend he’s a legitimate businessman. He’s not running around the streets, but he has layers under him who are, like the SAS. We thought he might be making a move to take over since Sanchez is out of the picture.” Brad glanced at Sean. “But,” Brad added, “one of my informants believes that the hit on Sunday was sanctioned by Tobias.”

Juan’s jaw tightened. “Spill it, Donnelly. This informant of yours is Kane Rogan, isn’t it?”

“Sir—”

“Don’t. I’ve watched you and Sean exchanging signs for the last five minutes. I’m not an idiot, don’t treat me like one.”

“I wasn’t—”

Juan cut him off again. “I don’t suppose Kane Rogan would come in and discuss this with me?”

“Juan, it’s true that Kane is a source, but it was Nicole Rollins who implied that Tobias was behind the hit,” Brad said. “I talked to her yesterday morning.”

Juan hesitated as he mulled over that information, then he turned to Barry. “Push the congresswoman. If she calls for a lawyer, fine. We’ll bring her in officially tomorrow morning for questioning. If she confesses, arrest her.”

“Yes, sir,” Barry said.

“Go. Now.”

Barry, Brad, and Lucy left. Sean itched to go with them, but Juan put his hand up.

“Do not say a word, Rogan,” Juan said in a low voice. “I know the truth, just like I know you’ll deny it with your last breath. This
Tobias
is after Lucy because she was in Mexico, not because she did a good job working on Operation Heatwave. She’s in danger because you and your brother put her in danger. Without you and your resources, she would never have crossed the border. And because she has to lie about it, she’s in even more danger.”

Sean wasn’t going to take the blame. The blame rested on the system that couldn’t do anything to rescue a kidnapped federal agent or orphaned boys. “Donnelly would be dead. Those little boys would be dead. Some things are bigger than all of us.”

“She was shot down there! And you know how I found out about it? Today. I went to see her while she was being stitched up, to make sure she was okay because she’s my agent. And I saw the scar on her arm, still red and puckered. Fresh. Two months fresh. But even if I didn’t recognize the healing process, I would have known because I’ve read her files. I know she’s been shot before, and I know where. And she’d never been shot in that arm. So not only did a federal agent violate the law and risk an international incident, she was injured and her supervisor—
me
—wasn’t even told.”

Juan stepped forward and pressed a finger against Sean’s chest.

“You poked the tiger, Sean. And the next time anything like this happens, the consequences will be a whole lot worse than two weeks’ unpaid vacation.”

“Juan—”

“Lucy is a good agent, Sean. A damn good agent. She has compassion and a rare skill set where she can see a crime scene through the eyes of a cop, a pathologist, a criminal, and a victim, all at the same time. Her analytical test scores were the highest among the last seven graduating classes at Quantico. I want her on my team.

“But she’s a rookie. She’s reckless. And like Donnelly, a maverick. She doesn’t think things through. I’ve read her file. I know everything.
Everything.
” He let that sink in for a moment. “But what I don’t know is if you’re good for her.”

Juan started to walk away, then stopped and looked back at Sean. “I don’t know what you or your family did for Rick Stockton, but he unconditionally vouches for you. I, however, don’t trust you. Which means I can’t fully trust Lucy, either. And I don’t know if I can have someone I don’t fully trust on my team.”

Juan turned and walked away before Sean could respond.

Maybe Juan leaving was for the better. Because everything Sean wanted to say would only make the situation worse.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Lucy gave Barry a partial apology while they were driving to Adeline’s house. Brad was in the backseat and Barry hadn’t spoken for five minutes.

“Sean is protective,” she said by way of explanation. “It’s his business. Security.”

“It’s not his business,” Barry said.

“Rogan Caruso Kincaid specializes in protective services—corporate kidnappings, foreign kidnappings, hostage rescue, computer security. It’s how he was raised.” She paused. “We’ve been through a lot together. If he thinks the threat is viable, I have to take it seriously.”

“Your own personal bodyguard,” Barry mumbled.

“You’re out of line, Crawford,” Brad said from the backseat.

Lucy didn’t want an argument. “If you got to know Sean, the way he thinks, how he assesses information, you’d realize he’s an asset.”

“He’s not a cop,” Barry said. “He has no jurisdiction and I don’t care that he’s consulted with the FBI in the past. It’s a conflict of interest for him to consult on a case you’re working.”

“I can respect that opinion.”

“You don’t see it.”

“I do, but—”

“There is no
but.
It’s a conflict. The problem with bending the rules is that they become brittle. And more easily broken.”

“Brad and Sean didn’t get along at first,” Lucy said, wanting desperately to mend these fences, “but they built a mutual respect.”

“True,” Brad said. “I thought Sean was a prick.” He laughed, but Barry didn’t crack a smile. “But when you talk about bending and breaking rules, Barry, remember this: if it weren’t for Kane Rogan, I’d be dead.”

Brad caught Lucy’s eye in the rearview mirror.

“You don’t owe Kane anything,” Lucy said. “He did it because it was the right thing to do, not to be in your debt.”

“I know,” Brad said. “That’s why it means even more.”

Lucy glanced away. Brad had made it clear that he felt indebted to her, Sean, and Kane, but she didn’t want that. She liked to think that anyone else, faced with the same information she had had at the time, would have made the exact same decision to go after Brad. Maybe it was naïve to think that—okay, she
knew
it was naïve to think that—but it helped her believe she was just like everyone else.

She changed the subject. “I’m having a difficult time reconciling something. If Garza was behind Harper Worthington’s murder, why was he killed?”

“Assuming that he was,” Barry said.

“I haven’t seen the security tapes, but the witnesses were consistent and it’s too much of a coincidence that he would drop dead while he was fleeing the state—at the same time federal agents were looking to arrest him. We were on to him, we had Elise in custody, he knew we were pushing Adeline—she must have called him after we showed her the picture of Elise yesterday morning. So he runs. That makes sense. But if someone killed him, that means Garza wasn’t pulling the strings.”

“Adeline Reyes-Worthington,” Barry said. “You thought she was behind her husband’s death from the beginning.”

“I thought,” Lucy clarified, “that she was lying. But taking out Garza … I don’t know. He was her right hand, but she hires yet another person to take him out? When does it stop?”

“She still could have hired someone. Just like she had Garza bring in Elise from D.C. It was a smart move—except that they should have sent Elise out of town immediately. Or killed her. Keeping her around, with her connection to Mona Hill, it…” Barry’s voice trailed off.

“You see it, too.”

“See what?” Brad asked from the backseat.

“Bread crumbs,” Barry mumbled.

“Exactly,” Lucy said. “Elise’s DNA and fingerprints were all over that motel room. Then she took Harper’s phone and accidentally left it in James Everett’s hotel room? When she realized she killed Harper, she didn’t run away? Prostitutes are all about self-preservation, but instead, she met up with the guy who hired her and he tried to kill her.”

“Now you’ve lost me,” Barry said.

“Every piece of evidence has led us to Elise Hansen, and she gives us Garza on a silver platter.”

“There’s evidence—the stationery,” Barry countered. “We worked hard for the information. She didn’t give it up easily. It wasn’t until after the second attempt to kill her.”

“Except if Sean is right,” Brad said, “Elise wasn’t the target of today’s shooting.”

Lucy didn’t comment because while Sean might be right, she didn’t see how she could be the primary target. Maybe
one
of the targets.

She said, “I’m not saying that Garza wasn’t involved; I’m saying that he was set up to take the fall. He’s dead—point every finger at him as the ringmaster.”

Brad said, “Someone tried to kill her the other night. If today was Tobias going after you, Monday was … Oh shit.”

Lucy didn’t realize the repercussions until Brad said his name.

“It’s Tobias. From the very beginning,” she said.

“What the hell was Adeline Reyes-Worthington into?” Brad said.

Barry was perplexed. “You think this drug dealer is behind this?”

“He’s not a drug dealer,” Brad said. “He’s more than that. Until two months ago, no one knew who he was, he was just a name. But now…”

“His name got out because of what happened in Mexico,” Lucy said. “We—you and Kane, I mean—outed him. Blew his anonymity, so to speak.”

“And Kane stole two trucks’ worth of his guns,” Brad said. “And destroyed his San Antonio operation. Tobias then aligned himself with Marquez and had Marquez take out the rest of Sanchez/Trejo’s failed gang. Almost as if … as if…”

“He had a temper tantrum,” Lucy said.

“Why didn’t he take the drugs?”

“Maybe he doesn’t have a network to sell them. Operation Heatwave put a huge hole in his net. He’s both purging and rebuilding.”

“Where does Adeline Reyes-Worthington fit in?” Barry asked.

Brad said, “Political corruption. Buying and selling government land. Sean said—” He stopped.

Barry bristled. “You told Sean about the undercover operation?”

“Sean’s the one who found the bug,” Lucy said. “He knew it was a federal sting.”

“And he tells the DEA.”

“Barry—we’re way beyond compartmentalizing this information,” Lucy said.

No one spoke for a moment. Then Barry said, “If Adeline is as corrupt as Logan Dunbar seems to think, where did all the money go? And how does Tobias fit in?”

“I don’t know,” Lucy admitted. “But we’re going to find out.” She hesitated, then said, “Barry, I need you to give me a little leeway with her. I can flip her. But you have to trust me.”

Barry didn’t say anything for a minute. “All right,” he finally said. “But watch my cues. If you step over the line, I’m going to rein you in.”

*   *   *

“Where’s all her security?” Lucy asked after they were buzzed in.

“It’s getting dark. Maybe they’re better at hiding at night.”

Lucy closed her eyes. The hum of the car, the distant neigh of a horse. It was calm. Almost peaceful.

“No one is here,” she said.

Barry looked around, but didn’t say anything. He stopped the car and said, “Don’t get out.”

Barry called the patrol car that was stationed on the street outside for a report. “Any activity?”