Radiant Surrender (CSA Case Files Book 6) (12 page)

Chapter Eleven

J
essie was frustrated, angry…and unfulfilled. It wasn’t that she doubted the answer that she’d given this morning. Hell, how many years had she spent pursuing Gavin? If that didn’t prove she knew what she wanted, nothing would. But to stand vulnerable in front of him, do what he instructed her to do to the letter, and then be left hanging all in the name of something only he understood was absolute bullshit. As she paced the floor, ignoring Townes who hadn’t spoken one word to her since she and Gavin had returned, she seriously considered holing herself up in the bedroom and taking care of herself. Several things stopped her…one being in close proximity to Townes, two being that she was afraid one time wouldn’t be enough, and three was the unknown of what Gavin would do if he were to find out. With the way her life was going lately she’d find herself locked up in an armor-plated chastity belt.

Now here she was in another apartment that looked somewhat the same as the first one—except this one was cleaner and had been freshly painted—with a man who clearly thought she didn’t give a damn about anyone other than herself. A knock sounded at the door, startling Jessie into spilling her glass of water all over her jeans. Looking on the bright side, she’d been so caught up with what she was feeling that everything else had been put on the back burner. Technically that probably wasn’t a good thing considering her freedom hung in the balance, her family was about to be torn apart, and for all she knew…the CIA could just have her killed off to get their point across to Crest. Townes was off of his chair and beside the door before she even had time to whisk the droplets off of her legs. He motioned for her to move over to the corner quickly, having already given specific instructions that she wasn’t to enter the bedroom unless someone accompanied her. The price had been well worth it considering the promise she’d come home with.

Jessie scrambled to get to the other side of the room, wishing for more of a weapon than a glass of water. Her hands started to shake so bad that she ended up setting the cup on the floor and looking around for something to grab hold of. Townes short whistle caught her attention though and when he indicated that all was safe, she had to use the wall to lean against as she caught her breath. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Townes, but she sure would have felt safer if Gavin had stayed with her. As it was he’d dropped her here not fifteen minutes ago and then claimed that he had a meeting. How was the CIA not tracking his movements? Or did that mean Gavin was just that damn good at circumventing the system? Another flash of irritation washed through her as she thought about him.

“You must be Townes,” Taryn said, her voice sounding like music to Jessie’s ears. The fiery short-haired blonde transferred the bags she was holding to her left arm as she held out her right hand in greeting. “I’m Taryn Sisal-Chambers. Crest speaks highly of you, and that’s saying something.”

“Any problems?” Townes asked, closing and locking the door behind Taryn. Only then did he holster his weapon. “Crest said an inside contact has already informed him they have these units under surveillance.”

“I used the boutique rear exit to enter the main floor employees’ service hallways and dropped down into the maintenance bay on the opposite side of the street to enter the utility tunnels.” Taryn spotted Jessie and smiled. “I figure I have fifteen minutes before anyone gets suspicious I might not be in the shop anymore.”

“You’re not a shopper, so my bet is they already figured out there’s something wrong,” Jessie said, trying to joke as she wrapped her arms around her friend. Taryn wasn’t the touchy-feely type of woman but Jessie didn’t care. It was so good to see a familiar face amongst all this chaos that she held onto her friend for a few additional seconds until she felt Taryn start to pat her back. “Any way you can stay longer than fifteen minutes?”

“No. These Central Intelligence agents are not amateurs. And if they ever figure out who’s scrambling their communications it won’t be pretty for Sis.” Taryn finally pulled back and lifted up the bag she was holding. “I hear you’re in major need of some clean clothes.”

“Thank you,” Jessie said with total sincerity, not wanting to let go of this little slice of normalcy. She still had at least twelve minutes left, so she grabbed Taryn’s hand and led her to the couch. There were things they needed to cover, but most of all Jessie needed reassurance. “Please tell me that you don’t believe I’m capable of what the FBI Internal Oversight Board investigators are saying.”

“Of course we don’t.” Taryn gave Jessie a contemptuous look as she sat down, pushing up her black-rimmed glasses. “The team is behind you one hundred and ten percent and you know that Crest is doing everything in his power to make these charges go away. In fact, we know the name of the CIA mole that is releasing those FBI internal documents and casting you in the role of a traitor.”

“Do you…” Jessie wasn’t certain what the team knew and what they didn’t, but it was rare that Gavin kept vital information from them. “Do you know about my parents?”

“Yes,” Taryn replied, reaching out and covering Jessie’s hand in compassion much like Gavin had last night. She needed it now more than ever, but she had to wonder how the team thought justice should best be served for her parents’ crimes. “I can’t imagine what you’re going through, but you know that you have our full support. The girls want you to know they have your back.”

“I-I need information that’s still at my parents’ house.” Jessie spared a glance Townes’ way, who had taken back up his position at the counter with his book and a huge water bottle. He could hear every word, but she didn’t care about his ego right now. “I might have snuck out last night and drove up to Wisconsin.”

The widening of Taryn’s brown eyes behind her glasses told Jessie that she hadn’t known that tidbit. Gavin must not have had time to get the team up-to-date this morning or maybe he was keeping her indiscretions on close hold. He’d brought her through various different utility tunnels until she didn’t know where she was, let alone the CIA figuring it out. After ensuring that Townes had new protocols in place, Gavin had left them to their own devices and Jessie to her private thoughts, which wasn’t such a good thing.

“Jessie, we’re not dealing with our customary client,” Taryn censored, removing her glasses altogether. “You have two professional intelligence agencies that are doing everything in their power to find you. They have access to specialized equipment I could only dream about in untold quantities. Shit, Crest must have been—”

Jessie bit her lip to prevent herself from blurting out what had happened this morning. It wasn’t that she would have given Taryn the details, but the entire team pretty much knew Jessie’s feelings when it came to Gavin. It would have simply been nice to talk to a friend about the confusion she’d felt after having left the cabin. It stung that they all thought she was in over her head and that she’d ultimately get hurt. For some reason they couldn’t see Gavin the way she saw him. He wasn’t the hardened man they thought he was, not completely. There was a deeper side that he kept hidden and though her freedom was at risk, her parents’ future was at stake, and his credibility was in at least one of those agencies’ target sight currently…those factors had given her some insight into really knowing the man behind the rep. Her flushed cheeks must have given her away.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Taryn asked, searching Jessie’s face and not bothering to lower her voice. Jessie watched as Townes flipped another page in his book. She didn’t believe for a second that he wasn’t paying attention. “You and Crest—”

“There’s a lot going on,” Jessie said vaguely, not wanting to violate the thin thread of trust that she’d established with Gavin. It wasn’t her fault that she had a terrible poker face. She needed to get back on the subject that took priority. “Is there any way that I can gain access to my parents’ house without the FBI or CIA knowing the second that I do? Is there a way to block whatever equipment it is they are using? Gavin said they had all entry points covered, but there’s got to be a way inside without them knowing.”

“No, absolutely not.” Taryn’s facial expression told Jessie how ludicrous her line of thinking was, but she still had to make sure. Being stuck here while her mind created horrible and terrifying outcomes was not helping her sanity. “Jessie, let Crest do his job before every one of us becomes a target in Ryland’s scope. This is all on him. He is using this situation to his benefit and I suspect that he doesn’t care whom he has to sacrifice to get what he wants. That includes you and your parents.”

Jessie felt a tinge of guilt as she thought of what Taryn must be going through. It seemed like a long time ago, but it was only a couple of weeks ago that Taryn and Ethan had been in Texas where they’d discovered Ryland’s true identity. He was the half-brother of Yvette Capre—the newly discovered biological daughter of Taryn’s father and her only sibling. The little fact that Taryn and Ryland weren’t technically related didn’t negate the fact that the two of them would always have that connection. Not to mention that Taryn and Yvette looked so much alike that Ryland had mentioned his fond remembrance of her upon seeing Taryn before.

“Have you had a chance to speak with Ryland?” Jessie sat back on the couch, wanting to be there for her friend. She was so out of the loop being cooped up in this apartment and Gavin hadn’t been very forthcoming about anything except the current investigation. “How are Jax and Emily?”

“Crest is keeping Ryland hidden and no, I haven’t had a chance to talk with him personally. I’m not sure I even want to talk with that sociopath. It’s not like there’s a whole lot to say, considering I never met Yvette or learned of our relation before her death.” Taryn used her black t-shirt to wipe the lenses of her glasses, indicating that she really didn’t believe that there was nothing to say. “As for Jax, he wants Emily and Derrick to go and pay a visit to her aunt.”

“With Connor and Lauren’s wedding coming up I can just imagine how that conversation went.” Everyone knew how good of friends that Lauren and Emily were. Emily was Lauren’s maid of honor and she wouldn’t miss this beautiful event for anything. It helped that Emily had been an NSA agent and knew how to defend herself. “What if this isn’t solved by then? What if Ryland is able to—”

“We have no choice but to make sure this whole mess is cleaned up in a matter of days,” Taryn said with a shake of her head. “At least your issue with the FBI. There are only so many days that I can manage to keep the agencies chasing their own tails, but the CIA will be able to break our comms and garner all the information they need to know about Crest’s earlier calls. Speaking of which, right now I need to head back before the CIA figures out I’m not shopping inside that boutique.”

“Buy yourself something sexy for Ethan.” Jessie tried to lighten the conversation, though she was pretty sure it fell flat and made her look as if she were trying too hard. She felt so out of sorts about so many things that she wasn’t even acting like herself anymore. She felt tears sting her eyelids and tried to blink them away. Taryn must have noticed and placed her hand over Jessie’s once more. “I’m sorry. I’m a mess.”

“You’re allowed to be. Your life has been turned upside down, but we’re going to do everything we can to make sure that you’re kept out of the crossfire. This is a lot bigger than you can possibly imagine, sweetheart.” Taryn sat back and positioned her glasses back on her nose. A small smile touched her lips, boosting Jessie’s spirits. “And once we’re all clear of the blast radius we’ll all sit back and watch the show. I’ll make sure Ethan has some popcorn handy.”

Jessie chuckled even though she felt like crying. Taryn was referring to Gavin, but Jessie didn’t want the team to think this was some sort of reality television show. It wasn’t. This was their lives and one dream that she knew they deserved. Just because he was willing to take things to another level didn’t mean it was going to be forever. And she was that greedy. She wanted it all. It felt like she was in a battle all her own and the only weapon she had was her honesty. She’d been honest with Gavin from day one and nothing would change that.

“Go.” Jessie grabbed the bag of items and stood. “Just be careful. And thank you for the clothes. They are much needed.”

“I also threw in some toiletries I thought you’d want. You always were the high maintenance kind of chickie.” Jessie gave her a light shove in affection and then noticed that Townes had already walked to the door, waiting for Taryn to make her departure. It reminded her of the fact that he would make her keep the bedroom door open while she used the bathroom. It was her own fault, but that didn’t mean she had to like it. “Don’t go giving our old man Crest too hard of a time. He’s got to keep a clear head to deal with what’s coming his way in the near term.”

“Thank you, Taryn.”

Jessie stayed where she was until Taryn said her goodbye to Townes and the door closed behind her. The air felt stifling and she held back from trying to run after her friend. Townes looked Jessie’s way with what could only be described as impatience and then nodded his head toward the bedroom. She shot him a glare as reality once more set in and then she marched into the other room, leaving the door open. When she reached the bathroom she slammed the door shut. It was too bad the act didn’t shut out her thoughts as the image of her parents sitting inside a prison cell imprinted on her brain.