Radiant Surrender (CSA Case Files Book 6) (20 page)

“I would sit in front of my vanity for hours, trying out the different hairstyles in the teen magazines. There were mornings that I would actually apply one of them and then Dad would continuously yell up the stairs that we were going to be late for school.” Jessie looked at herself in the mirror, letting the reflection carry her back in time. Crest liked that she was drawn to memories of a better moment in her life, for she would need them when her parents were no longer close by. “My sister was the one who first gave me make-up for my thirteenth birthday. I tried so hard to make my eyes look like the latest cover of Claudia Schiffer in
Vogue
.”

“I bet you succeeded to the point your father had to warn every young boy who rang your doorbell that he owned a gun.” Crest was glad to see Jessie smile at the recollection. He could only imagine what a father felt to see his baby girl grow up into a beautiful woman and know that he couldn’t always protect her. “I promise you that I will do what I can to help your parents get asylum from either their country or another that has no extradition.”

“Even if it goes against your belief that they aren’t serving out their punishment for being traitors to our country?” Jessie asked, looking away from herself in the mirror and turning on the bed so that she could face him. She wanted honesty, but it was apparent she was afraid she’d actually get it. “I do understand that what they did was incomprehensible to someone like you.”

“Do you think being separated from their daughters and the life they built isn’t enough of a sentence?” Crest walked to where Jessie still sat on the mattress and pulled her into a standing position, ensuring that she was focused on him and not the past. He rested his fingers on the back of her neck while using his thumbs to cradle her face. “I know you’re torn inside of what is right and what is wrong…but in the end your parents are now faced with the consequences of their actions. Now let’s see if we can find any old photos of your Uncle John. It’s highly doubtful, but as the old saying goes…
never leave a stone unturned
.”

Chapter Eighteen

J
essie continued to stare at the surprisingly vivid photograph she and Gavin had discovered of John as Gavin drove them to their destination. She wasn’t sure where they were going and right now, her mind was too preoccupied to ask. She held the only slightly faded standard Kodak colored photo stock in her hands, studying it in detail. Technically, it was a picture of her mother baking in the kitchen with John in the background walking toward the kitchen. Due to the higher fixed f-stop setting common to cheaper cameras of that era, his image was also in focus but slightly blurred due to motion. There weren’t any additional feature photos of John and her parents had done a very good job of extinguishing any ties to him outside of this one sole survivor. John’s image wasn’t completely clear, but Gavin seemed to think that it would give Taryn enough to run through a facial recognition program once it was enhanced using numerous other high tech tools at her disposal.

“There’s nothing we can do until we’ve fully evaluated the information we’ve gathered and generated some new leads.” Gavin briefly glanced her way before concentrating on the road in front of them. The sun was now hidden behind clouds as sprinkles of rain started to hit the windshield. Even in the low light of dusk on a rainy evening, he somehow could see her mind churning. A storm was rolling in, which fit her bitter mood. “I know you wanted something a little more concrete, but we take what we can get. At this point we’re lucky we even found what we did. There are no small leads. What we found will supply more information given enough time.”

“I know,” Jessie sighed resignedly, melancholy settling over her. Gavin had taken pictures of the items they’d found and sent them to Taryn. Now it was a waiting game. “I just thought that we’d find something more—just more important. Maybe we should have tried to get Lou to set up another private visitation. If my father was willing to give a hint as to what was in the frame, we could somehow tell him we located it and that we need more to go on.”

“And have someone catch on to the fact that we might be considered accessories in some half-baked nefarious plan to assist your parents’ flight from prosecution in a capital case for treason? You can shut down your completely left field thinking in that regard, Jessie.” Gavin enabled the turn signal and the action caused her to finally look around at their surroundings. They were in the middle of the country and she hazarded a guess they were back on their side of the Minnesota state line. “We’ll find what we need the old-fashioned way and keep our fingerprints off of anything that would lead the authorities back to you acting as some type of accomplice.”

“Do you want to tell me how you got a full pardon for Ryland?” It had been weighing on Jessie’s mind since Townes had woken her up with the news that the FBI no longer wanted her for espionage. “Did you have to sell your dark soul?”

“No.” Gavin came to a stop sign and waited for an opening in the traffic before joining the other vehicles. He wouldn’t like to hear it, but his movements were graceful. There was a quality to the man that was effortless in his being just who he was. “Unfortunately, the situation was taken out of my hands early on. Ryland was given a very sweet deal in exchange for some information that the current administration considers vital to the security of these United States. The fallout is what concerns me most.”

Jessie could sense that Gavin was leaving a lot of information out in relaying what had taken place. Bottom line, if he was concerned…everyone should be on edge. There wasn’t much more that the FBI or CIA could do to her, but CSA was another matter all together. Gavin wasn’t the type of man to worry over the simple things.

“Are you sure we should be taking a couple of days to ourselves right now? I mean, is this the right time considering everything that’s happened?”

Jessie could have bitten her tongue for even suggesting such a thing. She’d waited for this for a very long time, but if it was at the expense of the others’ lives…she didn’t want to be the one responsible. Jax and Emily had their son, Derrick, to think about. Connor and Lauren were getting married in a couple of weeks. Lach and Phoebe still had her father’s presidential campaign to help out on while Kevin and Elle were doing their best to get her non-profit organization off the ground in a feeble economy. As for Taryn and Ethan, they both had a vast interest in CSA and her connection to Ryland certainly put the two of them in a bind. They were Jessie’s friends and she didn’t want to see any of them hurt on her account.

“Ryland is tucked away in a very accommodating refuge until I get back to reevaluate the situation. It’s going to take that long for the fallout to land and to see what and who is left standing at that point.” Gavin rested his iridescent green eyes on her and slowly smiled until it made her heart flutter. He’d never looked at her like that and it made her want this time all the more. “Two days won’t be long enough for what we need, but it’ll be enough for you to get the idea.”

Jessie shifted in her seat, her mind and body wondering what he had in store for her. She’d made it plain that the sexual aspect of things wasn’t the only thing she wanted, although that appeared to be the hang-up on his part. She wasn’t as innocent as he believed and she would happily partake in his predilection for kink. His words the day before had hardly scared her, although being left wanting had given her pause for a moment. She wanted his touch and what he would give her but she wanted more. She wanted everything—the whole fairytale.

“Do you even know if I have a job to go back to?” Jessie asked, steering the conversation away from what was about to take place and onto a safer subject. Her body had been strung high with arousal since yesterday and she wasn’t sure how much more she could take. It was best they stick with talking about other things. “I was afraid to call the field office this morning.”

“You still have a job,” Gavin assured her, although his smirk suggested he knew exactly what she was doing. “I spoke with your supervising agent and he’s aware that you’ll report first thing Monday morning.”

Jessie had lost track of the days and since her phone was on her lap, she pressed the button to see the date. It was Friday. She wasn’t looking forward to going back to work for a lot of reasons. One, what were the other agents going to think about her? Two, would they treat her differently? And three, she’d rather be back at CSA. What would Gavin say if she asked for her old job back? She wasn’t willing to risk anything at this point by inquiring about it, so she switched topics once again.

“I also didn’t have time to call any of the girls. Are Connor and Lauren still going through with the wedding as planned?”

“Of course.” Gavin finally turned off onto a gravel secondary road, not appearing concerned in the least that the wet rocks from the roadbed were pelting the undercarriage of his very expensive vehicle. He always continued to surprise her. He was a complex man and she loved getting to know more and more of him and what made him tick. “They’ve waited a long time for this and I’ll do my best to ensure it goes off without a hitch.”

Before Jessie could continue asking him questions about their friends, the lane opened up to reveal a beautiful, picturesque log house on the edge of a lake with a long jutting pier suspended above the black water. The landscape lighting highlighted the best features of the home while keeping an eye to security. It was easily five times the size of the entire one room cabin they’d stayed in the other night with a second story and what appeared to be a daylight basement facing the lakeside deck rolling into the pier and a boathouse.

Jessie stared in awe through the windshield as the wipers continued to swipe at the water droplets. The wraparound porch encircled the entire house linking with the deck in the back. It was absolutely divine while the first story walls appeared to be made entirely of French doors and floor to ceiling glass. As if he’d pressed a magic button, the place lit within and she was able to see clearly the brown leather furniture of the living room as well as the artistic Norman Rockwell style kitchen. The entire first floor interior was exposed to view from anywhere on the property or lake. They must have triggered some type of computerized security sensors as they drove closer to the house. Numerous questions ran through her mind at once with the foremost being who could see in. She quickly glanced around, but all she saw were trees encircling the property and the rest of the lake was dark.

“This is where you came on those rare weekends you took off from work,” Jessie said as she finally sat back in her seat with an uncomfortable thought.

“I have not brought a woman here, if that’s what is running through your calculating mind right now.” Gavin cut off the engine and rested a wrist on the steering wheel as he observed her. Jessie felt those butterflies that she used to experience when she’d catch him looking at her back in the day. If this was what she wanted, then why was she so nervous? Was it because of what he said the other day? He’d given her a glimpse into what made him the way he was, but she had already accepted that part of him. So again, why did her nerves seem so raw at the moment? “I’ve thought about it, but this is private. This is where I come to relax and get away from the stress of the business.”

“Why me then?”

Jessie could have expanded on that question, wondering what he meant by that. Weren’t places like this meant for weekends away? If he were like most men, he’d use sex as a stress reliever. His words didn’t make any sense, but she was afraid to make too many inquires for fear that he wouldn’t answer her. She wanted…needed…to know more about him. He was hard to read, unlike the other men she knew. His wall was high and it had always continued to the horizon in both directions.

“Haven’t I always been honest with you, Jessica?”

The use of her full name seemed to be a beacon for more butterflies to take up residence in her stomach. Gavin only ever seemed to use it when he was viewing her as a woman and not a former co-worker. She wrapped her hand around her cell phone to give her something to hold as she answered his question.

“Yes, usually bluntly so.” Jessie studied his face, wondering where he was going with this. “So do tell. Spit it out.”

“I made a conscious decision when I agreed to see where this might lead us.” Gain appeared to weigh his words heavily as his thumb tapped the steering wheel. “This isn’t about sex. This is about you and me, getting to know each other on another plane, a more intimate level. It puts us both in jeopardy. It brings both of us to a defenseless position of possibly being hurt. I don’t do things in half measure. What this weekend will bring is you being at your most vulnerable. I thought the same should be done of me, which is why you’ll see a place and a part of me that no one else has been privileged to see.”

Jessie had waited for a long time to hear what Gavin was saying to her, but for some reason it caused a sliver of fear to envelope her. What if he didn’t care for what he saw when she was at her most exposed? Again, she was well aware that he wasn’t just talking in a sexual context but rather a more severe emotional one. She admitted to liking material things, caring for how she looked and how others perceived her…yet she was loyal to a fault and she would gladly lay her life down for anyone she loved.