“Who will they tell?”
“You heard them; they won’t tell anyone yet.”
He scoffed.
“They won’t. And when we give them permission, we can trust that Mary won’t put me in danger by revealing my secrets, and Maxwell is a Marine and former FBI, she won’t sell us out.”
Maxwell had hyphenated her last name after she got married, but still went by Maxwell professionally. It made sense; she worked with five other Sheppards.
The fifth being Jack’s wife, Meg, formally Hayes, formerly Graham. Sex trafficking survivor from Boston who testified against a mob boss who trafficked her. Changed her name and moved with FBI’s help but never entered WITSEC. Worked at Grannie’s before John recruited her at SSI. Mother to John and Mary’s first grandchild.
“Will he tell his other sons?” Gibson asked.
“Not without talking to me.” I hoped it was the truth. Secrets had a way of climbing out of the dark if too many people knew.
No Sheppard would intentionally out me, but one wrong word spoken carelessly could create a cascading effect that revealed my role in the CIA and put my case in jeopardy.
“Good. We don’t need any more complications.”
“Agreed.”
We circled back, making sure no one was watching as we climbed into the van.
As Gibson drove us back to Dallas, I entered notes from our meetings.
My eye twitched as I typed: John and Jaden Sheppard are aware of my CIA connection. Trusted persons with clean backgrounds and proven track records. Wives won’t be informed, yet. Mary Sheppard and Catelyn Maxwell-Sheppard: also trusted.
“Pizza or sandwiches?” Gibson asked. We couldn’t have food delivered to the office, so we’d pick up food on our way back.
I’d only had the one family meal since arriving in Texas, but I still missed Roni’s home cooking.
“Or burgers and fries?” he suggested when I didn’t choose.
“Mexican?” I countered. I could get a burrito bowl and load it with vegetables and guacamole. It wasn’t healthy, but it was healthier, and better than another meal of greasy fast food.
“Mexican it is.”
My brain ignored the radio and filled the time with thoughts of and questions about Nina.
Despite all my training, my mind wanted to think about her beautiful blue eyes and what it’d be like to grab a fist full of those wavy curls and pull her head back to expose her neck to my lips.
A deep desire to protect her roared its way through my body.
Logical Austin spoke up.To solve your case, you’ll have to embrace your inner robot.
I leaned my head back against the headrest. Being cold and calculated towards Nina would kill me, but I could do it.
Carefully, slowly, and with great compassion, I’d fill in the blanks of Nina Singer’s life.Her legal name isNovak.
The desperation in Nina’s voice, the hope in her eyes, and the fear in her trembling hand as she held the photo of her biological parents had filled the small breakroom and cracked my protective armor.
You can’t. You won’t.
Feelings were a liability in my line of work.
Feelings for a person of interest in an ongoing case were dangerous.
Catching feelings for a POI, with connections to your family in a case involving corrupt CIA officers was a fucking death sentence.
