Page 19 of Redeeming Violet

“What did he want you to do?” Zane looked up from the notepad he was writing on.

“That’s the thing. He didn’t tell me what job it was, all he said was a job.”

“But you said no, without knowing what he wanted?” Jaxon’s eyes narrowed. He was back to not believing me again.

“I know you all think I’m an idiot. God knows you’ve all called me it enough times. But I didn’t cave the first time Timothy approached.”

“Go on, what happened next?” Zane motioned for me to continue.

“I went to work and pulled the traffic cams outside of the coffee shop. I ran the man’s face through facial recognition. Looking back, it was too easy. He knew I was going to do it. Timothy looked right at the camera, giving me a clear image. His file was flagged as a rogue agent. Before I could alert my superior the CCTV footage I was looking at and Timothy’s file were gone. And I mean wiped clean off the system. A few minutes later I got a text message from a blocked number telling me he was watching me. The next morning, I went to get my coffee and Timothy was there waiting. He told me he had people watching everything I was doing, and he said he had eyes on Declan too. If I didn’t want something to happen to him, I’d look into the Attorney General and find dirt on him. If I did, he’d hand over the list and they’d all be safe.”

“If you told him no initially, what changed your mind?” Zane asked.

“Timothy showed me a video of Declan.”

“And?” Jaxon was back to looking at me like I was stupid.

“It was a recent video. He had someone watching him. When Timothy explained all they wanted was dirt on Peter Newton, I agreed.”

“How do you know it was recent?” Zane questioned.

“It was filmed in a bar and the news was on in the background. It was only days old when he showed me.”

“A bar?” Jaxon looked at me, “Do you know where?”

“No. I heard Spanish, but the news broadcast was in English.”

“When did Manuel Ortega come into play?” Zane continued to pepper me with questions.

“The day Timothy died.” I stopped and tried to regain my composure. “I was on the phone with Timothy when he was killed. After I heard the shot, Manuel told me I was dealing with him directly from then on. When I asked where Timothy was, he said gone. That was it.”

“And the chip? When was that brought up?” Zane tapped his pen on the pad. He didn’t look up from his notes while he waited.

“About the same time I started being followed, a little over a week ago. Manuel called me and told me he wanted to meet. I thought he was going to give me the list and I’d be free. But he said I’d done such a good job with Peter Newton he had one more thing he wanted me to do. He said there was a chip in a mini drone he wanted. I told him no, we had a deal. He laughed at me and said he would release one name a day until I agreed. I told him I’d look into the drone and he left. I haven’t heard from him again.”

“This MSS agent? Did he have ID on him? Anything?” Jaxon asked.

“No.”

“So you assumed he was MSS because…” he drew out his question.

“He was Chinese.” I told him.

“So, you profiled him as an agent. Okay, well, we can safely say MSS is not involved or following you. We’ll confirm when Garrett is done with his investigation,” Zane said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“The Chinese guy? Is just that - a Chinese guy working for Manuel. You’re creating things that are not really there. I told you, we need to forget what you think you know.” Zane looked up from his paper and nodded at Jaxon.

“Chaos theory,” Jaxon said.

“That’s what I’m thinking. Keep Violet paranoid and chasing her tail - she’d never figure out what he’s up to. As long as he can keep her focused on the list, she’d follow blindly.” Zane continued to look at Jaxon.

“Timothy was used to get the list, Violet was used to blackmail Peter Newton, Siles and Gomez were pawns. But what’s his end game? If wanting the chip was bullshit, which I assume it was, Wolf’s team was never in any real danger. Manuel simply exposed a security breach. That would make any hardware he wants to sell null. Timothy is dead. Siles is dead. Gomez is back to doing what Gomez does.” Jaxon and Zane continued to talk to each other as if I was no longer there. “That leaves Violet.”

They had a few things right. I was paranoid, I had been chasing my tail, and now I was more confused than ever.

“But I don’t know anything about Manuel. There would be no reason he’d want me. I’m a nobody,” I told them.