Page 4 of Trista's Truth


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“I had no idea, Trista,” he said. “I would have never overstepped if I had gotten that message, but I didn’t. I had no idea that you had a man on the inside.”

“His name was Peter Stonewell, and he was a good man,” she said.

“Was he your husband or your brother?” Joel asked. For some crazy reason, he was hoping that she’d say that he was her brother.

“Brother,” she whispered. “Pete was my younger brother and when the Gemini Brothers found out that they had a mole on the inside, they tore their organization apart until they found Pete. They murdered him and sent my brother back to the CIA piece by piece.”

“And now, you want your revenge,” Joel breathed. He would want the same if the Gemini Brothers did that to one of his family members. Revenge was something that he could understand.

“Partially,” she admitted. “I’m still following orders from my superiors if that’s what you’re wondering, but lucky for me, the CIA and I both want the same thing—Dante Gemini released so that he can lead us right back to his human trafficking ring.”

“What makes you think that he’ll cooperate with the CIA once you release him?” Joel asked.

Trista shrugged, “I don’t,” she admitted. “I’m not going to even approach him. He needs to believe that he got out on a technicality. One of our guys is going to pose as a lawyer for the precinct, and he’ll explain everything to Dante. He’ll tell him that he’s free to go because the arresting officer, that’s you, didn’t follow protocol, and all charges are being dropped.”

“I followed the fucking protocol,” Joel shouted.

“Noted, and for the record, I believe you, Joel,” Trista said. “But Dante doesn’t know that you followed protocol. He’ll believe that his lawyers worked their magic and did what he’s paying them to do. Dante will believe that he got lucky this time, and he’ll count it as a win. Those guys always think that they are luckier than they actually are. It’s why they try to pull so much shit and get away with it. Let’s let him believe what he needs to, and then, when he goes back into the Gemini Brothers, to claim his rightful place as the head of the family, he’ll lead us right to his trafficking ring. He’s the head of trafficking for the Gemini family and when he resumes business, we’ll be there to take down the whole organization this time, not just one man.”

“I thought that by bringing in Dante, the Gemini Brothers would fold,” Joel admitted. He believed that by bringing down the head of the family, the rest would just crumble, but he was wrong apparently.

“You might have cut off the head of the serpent, but two more grew in its place. It’s the way that things work with the Gemini Brothers. They always have a backup plan, and they are always out for blood. This time, it’s your blood that they want, Joel. If you think that I’m out for revenge, wait until the Gemini Brothers catch up with you.”

“Shit,” he mumbled under his breath. If Trista was right, he was in more danger than he’d thought, and working with her and the CIA might be his only way out. “You can put the gun down,” he insisted, “I’ll work with you, Trista.”

“Great,” she said, not bothering to put her gun away. “But if we’re going to work together, there’s something that you should know about me, Joel—I don’t trust anyone. The gun stays until you release Dante. Then, if you still want my help, I’ll get you someplace safe, as I promised.”

“Suit yourself,” he said. Joel pulled into his spot in front of the precinct and cut the engine. “But there’s something you should know, too, Trista. You won’t be able to walk into that building with a gun. You’ll set off every alarm in the place and they’ll throw your ass in a cell so fast, it will make your head spin. How about you give me a little bit of trust here, and I promise, we’ll avenge your brother together? I’m partially responsible for his death. If I had been given that message to stand down, things might have ended differently for your brother. I’m sorry for the part that I played in his death.”

Her lip quivered, the only sign that he was getting through to her. She had no reason to trust him, but he wasn’t about to screw her over. They wanted the same thing now that he knew the truth, she’d just have to decide if she trusted him or not. “Thank you for saying that, but I don’t blame you, Joel. I blame the Gemini Brothers and when I find out which one of those fuckers killed my brother, I’m going to put a bullet between their eyes.” He believed that she would too. Trista didn’t seem like the kind of woman to make empty threats.

“Got it,” he said. “Are you coming in with me, or do you want to wait here?” he asked.

Trista shook her head at him and sighed, holstering her gun. “I’m coming in,” she grumbled. “Don’t fuck this up for me, Joel. I won’t hesitate to pull my gun in there. You can stick me in a cell, but I won’t be in there for very long,” she insisted. “My guys at the CIA will have me out of there so fast, your head will spin,” she said, giving him back his words.

Joel chuckled and nodded, “Duly noted, Ma’am,” he drawled. “Let’s go,” he ordered. He didn’t bother to look back to see if Trista was following him. He could hear her sexy heels clicking on the pavement behind him.

They took the elevator up from the lobby to the fifth floor and he noticed that Trista seemed a bit nervous. She looked young to be a CIA agent, but he knew from what she told Melody about her time in the military that she was probably in her late twenties. Compared to him, she was practically a kid. Joel never thought of himself as old until he got shot on the job a few years back. He was turning forty later that year, and to him, that sounded ancient.

“How old was your brother?” he asked, making small talk.

“He was only twenty-seven,” she said. “He had only been with the CIA for a little over a year, and God, he loved his job.”

“I’m sorry,” Joel breathed, “that’s so young.”

“It was,” she said. “I just turned thirty-one and I never thought that I’d see thirty. When I was serving in the military, I thought for sure that I’d be the one being sent home to my parents in a body bag, not Pete.”

“Was it just the two of you?” Joel asked.

“Yeah,” Trista breathed, “how about you? Any brothers or sisters?”

“I have three younger brothers and a sister,” Joel said. “My poor mother wanted a girl, so she convinced my father to keep trying. She got four boys to drive her crazy, but she finally had her girl. Not that my little sister is any better behaved than my brothers.”

“So, you’re the oldest then?” she asked.

“Yep,” he said, “I’m turning forty this year and they’re dying to throw me an over-the-hill party—you know the one, right? They’ll have tombstones with my name on them and black balloons everywhere.” Joel smiled at the thought of it. His siblings were talking about the party that they wanted to throw him when they all saw each other at his youngest brother’s twenty-eight birthday party a few weeks back. He pretended to be put off by the whole idea, but he had to admit, it sounded kind of fun. Even his mom and dad got in on the razing and came up with a few ideas for the party.

“Sounds fun,” she said. The elevator doors opened, and he stepped off. The office seemed pretty quiet tonight. He nodded to his desk and told her to follow him, and Trista did. Hopefully, they’d get in and out without much fanfare.

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