AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“There’s one thing. The best I could do on such short notice was get you on first class. I know. Don’t say it. I’ll have all the supplies you’ll need when you get here.”
Public transportation meant I couldn’t take any weapons on board, which of course I already knew. Damn it. This was the worst position to be placed in but there was nothing else I could do.
“Fine. Just make certain you have what I need.”
“Have I ever failed you?” he asked, half laughing. “You do have a flight connection.”
“Where?”
“Dulles.”
He might as well have painted a fucking target on our backs.
“Sorry, dude. I have faith you can handle it. Someone I trust is leaving everything you need in a secure location as we speak. You ready for the particulars?”
“Hell, yes.”
I didn’t need to write any shit down. As he rattled off where I needed to go and what I needed to do, I merely absorbed the information. In my mind, the chances weren’t getting any better. In fact, they’d just been driven into an abysmal state. Whatever the case, I’d made her two promises that I intended on keeping.
“You gonna be okay with this?” Jeremy asked. He should know better. Even if a couple of years had gone by, neither one of us the same men we’d been before, he’d learned early on that I refused to lose in any situation. No matter how difficult. No matter how dangerous.
“I’ll be fine. What else did you find out?”
“Your girl was right, but there’s no smoking gun here that I can find. I also don’t see that the wreckage was checked for a possible malfunction.”
I bristled, allowing my gaze to drift to Isabella’s sleeping body. At least for once she seemed at peace. “Was the car torched, making that impossible?”
“I found a few pictures. Not from what I can tell.”
“Why wouldn’t they try and find out how it happened?” Maybe what I’d told Isabella was the simple truth in that they were grieving. The entire situation gnawed at me.
“I don’t know. After she died, the vice president refused to talk about it. That’s a little odd.”
“Not necessarily. Did you confirm the adoption?”
“Yes, but the records were sealed so I can’t tell you anything else.”
“And Isabella’s time spent in a facility?”
“Also true. Six months, but don’t ask me to break the veil on those records. Not possible. Even if I tried, there are enough eyes on the information to have the CIA beating at my door in twelve hours. I ain’t risking it.”
“Understood. The Secret Service agent?”
He laughed. “Quite a few have been let go by Mr. Adams over the years. I don’t think he was well liked. I’ll need a name.”
“I have one. Find out everything you can about Dane Shepherd. He was on Isabella’s detail a few years ago but was terminated. I need to know why and if he’s currently working for the CIA.”
“I gotta ask you again. What the hell did you get yourself involved in, dude? The daughter of the vice president of the freaking United States, a mysterious death, and questioning an agent. I’m gonna take it this is a matter of national security.”
“Something like that.”
“You always did like to make a big splash. I’ll see what I can find. Keep safe.”
“That’s what I plan on doing.” I shoved the phone into my back pocket before leaning against the wall. Everything was neat and tidy, which usually meant nasty details had needed to be shoved into the deepest, darkest corners, never to see the light of day again.
There wasn’t a person alive who didn’t harbor some secret or a lie that haunted them as they traveled the road of life. I’d known men and women whose fall from grace was swift and agonizing, just because of a single lie they’d done everything in their power to crush. Truth had a funny way of sliding to the surface.
We’d leave just before first light, the flight late morning, which would give us plenty of time to get to the airport. My gut told me the plan was flawed. Fuck it. I’d suffered through worse odds successfully. I pushed away from the wall, heading to my office. While the little brat had infiltrated my operations center, she hadn’t discovered the supply of weapons I had stored. I moved toward the console, sliding my fingers across the hidden button under the windowsill. As the door slid open, I threw a look over my shoulder toward the bank of cameras. There was zero activity.
