AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Omar threw Ryan a puzzled look. Ryan shrugged.
“Can someone please fill me in? What’s FinCEN?” Leilah asked.
“It stands for Financial Crimes Enforcement Network,” her brother explained. “It’s part of the Treasury Department. When I was at the DEA, we worked with special investigations from time to time when the target’s crimes included things like terrorist financing or money laundering.”
“Gold star,” Armistead smirked.
“What are you doing mixed up with this lot?” Omar asked him.
“They pay me.”
“Delightful,” Jake said dryly.
Ryan locked eyes with Macklin. “Back in Harrisonburg, you said you had orders not to hurt us.”
“That’s right.”
“Who gave the order? Ahmadi?”
“Right again.”
“You also claimed that you didn’t mess with my brakes or put the barrier across the road,” Leilah spoke up.
“Correct. We did neither.”
“But youwerethe guys who showed up at the wreck with guns. I mean, you don’t deny that, do you?” Her eyes blazed.
Sparky in the house.
Blum coughed. Then he said, “That was us. But we weren’t there to hurt you. Our instructions were to protect you.”
“Let’s take it back a step. What or who were you supposed to protect Leilah from?” Ryan probed.
Armistead shook his head. “Mr. Ahmadi called the three of us in this morning. He said there was a credible threat of violence against Ms. Khan. He didn’t share any details. We geared up and headed to the driving club. By the time we arrived, you two had already left. We didn’t want to draw attention from anyone at this facility, so we walked through the farmland to check the perimeter rather than driving it.”
Trent gave a grudging nod. “Decent op sec.”
“Gee, thanks for the approval of our operational security,” Macklin snarked.
Trent stepped forward, and Jake stilled him by placing a hand on his forearm.
Blum picked up the thread. “We heard the impact of the crash and ran toward the deer fence. Given the threat Mr. Ahmadi mentioned, weapons drawn was standard operating procedure.”
The Potomac agents all nodded. So Ryan figured the story at least passed the sniff test.
“And you don’t know anything else?” Jake asked.
Macklin sighed heavily. “We do not. That’s why, for not the first time, I implore you to call—”
Banging on the door cut him off.
Jake jerked his chin, and Omar pulled the door open.
“What’s up, Andrews?” Omar asked the Potomac rookie called in to babysit the building while they interrogated the trio.
“Uh, sorry to interrupt. There’s a … gentleman … here. He’s insisting he needs to speak to Mr. Hayes. He won’t leave, and I figured you didn’t want me to shoot him.”
“Good call, Andrews. Who is this guy?”
