Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“After nearly getting run over, why didn’t you go into the bar and ask for help?” Raine seemed to be having a hard time understanding Jane’s reasoning.
“I told you.”
“Tell me again.”
“Simple. I didn’t want to give anyone a second shot at me.
” Jane ticked off her fingers. “If Scott knew he’d rattled me, he’d win.
If he saw that I was okay, he could try again before I got home.
Even if he had nothing to do with it, I’d become a spectacle in that bar, where a ton of law enforcement heroes would want to help the weak woman who nearly got run over. ”
Raine sighed. “Okay, that makes sense. Best not to let anyone see you vulnerable.”
“Thank you.” Jane huffed.
“But you never ask for help, you know. And you need to.”
“Who would I ask?”
“Oh please. Hal and Joe are bored out of their minds. When they see your face, all bets are off.”
Jane blurted, “You can’t tell them. If they know I got hurt, they’ll try to take over my investigation. They’ll blow it.”
“Hey, they’re pros.” Raine looked hurt.
“Professional problem solvers. Killers, Raine.”
“Technically, Hal’s more of a computer nerd.”
“Who has drones drop his bombs for him,” Jane growled, since her cousin was missing the point. “They typically destroy their targets. I need my target alive to charge them for the murder of a DEA agent in addition to leaking info to a crime organization. I can’t do that with dead suspects.”
“You have a point, I guess.” Raine didn’t look pleased about that. Actually, she looked…tired.
A few inches shorter than Jane’s own five eleven, Raine was built on the lean side but healthy and strong.
She had skin the same shade as Jane’s, but when she tanned, she turned more gold than red.
Her long, dark hair was usually kept neat in a French braid but now had been tied back in a ponytail, with whisps of hair curling around her face.
She’d dressed casually too, in a pair of jeans and a UW sweatshirt.
A natural beauty with brains and heart, Raine took after their uncle more than she’d like to admit. A hardhead who felt emotions keenly and liked to be vocal in her opinions about everything, Raine and Uncle Chris often butted heads. Jane rarely saw her sad.
And that’s what she saw in her cousin’s dark eyes. A kind of grief.
“What are you doing here, anyway?” Jane asked more gently than she normally would.
Raine, allergic to sympathy, saw that kindness and stomped on it by growling, “Helping out my stupid cousin, apparently.”
“No, really.”
“We’ll get back to me in a minute.”
Jane sighed.
Raine continued, “This is a mess. You have a murdered DEA agent, a potential leak in the Seattle office, and likely someone in your squad working on the Mazzuca case.” Raine paused. “How sure are you that this apartment is clean?”
“I went over every inch of the place last night. Found nothing.”
“Okay. But you should have Hal…” Raine trailed off when she noted Jane’s gaze on the gadget Hal had given her years ago to sweep her house for surveillance devices. “Oh, right.”
“I wasn’t born yesterday.”
“Fine. I’m sorry for worrying.”
After a moment, Jane deflated. “No, I’m sorry for not accepting your concern.”
“That’s a mouthful.”
They grinned at each other.
“I did miss you,” Jane admitted.
“I bet that hurt to say.”
“Seriously did.”
They laughed.
“Now tell me why you’re here,” Jane asked again. “We can talk about me all you like when you’re done. But I’m more worried about you, to be honest.”
Raine shrugged. “I’m having a crisis of conscience, I think.”
“Since when do you have a conscience?” Jane teased, hoping for a smile.
She didn’t get one.
“It’s like all this interrogation work has turned me into a monster. I know we’re trying to protect democracy, to save lives. I’m talking big picture, right? But I’m tired of stepping on the small picture to get there.”
Talking in broad terms didn’t help. Obviously, Raine had been through something she couldn’t talk about, not in specifics.
“Help me understand.”
“I’m questioning the validity of some of the missions I’ve been sent on. I don’t see who they’re helping or what we’re really doing there. And I’m tired of being told to shut up and follow orders blindly.”
“But that’s part of being in the military.” Jane knew it, didn’t always agree with it, but she had loved, and still did love, being a Marine. Once a Marine, always a Marine.
“I know. Don’t get me wrong. I love it, but I’m not in love with it.”
Jane blinked. “Are we talking about the Marine Corps or a guy?”
At that, Raine huffed. “Right? I love the Corps. I love my job, mostly. But some of my bosses really suck, you know?”
“Trust me. I know.”
They shared a commiserating nod.
“I think I need a break.”
“You think? Raine, you never take leave. You call me a workaholic? Well, right back at ya. I know you’re dealing with life-or-death situations in scary places around the world. Terrorism, big scale conflicts. That’s a lot of pressure.”
“Yeah.” Raine started pacing, pulling at her ponytail. She looked so normal, so young, like a woman barely out of college, not some thirty-three-year-old who knew the truth when she heard it.
Jane had always been envious of her cousin’s odd ability to ferret out the truth.
They’d had her tested at an early age, because Raine seemed to possess a nearly psychic way of reading people.
Her uncle thought it had more to do with understanding micro expressions, interpreting the physical reactions of people who fabricated so easily.
In any event, it had made Raine’s work in the Intelligence branch of the Marine Corps much sought-after.
“I’m on a short leave,.and I’m hoping to talk to Uncle Chris for some advice when he gets back in a few weeks.” Raine stopped pacing and stared at Jane, her mouth firming. “But you need to come clean, if not with the family, then with me. When you need help, ask for it.”
“Raine, you are the last person I’ll ever take advice from when it comes to asking for help.”
“That hurts.”
“Oh please. Suck it up, princess.”
“Who are you calling a princess? You tripped over your own feet and bruised your face, weakling.”
“At least I’m not crying about the Marine Corps being too hard. Waa.”
Raine shot her an evil grin. “Nice.”
“I thought so.”
Raine said something else cutting. Jane answered, getting into the spirit of their argument. The stupid squabble made them both feel better as they called each other names and brought up embarrassing incidents from their youth.
As they wound down, Raine offered one more nugget of clarity. “Make sure you doctor that bruise with makeup if you don’t want everyone all over your case. You make people want to protect you as it is.”
“I’m taller and meaner than most of the people I work with, you know.”
Raine scoffed. “Whatever. But seriously, Jane, that new guy you’re working with? Gunther Rapp, right?” Raine gathered the keys she’d tossed on the counter, readying to leave.
“Yeah?”
“Tall, great body, nice face, attitude to spare?”
“I guess.”
Raine smirked. “He was a big deal in the black ops community for a while. CIA type. Background in Delta or Force Recon before the CIA grabbed him. I’m not sure what he’s doing with your task force, but he’s the real deal.
I never heard anything bad about him. He’s something of a legend.
Supposedly saved a few guys from dying at heavy expense.
I’m just saying, if you can’t come to family, you can probably go to him. ”
Jane realized Hal should have known all this by now, yet he’d curiously said nothing about the guy. Then she noticed that Raine had paused. “But …?”
“But if he ends up not being on your side, you have to call on us—me, Joe, Hal, whoever’s here, for help. Because he will end you and not look back. He’s a one-man wrecking crew.” Then she smiled and waved. “Later, slacker.”
Raine skipped out the door.
“Thanks a lot,” Jane yelled after her, feeling out of sorts.
Why would a guy like Rapp, with her uncle’s qualifications, be chosen to find their Code Blue Killer when he could have just as easily been tasked with eliminating him?
One bullet to the head. Another to the heart.