Chapter 44
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Raine met her at the ranch.
“Well, well. Look who wants my help.”
“You know what? Forget it.” Jane knew she’d made a huge mistake calling her cousin. “I should have gone with Diego to meet Rapp and the others to grab Keiser.”
“That case you’re working on? You found him?”
“They think they did. I’m not sure, but Rapp sounded like this was it. I want to be there, but…”
“Come on. Spill. What do you need, exactly?”
Jane started to answer before Raine added, in a nasty tone, “Me to hold your hand? Is little Jane scared of being by herself?” She sneered.
“I’ll do it myself.” But what if she couldn’t save both herself and Sullivan? Was Sullivan’s life worth more than her pride?
“That’s your problem. You want to do everything by yourself. You never let anyone help you.”
I let Hal, she almost said, but it was bad enough she owed him a favor. She didn’t want Raine to blackmail her as well. “You’re standing here, making fun of me for asking, and then you wonder why I don’t want you to help?”
Raine lost her attitude. “I’m just teasing. Besides, you still haven’t apologized for being a jerk about my terminal leave.”
“I’m sorry. There. Now leave me alone.”
“Oh, that’s sincere.”
Jane didn’t have time to tiptoe around Raine’s precious feelings. “Well, what about you?” She grabbed her Sig, checked it, then packed two loaded magazines into her jacket. With the Sig in her shoulder holster, she added a knife in a sheath at her ankle.
Her adrenaline pumping, she stared at her laptop, studying the satellite image of the address Sullivan sent her. She had a twenty-minute drive in addition to the hour it had taken her to get over on the ferry, and she’d been speeding to make it.
“That’s not a great view,” Raine said, coming to stand next to her. Of course she didn’t respond to Jane’s “what about you?” comment. “Are you planning to storm the barn house by yourself? To what, go to Jenn Sullivan’s rescue—that you’re not sure she needs?”
“Forget I asked you to do anything.”
Raine swung Jane around to face her. “Stop it. You obviously sense something’s wrong or you wouldn’t be arming up.
You asked me to help, so you must feel you’ll need it.
” Raine looked into her eyes with fiery insistence.
“You annoy me. You judge me. You belittle me. And you love me.” Raine grabbed both her shoulders and gave her a gentle shake.
“As much as you bug me, I love you right back. And I’m a better shot than you are.
Take me with you. With any luck, you won’t need me. ”
Then she shocked Jane anew by yanking her in for a hug.
It had been a long time since Jane had felt such a mire of emotion. Love, worry, and pain balled up, knotting inside her. Then she let out a breath, and it flowed through her, there to strengthen her, to be used if needed.
She pulled back, uncomfortable yet relieved that they’d gotten past their arguments. Their connection remained, ratty and worn, but with such a strong foundation, it would never break.
“What’s going on, Jane?” Raine asked again.
Jane gave her a quick rundown of the Code Blue Killer case and the supposed mole at the Agency.
“Your boss suspects Sullivan might be one of them.”
Jane nodded.
“What do you think?”
“I thought she couldn’t possibly be guilty. Now I don’t know.”
“Then be smart. Let’s go see what’s so important and hush hush that your FBI buddy can’t say over the phone. We’ll hope she’s not as smart as you think she is.”
They headed to Jane’s car, but Raine didn’t get in.
“I’ll meet you there. I’ll park away from the address. But I’ll be there. Count on it.”
“I will. I do. Count on you, I mean.” Jane didn’t know why she suddenly choked up. They’d rarely worked together, but when they had, Raine had had her back. And Jane would have hers.
“You should, little cousin.”
The moment passed. “I hate when you call me that.”
Raine grinned. “I know.”
The drive passed in relative quiet, the moon’s light shrouded by clouds and overhanging branches. Despite the lack of snow, the Ponderosa Pines and Douglas Firs felt heavy, hiding private driveways and plots of land in between forests and ferns.
Sullivan had been out of touch for over an hour. The area the woman directed Jane to was located in one such hideaway, surrounded by a thick forest. Jane turned twice and had to backtrack once, having missed a turn onto a narrow drive lined with gravel.
The driveway went back a good hundred feet or more. For a while, only her brights penetrated the gloom. Then she saw the bright lights of the home, a large, two-story barn house surrounded by open grass and patio stone. To one side sat a detached two-story garage with an ADU above.
She had no idea where Raine might park. Trusting her cousin, Jane took her time leaving the car, scanning. Listening.
Silence. Not even a television from inside the house.
The place had to be worth a good bit. Looked to Jane like something out of a designer magazine. Sullivan didn’t have that kind of money, so whose house was it?
Jane itched to grab her gun, tucked away under her jacket, but she forced herself to remain loose as she walked up the porch steps onto the spacious landing and knocked.
Sullivan answered the door, her features wan.
She didn’t look to be planning Jane’s demise, but she didn’t look glad to see her either.
No, Sullivan looked…scared.
“Ah, Jane. I’m so happy you’re finally here.” Rob Williams smiled at her over Sullivan’s shoulder. “Come on in and join the party.”
As she stepped inside, he closed the door behind her. In the living room stood two men Jane had never before seen. Along with Junior Mazzuca.