Chapter 21 #2
At first, Sawyer assumed Cash had come to give him shit about Gina the same way he’d done when his cousin had dragged his feet with Aubrey. She’d almost moved to Las Vegas. But this was different. Gina was already gone, back to the world she’d come from.
But Cash’s body language spoke volumes. His cousin’s lips were pressed in a grim line and his back was ramrod straight. It reminded Sawyer of Cash’s FBI days. He wasn’t here to talk about Sawyer’s relationship issues.
Angie.
For a second he froze, afraid to hear whatever Cash had come to say.
The only explanation for his sister’s uncharacteristic radio silence all these years was that she was dead.
At least it was the only explanation that made sense.
On an intellectual level Sawyer had always known that.
He just hadn’t wanted to believe it. Even the New Mexico lead seemed hinky, as if someone had made the whole thing up to throw him off course.
He took a bracing breath. “Just say it.”
“Sit.” Cash took the big leather chair, sipped his coffee, and put the cup down on the coffee table.
Sawyer wanted to stand. He actually wanted to run, find a quiet place, and bury his head in the sand. He took the sofa, squeezing the armrest until his fingers went numb.
“She’s alive.”
Sawyer’s ears roared and he wasn’t sure he’d heard Cash right. “What?”
“Angela’s alive, Sawyer. I don’t know where she is or even how long she’s been there, but she’s safe. At least for now.”
“WITSEC?” When Cash nodded, Sawyer steadied himself. He was finding it difficult to breathe. Angie was alive. All these years and she was alive. He had so many questions swirling around in his head that he didn’t know where to start. “What is she involved in, Cash? Who—what—is she up against?”
Cash scrubbed his hand down his face. For the first time since he’d arrived, Sawyer noted how tired his cousin looked. He’d been sitting on this for a while, probably gathering enough information to give Sawyer a comprehensive picture. Or at least as comprehensive as he could.
“Everything is still pretty sketchy, Sawyer. I’m lucky to have gotten what I did.”
Luck had nothing to do with it. Before Cash had been terminated, he’d been on the FBI’s fast track. He’d not only been a terrific agent; he’d had lots of friends. Friends in high places. Sawyer suspected one of those friends had helped Cash put some of the pieces of Angie’s disappearance together.
“All I know is that she got caught up with the wrong people. People, who on the face of it appeared to be do-gooders, but were anything but. Arms dealers is what I’ve been able to glean, though there’s been no official confirmation.”
“The commune in Taos?”
Cash leaned forward and put his hands on his knees. “Yeah, that’s part of it.”
“Why didn’t she call?” Sawyer stood up and began pacing. “You were a fed. You could’ve helped her.”
“Best I can come up with is that she got in over her head and didn’t want to get us involved. Didn’t want us to face any danger.”
Sawyer’s head snapped back. “She wasn’t working with these people, was she?”
“No, I don’t think so. According to my source, she legitimately thought these yahoos were trying to feed the world and stumbled across something she shouldn’t have.
That’s where things get hazy. No one will tell me who these people are or what Angie found.
But somehow she went to the ATF or they came to her and she’s been an informant ever since.
I’m speculating here, but I’m betting this commune…
farm…was the group’s headquarters and Angie went to spy.
Someone must’ve made her and that’s when she had to go underground. ”
Sawyer tried to absorb what Cash was telling him. Arms dealers. Informant. Underground. He had more questions than answers.
“Why didn’t she contact us, Cash? All these years and she couldn’t pick up the goddamn phone? We could’ve kept her safe.”
Cash leaned his head against the chair and squeezed the bridge of his nose.
“I don’t have the answer to that. But keep her safe?
Sawyer, we don’t have a clue what she was up against. For all intents and purposes she was an undercover agent for the federal government, infiltrating a dangerous organization.
You ever think that perhaps she was trying to keep us safe? ”
Angie would’ve gone to the ends of the earth to protect her family…her friends. There was no question of that.
Sawyer’s emotions were all over the map. Relief, fear, even anger. He wanted his sister back. He wanted his family to be whole again.
“When can we see her?”
Cash rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. The room was so quiet, Sawyer could hear the pounding of his own pulse. He sat again, knowing the answer before Cash even muttered the words, “Maybe never.”
Those were the rules of WITSEC. No contact with former associates.
Sawyer had covered stories about the program, which for the most part was shrouded in secrecy.
All anyone really knew was that a witness was moved to an undisclosed location, given a new identity and history, and was forbidden from staying in touch with or revisiting anyone or anything from his or her prior life.
“Is that what your people told you?”
“They didn’t tell me much, Sawyer. As far as they’re concerned, Angela Dalton no longer exists.”
It was a tactful way of saying that although Angie was alive, she may as well be dead to her family.
“I assume at some point she’ll have to testify.” Sawyer crossed his legs and then uncrossed them. He was having trouble sitting still. “If there’s a conviction, will she be able to resurface?”
“I don’t know. It’ll depend on what kind of crime organization this is.
Is it a situation where if you chop off the head of the snake, you kill the heart?
Or are we looking at something with long-reaching tentacles?
I wish I had the answers, Sawyer. Believe me, I tried to get them.
I called in every favor owed to me. This was the best I could do. ”
Sawyer sank deeper into the couch. “What you did…what you got…she’s alive, Cash. Angie is alive.”
“She’s alive. And if she follows the rules she’ll stay safe. Let’s not mess that up.”
He wouldn’t. Sawyer loved his sister too much to risk her security…her life. “But I have to tell my folks. I have to let them know that she’s all right.”
“Yep. Agreed. I called them already. My folks too. Yours are flying in. My parents will pick them up at Sacramento International. They’ll be here in a few hours.
” Cash’s eyes wandered to the clock on the wall.
“I figure it’ll be easier to break the news of Angie while we’re all under the same roof. ”
“What about Jace?”
“I called him. He’s on his way too.”
Sawyer nodded. It was a lot to parse. He stared out the window off into the distance, thinking about Angie. Did she live in a big city or a rural town? Did she have a job? Friends? A man?
“You okay?” Cash rose and Sawyer got to his feet as well.
“Yeah. Just need a little time for it to sink in.”
“I’ve got to put in some time on the job before everyone gets here. You want to do this here?”
Sawyer absently nodded.
After Cash left, Sawyer walked around the apartment in a fog. He remained that way until his entire family descended.
The kids stayed at Jace’s house, but everyone else gathered in Sawyer’s living room. Aubrey and Charlie put drinks and snacks out.
“Don’t hold us in suspense,” Jed announced.
Shifting in his seat, Dan leaned closer to his brother and tilted his head to the side. “I assume we’re here about the ranch. I also assume it’s an emergency, otherwise this wouldn’t have been so last-minute.”
“It’s not about the ranch, Dad, it’s about Angela.”
A hush fell over the room and Sawyer saw his parents visibly flinch. Wendy clutched Dan’s hand while her other hand gripped the sofa armrest.
Sawyer cut a look to Cash, giving him a silent go-ahead to relay his information.
“She’s alive.”
Wendy made a noise deep in her throat and covered her mouth. Dan started shaking. Someone said something, but Sawyer was too consumed with watching his parents to distinguish who or even what they’d said. Maybe it had been “Thank God.”
Cash let the story unfold in his no-frills, just-the-facts way. When he finished, the room exploded in questions.
“When can we see her?” Tears streamed down Wendy’s face.
Jed closed his eyes. Being a former cop, he knew, of course.
“Maybe never, I’m afraid.” Cash explained the rules and workings of WITSEC.
“We’ll hire around-the-clock security,” Sawyer’s dad argued. “I want my daughter home and whoever these thugs are to be brought to justice.”
“Dad, we have no idea what the backstory is on this or even how deep Angie’s in…what she’s up against.” Sawyer took a deep breath. “But for the first time in five years we have proof that she’s alive and safe, which is more than we had yesterday.”
“And for that I’m very thankful, son. But this is—”
“Torture,” Wendy finished. “It’s pure torture knowing that she’s out there somewhere and we can’t see or talk to her.”
Sawyer pulled Wendy in for a hug. “I know, Mom. But this is good news. You know Angie. Wherever she is, whatever she’s doing, she’s happy. Remember how you used to call her Sunny.”
“My sunny delight.” Wendy sniffled.
“That’s right. Because no one was ever more optimistic than Ange. She was saving the world one cause at a time.” A laugh caught in his throat.
“There’s nothing to say that she’ll be in WITSEC forever,” Jace offered.
“These things are always fluid,” Cash seconded. “In the meantime, I’ve been assured that she’s fine…secure. I don’t know about you, but for me that’s a giant weight off.”
There was a chorus of agreement.
After the shock wore off, a calm spread through the room and then a sort of jubilation. For all the consternation over Angie’s WITSEC situation, they’d finally solved the mystery. Just knowing that she’d survived these past five years was something to celebrate.