Chapter 12
Kinley sat nervously across from Cruz Livingston, the FBI agent who Gage knew through friends of friends. He was tall, even taller than Gage and the rest of the guys on his team. He was at least a foot taller than her own five-five, and that in itself made her very nervous.
His black hair was cut short…and he was currently frowning at her.
“Ease up, Cruz,” Gage said in a near deadly tone.
“We aren’t exactly getting together for a cup of tea,” Cruz replied.
Kinley couldn’t help but smile at that.
When Cruz smiled back, she relaxed just a little bit.
She was very glad he’d agreed to meet here, in Gage’s apartment.
Just thinking about having to go down to San Antonio stressed her out.
She felt safe here. Driving around Texas, especially in a big city, would make her feel like she had a huge bullseye on her back.
“I understand you’ve got a hell of a story to tell,” Cruz said.
Kinley nodded.
“Okay. Take your time. Don’t leave anything out, no matter how small or inconsequential you think it might be. I’m not saying the FBI will take this on, but if the little bit I already know is true, then I’m thinking this is very serious.”
It was serious. Kinley knew that. She took a deep breath and began telling the man across from her everything she’d seen.
It took a couple hours, especially since Cruz kept interrupting her, repeatedly asking for clarification or more information. When she was done, Kinley was exhausted. As if she’d just run a marathon or something.
Throughout the recounting of her tale, Gage sat next to her with a heavy hand on her thigh.
She was comforted by his steady presence.
He didn’t interrupt her, didn’t butt in to add something he thought she might’ve missed.
He was just there. She’d never had anyone support her like Gage did.
Without judgment and with no reservations.
“You understand that, since The Alleyway Strangler’s murders happened in Paris, the FBI has no jurisdiction over that, right?” Cruz asked.
Kinley nodded. “I know. But I figured maybe you could work with the police over there. I’m willing to testify to what I saw, but I don’t know how to go about getting in touch with anyone in France.”
“We can help with that,” Cruz said, but it was obvious he was still deep in thought.
“What are you thinking?” Gage asked.
“That we can’t get Stryker for killing that girl…but what if that wasn’t his first kill?”
“That’s what the team and I thought too,” Gage said with a nod.
“He might’ve honed his craft, so to speak, here in the States before he was appointed as ambassador to France. And the child porn could be another avenue to get to him, and to Brown as well.”
Gage nodded.
Kinley’s head swiveled back and forth between the two men as they spoke.
“I need to talk to my supervisor, but I think it’s very likely we have a good case,” Cruz said.
She sagged in her seat, relieved that he’d not only believed her, but was going to help.
“But—and you’re not going to like this, Kinley—based on what you’ve told me about someone trying to hurt you, I highly suggest that you enter WITSEC.”
“No. Fuck no!” Gage exclaimed.
Kinley frowned. “What’s WITSEC?”
“The Witness Security Program,” Gage said between clenched teeth as he continued to glare at Cruz.
“It’s not ideal, I get it,” Cruz started, but Gage interrupted him.
“Not ideal?” he bit out. “What a joke. First of all, Kinley hasn’t done anything wrong. You know as well as I do that most of the protected witnesses in the program are criminals themselves who’ve turned on someone in order to reduce their own culpability.”
“I never said she’s in the wrong,” Cruz said easily.
“Second,” Gage continued as if the agent hadn’t spoken, “hiding her would take her away from all her friends. Her support network. There’s a ton of corruption in DC and all it would take is one word to the wrong person, and she’d be a sitting duck. No, it’s a bad idea.”
“How long?” Kinley asked. She felt Gage’s eyes on her, but she didn’t turn her head.
Cruz shrugged. “It depends on how fast the case moves forward. It sounds like we have a lot of work to do to research both Brown and Stryker. Months at the least. Most likely years.”
Kinley shivered. She didn’t want to hide out for years.
She may not have been so reluctant before she’d come to Texas, but in the short time she’d been staying with Gage, she finally understood what it meant to have friends.
She’d never missed what she hadn’t had, but she knew without a doubt that if she left now, went into the witness protection program, she’d miss Gillian, Trigger, and all the other guys horribly.
She turned to look at Gage. And it was impossible to imagine not seeing or talking to him for years.
She’d always thought she was perfectly fine on her own.
She enjoyed her own company and hadn’t ever felt as if she was missing anything.
But now? It was both a blessing and a curse that she’d met Gage.
She found herself missing him while he was at work.
It was hard to picture her going back to her old life, doing everything on her own.
“Can I think about it?” she asked.
She knew Gage was frowning at her, but she’d turned her attention back to Cruz.
“Of course. But every day that goes by is another day that whoever was hired to shut you up has a chance to get to you.”
She knew he was being extra cautious, maybe even trying to scare her…and it was working.
“No one’s going to get to her,” Gage growled.
“Really? And are you watching her twenty-four-seven?” Cruz asked.
“Are you by her side every minute of the day? What about when you’re deployed?
Who’s going to watch her then? You can’t keep her prisoner in your apartment, Lefty.
At least in WITSEC, she could lead a relatively normal life.
She could have a job. She could go out with friends… could date.”
Kinley felt Gage tense at that, but Cruz kept talking.
“Here, she’s a sitting duck. We’re talking about a friend of the president,” Cruz said in a low tone.
“If I thought this was going to be an open-and-shut case, I’d never suggest something like WITSEC, but I think you know as well as I do that this is gonna drag on and on.
They’ll do whatever they can to protect their asses, which means they’ll plaster Kinley’s name all over the place.
They’ll dig up whatever dirt they can find on her, including the accusation of treason.
She won’t be able to go anywhere without being recognized.
The press will camp out in the parking lot outside.
And when you get called on a job, she’ll be here alone. ”
“She won’t be alone,” Gage insisted.
Cruz’s voice gentled a bit. “You know what I mean. Someone already tried to kill her once. When the investigation is done, and Stryker and possibly Brown are arrested, then the shit’s really gonna hit the fan.
Whoever tried to kill her before will be even more desperate to take her out before she can testify. ”
Kinley hadn’t realized it, but she’d begun to shake. Listening to the hell that her life was about to become wasn’t fun. She was an introvert. She didn’t want to be the subject of gossip for the press.
Gage shifted closer and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side. It was awkward, as they were both still sitting in the chairs at his table, but she felt better simply because he was there.
“What if she doesn’t testify?” Gage asked.
Cruz shrugged. “I’d say the odds of someone coming after her would still be fifty-fifty.”
“Fuck,” Gage muttered.
“I’m testifying,” Kinley said firmly. “You know why I have to,” she told Gage. “You know.”
“You guys don’t have to decide right this second,” Cruz said after a moment.
“I need to get back to San Antonio and make some calls. We need to check into Kinley’s accusations, see how much merit they have before we decide on anything.
It’s not very likely Stryker will be convicted on just her testimony, we’ll need to find more.
The agency will need to contact our counterparts in Paris and get some details on The Alleyway Strangler.
Look for evidence, videos, digital footprints, things like that.
Once that’s done, if it’s determined that Kinley might be called as a witness, we can talk again. ”
“How long?” Gage asked.
“A couple of weeks. Maybe more, maybe less,” Cruz said.
Kinley inwardly relaxed. For some reason, she thought she’d have to leave right that minute. That she’d walk out the door with Cruz and that would be that. Anything she might’ve thought she could have with Gage would be over in the blink of an eye.
Cruz turned to her. “You did the right thing,” he said.
Kinley snorted. “Yeah. But the right thing doesn’t feel very good right about now.”
“I know,” Cruz echoed sympathetically. “Once upon a time, I worked undercover. It was hell. Every day felt as if I lost a piece of my soul. I knew I was doing the right thing, but it was the hardest job I’d ever done.
I didn’t like being someone else. But when the dust settled, we got the bad guys, and they won’t ever hurt anyone else again.
” Cruz turned his gaze to Gage as he continued.
“And I thought that job would be the end of me and the woman I knew I wanted to be with for the rest of my life. And while it certainly made things more difficult, in the end, we became closer as a result.”
“Being undercover, and being fucking hidden away somewhere that we can’t talk or see each other isn’t exactly the same thing, Cruz.”