Chapter 12 #2
“Who?” He put a measure of steel into his voice, didn’t want any hedging now. Nothing but all cards on the table, full disclosure. Though in truth, he’d figured it out, puzzled the story together.
“Special Agent Owen Evans. I hear he’s in charge of the Boston office now.”
Dane felt Shana tense under his hold, but she remained quiet, listening.
Peter blew out a whistle. “That man knows how to keep a secret. It also explains a few things.”
“Like what?” Acer said.
“Like why he always gave Dane the benefit of the doubt, much to the displeasure of others in his office. He and Mark Richards have been at odds about Dane ever since their man Peck was arrested,” Peter said.
Dane shifted his attention back to Elena.
“Now explain what got you out of hiding, here and now?”
“Long story.”
Dane waited. He knew she’d answer him. She had no choice. She wasn’t here for no good reason. Of that he was certain. And if she needed something from him, or from any of them, she’d need to spill every last one of her secrets.
Elena’s gaze shifted from Peter to Dane and back again. She ignored everyone else. Dane noticed she especially avoided Shana’s eyes. She heaved a sigh and spoke.
“I called the State House and got your location from Rick Racer. Don’t blame him. I used disinformation. Privileged information to convince him it was necessary.”
Joe spoke up. “Rick called me to verify who she was, check to see if it was okay to give her Dane’s location. Once I got her story, I decided to bring her in.”
“Let’s back up a few steps. Why did you want to find Dane now?” Peter said.
She smiled.
“I wanted to help him protect you, Governor.” With her resignation to telling all behind her, Elena opened up.
“I’ve been in witness protection, but I’ve also been working undercover.
The US Marshals’ office figured I was a valuable asset with my law enforcement background.
So now I work off the books for the US Marshals Midwest. Our latest operation led us to a prison in Texas where we were investigating potential corruption.
We connected the company running the prison to a congressman from Massachusetts, among others.
Guy Ziffer owns the prison management company with revenues in excess of one point five billion a year.
He contributed a fat wad to Congressman Yannis’s campaign for the US Senate. ”
Dane slid his eyes to Peter. “We’re aware.”
Elena nodded. Dane tangled his fingers through Shana’s hair, let the familiar feel of her silky curls keep him grounded as he knew what was going to happen next, knew what their plan would need to be.
Elena switched her attention to Peter and said, “But what really caught my eye was the fact that Yannis was running against you. So that made me look harder. Checked up on you. Back channels with some fake creds, I got in touch with a friend in the FBI who’d been transferred to the Boston office. That’s how I knew about Owen Evans.”
“Let me guess. Mark Richards.” Dane didn’t like it. The strain to keep his emotions out of it challenged him, surprised him.
“Yes. You still have that gift for prescience, I see.” She smiled at him, the full monty.
Her smile turned back the clock on her face, made her look like that younger version of herself he’d loved, breaking his resolve, bringing back a flood of familiar emotion, a wave of fondness.
Maybe a spark. But it was easily extinguished to join the ashes of their long-gone affair.
“How are you contacting an old friend while you’re in witness protection, when you’re supposed to be dead?” She’d glossed over that part, but Dane wasn’t in the mood to let her get away with skimping on details and explanations.
She looked away and pushed her sleek dark hair behind her right ear. A tell for nerves. Same one she’d always had in an otherwise flawless, cooler-and-slicker-than-an-ice-cold Coke demeanor.
“I had my partner check in with him. I gave him the contact information.”
It wasn’t lost on him that her voice, her face, softened, went warm, when she referred to her partner.
“You mean your lover, don’t you? Still mixing business with pleasure, I see.”
Elena flinched. Her face went past cool to freezing cold then, staring him down and clamping her mouth shut. Which wasn’t what he wanted her to do. He felt Shana’s tension ease a twitch and worked like hell to keep the smile to himself. Shana had been jealous.
Shana wasn’t going to kid herself—or Dane—she enjoyed the fact that Dane made Elena flinch, however briefly.
If her body didn’t feel weighed down, like she had lead balls in her chest and her gut churning around making her insides a soup of dread, she might jump into the conversation, ensure her spot in this operation.
But her energy had been zapped and she wasn’t sure why.
The malaise felt like it went beyond the healing of her knife wound that she’d been recovering from these past weeks.
This was different. The only thing she was sure of was that she was not going to let Dane know about it, not even a hint.
For now, she would listen. And hold on tight to Dane.
“My partner is US Marshal Remy Aguire. Anything else is of no consequence to this operation.” Her eyes didn’t flicker. Nothing about her wavered. Damn.
“I’ll be the judge—” Dane began. Peter intervened.
“It’s clear that we’ll be working together on this. We have intersecting interests. No doubt your contact with the FBI led you to the intel that I’ve been threatened.”
“More than threatened,” Dane said. “No room for fooling around or half-truths.” Dane was persistent and Shana noticed the flick of dismay on Elena’s face, immediately followed by recognition.
And fondness. The cool-as-ice Elena wasn’t bothering to hide her feelings for Dane. Maybe she was a competitive woman.
Shana didn’t care. She’d beat the woman down emotionally and physically if she needed to. There would be no contest for Dane’s affections, as far as she was concerned.
“Joe told me your plan. I want in. I’ll be going with you to interview Tracy Peal, Yannis’s campaign manager. I’m sure between us we can convince her to turn over whatever information we want.”
“What about Remy Aguire? Where does he play into this?”
“He gets the arrest.”
Of course he would, but Shana wondered how they would keep this from the feds.
Peter said, “He may need to share credit with Richards.”
“ASAC Mark Richards doesn’t know I’m here. I didn’t tell him I was coming. I passed inconsequential intel to him and let him believe I was heading for Texas.”
“Then you shouldn’t be on island. Richards is still here,” Dane said. Shana strained to hear if his concern was more than it should be and hated herself for it, for feeling any vulnerability.
“Don’t worry. I won’t be staying long. I understand we have an appointment later today so we should get on with it. We can leave any time you’re ready.”
Shana’s heart speeded up with that. It was time to stop playing the invisible woman.
Rising from her chair, in spite of the pressure from Dane’s hands on her shoulders—not restraining her, but encouraging her to stay seated—she stood at her full height, marshalling all her remaining energy, pulling from whatever inner reserve she had, and looked down at Elena.
As predicted, Elena stood also. But she stood half a foot shorter.
“We’ll consider your offer of help and get back to you, Elena.” She turned and walked from the room as if she were in charge, and knowing that even though Dane was running the show, he wouldn’t pull the rug from under her. He followed her from the kitchen and up the stairs to their room.