21. Daisy
Chapter twenty-one
Daisy
Angel and I enter the cabin with Owen, finding Roger and Vinny standing over the table and looking at a topographical map.
Faith is at the computer clicking the mouse continuously while Jaxon stands behind her.
Scott is packing his rucksack while my brother double-checks his.
Then there’s Bennett, who is leaning against the kitchenette counter, doing his best to stay out of our way.
“Where are you going?” I ask Scott and Owen.
Scott looks at Owen with disappointment. “I thought you told her?”
Owen scowls at Bennett while responding to Scott’s question. “We got a little sidetracked.”
“Tell me what?”
Faith hits the print button before turning toward me. “On our way back from the diner, Kenneth Johnson was spotted at the east entrance of the Dutton Creek Trail, not far from the lodge and Crater Lake Visitor Center.”
A frown appears on Angel’s face. “Dutton Creek Trail leads to the Pacific Coast Trail, which has 33 miles of backcountry terrain. During the summer, it’s a difficult enough trail for experienced backpackers because it requires three days of food since there’s no place to resupply.
The rocky terrain, steeper slopes, and lack of resources make it inaccessible for anyone ill-prepared. ”
“What’s on that trail that could be a good hiding place?” I ask.
Faith looks at her brother, then at Vinny. Together, they say, “The lost buildings.”
“The what?”
Handing me a sheet of paper with my flight details to Colorado Springs, Faith takes a moment to explain.
“The lost buildings are a myth around these parts. During the gold rush, there were miners who went off looking to make a claim for themselves. It’s believed they built small cabins that have now become so overgrown they blend in with the landscape. ”
Angel purses his lips. “As far as I know, none have ever been found. How many times have we hiked that trail looking for them?”
Faith chuckles. “More than I can count. Dad always called it ‘wilderness’ training when we’d go searching for them. Secretly, I think he wanted to be the one to discover the lost buildings.”
Vinny looks up from the map. “You wouldn’t be wrong, but it was also the perfect excuse your father used to spend time with you kids without the distractions of the world bombarding you.”
Scott grumbles. “With satellites, thermal technology, ground-penetrating radar, and other advancements, it would be difficult to keep something like that hidden.”
Bennett pushes off the counter and heads toward me. “It has to be a diversion tactic. Kenneth Johnson is purposely leading you in the wrong direction.” Suddenly, the paper in my hands disappears as Bennett looks it over. “Colorado Springs? That’s definitely going in the wrong direction.”
I snatch the itinerary back from his hands, not appreciating him taking it without asking. “I’m going to talk to Mason and Gemma Bloom.”
There’s a brief flash of recognition in Bennett’s gaze, but it disappears as fast as it came, forcing me to question whether I saw it at all. “And why would you want to talk to them?”
“Because their daughter, Emily, fits the description of the girls who go missing, and she died in a tragic hiking accident in the lower Rockies. Her fiancé was Brad Callahan, the man you claim to be Douglas Jenner.”
With his lips stretched into a fine line, Bennett says, “That doesn’t explain why you want to talk to Emily’s parents, though it does explain Brad’s motive.
Your guy broke under the loss of someone he loved.
I’ve seen it time and time again in my line of work; a normal person snapping under grief and loss. ”
“Yeah, except it might be Emily’s brother who snapped,” I say.
“What brother?” Bennett asks. “There’s no record of another family member.”
Owen drops his bag and pushes past me, getting in Bennett’s face and not backing down. “The fact that you know that means you’ve been keeping information from us. You’re a real piece of work, you know that? We’re trying to save a girl’s life, and here you are keeping secrets.”
Bennett steps forward, closing the distance, while the rest of us take a step back as these two prepare to go to blows.
I should stop them, but my brother can handle himself if Bennett takes a swing.
As for Bennett, he could stand to get knocked down a peg or two, which is guaranteed if he strikes Owen.
“I’ll share information when it’s relevant.”
My brother doesn’t back down. “Understanding the ‘why’ is always relevant.”
“Yes, but you’ve proven that you can’t be trusted with the information I’ve already shared,” Bennett seethes.
“Despite my warning, your Director is looking into Dominion and asking questions that shouldn’t be asked.
While I understand the FBI has a duty and responsibility to the American people, the CIA has a duty on a global scale.
I know where that road leads, Owen. It’s going to end up in a public debacle that will only send Dominion underground, solve nothing, and jeopardize countless other missions beyond your crusade. I won’t let that happen.”
That’s when Bennett turns to me. “If you want to chase your rabbit down the hole, by all means, go ahead. I’m not going to stop you.”
A sliver of a smile forms at the edge of Roger’s mouth, but the mischievous glint in his eye can’t be missed. “Of course you’re not. You’ll be going with her.”
Angel and I both yell, “WHAT?” at the same moment Bennett shouts, “Absolutely not!”
Vinny sighs as though he’d been expecting this response.
“Daisy, you have less than 24 hours to get the information you need from the Blooms and return before the girls from the Academy show up for their camping trip. Angel, you and your family have hiked the PCT and know it better than anyone here. We need you to guide Owen and Scott, who won’t have any trouble keeping up.
They’re trained for this kind of mission. ”
“Faith knows the trail as well as her brother,” I say with a thin thread of hope that they’ll change their minds about the arrangements.
“Not like Angel,” Faith says. “Jeremy and Jack will be staying at the campground in case Kenneth Johnson doubles back. Jaxon and I will be entering a deer path on the west side in case he takes a more circuitous route. We’ll be on standby while Vinny operates the drone, locates our target, and sends us more information so we can cut him off at the pass.
Unfortunately for us, there are more than 100 routes he can take. ”
Jaxon shrugs as if the assignments don’t matter to him. “Daisy, if you’d rather stay here, we’ll switch places with you. Faith and I can go to Colorado and talk to the Blooms.”
“That’s a wonderful idea,” Bennett adds. “I need to be here to question Kenneth Johnson. So far, he’s managed to evade capture.”
Personally, I don’t like what the word “capture” entails when it crosses Bennett’s lips.
Images of a solitary light bulb, a man tied to a chair, and blood pooling on the floor come to mind.
I shudder at the thought. My team can extract information without resorting to such measures, and because of that, I decline Jaxon’s offer to take my place.
If Bennett coming with me gets him as far away from our target as possible, then I’ll suffer through a three-hour plane ride and close quarters in a vehicle to spare such an atrocity. Although spending any time with the man is its own kind of torture, and I should get a medal for my sacrifice.
“That surprises me with the number of resources you have at your disposal,” I tell him. “And you probably shouldn’t have shut down our search with that virus of yours.”
Bennett’s fists clench as I argue with him and point out his errors. In an attempt to justify his actions, he says, “It led me here, didn’t it? The CIA only suspects his involvement in the abductions. What I need to know is how. I can only do that if I catch him.”
“What do you mean by ‘how?’ I thought you said he and Brad are partners,” Vinny asks.
“But in what capacity?” Bennett retorts.
“We can confirm that Brad Callahan, aka Douglas Jenner, works for Dominion. But I have not yet been able to confirm if Kenneth Johnson is an employee of the organization or if Brad has contracted him privately to do the dirty work. Don’t you think it’s odd that Brad has left the immediate area, and suddenly Kenneth shows up again? ”
“What does it matter?” I ask.
As if placating an idiot, Bennett says to me, “If Kenneth works directly for Dominion, then any information he shares is classified and above most of your pay grades. If he’s contracted by Brad, then he can spend the rest of his life in a dark hole somewhere in Siberia.
Either way, he needs to disappear. You can get the justice you want and keep your hands clean, while I get to protect Dominion and the missions around the world that depend on their dirty deeds being kept secret.
It’s a win-win for everyone. But for that to happen, I need to speak to him alone. ”
Owen sneers. “That’s not how we do things here. Bennett, do you have an ounce of morality left in your bones?”
These two going head-to-head is going to be the death of me.
Before I can step between them, Bennett steps back.
“There’s no room for morality in the CIA.
Sometimes we have to do what others won’t to preserve what’s right in the end.
Have any of you asked Vincent here how many lives were lost bringing a cartel leader into power down in Colombia?
He allowed it to happen for the sake of bringing ‘stability’ to the region.
Then there’s Angel. How many lives did he take from a distance without knowing why he was tasked to kill his target? ”
The room goes silent as Bennett looks at each and every one of us. “No? Cat got your tongue? Answer this for me: How are my actions any different from those in this room who have done far worse for the greater good?”
“The heart matters,” I mumble. “When you lose sight of doing the right thing, it’s a pathway to darkness; one I fear you’ve been on far too long.”
“You should know, Daisy,” Bennett fires at me. “Here you are with 52 handguns and 24 rifles in your cabin to hunt down a man because someone hired you to? What are you planning on doing with all of that firepower? It certainly isn’t to take Kenneth or Brad on a stroll through the park.”
“That’s an exaggeration,” I fire back. “It’s three rifles and two handguns.”
Rolling his eyes, Bennett says, “My point is that they’re proof that your intentions aren’t merely to detain and question. If push comes to shove, you’ll do what’s inherently wrong to do what’s right in the end. Taking a life to save a life. Who are you to decide which life is worth more?”
With that, Bennett leaves the cabin, the door slamming behind him.
As loath as I am to admit it, Bennett has a point.
I came here with a vendetta that has been bubbling below the surface of my soul for two decades.
Even though he doesn’t know that my heart has been filled with vengeance or why, my outward actions would lead anyone to believe that I’m capable of taking the shot to finally bury my past where it belongs.
Angel hangs his chin low. “We’ve all done things we regret under the guise of goodness and righteousness.
You can’t be in our line of work and not toe the line; otherwise, you’ll be the one who ends up dead.
It doesn’t make it right, but each of us can put ourselves in Bennett’s shoes and understand the dilemma he’s facing.
He is weighing the good of the many versus the good of the one.
The CIA has taught us that the many always take precedence. ”
Vinny seems to agree. “We should start treating Bennett like a team member rather than an outsider; share what we know so that he’ll reciprocate.
As long as we keep him on the outskirts, there’s no reason for him to trust us.
I speak from experience when I say that life in the CIA is a lonely existence, and trust doesn’t come easily.
Who knows where I would be if I didn’t have the love and support of the Conways?
Bill was never afraid to pray with me or keep me grounded when my soul was getting pulled in the wrong direction, and Angel being a part of the organization gave me a purpose to stay the course as best as I could.
I never wanted him to look at me and see a man who lost his way.
And there were definitely times I was close. ”
I fold up the itinerary and put it in my back pocket. “Are you asking me to be friends with Bennett?”
Jaxon looks mildly uncomfortable with what he’s about to say. “I think it goes beyond that, Daisy. If you shared your story, then Bennett would understand why this case means so much to you. We’ve seen the way he looks at you. It’s with a grudging respect and something else we can’t place.”
“Fondness,” Faith says. “Daisy’s tough and not your average woman.”
I shake my head and walk toward the door. “Regardless, I can’t share my story. I won’t go that far. But what I can do is share enough that he’ll believe I value our partnership. That’s about the best you’ll get out of me.”
Angel walks over to me and briefly presses his lips to mine, smiling as he does it. “Friendship with you is hard-earned but rewarding. Bennett will appreciate the gesture even if he won’t believe it for a second.”
“I’ll have you know, I’m a pretty good actress.”
“No, you’re not,” Owen says, hefting the rucksack onto his back. He grabs one of the modified rifles, points it toward the ground, and checks that a SMART simunition round is in the chamber. “I still have nightmares about your version of Rizzo in your junior high production of Grease.”
“I was a wonderful Rizzo.”
Owen snorts. “You were supposed to play Frenchie.”
Needing to pack a day bag, I open the door and prepare to leave.
In my usual fashion, I can’t depart without having the last word.
“The world would be a better place with two Rizzos. We need more people like her; the kind who aren’t afraid to say what they mean, fight for what they want, and love with their whole heart when someone is deemed worthy. ”
I spread my fingers into a V and point them at the eyes of the people staring back at me. “You are all lucky that I deem you worthy to be part of my inner circle. You can tell Jeremy, Jack, and Grace that they’re also bona fide members of my secret club.”
“It’s a good thing the price of membership is free,” Owen grumbles. “Otherwise, I might ask for my money back.”
Coming from anyone else, I’d take offense. From my brother, it’s his way of saying he loves me. He only gets snarky with the people who mean something to him.
“I love you, too,” I tell him.
Owen steps out onto the front porch, then turns around. “Daisy, this world doesn’t need two Rizzos. It just needs you. Stay safe and don’t get yourself killed.”