13. Chapter 13
Chapter thirteen
Mary Carlson made the call. Her fingers trembled as she touched the numbers on her burner phone.
“Yeah?” said Roberto.
“It’s me,” she said. “Um, Mary Carlson. I might have something. But it’s going to take time to find out if it’ll be anything worthwhile.”
“What do you have?” he growled.
Mary felt the thrill of the chase turned into the fear of the fall.
She was on a cliff’s edge here. She stammered, “I think I know who the lead agent is on the case. He’s supposedly on family leave, but his team has been nonexistent for as long as he has.
His name’s Mitch Larkin. He and his team are the best we have here.
It’s reasonable to believe that he’s on the case.
Anyway, a friend and coworker of ours told me this afternoon that maybe Larkin was on vacation at his hunting cabin in Virginia, in Albemarle County.
I need some time to work this angle. See if I can come up with an address.
It makes sense that they could be keeping her there. ”
“Twenty-four hours,” Roberto growled before he hung up.
Mary looked at the phone. This wasn’t exciting any more.
She was terrified that she would hit a brick wall and she’d be on the receiving end of a bullet.
Twenty-four hours. Would she be able to come up with the information that would keep her alive?
She could go to her boss and tell him she was an informant for Hernandez.
Prison time was looking pretty good right now. This could all end here.
But Hernandez wouldn’t let her go unpunished. He would hurt her family and anyone else she cared about. It didn’t matter if he was in jail. He still ruled the drug trade on two continents. She was dead any way she looked at it. She needed that information.
Isla and Mitch walked back to the house. Before they left the woods, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her tenderly before releasing her with a smile. They walked into the kitchen.
Two new faces stared back at them.
“Hey, buddy, been awhile,” one of the new men said.
“Molly, these are Agents Sal Reiner and Todd Baxter,” said Mitch. “They’re joining the team.”
Isla tried to hide the fact that she didn’t want anyone new—she just wanted her old team.
She felt safe with them. It was like meeting a new foster parent.
It didn’t matter if they smiled or not. New was scary.
New was inevitable. Isla forced a smile and said, “It’s nice to meet the two of you.
Are you both staying for dinner? It’ll be on the table in ten minutes. ”
“Thank you, ma’am. We’re here for the next ten days. Colt tells us you’re a great cook. I, for one, am looking forward to some home cooking,” Agent Reiner laughed.
“Come on guys,” said Mitch. “I’ll give you a quick tour of the house before dinner. We’ll have to wait until the morning to give you a tour of the property.
“Ten minutes,” Isla warned. “I don’t want dinner getting cold.”
Mitch took the two agents up the stairs while Isla mashed the potatoes. Max came into the kitchen. “Can I help you with anything?”
Isla made room for him to help. “You could set the table and get the sweet tea from the fridge. We have two more for dinner. Agents Reiner and Baxter are here with us for the next ten days.”
“Yeah, I heard,” said Max. He stopped and looked at Molly. He must have seen the trepidation etched into her forehead. “Molly, they’re good agents and good guys. You have nothing to worry about.”
“Thanks, Max,” Isla said, her shoulders relaxing. She shook her head. “You’re right. Mitch said he handpicked them. I trust you guys. Believe it or not, I’ve grown quite fond of all of you.”
Max laughed. “Us too, Molly.” He grabbed a spoon and reached for the bowl of mashed potatoes, which she pulled away. “And it’s not just because you’re a good cook.”
“Well, thank you,” she laughed. “Now call the troops. Dinner is served.”
Mitch took the two new agents down to the control room. Lara stayed behind to help clean the kitchen.
“Mitch told me you’ll be off for a few days,” Isla said, doing a better job at being okay with it. She stacked dirty dishes next to the sink. “Where are you headed for the holiday?”
“I’m going home to Tennessee, up near Pidgeon Forge, near Dollywood. My folks live there. I haven’t been home for over a year, so it’ll be nice to see everyone.” Lara started the sink faucet and poured dish soap in.
“What about Colt?”
“He’s heading to Albany. His girlfriend works at the Bureau there, transferred last year. It’s been a while since they’ve gotten together.”
Isla shook her head incredulously. “How do you guys do this? Never knowing when you’ll be home or where you’ll be. It has to be so hard on all of you, your families included.”
Lara shrugged easily. “It can be, but I love my job and so do the guys. I’ve been with this team for the last three years.
They’re like extended family. It’s like having four brothers.
They’ve had my back more times than I can say.
And I’ve had theirs. We make a damn good team and I wouldn’t want it any other way. ”
Isla scraped scraps into the compost. She’d been waiting to ask this question, afraid of the answer. Afraid there would be no answer. “Do you know how my folks are?”
Lara took the dirty plates from Isla one by one and washed them.
“I haven’t heard anything, but I can find out.
Why don’t you write them a letter? I’ll get it to them.
I know you miss them. I know you’re worried about them, but don’t be.
The team they’re with are good people and good at their jobs. They’re safe, Molly.”
“I know they are. But I worry,” Isla said. She bit her lip to keep from crying. “They’re all I have.”
Lara put a soapy hand on Isla’s arm. “Write that letter. It’ll make you feel better.”
The next day, Mitch and Isla headed to the gym. Isla needed to move. Mitch seemed to sense it. “Mitch, have you heard anything about the case?”
Mitch opened the gym door for Isla. “Only that your testimony is keeping Hernandez in jail till his trial. He isn’t getting bailed out any time soon. But that doesn’t mean we can let our guard down.”
“I know. And I know I’m just feeling sorry for myself.
It must be because of the holidays. I miss my folks.
Mom makes the best pumpkin pie. I’ve never been able to replicate it, even with her recipe.
We used to watch the parade together while we got dinner ready.
Then Dad and I would watch football for the rest of the afternoon.
If the weather was nice, we’d walk around the neighborhood to make room for pie.
I can almost guarantee that the team protecting my parents are in for a treat.
Mom’s a great cook. I’m sure she’s spoiling them. ”
“If she taught you how to cook, I bet she is.” Mitch pulled her into his embrace. They were alone here, safe from everything.
Isla felt secure in Mitch’s arms. She wasn’t afraid when he was near. Did that make her weak? She needed to know she could defend herself if need be. “Mitch, can you teach me how to defend myself?”
Mitch sighed into her hair. “First off, there will always be a member of the team with you to defend you. But if you want me to teach you a few defensive moves, we can do that. Let’s get to the mat and I’ll teach you.”
They spent the next two hours working on four different moves. By the time they were done for the day, Isla was sore but proud of herself.
“You’re a natural,” smiled Mitch. “Good workout. We can work on it some more tomorrow.”
“If I can move tomorrow,” Isla laughed, rubbing her lower back. “Right now, I’m going up to my room for a good long soak. I think I was on my back more than I was on my feet.”
“You had me on the mat a few times, yourself,” said Mitch suggestively. They snuck one last kiss before heading back to the house.
Mary was no closer to finding out where Mitch’s cabin was than she was the day before.
She could feel the heat coming down on her.
Obviously, the property wasn’t in his name.
But whose? It was a family place, so maybe it was in his mother’s maiden name.
She couldn’t get into Larkin’s personnel file.
If she could get into it, she might be able to find out what his mother’s maiden name was.
This shouldn’t be so hard. She’d been in his office files before and had never had a problem getting in.
Maybe Steve knew, but would he become suspicious if she asked?
It would be too obvious. How could she find out if he knew?
She needed to know. The information was there, she knew it was.
Mary stayed at the office after everyone left for the day.
She needed to hack into HR’s computers. If she could find out Larkin’s mother’s maiden name, she was confident she could find out where that cabin was located.
Hopefully Hernandez’s men would find Isla Pierce before it was too late—before someone found her own lifeless body.
It was after eight, the lights in the office had been down for the last hour.
She would try one last time and if she didn’t get through, she would run.
Go somewhere where no one would ever find her.
She typed in a code and waited with bated breath as the screen loaded. She held her breath and waited.
Oh my God. She was in.
Mary’s fingers flew across the keyboard as she typed in Larkin’s name. His personnel file flashed onto the screen. She had thirty seconds to get the information and get out before her computer was tagged.
Hughes. Got it, Larkin’s mother’s maiden name was Hughes.
Now she just had to go into Virginia’s records and see if she could find any property listed to a Hughes.
She logged out of the file and signed off her computer and decided to head home.
She could find the information from her home computer before anyone became suspicious.
Fritz was at the security desk as she was leaving. “Late night again, Mary?”
“Hi Fritz, it’s my last late night,” Mary said, grinning wider than usual. “I’m finally caught up. Have a good night. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Have a good night yourself.”
Her heart was beating in her chest so fast she thought she would die right there. Now she just needed to find that address.