16. Julian
Julian
Elliot lounges in the passenger seat of my BMW. I’ve never wanted to push someone out of my car more. His posture is loose, one arm draped along the door, but I catch the way his fingers tap a restless rhythm against his knee.
“You look weird,” he says.
“I’m trying not to plot this asshole’s murder.”
“Come on, the couple that stays together stays together. I read that in one of Lee's books. It's viral now about a masked—”
I cut him a glare. “Are we going to talk about the two of you?”
“No, we’re on a pause right now in our relationship. Are we gonna talk about you and her?”
“No.”
“Touché,” he says.
I pull up to the valet of what Elliot said was some type of cop bar. It looks like the backdrop for a mob movie.
Elliot straightens as I kill the engine. “Remember the story,” he says.
“I know the story.”
“Tell me anyway.”
I exhale, fingers tightening on the wheel for one last second.
“Lee became obsessed after Emily died. It eventually drove her away from me. I agreed to come here, because you told me the two of you aren’t serious, and she is doing shady shit.
She picked you, but once you realized she was working against the bureau, you broke up with her and came to me for help. ”
His mouth twitches. “Excellent. Especially the part where she picked me. Keep going.”
My hand swipes down my beard that is too long. “And now I resent both of you, but I agreed to come as revenge for her breaking my heart.”
I won’t need to pretend much when I think of how devastated Lee left me. I can’t focus on it right now.
“Because she picked me.”
I flip him off and push open the car door before I can overthink it.
“Let’s go. You’re such an asshole, in case no one told you today.”
“I can never hear it too much.”
Two private security types step forward before I’ve rounded the front of the car.
One pats me down with both hands. The other does the same to Elliot.
They find nothing. There is nothing to find.
Fuller wants to confirm we don’t have any wires.
Elliot said he will make it seem like they are checking for weapons before we go inside the bar.
Fuller sits in a corner booth of a half-full bar with a single drink in his hand. He's older than I expected, but he still looks like he could kill anyone in the room. His hair is thinning, and his face looks like it holds a million secrets.
“Doctor Jameson.” His smile is warm, and it clashes with his curt tone.
“Director.”
He gestures to the seat across from him. I sit. Elliot stays on his feet, positioned like hired muscle, like an ally, like a man equally exhausted by Lee Leighlan. The performance is seamless.
Fuller folds his hands. “I hear Agent Leighlan fucked you over.”
Straight to the point. Interesting.
I lower my gaze and let the silence stretch, let him see the hesitation I don’t have to fake. The hurt is real. It just isn’t the kind he imagines.
“Something like that.”
His smile widens, predator catching the scent of blood.
“She has a tendency to consume people,” I add. I wait before giving him anymore of the forced story. He fills the quiet himself, exactly as Elliot said he would.
“You loved her.”
I shrug, careful. “Love isn’t always enough.”
“Clearly.”
Love was never the problem. Lee never stopped loving me. She simply couldn’t figure this out with me by her side.
Fuller slides a folder across the desk. I glance down. Medical reports, research notes, trial summaries. Most of it is deliberately dull, and in the middle of it is Lee’s badge picture.
“Tell me about her.”
There it is. The real reason I’m here is he needs dirt on her.
I lean back, measured. “She’s stubborn.”
He nods.
“Obsessive.”
Another nod.
“Thinks she’s the smartest person in every room. But she’s a cheater. She fucked her partner and God knows who else.”
There. Now I sound like a man scorned.
“And weaknesses?”
I look away, letting the reluctance show. I let him think this is difficult for me to think of her. If only he understood the depths of it.
“Family.” I pause. “She lost her dad and her sister.”
“Tragic,” he says.
My gaze drifts across the room.
“Something wrong, Doctor?”
I force a smile. “Just wondering what any of this has to do with me.”
His warm smile slips, and he lays out a second file from his briefcase next to him. He flips it open. A picture of a man whose life I once tried to save stares back at me.
“This is an agent that was working on a special project. Do you recognize him?”
Yes.
“No.”
He stares at me as if he can read my mind.
I look down and flip through the rest of the file, stopping on the accusations against Ettie. Fraud, murder, distribution, illegal possession, the list goes on. My jaw tenses at how fucking bad this is for her.
“See anything else to help our case against her?” Fuller asks as he leans back and spreads his arms across the back of the booth.
“One thing…” I pause and ready the lie Elliot told me to feed Fuller. “She had another place she worked. It was downtown. Once we stopped there, she said it was for work, and she had a key.” I don’t know if he’s buying it at first.
“Where was this?” he asks, all but salivating at the thought of getting something concrete to confirm his allegations in this file.
“On the docks. The address was in my navigation, so I wrote it down. I think it’s where she worked for some men tied to the Vega Cartel.” I clench my jaw for dramatic effect.
Elliot and I made this plan with the cartel's help. Saint said they are solid and don’t use this location, so it’s perfect for throwing off the feds. Which I feel bad about, especially if this comes back to Marge. It shouldn't though. The Vegas are untouchable.
I pull out the paper with the address and hand it to Fuller.
“This might be useful. Agent Ryker, you found yourself a good informant.”
Elliot smiles at him and claps his back.
“Welcome to the FBI, Dr. Jameson. Your support is appreciated. Keep us informed if you hear from her. She’s a traitor and needs to face repercussions for her actions.”
“Of course, sir.”
The meeting ends quickly after that. Handshakes that feel like deals with the devil happen as we make vague promises to Fuller.
I walk out of the bar with Elliot at my side, both of us silent until we’re three blocks away in the BMW.
“I think he bought it. You did great, Julian. Look at us, we’re basically partners. They’ll be giving you a badge in no time.” He grins.
“Firm pass. Hopefully, the fake evidence at the docks can throw them off and give her some more time,” I say and grip the wheel tighter.
“It will give me some more time,” Elliot says, tone grim now. “And add some circumstantial evidence at least.”
I should tell him about the connection to the missing agent. The man Lee killed. But I keep it to myself. Would he stop helping her if he knew she killed a fellow agent? I can’t risk it.
“Will it be enough?”
He never answered me.