“Not you, too.” Garrett raked a hand through his dark hair as he thought about what to do next. His jaw tightened, and he avoided looking at either of them.
“I got a call a few weeks ago,” Garrett began. “ . . . a guy telling me that he had an operation already in play. He told me he would be infiltrating the Perez cartel, the hard way. He had personal reasons for wanting to kill the son of a bitch.”
“Who? Perez?” Hank asked. When Garrett nodded, Hank narrowed his eyes. “Didn’t know you needed a reason to kill that sorry bastard.”
“Yeah, well, this guy had two good reasons. Perez had ordered a hit on him several years ago, but his family got killed instead.”
Alexa saw the pained look on Garrett’s face and knew there was more to this story than what he’d told them.
“That’s horrible, but why did he call you?” she pressed, moving close enough to look him directly in the eye.
“Because I owe him. I was the one who’d ordered the protection detail on his wife and little girl. His family was killed on my watch.”
Alexa’s next breath caught in her throat. She’d seen the same look of guilt on Garrett’s face before. And a face from her past emerged from the shadows of her mind. Green eyes she’d seen not long ago, eyes filled with a never-ending sadness that had haunted her since she’d last seen him.
“I know this story,” she whispered, not completely sure she had spoken aloud.
“Yeah, you do. And that’s why you weren’t asked to come along, Alexa. You’re too close to this.”
“Would someone please clue me in?” Hank asked.
“Jackson Kinkaid is the guy inside.” Alexa felt numb. Saying Kinkaid’s name made it all real. “He’s on a suicide mission to kill the man who murdered his wife and child. And damn it, Garrett, you should’ve told me.”
“Why? So you could watch him die? You’re as crazy as he is, Alexa.”
“I could’ve talked to him, made him listen to reason. Getting hijacked by Perez, that’s a one-way trip.”
“You know how Kinkaid operates. He didn’t give me any choice. By the time I got our team deployed, he was in the thick of it, with no way to back out. The guy doesn’t know how to back down. I’ve known him longer than you have. He’s been living for this. In his mind, it’s all he has left.”
Kinkaid wasn’t with the Sentinels now, but he used to be. And after what had happened to his family while he had worked for their organization, she figured Garrett had authorized the mission based on the obligation he felt toward a man who had suffered as much as Kinkaid had.
“I can understand going after Perez if the guy killed his wife and kid, but how do we know what’s going on in there?”
“We have a burst transmitter on him, embedded under his skin,” Hank told her.
“Don’t tell me. Let me guess,” she interrupted. “That was his idea, right?” When she looked at Garrett, all he did was nod and shrug.
“Unbelievable.”
“That transmitter has been sending us his vitals, as well as his location, so we can track him via satellite,” Hank continued. “I’m in charge of the ground team, and we’re located right outside the compound, ready to go in once we get the green light. And as for his vitals? The medical doctor on our team thinks Kinkaid is being tortured.”
“Tortured? What for? If they knew who he was, Perez would just have him killed. I’m not arguing for that, mind you, but killing him would tie up a very big loose end. What am I missing?” she asked.
“That’s just it. He got abducted when they thought he was someone else. And that’s who they think they’re interrogating, a bigger fish in their eyes.”
“Oh, yeah. Who?”
“Me,” Garrett said. “The Perez drug cartel, they think they have me.”
After the surreal trip she’d taken down a shadowy memory lane with Chief Cook at the crime scene earlier, Jessie was desperate for anything that closely resembled normal. And the chief’s sudden change of heart, about wanting her help, had left her feeling more than a little lost.
She took a hot shower, got ready for bed, and made a call to Seth. He’d become her life preserver in the turbulent sea of her past. He steadied her and made her feel safe. With Harper, she had a shot at “normal,” at least a taste of it.
When he answered her call on the second ring, she simply said, “Hey, it’s me.”
Jessie heard a soft rustle and knew he was in bed, too.
“Hey, you,” he said. “What are you wearing?”
Jessie couldn’t help it. She had to grin.
“Nothing but a smile. And you?”
“I’m wearing . . . Floyd, actually. He’s such a bed hog.”
“What did he do today? I could use a good Floyd story. And I know you’ve got one.”
Harper told her that Floyd had learned how to open doors by standing up and flipping levers with his paws.
“I’ve got a reason for telling you this,” he said.
“Oh?”
“Yeah, the next time you’re alone in our bathroom and you feel a cold nose on your butt, you’ll know who it is.”
“A cold nose, huh? Why would I assume Floyd is the culprit?”
“Very funny.”
She listened to the sound of his soft chuckle as she pulled the comforter over her shoulders.
“Should I be worried?” he asked.
“About what?”
“You seem to have this thing for Floyd. Do I detect a little canine envy?”
“That’s it, Harper. You’ve nailed it.” She sighed and ran a hand through her wet hair. “Have I told you how nice it is to hear your voice?”
“Yeah, but feel free to remind me whenever you feel like it.”
After a comfortable silence, Seth had more to say.
“You’ve done a fine job avoiding what’s on your mind. So what is it?”
“Can’t fool you.” She tried to smile, but couldn’t. “This place, I know that I’ve been here before, but those memories are just beyond my reach, you know?”
“You met with that cop today. What did he have to say?”
“He kicked me out of town . . . twice. Is that what you mean?”
“Wow, that must be a record.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
She told him about the police chief taking her to the crime scene and how he’d later allowed her to see the murder book until he erected a wall and suggested she leave town . . . again.
“I’ve seen you in action. Guess I’m not too surprised.”
“Thanks a lot, pal. Whose side are you on?”
“Yours. You’ve got the gun. But what do you think happened? Sounds like you were BFFs until you mentioned that missing file.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought, too.”
Harper had the same take on the situation as she had.
“You’re gonna see that Tanner woman, aren’t you?”
“You know me, Harper. Never leave a good turn unstoned.”
“Wait, I gotta write that down,” he said.
She heard him fumbling for a paper and pen, like he was seriously taking notes.
“Are you sure that Angela DeSalvo was the woman you remembered from your dreams?” he finally asked,
