“First, I’ve got this call on speaker. I’m in the sheriff’s office. We need to bring him in on this case.” Rafe quirked his brow, but didn’t say anything.
“Any particular reason you’re bringing the sheriff in on an FBI assignment, Boudreau?”
“Several, which I’ll explain, if I may?”
He heard Williamson sigh. “This is gonna be good. Go ahead, Boudreau. Make my weekend.”
Antonio bit back a chuckle. Williamson sounded tired. He didn’t blame him, the Austin FBI office was woefully understaffed, and their case load had exploded. And he was about to load even more bad news onto the other man’s shoulders.
“First things first. SAC Derrick Williamson, meet Rafe Boudreau, sheriff of Shiloh Springs.”
“Rafe Boudreau? Any relation?”
“My brother.” Antonio watched Rafe across the table, noted the amused expression on his face.
“Good to meet you, Williamson. Hope Antonio isn’t giving you too much grief.”
“Other than disturbing the first Saturday I’ve had off in six weeks, he’s okay. You have any idea what his big news is?”
“Not a clue.”
“Alright then, Antonio, what’s going on?”
“I should tell you, I may have a conflict of interest in this case. Once I explain, if you want to pull me off and reassign it to somebody else, I’ll understand.”
He watched his brother straighten in his chair, his attention fully focused and directed at him. Antonio could read the question in his gaze, and he gave a nonchalant shrug, waiting for Williamson’s response.
“This day keeps getting better and better. Spit it out, Boudreau.”
“Turns out, I know Sharon Berkley.”
“What?” The voices were like a choreographed duet, both Rafe and Williamson’s question echoing through the speaker.
“Explain.” Williamson’s command came through loud and clear.
“I went through the info you provided on the Berkley case, both Big Jim and Sharon. I didn’t look at her file until late this morning.” He paused for a second before opening the file, sliding it across Rafe’s desk, and pointed to the photo. “I recognized Sharon Berkley immediately.”
“What? How?”
“Sir, the woman in the photo, Sharon Berkley, has been living in Shiloh Springs for almost a year under a different name. She looks different than in the photo, of course. She’s changed her hair color, obviously wears colored contacts, but there’s no denying it’s her.”
Rafe’s head shot up, his expression perplexed. Antonio knew exactly how he felt, since he’d already run the gamut of emotions ever since he’d seen Sharon’s face staring back at him from the FBI photograph.
“Serena?” he mouthed. Antonio nodded, still listening to Williamson’s muttered curses.
“I guess that explains why you’ve brought your brother into the mix, since he knows her too. Have you taken her into custody?”
“No. There’s been an…incident.”
“What kind of incident and do I really want to know?”
“Somebody may have broken into Serena’s, um, Sharon’s, townhouse today. We’re checking it out, and the crime scene team has taken fingerprints. There’s nothing definitive, but it’s possible one of Big Jim’s associates may have discovered she’s living in Shiloh Springs.”
“All the more reason to bring her in. We can relocate her, get her back into witness protection, and prepped for her testimony against James Berkley.”
Antonio stood, because sitting was making him antsy. He walked several steps across the office, turned and paced back in the opposite direction. How was he going to convince Williamson it was in Serena’s best interests to stay in Shiloh Springs? She’d been in witness protection twice, and even though Williamson had told him the feds leak had been plugged, who was to say another one wouldn’t spring open if enough money changed hands? Putting Serena’s safety into somebody else’s safekeeping didn’t sit well. She was his. His responsibility. His family’s friend. His—just his. Period.
“Mr. Williamson, Antonio’s told me the basics of the case, but from what I understand, Serena, I mean Sharon, went into witness protection during and after Big Jim’s trial, and at least twice she was located with assassination attempts, correct?”
Williamson sighed. “True. There was an agent, part of WITSEC, who accepted bribes to reveal her location. Said former agent is now serving time in a federal facility himself.”
“Until we are sure Serena’s cover has been blown, I think it’s safer to keep her here in Shiloh Springs. Hear me out,” Rafe interjected when Williamson started to interrupt. “Shiloh Springs is a smaller town than say Austin, and we usually know when a stranger shows up. Right now, we’ve got Sharon, Serena—that’s way too confusing, why don’t we call her Serena since it’s the name she’s been using for the last year. Anyway, Serena is at my parents’ house. She can be protected there. Trust me, there are a lot of Boudreaus who either live at the ranch, or can be roped into helping out, keeping an eye on Serena.”
“I don’t know. It seems like she’d be better off in federal custody for her own protection.”
“Williamson, we need Serena’s cooperation. Her testimony is tantamount to keeping Big Jim behind bars for good. Here, she’s among friends, people who’ve come to care about her a great deal. Don’t you think being here, instead of holed up in some hotel room for the next who knows how many months, would make her more cooperative?” Antonio watched in awe as his brother laid it out for the Special Agent in Charge. Who knew his brother was so silver-tongued?
“Serena doesn’t know anybody in Shiloh Springs knows her true identity. I’ll have to break it to her, and I can guarantee her first instinct is going to be to run. But if she’s surrounded by friends, people she considers as close as family, making her feel safe, I can talk her into staying.”
Rafe nodded at his brother’s words, giving him a hand gesture as if telling him to keep talking. He hoped Williamson bought it, because he
