“Won’t the Agency put you in protective custody?” Bailey asked.
“I spoke to my boss late last night. He’d been briefed by the DEA, but because I’m not DEA and was only there in a support function, they’re not ready to think that I’m an actual target. He claims the FBI has a suspect connected to a domestic terror group in custody, who has confessed to the restaurant bombing, and that my being there was purely a coincidence.”
“Do you trust your boss?” Viv asked.
“No,” Layla answered quickly. “Frankly, there are very few people I trust right now, and the two of you are a good chunk of that.”
“What do you need us to do?” Viv asked. “Name it.”
Layla clenched her fists. “I wanted to let you know what’s going on, given I’m not sure I’m going to come out of this alive.”
“Don’t talk like that,” Bailey said. “You helped me when I needed it. I can try to get you into an FBI safe house by calling in some favors.”
Layla shook her head. “No. That won’t be necessary. I have to face this head on, at least until I know what I’m dealing with. Which brings me to another topic. Hunter.”
Viv and Bailey exchanged a look before turning their attention back to her.
“What’s going on?” Bailey asked.
Layla took a moment. “Everything is so complicated.”
“We can handle it,” Bailey said.
“It turns out that Hunter has a preexisting relationship working with the DEA.”
Viv let out a low whistle. “That’s a far cry from investigating cheating spouses.”
“Tell me about it. I knew Hunter would succeed in whatever he did, but I had no idea that he would be doing such high-stakes work. Anyway, one of the DEA bosses approved reading him into our situation and hiring him to work on the investigation. He has top clearances and the whole nine yards. I’m stuck working with him right now, and I’m trying to just push through, but if I’m being completely honest, I don’t think I’ve even begun to process my emotions.”
Viv moved closer and touched Layla’s shoulder. “It’s totally natural for you to have issues with this.”
Bailey sat back down. “Did Hunter make an epic mistake? Absolutely yes. But this isn’t about love. It’s about your life. And as much as I hate to admit it, I think Hunter would lay it all on the line for you.”
“But how do I handle this? Having to be so close to him? Having to work with him? I can’t trust him.” Layla’s voice started to shake as she struggled to retain the control she’d barely been holding on to the past few days.
“Bailey may disagree with me,” Viv said, “but I think you have to try to compartmentalize as best you can. Think of this as an op you’re working. You have far too much emotional baggage to deal with it on the fly.”
Bailey looked at her. “I agree. You can’t be expected to take on everything at once. Your safety and figuring out who is after you are top priority.”
Layla knew her friends were right. “Easier said than done. When I look at him, everything just floods back.”
“Including how much you loved him?” Viv asked.
Layla nodded. “Of course.”
“You don’t want to hear this, but people make mistakes, and they change and grow. That was almost six years ago.” Bailey stood again. “He might not be the same man today.”
That scared Layla even more, but she wasn’t going to verbalize that to her friends. She’d never stopped loving Hunter. What a fool she was, and now she had to face him again.
“Where is he now?” Viv asked.
Layla looked at her watch. “Probably on his way to pick me up from here.”
“Really?” Bailey said.
“Yeah. Our team lead wants us to work together. He thinks that if the Mejía cartel has put out a hit, then we all have to be on high alert.” She opened her jacket, showing her friends that she was carrying.
“I don’t like this,” Viv said. “You need greater protection.”
“My boss isn’t budging.”
Bailey twisted back her hair. “I’m going to make some discreet inquiries with my FBI contacts and see if they’ve heard any further details about any cartel retaliation.”
Layla’s heart sped up. “Please be careful. I don’t want your actions to cause you any harm.”
Bailey held up a hand. “This coming from the woman who sacrificed everything to help me just months ago. Let me see what I can find out.”
“Also, play this out for a moment.” Viv leaned forward. “What if your boss is right and the bombing goes out of the equation? You’ve still felt like someone has been watching you. You can’t dismiss that feeling. Going with your gut is the best option.”
“Yeah, I’d thought about that, too, but I didn’t tell my boss about it, because after he told me I was being put on leave, my antenna went up. He claims it’s not his call, but who knows.”
“What does Scarlett think?” Viv said.
“That I need to be worried and aggressively defend myself in any Agency probe.”
Bailey nodded. “Scarlett’s right. Internal investigations can be career killers. You need to think about anyone on the inside who would want you to take a fall. What dirt do you have on them? Maybe you don’t even realize you have it, but you might know something that could jeopardize them and they decided to take preemptive action to try to sully your reputation.”
Layla groaned as Bailey’s words set off a trigger in her mind. Maybe she had been naïve. Because that was something she hadn’t thought of yet.
“Why the groan?” Bailey asked.
“My actions got a colleague fired over a year ago. What if this is some type of revenge move on his part?”
“I’d say that’s a perfect thing for a PI to look into.”
And Layla knew her friend was right.
Hunter sat at his kitchen table across from Layla. They had a lot to tackle, but from the frown on her lips, he figured she had
