“Why didn’t you tell me?” Her voice cracked.
“He told me if I spoke a word of any of it to you, they’d cancel your conditional offer of employment, and he didn’t seem like the kind of guy to make idle threats.”
She sat in silence, holding tightly to his hands, because she didn’t know what else to do. Her entire world had been turned upside down. But the feeling that hit her the hardest was anger. Not at Hunter. No—it was at the CIA.
“They took everything from me.” Fresh tears started to flow down her cheeks.
Hunter pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her while she cried. She knew she’d never be the same.
Layla had stopped crying, but that didn’t make Hunter feel any better. He had wanted to hold her since the moment they’d parted years ago, but this wasn’t how he’d wanted it to unfold. Although he had to admit that it felt like five thousand pounds had been lifted from his shoulders. He’d never told a soul about any of this. Not even Elijah, who heard about everything else in Hunter’s life. This had been his dark secret to bear alone.
“You let everyone believe you were a cheater to try to protect me?” Layla looked up into his eyes.
“I loved you. I felt like it was my only option. You were so high on the Agency gig. That’s all you talked about. How you wanted to become a top-rated analyst and save lives. Thwart the next 9/11. Be the one who could see things that others couldn’t see. Connect all the dots. There was no way I was going to take that away from you. It meant far too much.”
“I don’t even know how to begin to process all of this,” she whispered.
“Do you want a few minutes alone?” He was willing to give her all the time she needed.
“No,” she responded quickly. “I have questions.”
“Whatever I can answer, I will.” That was the least he could do.
“This man who came to you. What was his name?”
“Riley Brown.”
Her eyes widened. “Are you sure?”
“Well, I can’t be sure he was telling the truth, but that’s what he said his name was.”
“What did he look like? Do you remember?”
How could he forget? “Yeah. White guy, I’d say in his late fifties, with dark hair graying at the temples. Probably about five ten, light eyes. Do you know him?”
She nodded. “He’s high up at Langley, but not in the DA.”
“DA?”
“Directorate of Analysis—my division. Riley’s from the Directorate of Operations, aka the clandestine service.” She shook her head. “If the DO’s involved, they had this planned all along.”
“What planned?”
“That I’d come in as an analyst, and they’d make me a field officer even though I told them I wanted a desk job. If Riley Brown came to you, they were working me from day one, and I never saw it coming. I’ve played right into their little web of tricks.”
He put the pieces together quickly. “But why not just recruit you for the clandestine service from the beginning?”
“Because I made it clear from my first interview that I wanted to be an analyst.”
“And they didn’t want to take no for an answer.” He had to ask. “Do you think any of that history and their plan for you has anything to do with the IG investigation?”
“I doubt it, but at this point, everything is on the table. Honestly, Hunter, my mind is blown right now.”
He knew he might be pushing his luck, but he took her hand again. “I’m so sorry about all of this.”
“Me too,” she said softly. “This is all the more reason to take you up on your offer to go with me tomorrow as my attorney.”
“Layla, I know we can’t turn back the clock, but I vow to you right now that I’m going to stick by your side through this.”
“I believe you.”
As he looked into Layla’s dark eyes, he wondered if there was any chance of starting over with her.
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN
“I’m dreading this.” Izzy walked into Arlington PD with Piper by her side.
Piper nodded. “I know, but after giving it some thought, I think we need to get out in front of this. Even if the sergeant deleted those texts, there’s a chance they could get them from your phone through a subpoena, and I don’t want to be put in that position—I don’t want to put you in that position—given we can explain this. It will be better if we set the stage as opposed to the other way around.”
Izzy reluctantly agreed, but those texts were damaging. Once she realized the sergeant had been following her, a flood of emotions had gone through her. It started with fear, but then it quickly turned to red-hot anger. And when he had tried to touch her, the rage inside her was just too much to contain. She’d lashed out in the texts. But she had not killed him, even if she had wanted to.
Detective Stewart met them in the lobby. “Agent Cole, Ms. Alexander, what can I do for you?”
Piper didn’t hesitate. “We have some information we’d like to provide.”
“Let’s go to the conference room and talk.” Detective Stewart led them down the hallway.
Izzy started feeling sick again but tried to keep her emotions in check. She took a seat beside Piper and let her take the lead.
Piper looked directly at the detective. “When we were here last, you laid a lot of information on Agent Cole. She was clearly disturbed by the information you provided about the sergeant’s home.”
“Yes, and again, I’m sorry for that,” Detective Stewart said.
“In the interest of full transparency and cooperation, we wanted to provide you with some additional information regarding recent interactions between the sergeant and Agent
