“Zane’s right,” Cass said. “If you really thought we stole that money, you’d fire us here and now.”
Mason crossed his arms. “You all know I have your backs, but right now there’s only so much I can do. I’ve been given my orders.”
“And what are those?” Layla’s tone wasn’t much friendlier than Zane’s had been a moment ago.
“Each one of you is going to be questioned. Zane, they’re going to start with you.”
Zane gritted his teeth. “Great. They’ve already convicted me. What, first I’m a traitor and now I’m a thief too?”
Mason’s expression softened. “Man, I know this stinks. Just go in there, tell the truth, and we’ll figure this out.”
Zane wasn’t convinced, but he’d been in the game long enough to know that sitting around and complaining wasn’t going to solve anything. Better to get right to it. He stood up. “Where do I need to go?” No point in delaying the inevitable.
“I’ll escort you.” Mason turned to Cass and Layla. “Just sit tight.”
Great, now he also needed a babysitter to watch him while he walked around HQ. The cartel had done a big number on him. This was a master setup if he’d ever seen one.
Zane followed Mason out the door, down the hall, up two flights of stairs, and finally into another empty conference room.
“They’ll be here in a minute.”
“What do you think is really going on here?” Zane asked him.
“I wish I knew, but I’m not going to lie to you, Zane. You need to be on guard and make sure you are being completely truthful, because if they catch you in any lie, even if it has nothing to do with this investigation, it could be real trouble. The higher-ups are getting nervous, and they want to make someone pay for this.”
“You know me. You have to realize I couldn’t have done any of this.” Zane sounded more desperate than he’d intended, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to hide his feelings on this topic.
“I do, but the problem is that you don’t have to convince me. You have to convince the powerful people above my pay grade, and to do that, you first have to win over the investigators.”
As if on cue, the door opened and two people walked in—a short, stocky bald man and a younger redheaded woman. The man introduced himself as Palmer Sanchez, and the woman was Maddie O’Leary.
Mason excused himself, and then it was just Zane with the two suits. He couldn’t imagine that either of them had seen any time in the field, but here they were, ready to pass judgment on him. Interestingly enough, these were not the people who had questioned him previously.
Sanchez opened a folder in front of him. “Your supervisor explained why the team was being questioned today, correct?”
“Yes,” Zane said.
O’Leary leaned forward. “We’ve read your entire file, and we want to state up front that we are not here today to talk to you about the topic you’ve previously met with our team on, regarding the mole inside DEA. Is that clear?”
He wondered why they were so intent on drawing such a bright line, but he figured now wasn’t the time to argue over an irrelevant point. He had bigger problems. “Yes, I understand.”
“Great,” O’Leary said. “We’ll jump right in. You obviously recall retrieving funds from the Mejía safe house and bringing them back to the United States, right?”
“Yes.”
“Were you ever alone with the cash?”
“I have absolutely no idea. I wasn’t keeping tabs on things like that. My bigger concern was helping the team get in and out without one of us getting killed. That’s the way it works in the field. None of us were taking the time to steal any money, since that’s what you’re getting at. And no, of course I didn’t take any of the cash while in Honduras or back stateside. Is that clear?”
O’Leary smiled, and Zane wondered what he’d said to get that reaction out of her. “Agent Carter, we appreciate your zeal, but we’re just trying to get to the facts. This isn’t an inquisition.”
He huffed. “Could’ve fooled me.”
Sanchez rested his hands on the table. “It isn’t. We really are just trying to ferret out what actually went down in Honduras. Given everything that has happened since the team returned, this is just one more angle that we have to examine. You’ve been doing this for quite a few years. You’re a Marine. You have the experience to see it too. Aren’t there just one too many coincidences here?”
“You think this is an inside job and the person is on my team—or to take it further, you think it’s me.” Zane’s anger bubbled right below the surface, and if he wasn’t careful, he might explode. That would only make him look more guilty.
“Why isn’t it you?” O’Leary’s clear blue eyes questioned him.
“Because I’m a loyal patriot who serves my country. I’m not a thief, and I’m most certainly not a turncoat. I put my tail on the line all the time to fight for what I believe in. If I was that money hungry, why wouldn’t I be in the private sector? Believe me, I get recruiters calling me all the time. But that’s not me. It’s not how I’m made. Never has been, and never will be.”
“So if we dig into your finances, we’re not going to see an influx of cash?” Sanchez asked.
A thought hit Zane. His family money. “You won’t find an influx of cash, no, but you will find a substantial amount of funds. That money is from my family. I have it set aside and don’t touch it because I don’t like relying on things I didn’t earn, and frankly, I don’t have the best relationship with my father, and the money comes from
