Westcott’s complexion was purple. He pushed past Frank and threw open the door. He turned back toward the two of them and rubbed his hands together as if he were wiping sand from his palms. “I wash my hands of this bullshit.” He eyed Frank. “You want to send her in, go ahead. If anyone else needs to die, I hope it’s her.”
He slammed the door behind him as he stormed out of the room.
“Who the fuck does he think he is, Pontius Pilot,” Sin said sarcastically.
“Sit down!” Frank barked. “This meeting isn’t over.”
Once he got his attitude in check, Frank told Sin the rest of the particulars in the case. When he was finished he said, “There is one more reason I asked you to come back.”
“Oh,” Sin said, “What’s that?”
“Your father is sick—dying—he has liver cancer,” he fumbled.
Sin heard but ignored his comments. Her mind flashed back to the reason she left Tumbleboat. She blinked away the memory and sat in silence for a few minutes.
“So,” she finally said, “how do expect me to be able to do what three of your best agents and Alex couldn’t?”
“I’ve been waiting for that question.” Frank sat down and leaned forward. “When you went rogue, I had your identity scrubbed.”
“You what?”
“Before you go and get your panties in a wad, listen to me. I knew that the operations we had been hearing about could have only been led by you. I didn’t want you to be public enemy number one and . . . I figured that it was the least I owed you.”
“I’ll be damned,” Sin said, “Alex was right about you all along.”
“How’s that?”
“You are one of the good guys.”
The corner of Frank’s mouth rose in gratitude.
“So, if I don’t officially exist, how does this work?”
“I didn’t say you didn’t exist, I said I had your identity scrubbed.” Frank slid a file across the table towards Sin. “That’s the file of your military record for the past six years, memorize it.”
Sin speed-read the pages and closed the file. “I’ve had quite the decorated career. It looks like I have served in every hell-hole on the planet.”
“Yeah, well, I figured your military career might make this mission easier for you to pull off.”
Sin slid the file back to Frank.
“Don’t you want to study it?”
Sin tapped her head with a pen. “I just did.”
Frank’s eyes opened wide. “You always did have an amazing memory.”
“You said that was one of the reasons you plucked me out of Quantico, or was everyone else right?”
“How’s that?”
“You just wanted to get into my pants.”
Frank stood up and shook his head. “Don’t flatter yourself. My decision, then as it is now, is strictly business. You were the best recruit, and you are the best person for this operation. Plain and simple.”
Sin’s right eyebrow rose in coordinated fashion with her upper lip. “I knew it, you just wanted to get into my pants.”
Frank laughed. “Go get something to eat, and then report to the armory. They have a new weapon waiting for you. Meet me tonight for dinner and we will discuss the particulars.”
4
That evening, she met Frank at the Capitol Grille steakhouse for a dinner meeting.
“So how was the 1911?” Frank asked.
Sin shrugged. “It’s not my colt, but it’s nice.”
“You need to carry something military, something that won’t set off too many alarms.”
Sin took a bite of her steak and smiled. “Thanks for the pearl handle. It was a nice touch.”
Frank nodded as he sipped his beer. “It seems to have become your moniker, so I thought you’d like it.”
“As much as I’m enjoying this meal, I figure there must be another reason for the bureau to be spending a hundred bucks a plate, what’s up?” Sin asked.
“Let’s eat first and talk business when we’re done,” Frank said.
The two ate, downed a couple of beers, and talked about the past. When they were finished eating, Frank wiped his mouth with his linen napkin and leaned forward. “There is something you need to know about your hometown before I send you in.”
“I knew there was more to this than you stated earlier, what is it?”
“The details are murky, but I will do the best I can to bring you up to date.”
The waiter came by with coffee, which interrupted Frank momentarily.
“When I sent the agents down to look into the situation, I had no idea we had a mole. They radioed back that there was a person of interest, a preacher who ran the local church.”
That got Sin’s attention. “My father is the pastor of the church on Tumbleboat.”
“Was the pastor.”
“What? That church is his life. Hell, it was one of the reasons I joined the Marines.”
“I don’t know the particulars, I only know that four years ago he handed over the church to a man calling himself Prophet Jeremiah Heap.”
Sin sat back in her chair trying to absorb the information. “This doesn’t make any sense,” she mumbled.
“From what the agents were able to tell us, it looks like there are a lot of dirty people on the Key,” Frank said, “the problem is, I don’t know who they are. One of the biggest reasons I need you is because no one will think anything of you being there. You won’t draw suspicion.”
“Are you shitting me,” Sin said. “I’m the biggest outcast on that flea-bitten piece of shell-rock.”
“You’re going back as a daughter wanting to see her sick father.”
Sin thought for a moment. “Does he know I’m coming?”
Frank nodded. “Ever since he was diagnosed, he has been looking for you. We notified him that you were on your way back from Afghanistan and would be on indefinite family medical leave. He knows you’re coming, he just doesn’t know when.”
Sin eyed Frank. “What else?”
“What else what?”
“I know you’re holding something back, what is it?”
“What I am about to tell you is not going to make you happy
