“Because after thirty years of dealing with it, I finally caught a case that chewed me up and spit me out. So I decided to be done. I quit, and you transferred because you couldn’t handle the fact that your old man couldn’t hack the job. You didn’t want to be around all the boys and gals, wondering if they thought you wouldn’t be able to hack it either.”
“That’s not what it was.”
Nina shifted in her sleep, so he got up and paced to his kitchen so as not to wake her.
“If you say so.”
“I like being a marshal. I—”
“If you say so.”
Wyatt glanced at the ceiling. “Will you let me finish? This isn’t about me proving I’ve moved on or that I’m doing better. You retired. Apparently, you’re fine with it. You caught the worst of cases, the one everyone dreads. Something awful happened. But do you know what I realized? I am like you. I’ve always been like you. And it hit me, because I’m so like you that I would have done the same thing. I did, faced with a case where the outcome didn’t sit right with me. So I transferred.”
“You wouldn’t have let that little girl die.” His dad’s voice was gruff. “You wouldn’t have messed up like I did.”
“I like that you think that, even while I don’t like it at the same time because I know it’s not true.”
“That makes no sense, Wy.” His dad chuckled.
“It’s not funny either.”
“Seems funny to me,” his dad said. “Funny a pair of cops can’t see what’s right in front of their faces.”
Wyatt glanced back at the couch. Was there something right in front of his face now? He remembered how it had felt to take care of Nina when she was so upset, that it had made him hurt just to see and hear it.
“Anyhow, your mom wants you at lunch on Sunday.”
“I’m in the middle of something.”
“Know that. I stopped by to see Tashi at the hospital today. Bring the girl with you.”
“Dad—”
“Nina, right?”
Wyatt glanced at the ceiling again. He really needed to clean up there. “I’ll call Mom. We’ll be there if we can make it. Things are pretty intense right now.”
“I got that. I’ve been looking into it. I’ll let you know if I connect anything.”
“Thanks, Dad.” And he really meant it. Another set of trained eyes—the eyes of a homicide detective—might help a great deal. They said goodbye, and Wyatt hung up.
He blew out a breath and went back to Nina. Things might actually be looking up finally. Mr. Thomas was out there, plotting who knew what. But in here, it was him and Nina, and whatever came next, she wasn’t going to face it alone. Wyatt was going to make sure that they faced it together.
Nina rolled over on the couch and opened her eyes. “What happened now?”
Wyatt only smiled. But before he could answer her question, his tablet started to ring with an incoming video call.
TWELVE
He settled beside her on the couch and swiped to answer the call. “Hey, Geoff.”
This must be Wyatt’s cousin that he’d told her about. The FBI agent. The frown on the man’s face was the first thing to register. His features bore a similarity to Wyatt, though Geoff was considerably more clean-cut. His gaze flickered to the side, her side, and he cracked a smile. “Nina Holmes?”
She nodded. “Hi.”
Wyatt introduced her to his cousin, then said, “What’s up?”
The frown came back. Whatever it was, Nina didn’t think it was good. But then nothing had been good so far through this whole thing. Perhaps God would grant them something positive, finally, so that they might be able to stay strong through to the end. They needed an extra measure of grace in this. Nina had seen far too much of Mr. Thomas at work to believe he wasn’t going to go down without a serious fight—whether he intended to allow himself to be caught or not.
Give us strength.
She’d asked Wyatt what he thought about the faith Sienna and Parker had while they’d been driving. It had been a good conversation, where he’d told her he could see how it benefited their relationship to be on the same team—to have a mutual faith. But that didn’t mean he’d experienced belief for himself. She wanted it for him, it was true. But there was no way Wyatt, being the man that he was, would ever believe because she pushed him. He was the kind of man who would have to wrestle within himself and come to a place of faith on his own.
Wyatt glanced at her with a question in his eyes, but she shook her head.
“I found something, if you guys are done making moony faces at each other. At least long enough to hear what I have to say.”
Wyatt shot his cousin a look that told Nina exactly what he thought. “Go ahead.”
Nina didn’t react. He didn’t need to know she hadn’t expected his reaction to be so vehement. Wyatt apparently wasn’t a fan—at all—of his cousin’s commenting on how they were with each other. If they got into a relationship, was he going to hold back when other people could see? Why did it matter what people thought? It would only be a relationship between the two of them.
It was possible that years of solitude and secrets had affected her. Whereas Wyatt was someone who was more comfortable surrounded by other people. It was a big difference in their personalities, and likely something they were going to have to work to get over.
Nina realized she was making a lot of assumptions about where this was going. The reality of the situation was, Wyatt had become a big deal to her over the last few days. More than anyone else—aside from Sienna—he had stood with her, willing to fight on her side, taking only her word that it was right.
Now that she had experienced it, Nina had no intention of giving it up.
“I took a look at the physical evidence you collected, the DNA results from under your fingernails that the crime lab forwarded. I ran it through our database at the Bureau and got a hit.”
Nina shot upright. “You did?”
“Well, not a hit exactly. I still don’t know who he is, but I came across something interesting I knew you’d want to know.” Geoff took a breath, evidently as anxious to tell them as they were to hear it.
Wyatt sat upright as well. He set the tablet on the table so Geoff would be able to see them. Below the screen he reached out and grabbed her fingers. Apparently he still intended to support her, despite his reaction. That was something. But if the man couldn’t show support even when his cousin teased him about it, well...it didn’t bode well as far as Nina could see.
“Linked to the file I have on that identity, which is basically still no more than the police have except for this one thing—”
Wyatt cut in. “Will you speak English?”
“It doesn’t go anywhere. There’s only a firewall that doesn’t let the user any further without the correct security clearance. It’s—”
“Classified.”
Wyatt jerked and looked at her. Nina broke her fingers from his hold and backed up on the couch as though Mr. Thomas were in the room and she needed to retreat. Immediately.
He stared at her. “Classified?”
“For a long time I thought he could’ve been a spy. There has to have been a reason why I’d think that. If he’s tied up in the government somehow...it kind of makes sense. The stories he told.” Nina worked her mouth to one side, then the other, as she processed. “Can you get access?”
Geoff shook his head. “I don’t have the clearance. Neither does my boss. How about you?”
“She’s retired.”
Nina glanced at Wyatt. He wasn’t wrong, given that she’d severed that tie since her retirement. Would the CIA want her calling them up for a favor?
Now that she knew for sure they might be able to tell her something, she would do it. Whether they minded
or not. If someone she knew had the clout to get into this file, she would do everything she could to get that access.
People’s lives depended on it.
“I can make a couple of calls.”
Geoff nodded. “I’ll send Wyatt what I have.”
“Thank you.” She snapped up her phone, not willing to waste even a minute. First, she called Sienna and filled her in. Then she left three voice mails, one only a series of numbers. Some things called for official channels, others decidedly unofficial ones. Nina wasn’t taking chances—she was using both this time. Calling in all her favors.
She turned to find Wyatt standing in front of her.
“That’s it?”
Nina shrugged. “There’s a procedure. I have to wait for a callback now.”
“You still have friends in the agency, even though you and Sienna both quit?”
“We were there a lot of years. Our handler might have been sent to prison for betraying her country, but there were other people we worked with.”
“Office Christmas parties?”
She couldn’t help it; the smile slipped out. “You don’t want to know what spies do for fun.”
Wyatt chuckled. “No, I don’t suppose I do.” His face sobered. “Was it hard?”
“Going to strange places for so long that coming home felt like it was a foreign country. Spending time with men and women so evil they shouldn’t have been allowed to live, but knowing mission parameters meant I couldn’t kill them. Having barely any relationships because who could I trust?” Nina held his gaze. He had to know. “It was a soulless existence. But it was me, for a lot of years.”
He stepped closer. “And now?”
“It’s not something easily walked away from. That kind of life permeates everything. But living in this town, even chasing after Mr. Thomas, it’s like seeing the sun for the first time after a storm that has lasted for years.”
Wyatt touched her cheek. “I’m glad.”
He inched in so slowly she didn’t realize what he was doing at first. When his lips touched hers, Nina jumped, startled. He was warm. Strong. He had heart like she’d never seen in anyone before. Wyatt’s sweater was soft under her fingers, the muscles of his forearms unrelenting. As they shared a sweet moment in the midst of everything happening, Nina leaned in, absorbing what it felt like to be cared for by a man she respected everything about—even the things others might see as weakness.
When he leaned back, she thought for a moment he might apologize. Don’t say sorry. He cleared his throat and actually blushed. Had she ever done that in her life? “Okay. Right.”
“Wyatt—”
“I have to call Parker, fill him in.”
“I already told Sienna.”
“Okay. Still...” He motioned over his shoulder.
Nina nodded. What else was she supposed to do? He’d kissed her, and now he was running away. He left the room, and Nina stared at the space where he’d been standing.
Frantic knocks on the front door were followed by the doorbell. Then more frantic knocking.
Wyatt called out, “I’ll get it.”
* * *
Wyatt stopped behind the closed door, gun ready. “Who is it?”
Parker answered, “Me and Sienna.”
They had a code between them that meant “I’m under duress” but that wasn’t it, so Wyatt opened the door. It was Sienna who pushed in the house first, carrying a giant bulky laptop with her that she lugged into the living room. “I found something. After I listened to your message I thought of something.”
He and Parker followed, finding Sienna on the couch beside Nina.
As Wyatt sat on the coffee table in front of them, knees to knees, Nina scrubbed her hands down her face. She glanced at him, and they shared a smile, though hers was tentative.
He’d done that. The sting of it hit him like the cut of a knife, deep in his chest. She’d pulled back, now wary with him where before her trust had been evident. Wyatt’s fear had distilled into guilt that he’d distracted her when she needed to focus. Had that kiss not been the right move?
Was he going to question everything now? His conversation with his father had put a lot of his concerns to rest, but evidently not all. He should trust Nina the way she had trusted him this entire time. Was it himself that he didn’t trust? His heart warred against his head, knowing he could put his faith in her and she wouldn’t let him down.
So why had he given in and then pulled away?
“Tell them,” Parker said to his wife.
“I’m finding the email.” Sienna glanced at Nina. “After you called me I hit up an old friend. Her name is Sabine MacArthur. She was with the CIA, but it’s sort of complicated and we don’t have time for a long story. She got in touch with her contacts, some still in the CIA, and we got to the bottom of this classified file. It seriously took like half an hour. She’s that good.” She clicked twice and then bent the laptop back on itself to make it look like a tablet. She read aloud from memory what was there. “His name is Steve Adams.”
Nina gasped. Wyatt’s gaze flicked over to her, then back to Sienna. “What?”
Sienna said, “And he’s dead.”
Wyatt didn’t move. “Explain.”
Sienna shifted to face Nina. “Steve Adams was a career CIA agent. Commendations, awards. You name it, he’s received one for his outstanding work in the field of espionage.” She clicked the screen, showing a file photo of Mr. Thomas.
Nina nodded.
“A while back Sabine and her husband had some trouble. Steve Adams was her contact at the CIA, and he was reported to have been killed during that time. His body was, in fact, delivered to the CIA along with a bomb that destroyed all the evidence. There was enough to confirm that a male of his size had been killed, and given that they were told it was Steve Adams and that he never surfaced after that, the case was closed.”
“So he faked his own death?” Wyatt didn’t like this, not one bit.
Sienna nodded. Nina was completely pale. If he reached out to hold her hand, would she accept his touch? It was more likely she would reject him, and Wyatt didn’t know if he could handle that in front of their friends. Option B was that Nina would let him do it, but not because she wanted to. She might allow him to hold her hand because she didn’t want to make a scene about not wanting to. Which would be a whole lot worse.
So he kept his hand to himself.
Sienna continued, “Somehow he made whoever tried to kill him and plant that bomb with his body think he was dead. Or he was in collusion with that person and got their help to disappear...we don’t know. Sabine couldn’t believe it when I told her that this guy, Mr. Thomas, was still alive and coming after you. She was very concerned.
“The only thing that stopped her from hopping on a plane and coming here to help is the fact that her first baby is due in three weeks.” Sienna smiled. “Her husband called me five minutes after. Wanted to know everything about this. He’s coming home from whatever job he was out on, and he’ll protect Sabine. He doesn’t want her anywhere near this.”
Parker shifted. “Of course not.”
Wyatt nodded.
Nina and Sienna shared a smile, and Nina said, “You guys would say that. And the only reason I agree with you is because she’s pregnant.”
Sienna nodded. “So two minutes after I hung up with Doug, Sabine called me back. She’d done more research, and found Steve Adams’s old handler. The man who oversaw his career for years.”
Nina gasped. “You know who it is?”
Sienna nodded. “He’s an old man now, retired for a long time. He lives in Montana at a ranch with his granddaughter and her husband.”
“Let’s go.”
Wyatt held up his hand to Nina. “Hold up a second. If this man was Mr. Th
omas’s, or Steve Adams’s, or whatever we’re calling him now’s handler, how do we know he’s not aware of all of this? He has to know something is wrong with the man, maybe not everything. The kills were spaced well apart, far enough he could have been off the radar, maybe on personal time. But while it might not be all that hard to hide a sickness like this from people who don’t know you that well, or don’t see you that often, I get the feeling you guys are pretty close with your handlers.”
Sienna nodded. “We are.”
“That’s why we have to talk to him,” Nina said. “We need to know what he knows so we can catch Mr. Thomas. The handler will know his quirks, his weaknesses. We’ll have a shot at getting him to slip up. He’s had the advantage this whole time, and we’ve been scrambling to get ahead of him. Now we can. For the first time we might have enough information that we can figure out his next move before he makes it.”
THIRTEEN
Just after dawn the next morning they disembarked from a small and alarmingly rickety plane on the runway of a Montana ranch. Wyatt led the way while Nina walked behind him. He’d been pretty quiet, probably tired compounding on top of tired, she figured. Nina glanced back at Parker, still in the plane, and he gave her a thumbs-up.
Nina turned back to the ranch, where cement walkways crossed the land between them and the barn and house. It looked like that kids’ game where the players climbed ladders and slid down chutes. The front porch stretched to the right front corner of the house, ending a ramp from which emerged a barrel-chested man in a wheelchair with a shotgun laid across his lap.
Wyatt grasped her elbow to halt her progress. She frowned at him, not in the least bit threatened by the man now wheeling toward them. Had Wyatt asked, she wouldn’t have been able to tell him why she didn’t feel the man meant them any harm. She just didn’t.
Nina said, “Abe Turnel?”
“Depends who’s asking.” His gruff voice made Nina think of her father during a golf tournament. Hush up, girl. I’m trying to watch. The memory formed a lump in her throat she had to fight past to speak again. Thankfully Wyatt introduced them both. The old man sighed. “You should come in.”
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